384 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
384 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
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_Current Cites_
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Volume 6, no. 5
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May 1995
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Information Systems Instruction & Support
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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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URL:http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ISIS/current-cites/
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Contributors:
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Campbell Crabtree, John Ober, Margaret Phillips,
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David Rez, Richard Rinehart, Teri Rinne, Roy Tennant
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Electronic Publishing
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Blumenstyk, Goldie. "Copyright Clearance Center" Chronicle of
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Higher Education 41(32) (April 21, 1995):A32-A33. -- The
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Copyright Clearance Center, the non-profit organization that
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facilitates permission to reprint portions of copyrighted
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materials, unveiled a Web-based service that will allow its
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users to read the catalog of rights and fees, report
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photocopying plans, and calculate the costs of reprinting
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materials. See [http://www.directory.net/copyright]. By going
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online, the Center hopes to streamline the process by which
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libraries, colleges and businesses obtain the rights to
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reproduce portions of books and journals for participating
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publishers. Furthermore, the Center hopes to encourage
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publishers to create "electronic books" that could be sold
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and delivered over the network. Right now, the service
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includes information on the rights to photocopy about 75,000
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titles which covers somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of the
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items requested. Members of the publishing industry are quoted
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as saying that they are still reluctant to hand over
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responsibility for managing reproduction rights until they
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better understand the market and the technology. -- MP
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Boeri, Robert J. and Martin Hensel. "What Good is SGML?"
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CD-ROM Professional 8(4) (April 1995):108-110. -- Citing the
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experiences of three publishing groups, Boeri and Hensel
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provide reasons for CD-ROM publishers to use Standard
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Generalized Markup Language (SGML). They found that using
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SGML is an economical way to publish, dramatically reducing
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both cost-per-page and time-to-market. Particularly appealing
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about SGML is its system independence, which assures data
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longevity, and that multiple, customizable products can be
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derived from one SGML-encoded source, reducing duplication of
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effort. The potential difficulties of using SGML (the transition
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of production, conversion of legacy documents) are easily and
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quickly outweighed by the rewards of increased data flexibility
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and reduced creation cost. -- CJC
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Caruso, Denise. "Digital Commerce" The New York Times 144
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(April 17, 1995). In this week's column, Caruso muses on the
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potential profits that publishers could make by going online.
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Rather than making electronic publications available through
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online services like America Online to which they must pay a
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fee, publishers are now realizing that they can publish directly
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on the World Wide Web. And, with electronic payment systems now
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being designed, publishers can charge for their services and
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reap their profits directly. Caruso celebrates the fact that
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there are believed to be 100 new Web sites created every day
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and that the Web allows anybody -- from Time-Warner to
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angst-ridden teenagers -- to produce a homepage. However, she
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does not question the lack of access to these sites and seems
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perfectly satisfied with the fact that her favorite Web site was
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discovered the way most "neat stuff on the Web" is found --
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someone sent her the address. -- MP
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Lewis, Peter H. "Big Newspapers to Help Locals on Internet"
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The New York Times 144 (April 20, 1995). -- This story in the
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Times business section reports on the establishment of the New
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Century Network, an alliance of eight major U.S. newspaper
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companies whose goal is to provide technical and consulting
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support that will allow more than 123 affiliated daily
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newspapers to develop online services on the World Wide Web.
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Though some major newspaper companies are not affiliated with
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the alliance, New Century Network hopes to create common standards
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and a unified, nationwide system to withstand competition from
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regional telephone companies and commercial information networks.
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--MP
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Reisman, Richard R. "CD-ROM/Online Hybrids: The Missing Link?"
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CD-ROM Professional 8(4) (April 1995):67-74. -- Reisman argues
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that since CD-ROM and online, the two most effective and popular
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technologies in electronic publishing, have complementary
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advantages and disadvantages (see Wiedemer and Boelio below),
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the two technologies should be combined into a hybrid system.
