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Public-Access Computer Systems News
Volume 4, Number 1 (1993) ISSN 1050-6004
Editors: Dana Rooks (LIBL@UHUPVM1) and Linda Thompson
(LIB1J@UHUPVM1).
Issued on an irregular basis by University Libraries, University
of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2091.
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CONTENTS
OCLC IMPLEMENTS FIRST STEP OF ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE PROGRAM, 1
SCHOLARS PRESS TO PUBLISH THE ELECTRIC MYSTIC'S GUIDE, 2
PALS ENHANCES ERIC RECORDS, 3
GPO BBS, 3
DEMISE OF T-1 NSFNET, 4
NOTIS LINKS INDIANA & INDIANA STATE, 4
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY INSTALLS UNIX-BASED NOTIS PRODUCT, 5
NEW EMBASE CD-ROM FROM CAMBRIDGE, 5
CAMBRIDGE, CARL, & EI TO OFFER FREE DOCUMENT DELIVERY, 6
OCLC IMPLEMENTS FIRST STEP OF ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Libraries with access to the Internet can now use the Internet
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transfer bibliographic data to or
from OCLC. As a first step toward Electronic Data Exchange (EDX)
with OCLC members, OCLC has implemented two services. The first,
Electronic MARC Subscription (EMS), is for OCLC users who have
been receiving records through the MARC subscription tape
service. The second, Electronic Batchload Service (EBS), is for
OCLC libraries that have been tapeloading records into the OCLC
system.
To use either service, libraries must have Internet access, FTP
capability, and a local system capable of merging or
outputting data on a defined and frequent schedule. OCLC sets up
an account for each EDX user. The library sends or receives data
to or from its account on a regular basis. For EMS libraries,
that basis is daily; for EBS users, it is weekly.
For more information on the EDX capability, OCLC members should
contact their regional network.
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SCHOLARS PRESS TO PUBLISH THE ELECTRIC MYSTIC'S GUIDE
In mid-1993 Scholars Press will publish the first edition of _The
Electric Mystic's Guide to the Internet: A Directory of
Electronic Documents, Online Conferences, Serials, Software, and
Archives Relevant to Religious Studies_, by Michael Strangelove
(University of Ottawa, Religious Studies Department). This
represents the first time that a network-accessible Postscript
document will be used as the master text for the production of a
hardcopy version.
The guide will be printed in three-ring binder format to allow
users to add supplements. Supplements will be provided via the
Net in Postscript and low ASCII text on LISTSERV and FTP file
servers. Scholars Press will publish annual revised editions.
The full text of _The Electric Mystic's Guide_ will continue to
be fully and freely available on FTP and Listserv as a
WordPerfect, Postscript, and low ASCII files. These network-
accessible texts will be updated regularly.
The full text of the guide will be mounted on a gopher server,
which will allow Net users to read the guide from a remote site
while online, without having to retrieve the document. Not only
will the gopher server allow for full text, online browsing of
the guide, but it will enable users to actually read many of the
network-accessible files indexed by the guide.
The guide will be maintained as three separate volumes. This is
done to accommodate the large size of Postscript texts.
Volumes One and Three of the guide may be accessed via Listserv
at LISTSERV@UOTTAWA or
[email protected] as MYSTICS V1-
TXT and MYSTICS V3-TXT
The guide may be accessed via FTP at the node PANDA1.UOTTAWA.CA
in the directory /pub/religion/ as a variety of files.
The gopher server should be operational by 1993. The hardcopy
version will be available in mid-1993. Further details will be
announced throughout the Net as the project develops.
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PALS ENHANCES ERIC RECORDS
MSUS/PALS, a cooperative library automation network of 55
libraries in Minnesota, and the developer of the PALS software
distributed by Unisys, has completed a project to enhance ERIC
CIJE records by adding ISSN numbers and expanding abbreviated
titles to full word titles to facilitate searching by title and
keyword. Approximately 450,000 of the 455,000 records in this
retrospective ERIC database have been enhanced. All ISSN numbers
have been put in the 773 field to facilitate indexing and
bridging to serials holdings in the online catalog. This
enhanced ERIC reference database is now available as a set of
records for purchase by anyone interested. Contact Dale Carrison
at
[email protected] for further information on cost and
order process.
GPO BBS
The Government Printing Office, the world's largest publisher,
has installed a Galacticomm bulletin board. The for-fee
Galacticomm BBS operates on an 80486-based PC and reportedly has
nearly a gigabyte of data available. All federal agencies are now
free to put downloadable files on the GPO BBS for public access.
To obtain more information about the GPO BBS modem users can log
on to the system at 202-512-1387. The BBS call is free, except
for phone charges, but you must set up an account to actually
download data. The minimum download charge is $2, with a 1
megabyte file costing about $20 to download.
The following information comes directly from the opening screens
of the BBS:
User assistance is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time,
Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays) by calling (202)
512-1524. Depository Library staff should call (202) 512-1126.
