_Current_Cites_ Volume 3, no. 3 March 1992 Library Technology Watch Program University of California, Berkeley Edited by David F.W. Robison ISSN: 1060-2356 Contributors: Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani, Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant Electronic Publishing Amiran, Eyal, Elaine Orr and John Unsworth. "Refereed Electronic Journals and the Future of Scholarly Publishing." Advances in Library Automation and Networking 4 (1991):25-53. Stressing the need for academic institutions to take a leading role in the development and support of electronic publishing, the authors approach the subject from several key angles ranging from the technological to the philosophical. The article describes the work of organizations (e.g. the Association for Computers in the Humanities, the International Standards Organization, to name two) who are developing standards for the formatting and citing of electronic texts; and other academic organizations (such as the American Philosophical Association) who have convened subcommittees to prepare bibliographies and other such documents on the electronic texts and electronic serials and articles which are of interest. Included is a lengthy and interesting discussion of the medium of e-mail and the powerful role the modem has come to hold. This discussion in particular, puts into perspective the need for libraries to provide access to electronically published information, and the responsibility each of us has to educate ourselves and those around us in the use of technologies which will put us on this golden road to virtually unlimited information. Also included are two appendices: one on LISTSERV commands and the other, a list of electronic publishers and archives. -- LR Powell, James "New List: VPIEJ-L Scholarly Electronic Journals / Electronic Pub." Posted on NEW-LIST@NDSUVM1.BITNET (March 13, 1992). The owner of this new discussion list announced a new forum for the discussion of "electronic publishing issues, especially those related to Scholarly Electronic Journals. Topics for discussion include SGML, PostScript, and other e-journal formats; as well as software and hardware considerations for creation of, storage, and access to e-journals. Publishers, editors, technical staff, programmers, librarians, and end-users are welcome to join." To subscribe send the following message to LISTSERV@VTM1.BITNET or LISTSERV@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU: SUB VPIEJ-L your_full_name. -- DR Expert Systems & Artificial Intelligence Bailey, Charles W., Jr. "Intelligent Library Systems: Artificial Intelligence Technology and Library Automation Systems" Advances in Library Automation and Networking 4(1991):1-23. After a brief discussion of the nature of intelligence, Mr. Bailey presents several problems which presently hinder the development of intelligent systems (e.g. the complexity of incorporating semantic and pragmatic capabilities into natural language systems). While it is clear that further AI research and development is necessary for the creation of truly sophisticated intelligent systems, several valuable systems have been built and there exists a fruitful ground for application in the field of library science. Unfortunately there are several factors within our field which, according to Mr. Bailey, hinder experimentation and development of intelligent systems within the library community: a limited pool of expertise; the limitations imposed by our chosen development tools; our lack of training in AI; and lastly, something he aptly calls "risk aversion." The article ends with an insightful look to the future of intelligent systems, detailing areas where development is likely to be fruitful and suggesting AI tools and techniques which will be of value in such developments.-- LR Hyper- and Multimedia Marmion, Dan "Hypertext/Hypermedia for Libraries" in Advances In Library Automation and Networking: A Research Annual. Volume 4, 1991. Greenwich, Conn. : JAI Press, 1991. A rich overview that condenses a great deal of the history and theory of hypertext and hypermedia systems into a very readable chapter. After moving through second-generation hypermedia systems, the chapter surveys some current library applications, outlines the advantages that hypertext systems offer for library patrons and points towards future potential for hypermedia applications in libraries. -- MT Flanders, Bruce "Multimedia Programs to Reach an MTV Generation" American Libraries 23(2) (February 1992):135-137. An article directed towards the general library audience conveys the author's impressions of two IBM multimedia products: Columbus: Encounter, Discovery and Beyond and the, perhaps mis-named, Illuminated Books and Manuscripts. IBM's Educational Systems will certainly make a splash with these products (expected in June 1992) which need OS/2 (or DOS 4.0) and Micro Channel Architecture support provided by a new workstation. High-end hardware requirements aside, IBM seems determined to catch Apple in the multimedia arena, although the $2,000 price tag on each title may cause some to balk. The titles in Illuminated Books include Tennyson's Ulysses, Shakespeare's Hamlet, The Declaration of Independence, Dr. King's Letters From Birmingham Jail and John Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks. Flanders presents a more in-depth view of the products in "IBM's Impressive Multimedia Educational Programs" CD-ROM Librarian 7(1) (January 