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Such a hybrid system would be formed by embedding a specialized
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software communications module into a conventional CD-ROM
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product, maintains all the features of the original CD-ROM while
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adding an easy to use, inexpensive communications facility to
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retrieve updated information from a remote service. This approach
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brings to CD-ROM products the immediacy of online access while
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retaining none of its disadvantages. -- TR
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Wiedemer, John David and David B. Boelio. "CD-ROM Versus Online:
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An Economic Analysis for Publishers" CD-ROM Professional 8(4)
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(April 1995):36-42. -- The authors compare the costs, advantages,
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and disadvantages of CD-ROM and online as an electronic publishing
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distribution medium. They predict that CD-ROM and online services
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will co-exist peacefully and even work together in some cases. One
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of the main selling points of online services is instant access to
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vast amounts of data that can be updated as frequently as desired.
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Less time-sensitive material can usually be provided more cheaply
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by CD-ROM, with its relatively high capacity and cost efficient
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storage capabilities. The article's accompanying graphic compares
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the cost of delivering one megabyte of information: online $17,
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print $3.50, 3.5 diskette $0.55 and CD-ROM $0.0024! -- TR
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Multimedia and Hypermedia
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Ardman, Harvey. "IBM Digital Library Manipulates Multimedia"
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Imaging World 4(5): 1, 66. -- With the number of "digital library"
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initiatives being announced recently, one can become confused as
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to where the libraries are in all this. IBM's announcement of
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their own company-wide "digital library" project can be seen as a
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booster-shot in the arm of digitizing library collections by
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drawing the interest and support of one of the leading computer
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companies, or conversely, as a movement that by-passes the
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professional leadership of actual librarians. A project that is
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the combination of both is, of course, ideal. IBM is not alone
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in this project; its interesting partners range from the Vatican
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and the L.A. Public Library to ViaCom and TelStar. -- RR
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Argoski, Jason. "Virtual Museums: The Web Experience"
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[http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/rov-int/95/museums.htm]
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-- The author covers many salient points raised in getting a
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museum to create a presence on the Web. He points out that while
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much educational information on the 'net has tended to be rather
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rigorous and academic, museums are often both educational and
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entertaining - a winning combination with the Web's newer home
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audiences. Other issues raised are the flexibility of data,
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intelligent use of hyperlinks, easy navigation and more. This
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article would be an excellent companion piece to a more
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technical article for someone starting to plan for any
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educational institution's public face on the 'net. -- RR
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Bowen, Jonathan. "Museums and the Internet"
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["http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/museums/talk/]
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-- This is actually a set of slides from a talk the author
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gave on the Internet, with hyperlinks online, creating a
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brief reference piece. The slides/pages would be useful to
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anyone giving a persuasive presentation to a museum board
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about going "online"; the author has explicitly allowed
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duplication for non-commercial use. The author also maintains
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the extensive list of online museums on the WWW Virtual
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Library at Oxford University Computing Laboratory. See
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[http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/museums/"]. -- RR
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Networks and Networking
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"Do We Really Want to Be Wired?" Educom Review 30(3)
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(May/June 1995):12-23. -- The academic technos on the
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Educom Review mailing list are getting a surprise in
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their mailbox this month, in the form of a parody/imitation/
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critique of the publishing phenomenon known as _Wired_.
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Educom Review editor and publisher John Gehl is openly
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gleeful at being able to break the rules of readable
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typography and comprehensible page layout under the guise
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of mimicking the style of the magazine that the six pieces
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in this special section discuss. Some contributors argue
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that _Wired_ is much more than its eye-straining visual
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experimentation, while others assert it is mere technodazzle
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without content. But no matter which side of the fence you're
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sitting on, Gehl states, "_Wired_ has been doing something to
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pay attention to, if you're interested in information
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technology, contemporary education, or modern culture." Gehl's
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audience is likely interested in all three. -- RT
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Jacobson, Robert L. "Librarians Agree on Coordination of Digital
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Plans" Chronicle of Higher Education 41(35) (May 12, 1995) A28.
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-- The Commission on Preservation and Access of the National
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Digital Library Federation is a newly-established, non-profit
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group of leading academic and public libraries whose goal is to
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set policy on financing the development and access of digitized
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material. With so many projects that have sprung up recently,
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the federation hopes to adopt "common standards and best
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practices" for digitizing and retrieving information in order
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that electronic materials be as widely available as possible.