The BBS is available 22 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is
unavailable each day from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., Eastern Time, for
maintenance.
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DEMISE OF T-1 NSFNET
Like its predecessors, the ARPANET and the 56 Kbps National
Science Foundation Network (NSFNET), the T-1 NSFNET passed into
history in December 1992 when the last router was moved to
connect to the T-3 backbone service marking the beginning of a
new networking era.
When first implemented just over four years ago, the T-1
(1.5 Mbps) NSFNET backbone was state-of-the-art for the
Internet, deploying new levels of speed and management. With
improvements in routing technology, the Internet moved from an
experimental service to a production commodity. Demands
for higher speed services and increasing backbone traffic led to
the T-3 (45 Mbps) backbone service implemented over the
Advanced Network & Services, Inc. Network (ANSnet) that has
replaced the older T-1 NSFNET technology.
Meeting the challenges of building the central
infrastructure for this high-speed data communications
network has been the focus of a joint government, academic, and
industrial partnership for the past five years. Merit
Network, Inc., in association with Advanced Network &
Services, Inc. (ANS), IBM, MCI, and the State of Michigan,
has led pioneering efforts to put in place a national network
service through a 1987 cooperative agreement with the
National Science Foundation. The partnership deployed the T-1
network on schedule in July 1988, and began the T-3 network
service implemented over ANSnet in late 1990.
NOTIS LINKS INDIANA & INDIANA STATE
NOTIS Systems, Inc. announces that PACSearch is up and running at
Indiana University and Indiana State University. Library patrons
at both institutions are searching the remote OPAC through a
transparent connection, using the same interface and full search
capabilities of their home catalog. PACSearch is the Z39.50-
compatible searching component of PACLink, NOTIS's complete
system for patron-initiated collection sharing.
PACLink was developed in cooperation with the State University
Library Network of Indiana and the SUNY Graduate Centers at
Binghamton, Stony Brook, and Buffalo. PACLink provides a
seamless connection between libraries' OPACs, and allows both
searching of databases and electronic requesting of interlibrary
loans. There are two components to PACLink: PACSearch and
PACLoan.
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PACLink is built on Z39.50, the intersystem retrieval protocol
that enables communications between different library computer
systems. Using TCP/IP protocol, PACLink can connect with any
Z39.50-compatible OPAC or database via the Internet or through a
campus Ethernet.
For information contact: Charlotte Custis, NOTIS Systems, 708-
866-4944.
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY INSTALLS UNIX-BASED NOTIS PRODUCT
The University of Kentucky has installed InfoBase, the first
UNIX-based product from NOTIS Systems, Inc. InfoBase is the
first commercially available server to fully integrate the Z39.50
communication protocol. It runs under the TCP/IP standard on the
Internet. As a cost-effective alternative for multiple
simultaneous users accessing locally-mounted databases, InfoBase
runs on UNIX platforms in an open-systems environment, and
utilizes the NOTIS OPAC interface.
Currently offering ERIC and Medline, the University is adding the
Expanded Academic Index, and Information Access Company's
Newspaper Index, Business Index, and Company Profiles database.
For information contact: Charlotte Custis, NOTIS Systems, 708-
866-4944.
NEW EMBASE CD-ROM FROM CAMBRIDGE
The new _EMBASE CD: Drugs & Pharmacology_ published by Compact
Cambridge, a division of Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, will
provide access to more than a million citations, from 1980 to the
present, devoted to drugs and pharmacology.
EMBASE, the Excerpta Medica database produced by Elsevier Science
Publishers, includes citations, abstracts, and indexing gleaned
from scanning approximately 3,500 biomedical journals from 110
countries. About 350,000 records are added to EMBASE annually.
_EMBASE CD_ will be updated quarterly and will be searchable
using Compact Cambridge's CORE software.
For information contact: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, 7200
Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda MD 20814, or call 301-961-6700.
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CAMBRIDGE, CARL, & EI TO OFFER FREE DOCUMENT DELIVERY
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts has agreed with CARL Systems and
Engineering Information, Inc. to offer new subscribers of CSA's
scientific journals and magnetic tape databases up to $300 worth
of free document delivery service with each subscription. This
new service will enable Cambridge abstracts journal users to
obtain the full text of journal articles and other documents.
This delivery will be provided by UnCover 2 from CARL Systems.
For the engineering journals published jointly by Cambridge and
Engineering Information, subscribers will be entitled to $150
worth of free document delivery service, available with both new
subscriptions and renewals. Article Express, Ei's document
delivery service, will be the service provider.
Orders for full text documents can be place with each service
provider by FAX, telephone, mail, or through computer networks.
After the initial free allowance is used up, subscribers will
receive a substantial discount on further orders.
For information contact: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Journal
Sales and Marketing Dept., 301-961-6761 or FAX 301-961-6720.
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