262 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
262 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
From trinne@library.berkeley.edu
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Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 13:35:06 -0700
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From: Teri Rinne <trinne@library.berkeley.edu>
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Reply to: cites@library.berkeley.edu
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To: Multiple recipients of list <cites@library.berkeley.edu>
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Subject: July 1996 Current Cites
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_Current Cites_
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Volume 7, no. 7
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July 1996
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The Library
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University of California, Berkeley
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Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
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ISSN: 1060-2356
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1996/cc96.7.7.html
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Contributors:
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Campbell Crabtree, Terry Huwe, John Ober,
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Margaret Phillips, David Rez, Richard Rinehart,
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Teri Rinne, Roy Tennant
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Electronic Publishing
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Corthouts, Jan and Richard Philips. "SGML: A Librarian's
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Perception" The Electronic Library 14(2) (April 1996): 101-110.
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-- This article profiles several innovative digital library
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projects, including applications which use SGML for bibliographic
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control (as an alternative to MARC), information access and
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full-text presentation. While the implementation of SGML projects
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can be a complicated and costly venture, with these prototypical
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projects the authors present possible strategies and motivation
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for libraries to invest in "future-proofing" information with
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SGML. -- CJC
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Harter, Stephen P. and Hak Joon Kim. "Electronic Journals
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and Scholarly Communication: A Citation and Reference Study"
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(http://www-slis.lib.indiana.edu/PrePrints/harter-asis96midyear.
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html) -- This paper was delivered at the ASIS Midyear Conference
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in May 1996. It presents the results of an empirical study that
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focused on the impact of the electronic journal in the academic
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community. The stated purposes of the study were to assess
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accuracy and completeness of e-journals, identify the extent to
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which e-journals are cited, identify academic fields of study
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that most often use e-journals, identify e-journals most often
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cited and record and analyze demographic characteristics and
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access problems. As one might expect, along with the detailed
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statistical tables, there are plenty of links to e-journals
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provided. -- DR
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Jacobson, Robert L. "Colleges Urged to Protect Rights in Licensing
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Negotiations" Academe Today: This Week's Chronicle (July 5, 1996)
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:A5 (http://chronicle.com) -- With publishers now making full-text
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resources available electronically, a re-wording of use contracts
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for scholarly material is needed. Ann Okerson, associate university
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librarian at Yale University believes that many universities have
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signed contracts with publishers that are too expensive and
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unreasonably limit use. Some of the things that are being bought
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may well have fallen into the "fair use" arena. She urges academic
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libraries to promote users rights and negotiate with publishers for
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contracts that meet the needs of their patrons. Terms negotiated
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now may serve as precedents for the future availability of
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electronic resources. One way to keep costs down is to form a
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consortium with other institutions and sign group contracts.
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-- CJC
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Okerson, Ann. "Who Owns Digital Works?" Scientific American
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(http://www.sciam.com) 275(1) (July 1996): 80-84. -- Okerson
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introduces readers to developments in copyright and intellectual
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property issues involving digital technology. She draws a brief
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history of copyright, then focuses on the U.S. Federal NII
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([U.S] National Information Infrastructure) committee on
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copyright led by Bruce Nehman. The white paper from that group,
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Okerson argues, covers the interest of copyright and content
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owners, but does not allow for adequate fair use by libraries,
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educators and others. She notes however that this committee has
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since started to work with the public sector to address these
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issues in a second report, being developed and evaluated now,
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called the CONFU (Conference on Fair Use) paper. Ultimately
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without adequate provision for fair use, the Internet will cease
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to be a rich resource of freely available information for
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education and research, and instead will become even more
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restrictive and pricey than print and broadcast media. The
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article includes a short bibliography of reading on the topic.
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-- RR
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Networks and Networking
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Beaulieu, Micheline and Christine L. Borgman eds. "Current Research
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in Online Public Access Systems" JASIS 47(7) (July 1996): 491-492.