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-- MP
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Jacobson, Robert L. "Taming the Internet" Chronicle of Higher
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Education 41(32) (April 21, 1995):A29-A31. -- This article
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focuses on efforts by librarians to seek better subject
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indexing of the ever-growing yet unorganized mass of materials
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that now makes up the Internet. While some tools and guides to
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the Internet do exist, most of these resources were created by
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computer experts, not librarians. Librarians, it is argued, have
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the professional training and collection development expertise
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to provide authoritative subject access and analysis of Internet
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material in the same way that they evaluate and provide subject
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access to printed materials. The peer review process for printed
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journals along with collection development policies help users
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of traditional libraries know which resources are important or
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reputable; the Internet, however, does not have similar
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standards. As long as library administrators fail to make
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organizing the Internet a priority, argues Jacobson, the
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academic potential of the Internet will never be realized.
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The article profiles collaborative efforts by New York area
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librarians to index specific subjects in the Internet by
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creating subject-based gophers. Also discussed are efforts by
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the Research Libraries Group, OCLC Online Computer Library
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Center and the Association for Research Libraries to develop
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online catalogs to electronic resources as well as their efforts
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to develop a Web homepage that would provide links to electronic
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journals. -- MP
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Koster, Martijn. "Robots in the Web: Threat or Treat?,"
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ConneXions 9(4) (April 1995): 2-12. -- In this informative
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article, Koster reviews Web robots (or "spiders," "wanderers,"
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or "worms") which are used for dynamically gathering information
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on Web resources. He reviews the uses to which robots can be put,
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the operational costs or dangers of using them, issues relating
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to the quality of the resulting catalog of resources, ethical
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questions any prospective Web robot author should consider,
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and alternative strategies for resource discovery. This excellent
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overview of the Web robot phenomenon includes a thorough
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bibliography. -- RT
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Ober, John. "Challenges in Teaching and Learning Multimedia,"
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FID News Bulletin 45(4) (April 1995):116-120. -- Current
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Cites contributor John Ober enumerates the challenges
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facing those learning and teaching multimedia systems.
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Specific instructional problems discussed include the
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difficulty of creating useful metaphors to explain aspects
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of multimedia systems, the challenge of describing entirely
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new forms of interaction and work (hypermedia, for example),
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and the pitfall of being seduced by powerful presentation
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possibilities (color, sound, moving images) to the detriment
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of attention to actual content. -- RT
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Pountain, Dick. "The British Library's Catalog is On-Line"
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Byte 22(5) (May 1995): 62-70. -- This article describes the
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system that The British Library built to place their 18 million
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volume paper-based catalog online. One of their primary goals
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was to have full-text searching capabilities across the multiple
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languages and alphabets included in the paper catalog. The focus
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of this article is on the technology involved in building this
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system. The hardware (a two-level client/server system using DEC
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computers with touch-screens) and the software (BRS/Search for the
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full-text retrieval and Fontographer to handle special characters
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needed for the various languages and ancient scripts contained in
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the catalog) are at the heart of this informative piece. The
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illustrated side-bars and the list of product vendors make this
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a useful reference for others interested in undertaking a similar
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endeavor. -- DR
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Quarterman, John S. "The History of the Internet and the
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Matrix," ConneXions 9(4) (April 1995):13-25. -- The author of
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_The Matrix_ covers the high points of the development of
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the Internet, starting with Vannevar Bush's oft-cited article
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"As We May Think" (published in 1945) and ending with
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January 1995. While Quarterman occasionally interjects
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opinion and comment on the events he chronicles, it is largely
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a factual listing of milestones that is an excellent resource
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for authors and others who need to quickly check a fact. If
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a book-length Internet history is desired, see the Salus
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citation below. -- RT
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Pacific Bell. _ISDN: A User's Guide to Services, Applications &
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Resources in California_ 1994. (Also at
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[http://www.pacbell.com/Products/SDS-ISDN/Book/toc.html])
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-- Though the title of this document is accurate - it details the
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services and pricing of ISDN services in California - it also is
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a very readable introduction to ISDN (credit is given to a similar
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work produced at France Telecom, Inc.). Given that ISDN is likely
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to be a major strategy for access to the Internet for the home user
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and small business user alike, developing a clear understanding
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of what it is and how it might be priced and made available is a
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worthwhile activity for all Internet aficionados. Through clear
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text, inviting graphics, and explanatory sidebars, this small
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publication fits the bill. -- JLO
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Salus, Peter. _Casting the Net: From ARPANet to Internet
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and Beyond..._. Addison-Wesley: Reading, MA, 1995. -- In _Casting
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the Net_, Salus throws his wide and draws in an eclectic mix of
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dry network history, interesting characters, and selected RFCs
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(Requests for Comments) to tell the history of the Internet. Salus,
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author of the definitive (only?) history of UNIX (_A Quarter Century
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of UNIX_), benefits from being close enough to the subject to know
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the major players but remote enough not to be one. Each of five
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parts of the book is preceded by a timeline, and the collection of
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these provides a most useful summary history. "Diversions" are
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sprinkled throughout, and mainly consist of the more humorous and/or
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poetic RFCs. If a book-length Internet history is not what you seek,
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see the Quarterman article cited above. -- RT
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United States General Accounting Office. Report to Congress.
