230 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
230 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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_Current Cites_
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Volume 7, no. 10
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October 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/cc96.7.10.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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Chapman, Stephen and Anne R. Kenney. "Digital Conversion of Library
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Research Materials" D-Lib Magazine (October 1996)
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(http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october96/cornell/10chapman.html) -- Chapman
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and Kenney make a case for a "full informational capture" approach to
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digital conversion of library materials. They assert that only
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retaining all significant information from the original will suffice
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as delivery technologies improve. This does not always mean scanning
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at the highest possible resolutions, but at a resolution that is
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adequate to capture all significant information present in the
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original. Practical considerations such as the amount of staff time it
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would take to adequately evaluate each item to be scanned and the
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storage space required for high-quality images are barely mentioned.
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But nonetheless the article is useful to anyone trying to decide what
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comprises an adequate digital surrogate. -- RT
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Harter, Stephen P. and Hak Joon Kim. "Accessing Electronic Journals
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and Other E-publications: An Empirical Study" College & Research
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Libraries 57(5) (September 1996): 440-456. -- While much has been
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written about the potential of the electronic journal to revolutionize
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traditional scholarly communication, this article reports on an
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empirical study of existing e-journals and describes some of the
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practical problems associated with electronic publishing. Reliable
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access is critical if electronic journals are to succeed as a means of
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scholarly communication. Some of the factors that have contributed to
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lowered rates of access to e-journals are: directory information that
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is inaccurate and out-of-date; the need for special software or
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hardware in order to view various formats (such as DVI, MPEG and
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QuickTime); and electronic publishers who do not produce complete
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archives of back issues. These problems, along with the others cited
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in this study, suggest that there is a role that libraries can play in
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helping to solve them. For instance, just as libraries subscribe to
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print journals because individuals may not be able to afford to or
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because it would be impractical to subscribe to so many, libraries can
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provide the appropriate equipment and software for accessing and
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printing e-journals and manipulating related files. This is a
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thoughtful and thorough article that brings up many important issues
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about the access of e-journals while at the same time acknowledging
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that e-journals are still very much in the early stages of
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development. -- MP
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NETWORKS AND NETWORKING
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Banta, Glen. "Internet Pipe Schemes" Internet World 8(10) (October
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1996):62-70. [http://www.internetworld.com/1996/10/schemes.html] --
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Have you ever felt a vague unease that you should have at least a clue
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what ISDN, ATM, ADSL, SONET, and Frame Relay are? If not, blast on.
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This article isn't for you. But if you have a hankerin' to know what
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this alphabet soup means to your bandwidth and what you can accomplish
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with it, then stay tuned. Banta gives a straight-ahead explanation of
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various networking technologies and a peek into our bandwidth future.
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Now if it were only as simple as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)...
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-- RT
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Bollag, Burton. "In Western Europe, Twelve Institutions See the
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Internet and Videoconferences as Keys to Virtual University" Chronicle
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of Higher Education XLIII (5) (September 27, 1996): 35-36. -- Danish
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and Swedish academics are experimenting with Internet-based education
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that would cross international borders. In addition to standard,
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Web-based applications, they are exploring interactive "technologies
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of collaboration" to improve faculty- student relationships over long
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distances and avoid duplication in programs. Library and information
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science is already being offered over this network. Similarities
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between Danish and Swedish make collaboration much easier to manage.