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-- This special topic issue of JASIS includes six articles which
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range in focus from user behavior, query models, search and
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retrieval effectiveness and online evaluation methods. Particularly
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interesting is "Cheshire II: Designing a next-generation online
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catalog" by Larson, McDonough, O'Leary, Kuntz and Moon, which
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details a project using an SGML-based probabilistic search engine
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and Z39.50 with a graphical user interface to provide full-text
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and multimedia, as well as bibliographic information. -- CJC
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Wilson, David O. "Experts Differ on Security Threat Posed by Java
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Computer Language" Chronicle of Higher Education 62 (44) (July
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12, 1996): A19-A21. -- Wilson summarizes some of the problems
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that can be caused by over-rambunctious Java applets. These are
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mainly in the "gag" category and flow between friends on
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geek-destruct, but they could be serious for less sophisticated
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Internet users. For example, "poison applets" can trick your PC
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into yielding passwords, or delete data from hard drives; and
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since "nice" applets need substantial access to perform their
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function, it's hard to spot the ones with a bad attitude. Many
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computer scientists see no cause for worry, while others advise
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basic precautions, such as turning Java "off", or accepting
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applets only from known persons. Meanwhile Javasoft (Sun
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Microsystem's Java unit) is busy patching and reworking Java for
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better security. Bottom line: take Dr. Ruth's advice and have a
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nice time, but play it safe with strangers. -- TH
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Optical Disc Technology
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Bell, Alan E. "Next Generation Compact Discs" Scientific American
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(http://www.sciam.com) 275(1) (July 1996): 42-46. -- As the title
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suggests, the next generation of CDs has arrived in the form of
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yet another acronym to add to the optical disc alphabet soup: DVD,
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Digital Versatile Disc. Bell's article provides a general overview
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of the new standard which is the result of an unprecedented
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agreement reached late last year among rival groups of
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international companies such as Philips, Sony, Toshiba and
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Time-Warner. The new generation of optical disc reader will play
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both existing CDs and DVDs. The DVD specs are quite impressive: it
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can store about 14 times more information than current CDs can;
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the rate at which the first-generation DVD player plays back data--
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11 million bits per second--matches that of a fast 9X CD-ROM
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player, setting a new benchmark for performance. A DVD FAQ is
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available at http://www.ima.org/forums/imf/dvd/faq.html. -- TR
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Gunshor, Robert L. and Arto V. Nurmikko. "Blue-Laser CD Technology
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Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com) 275(1) (July 1996): 48-
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51. -- This second article in Scientific American's "The Future
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of CD Technology" series is a highly technical discussion of
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blue-laser research. Currently the lasers inside of CD players
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utilize infrared light that can read pits in a CD disc no smaller
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than a micron in size (roughly 1/50th the diameter of a human
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hair); blue diode lasers can read even smaller pits. For example,
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an audio CD could store all nine of Beethoven's symphonies,
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instead of just one. The ramifications for the world of multimedia
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are staggering. However, please keep in mind that this research is
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still in the preliminary stages, and we won't be seeing the
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results at your local music store any time soon. -- TR
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General
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Browning, J. "New Stars for the New Media" Scientific American
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(http://www.sciam.com) 275(1) (July 1996): 31. -- This article
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is a short foray into the effect of new technology on leisure
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time in America. The argument is for the insertion of some
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charisma into the Internet and other new digital media (ala early
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television); however another opportunity is implied as well. The
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article cites studies that show that Americans are spending more
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time with new media, and less with television (the numbers are
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still far from equal, but are changing). In fact, exposure to new
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media creates enhanced criticism of old media content among the
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study group, presenting the other opportunity: for educators and
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scholars to provide a higher ratio of new types of educational
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content than exists in old media. There seems to be a receptive
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audience for it. -- RR
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"Central Intelligence Agents" The Economist 339 (7970) (June
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15-21, 1996): 76-77. -- In the mud-wrestling match between
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human intellect and virtual agent prototypes, the software is
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usually found wanting. However, for a generally positive review
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of virtual agents research, take a look at this article.
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Scientists are abandoning past efforts to recreate the human
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brain, and instead are focussing on smaller and more practical
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goals. Development of virtual agents now falls into two broad
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categories: "rule-based" systems and "collaborative filtering".
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Recent successes include music recommendations ("Firefly") and
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virtual shopping ("Shopbot" and "BargainFinder"). The authors
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include a helpful history of artificial intelligence and its
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gradual evolution from a "scientific" bias towards a more
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pragmatic, engineering approach. -- TH
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"Categories for the Description of Works of Art"
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(http://www.ahip.getty.edu/ahip/cdwa/INTRO.HTM) -- This
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document, published by the AITF (Art Information Task
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Force, a joint program of the Getty Information Institute
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and the College Art Association) outlines a very thorough
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conceptual model for describing works of art that can be
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used as a standard or guideline by librarians, database
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developers, museums, publishers, researchers, and anyone
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else who may need to devise or use formal ways to describe
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art objects. The standard is content-based and is not a
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technical standard. It will help art and humanities
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information to be used and exchanged more easily in the
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networked environment, as new systems use the model to
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organize art information thus giving researchers a consistent
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framework, or it is used as a mapping tool between different
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systems for sharing information across systems. Anyone needing
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to organize, use, or exchange art information in any type of
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system, from database to exhibition labels should read this
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standard. The article describes the concepts, goals, and
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history of the categories, as well as provides a complete
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online guide to them. -- RR
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Nardi, Bonnie, and O'day, Vicki. "Intelligent Agents: What We
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Learned at the Library" Libri 46(2) (June 1996). -- The good
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news about Nardi and O'day's study of intelligent agents and
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human interaction at the reference desk was cited in last
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month's issue of Current Cites as reported in the Christian
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Science Monitor. The report itself is even better still! If
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you are interested in a first-class analysis of reference as a
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valuable business skill, don't miss this ground-breaking research.
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(http://www.atg.apple.com/personal/Bonnie_Nardi/default.html")
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Nardi is an anthropologist and Apple Fellow. Apple's Advanced
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Technology Group (http://www.atg.apple.com) set out to study how
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intelligent agents should be designed to mimic reference service.
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In doing so they discovered a world of highly nuanced interpersonal
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and research talent that the current generation of software can't
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touch with a ten foot pole. Intellectually rigorous yet
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entertaining, the authors perform two services for information
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specialists: they demystify how intelligent agents function in
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plain english, and they describe the rich, intellectual process
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of the reference interview. -- TH
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Current Cites 7(7) (July 1996) ISSN: 1060-2356
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Copyright (C) 1996 by the Library, University of
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California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
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All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
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of their respective holders. Mention of a product in this
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publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of the
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product.
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[URL:http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/]
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To subscribe, send the message "sub cites [your name]" to
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journal to their collections at no cost. An archive site is
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maintained at ftp.lib.berkeley.edu in directory /pub/Current.Cites
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[URL:ftp://ftp.lib.berkeley.edu/pub/Current.Cites]. This message
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must appear on copied material. All commercial use requires
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ways:
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trinne@library.berkeley.edu // (510)642-8173
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