1992):32-36. -- MT Saettler, Matt "Multimedia Programming Interface and Data Specifications 1.0" (Source: cd-rom-l@uccvma.ucop.edu) Issued as a joint design by IBM Corporation and Microsoft Corporation and available via anonymous ftp from ftp.uu.net (137.39.1.9) in the directory /vendor/microsoft/multimedia. Available as well from Compuserve in the MULTIMEDIA or MSOPSYS BBSs and from Microsoft Online. Descriptions of the Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) and the Multimedia Control Interface (MCI) which afford developers extensible command sets and formats for the IBM platform. A Multimedia Developer Registration Kit available from Microsoft's Multimedia Systems Group lists currently defined elements. Saettler entertains comments and questions at: matts@microsoft.com. -- MT Information Transfer Bove, Tony. "Voyager's Expanded Books" Bay Area Computer Currents (February 11-24, 1992):35-36. Bove gives an enthusiastic description of the Mac PowerBooks which, with the Voyager's Expanded Books series, allows not only searching features, but also typing annotations in the margins of pages and marking pages for quick page access. Bove implies that this type of electronic book is "even better than the real thing," and it is inexpensive. -- VR Denton, Barbara. "E-Mail Delivery of Search Results via the Internet" ONLINE 16(2) (March 1992):50-53. Denton describes in detail Sematech Library staff's procedures in delivering Dialog searches to their users via e- mail, as well as the benefits and limitations of this method of delivery. -- VR Flanders, Bruce. "Taking Scanning to UMAX." Apple Library Users Group Newsletter 10(1) (January 1992):74-75. Scanning technology continues to grow finding new applications and new users. Flanders describes a sophisticated and advanced OCR device, ReadStation, produced by UMAX Technologies, which he claims is the most accurate device available. -- VR Miller, Michael J. "Communicating a Document: Not by Text Alone" PC Magazine 11(2) (January 28, 1992):81-82. Miller describes systems designed to improve character recognition to transmit documents "intact, including fonts, graphics, and formatting." -- VR Thompson, Keith M. "No Frills, Less Hassle: Three Products for File Transfer, Printer Sharing, Electronic Mail" PC Magazine 11(3) (February 11, 1992):297-98. This brief article describes an alternative to LANs for those who do not need the full power, by reviewing three wireless products that provide printer-sharing, e-mail, and file-transfer. -- VR Treloar, Andrew. "Wordscan Plus." Apple Library Users Group Newsletter 10(1) (January 1992):66-70. This is a review of Wordscan Plus, "the first of a new generation of powerful" OCR software. -- VR Networks & Networking Caplan, Priscilla "Providing Access to Online Information Resources: a Paper for Discussion" Posted on PACS-L@UHUPVM1.BITNET (March 11, 1992) as well as on USMARC-L@MAINE.BITNET and CNIDIR-L@UNMVM.BITNET. Responding to MARBI Discussion Papers 49 and 54, Caplan offers a new proposal for the categorization of electronic documents. She suggests at least two categories of documents: "electronic data resources" and "online systems/services." The first category would act more like typical bibliographic data, whereas the second would need to be described by something like the community information format. -- DR Coalition for Networked Information "Call for Statement of Interest and Experience" Posted on CNIDIR-L@UNMVM.BITNET (February 20, 1992) and on PACS-L@UHUPVM1.BITNET and GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.PSU.EDU. The Coalition asks list participants and others for help in its endeavors. CNI is looking for individuals, institutions, or organizations that are willing and able to contribute toward the Coalition's goals. Specifically, they are looking for help in developing cost/benefit analyses of alternative models for the Government Printing Office Wide Area Information Network Data Online (GPO WINDO) Act. For more information on this project check out this posting, or contact Joan Lippincott, Assistant Director, Coalition for Networked Information (joan@cni.org / joancni@umdc). "Hearing on the National Science Foundation Network" U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Science (March 12, 1992). [Available as a Postscript file via anonymous FTP from nic.cic.net as /pub/reports/nsfnethearing.ps courtesy of CICNet, Inc.] This reporting of hearings before the Congressional subcommittee of Science addresses some of the questions surrounding the privatization of the Internet as the NREN is pursued.J Testimony was heard from representatives of Douglas E. Van Houweling of Merit; Dr. Eric S. Hood, President, Federation of American Research Networks and Executive Director, North WestNet; Dr. A. Nico Habermann and Dr. Stephen S. Wolff of the National Science Foundation; Michael M. Roberts, Vice President, EDUCOM; Mitchell Kapor, President, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Chairman, Commercial Internet Exchange; William L. Schrader, President and CEO, Performance Systems International, Inc.; and the Honorable Robert Traxler, Chairman of the Independent Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. -- DR Kahin, Brian "Publication of Building Information Inferase" Posted on PACS- L@UHUPVM1.BITNET (March 5, 1992). Kahin has posted an announcement from Harvard and McGraw-Hill describing the publication of a new book: Building Information