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_Information Superhighway: An Overview of Technology Challenges_.
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January 1995. -- While avoiding some of the critical issues still in
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debate, this "Report to Congress" does serve as a useful tutorial for
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three main technological issues including security (including privacy),
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interoperability of services and systems, and the reliability
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the network as more commerce and mission-critical data is carried
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on the "superhighway." -- JLO
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Optical Disc Technology
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Beiser, Karl. "Library of Congress Resources on CD-ROM" Online
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19(2) (March/April 1995):94-97. -- Beiser heralds the release of
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two Library of Congress products available on CD-ROM of special
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interest to technical services librarians. CDMARC Bibliographic
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is a multidisc collection of all machine-readable cataloging
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records distributed by the Library of Congress since 1969,
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regardless of language or form of materials. The Cataloger's
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Desktop is a Windows-based CD-ROM featuring sophisticated
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full-text access to a variety of reference materials helpful
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in cataloging materials (LC Rule Interpretations, Subject
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Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings, Subject Cataloging Manual:
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Classification, USMARC Concise Formats, USMARC Format for
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Authority Data, and USMARC code lists). -- TR
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Bennett, Hugh. "CD-R Growing Pains" CD-ROM Professional 8(4)
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(April 1995):29-35. -- When compared to the CD-R systems of two
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or three years ago, today's CD-R systems are considered
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relatively stable, refined and reliable. Bennett chronicles
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the technical growing pains of the CD-R industry: buggy firmware,
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questionable quality of CD-R discs, disc readability problems,
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and small memory buffers. Although many of these hurdles have
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been overcome, CD-R is not for everyone or every company--yet.
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One industry spokesperson advocates a conservative approach
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when implementing a CD-R system in the workplace: "If somebody
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wants to dedicate half of one person's full-time salary to use
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the equipment on a daily or weekly basis, and dedicate internal
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resources--meaning manpower--to understand the technology and
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use it on an everyday basis, CD-R is a very wise investment."
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If, however, a company's interest in CD-R has only one project
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for which they would only infrequently use the technology,
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relative cost savings would be marginal. -- TR
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Herther, Nancy. "CD-ROM at Ten Years: The Technology and the
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Industry Mature" Online 19(2) (March/April 1995):86-93. -- It's
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hard to believe that just ten years ago, CD-ROM drives cost
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$2000 each and only about a dozen title were available for
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sale. Today, drives can be purchased for $75 and a conservative
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estimate of the number of titles available would be in excess
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of 14,000! Herther celebrates the ten-year anniversary of CD-ROM
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by reviewing industry trends of the past decade and by looking
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forward into the next decade. Herther predicts future growth
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and penetration of CD-ROM technology, a further explosion of
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in-house CD-ROM production in corporations, and lower prices
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for better quality products at all market levels. -- TR
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Current Cites 6(5) (May 1995) ISSN: 1060-2356
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Copyright (C) 1995 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://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ISIS/current-cites/]
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To subscribe, send the message "sub cites [your name]" to
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listserv@library.berkeley.edu, replacing "[your name]"
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with your name. Copying is permitted for noncommercial use
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by computerized bulletin board/conference systems, individual
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scholars, and libraries. Libraries are authorized to add the
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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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permission from the editor, who may be reached in the following
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ways:
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trinne@library.berkeley.edu // trinne@ucblibra // (510)642-8173
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