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-- TH
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Brandt, D. Scott. "Relevancy and Searching the Internet" Computers in
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Libraries 16(8) (September 1996): 35-39. -- This article discusses
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precision vs. recall and results ranking in various types of Internet
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resources. When searching the Internet, it is important to understand
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what various starting points are likely to return. The large
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comprehensive databases such as AltaVista
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(http://altavista.digital.com/) put more burden on the user, returning
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many hits with less precision - boolean operators can help refine
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results. Starting with subject-based indices (Yahoo -
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http://www.yahoo.com/ or The Argus Clearinghouse -
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http://www.clearinghouse.net/) will narrow the field and return fewer
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hits, but with greater precision. Brandt stresses the importance of a
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critical eye and an item by item review of search results. -- CJC
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DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Thirty-four Universities Seek to Create a
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Network for Higher Education" The Chronicle of Higher Education XLIII
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(7) (October 11, 1996): A29. -- It's been foretold: higher education,
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the principal architect of the Internet, wants a new one for its real
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work. The goals of the new system would be to restore (and increase)
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speed and reliability for scholarly purposes. The new network,
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Internet II, would eventually become available to others who use the
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Internet. Internet II would not replace the Internet but would exist
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side by side with Internet "I". Significantly, Internet II
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participants would be responsible for funding their participation with
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less dependence on government sources. The list of 34 participants is
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a "Who's Who" of land grant and private institutions, which suggests a
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serious commitment. -- TH
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"The Hitchhiker's Guide to Cybernomics" The Economist 340 (7985)
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(September 28-October 4, 1996) Survey of the World Economy Supplement,
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46 pages. -- Although this article is about the economics of
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information and the changing global marketplace, it focuses in depth
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on the impact of networked information on work and life. Along the way
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the editors present a series of essays about how digital media are
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reshaping government policies about information use, ranging from the
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global economy to the emergence of new careers in cyberspace. As
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background reading, librarians will find this supplement interesting
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and informative. -- TH
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Perry, L. Stephen. "American and International Studies: Internet
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Resources" College & Research Libraries News 57(9) (October 1996):
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570. [http://www.ala.org/acrl/resoct.html] -- Area studies, whether
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American or international, share an interdisciplinary approach to
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their areas of inquiry that incorporates history, literature,
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folklore, politics, popular culture, economics, and more. Because of
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the wide range of intellectual inquiry inherent in area studies (not
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to mention the countless areas of the world to be studied), this
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month's C&RL's list of Internet resources is obviously a very
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selective one. The annotations, however, are informative not only
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describing the site but also, in some cases, providing a context for
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the resource as well as a brief evaluation of it. -- MP
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Schuyler, Michael. "Hooking Up to the Big-I Internet" Computers in
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Libraries 16(8) (September 1996): 26-30. -- With more and more
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libraries wanting to be represented on the WWW, Schuyler provides a
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basic outline of the necessary investments (hardware, software and
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education) to get a library connected to the Internet. Included is
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information on equipment, phone lines, Internet service providers and
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a summary of costs for startup and first year of operation. -- CJC
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Stearns, Susan. "The Internet-Enabled Virtual Public Library"
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Computers in Libraries 16(8) (Sept. 1996): 54-57.
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[http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep/library.htm] -- The concept of
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the virtual library as a user-friendly, computer-based, networked set
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of information resources is becoming reality in many public libraries.
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Early implementations were often OPAC-centered, with telnet and gopher
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access. This article features several public library web pages and
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projects which expand the notion of the 'library without walls' beyond
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the online catalog, providing e-mail for patrons, voter and community
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information and user training. Implications of the web-based virtual
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library include the necessity of upgrading hardware and software, as
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well as developing standards for collection development and cataloging
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of online resources and the continuing education of librarians and
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patrons. -- CJC
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
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"The Weirdest Computer of All" The Economist 340 (7985) (September
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28-October 4, 1996): 97-99.
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[http://www.economist.com/issue/28-09-96/st4046.html] -- This article
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describes "quantum computing" an experimental type of machine logic
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that might enable computers to move beyond binary processing. Instead
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of running on bits made up of an "on" and "off" switch, quantum
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computers would use "quantum bits," or qubits. Qubits would enable a
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computer to run as many calculations as there are numerical
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combinations, and do it simultaneously: that's 1,024 possible
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combinations, each representing a separate processing cycle.
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Naturally, it's a big speed increase over digital computers, which
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perform one calculation at a time! Possible commercial applications
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may begin to appear as early as 1998. The sticking point is error
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correction, as the "qubit" is based on quantum physics, and can
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represent points on a continuum of values that are between "on" and
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"off". -- TH
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GENERAL
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"Being Digital is Not Enough" The Economist 340 (7985) (September
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28-October 4, 1996): 100.
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[http://www.economist.com/issue/28-09-96/st4047.html] -- Why do new
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digital formats fail? The digital compact cassette was a total bust,
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even though it offers better quality than conventional cassettes. The
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editors suggest that there are two main reasons. First, a new product
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must be ten times better than the one it replaces. This is based on
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the "10X" rule that venture capitalists follow in making investment
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decisions. Second, it must succeed in "alluring" consumers with the
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promise of "modernity"--that is, it must be "cool" enough to make you
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want to trade up from your CD collection. -- TH
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Cisler, Steve. "Weatherproofing a Great, Good Place" American
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Libraries 27(9) (October 1996): 42-46. -- In this wide-ranging and
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entertaining article, Cisler covers a lot of philosophical and
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technical ground relating to public libraries and the challenges they
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face. Chock-full of examples and citations, the article identifies
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storm fronts and suggests how to ride them out. The punchline will
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come as no surprise to those who know Steve and his commitment to the
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values of librarians as well as the technologies (whether they be
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printing presses or computers) that help make them a reality. -- RT
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_________________________________________________________________
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Current Cites 7(10) (October 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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listproc@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 // (510)642-8173
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_________________________________________________________________
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