Infrastructure. According to the announcement, the book "presents the NREN as a practical enterprise in developing information infrastructure that must be informed by economic, legal, and technological insights. -- DR Kirk, Thomas G. and Noreen S. Alldredge "Coalition for Networked Information: The Second Year, parts 1-2" C&RL News (January & February, 1992):10-11, 98-99. A report on the activities and accomplishments of CNI in the past year. Among other activities, CNI increased its membership from 117 to 143 organizations and institutions, an ad hoc group was set up to address Z39.50 and CWISP client/server information retrieval protocols, and the Working Group for Management, Professional & User Education has begun developing a "packet of information for use in formulating and addressing institutional and organizational issues arising from the emergence of a national networked information infrastructure and environment." -- DR Meeks, Brock N. "House Subcommittee to Investigate National Science Foundation's NSFNET" Communications Daily (February 21, 1992) as posted in truncated form by Gordon Cook on COM-PRIV@PSI.COM (February 28, 1992). This article gives some of the background on the hearings cited above. According to the Subcommittee's Chairman, the NSF "will be called on to answer questions 'for the record' on policy and management issues raised in articles published by Communications Daily." -- DR Optical Disc Technologies Bouley, Raymond J. "The Life and Death of CD-ROM" CD-ROM Librarian 7(1) (January 1992):10-17. Bouley provides an overview of the research into the longevity of CD-ROMs. He discusses the differences between longevity, durability, and stress-resistance, as well as the different types of accelerated aging test methods. Since not all the research results are available yet, he strongly urges the library community to listen carefully for the announcement of these results. As it now stands, the preferred preservation medium in Bouley's estimation is an optical disc composed of etched glass substrate coated with gold alloy. -- TR "CD-ROM Consistent User Interface Guidelines: A Final Report" CD-ROM Librarian 7(2) (February 1992):18-29. This is the final proposal of the CD- ROM Consistent Interface Committee (CD-CINC), a working group of the Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications and Technology (SIGCAT). This proposal is now being submitted for consideration as an industry-wide standard. CD-CINC was formed to investigate what could be done to encourage some consistency across user interfaces, particularly with respect to functionality and terminology. The proposal's guidelines identify thirteen basic user functions, grouped into three areas: top-level, operational, and navigational. The proposal also encourages the use of good design principles and provides guidelines for developing CD-ROM installation procedures. A useful bibliography of related materials is appended to the proposal. -- TR Flanders, Bruce "Protecting the Vulnerable CD-ROM Workstation: Safe Computing in an Age of Computer Viruses" CD-ROM Librarian 7(1) (January 1992):26-29. With over 400 known viruses in the MS-DOS environment, virus protection has become a matter of increasing importance to librarians; CD-ROM workstations that allow users to download data to a floppy disk are particularly vulnerable. Flanders evaluates two leading virus protection software packages available-the Norton Anti-Virus and Central Point Anti-Virus. -- TR Stewart, Mary R. "Users, Standards, and Access: In Search of the Standard User" CD-ROM Librarian 7(2) (February 1992):10-17. This article focuses on the need for accurate observations of the library user before developing a standard user interface for CD-ROMs. Stewart contends that without a more complete understanding of the current user, user culture, and capabilities, we create or perpetuate our systems and standards around a "standard" user, a mythical creature as rare as the "average person" or "normal behavior" Stewart challenges library and information professionals to become more than armchair or reference desk philosophers,and act as anthropological observer of the library user. -- TR General DIAC-92. The Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility's DIAC Symposium "Are Computers Part of the Solution or ...?" This symposium will be held on the Berkeley campus May 2-3, 1992. For further information, contact Doug Schuler: dschuler@cs.washington.edu, (206)865- 3832. Mendelsohn, Loren D. "Technology Transfer Policy: its Role as a Scientific and Technical Information Policy and its Impact on Technological Growth" JASIS 43(1) (January 1992):80-88. This article gives us an interesting overview of the history of the technology transfer policy in the U.S., presents a summary of comparative foreign technological capabilities, and makes recommendations to U.S. policy makers for future technology transfer policies. -- VR ------------------------------------------------------------------- Current Cites 3(3)(March 1992) ISSN: 1060-2356 Copyright (C) 1992 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley. All rights reserved. All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Mention of a product in this publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of the product. Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized bulletin board/conference systems, individual scholars, and libraries. 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