210 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
210 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
_Current Cites_
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Volume 7, no. 12
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December 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/cc96.7.12.html
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Contributors:
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Campbell Crabtree, Terry Huwe,
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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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DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Journal Articles Dating Back as Far as
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a Century are Being Put On Line" Chronicle of Higher Education
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43(15) (December 6, 1996):A30-A32. -- This articles traces the
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development of the ambitious JSTOR program for digitizing
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journals from its earliest inception. As the brainchild of Mellon
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Foundation president William G. Bowen, JSTOR enjoyed long-term
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foundation support, and now has separate offices and its own
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board of trustees. JSTOR utilizes a World Wide Web interface,
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but allows scholars to view pages exactly as they appear in print.
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Although startup costs for participants constitute another
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financial challenge for research libraries, the release of "prime
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space for prime journals" is a tempting and much-needed benefit of
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the program. Moreover, JSTOR's information scientists believe that
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the system will allow libraries to build stronger links with
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faculty users and realize savings on costly microfilm and
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microfiche collection programs. -- TH
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Guha, R.V. "Meta Content Format"
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(http://hotsauce.apple.com/text/mcf.html)
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-- Meta Content Format (MCF) is a proposed language from Apple
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Computer for representing meta content (see next cite). This white
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paper on MCF specifically mentions that MCF might be one way of
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implementing the Dublin Core in computer programs. MCF is also
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being submitted to the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
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for adoption as a standard. A related
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(http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-355.html#1nk3) article
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on MCF was published in the electronic journal for Macs, Tidbits.
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-- RR
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Weibel, Stuart & Jean Godby, Eric Miller, Ron Daniel. "OCLC/NCSA
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Metadata Workshop Report" (http://www.oclc.org:5046/conferences/
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metadata/dublin_core_report.html) -- Meta content is information
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_about_ content that might exist in a web page, web site,
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unstructured text file or highly structured database. Meta
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content has recently entered the world of HTML web pages in the
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form of META tags, which can contain information about a web page,
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such as it's creator, copyright info, or an index of keywords
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representing the page's content. Also significant for the academic,
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library, and cultural information sectors has been the development
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of the Dublin Core, a proposed set of core elements for
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representing meta-data about digital content that might exist as
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an image file, database, individual record, etc. Meta-data will
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allow these digital resources themselves to be cataloged and
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searched (particularly across the Internet) more easily regardless
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of their particular format or structure. This paper is the report
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from the workshop sponsored by OCLC and NCSA to develop the Dublin
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Core. The area of meta content and how it will be represented and
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implemented with have far reaching implications for anyone involved
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in the creation, management, or access of information in digital
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forms, making this report a recommended read. -- RR
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MULTIMEDIA AND HYPERMEDIA
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"RTSP is a Proposed Standard for Delivery of Real-Time Media Over
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the Internet and Intranets"
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(http://home.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease263.html)
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-- RSTP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) is a new proposed standard
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for delivering audio, video, animation, and other time-based
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multimedia over the Internet. This article is a short press
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announcement of the new proposal, but contains enough detail to be
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useful as an introduction. The proposal, which is supported by
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40 industry players, is significant in two ways. First, it would
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standardize and facilitate quick cross-platform development of
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tools for delivering multimedia in real time across the Internet.
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A major obstacle to this thus far has been the confusion and
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proliferation of proprietary solutions, many platform bound.
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Second, the proposal is being submitted to the IETF (Internet
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Engineering Task Force) for review and adoption as an open
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standard. The connectivity of the Internet (and probably fear
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of Microsoft) is encouraging the computer industry to work
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together to create open standards - which is encouraging news
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indeed for the non-commercial sector since tools can be developed
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as freeware or cheaper commercially, and there will be less
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confusion about which formats are most accessible or archivable.
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There is another short companion article about the relationship of
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RTSP and Microsoft's strategy at the (http://www.inquiry.com/
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publication/cmp/CWK/19961028/CWK1996102850121.html) Communications
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Week website. -- RR
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Ryer, Kelly. "Apple Charts QTML Future" MacWeek 10(45) (November
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25, 1996):10, 12 -- QTML does not stand for QuickTime Markup
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Language, thank goodness, but rather QuickTime Media Layer.
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QuickTime is a popular format for the creation of multimedia on
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and off the web. Even though it is possible to playback QuickTime
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files on Windows machines, it was possible to author QT only on
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Macs. Playback of QT variations (QT-VR, QT-3D, etc.) was
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questionable. QTML purports to overcome that limitation to one
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platform which made QT an appealing but limited choice for
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non-commercial media authors who are concerned with maximum
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accessibility and standards-based information. QTML is
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incorporating MPEG and motion JPEG (two standards) as well as
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creating an applications layer interface which will make it
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possible to easily create QT programs for authoring and playback
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on multiple platforms. Ease of use and ability to cross platforms
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are major advantages for those in the information access sector
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who need to deal with multimedia. -- RR
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NETWORKS AND NETWORKING
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Shrage, Michael. "Cultural Currency"
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(http://www.packet.com/schrage) -- This article examines the role
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of non-profit organizations in continuing development of the web,
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using the case study of museums online. While the author is
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perhaps over-hasty to judge that museums in general have made poor
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use of the web, the particular museum web project mentioned as
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worthy is indeed exciting (the Guggenheim sponsorship of
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Internet-based artworks). Overall the article is an encouraging
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argument that while the commercial sector has taken over much
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development of the web, there is still a vital role to be played
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by the non-profit and education sector. -- RR
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GENERAL
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"Books, Bricks and Bytes" Daedalus 125(4) (Fall 1996) Special
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Issue: What is the role of the library in the context of a world
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that is in the midst of making a giant leap from the industrial
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age to the information age? -- In an issue devoted entirely to
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libraries, Daedalus ponders the many implications of the digital
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library. Whether you are a librarian, a scholar, a publisher or a
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concerned citizen -- in other words if you are a member of a
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community served by a library: that is, if are a member of the
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public -- this special issue covers the entire scope of questions
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confronting the library community of the late 20th century. Among
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the topics covered are: the National Information Infrastructure
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and all that it implies about intellectual property, fair use and
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electronic publishing ("What is a Digital Library? Technology,
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Intellectual Property, and the Public Interest" by Peter Lyman and
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"Buy or Lease? Two Models for Scholarly Information at the End
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(or the Beginning) of an Era" by Ann Okerson); the changing nature
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of the library profession ("A Library Historian Looks at
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Librarianship" by Kenneth Carpenter and "Librarianship: A Changing
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Profession" by Peter Young); the role of libraries in shaping
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communities both here in the United States ("Redefining Community
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the Public Library" by Deanna Marcum) and abroad ("Problems of
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Russian Libraries in an Age of Social Change" and "The Story of
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Libraries in India"); libraries as buildings ("Bricks and Bytes:
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Libraries in Flux"); the history of libraries ("The History of the
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French National Library") and the future of libraries ("The
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Centrality of Communities to the Future of Major Public Libraries"
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by Kenneth Dowlin and Eleanor Shapiro and "American Public
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Libraries: A Long Transformative Moment" by Susan Kent Goldberg).
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There are nineteen articles in all, more than can be summarized in
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this far-too-brief cite. -- MP
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_Buildings, Books, and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in the
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Digital Age_. Washington, DC: Benton Foundation, November 1996.
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(http://www.benton.org/Kellogg/buildings.html) -- Anyone involved
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with a library should read this report. Luckily, many of them
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have already received it. The American Library Association teamed
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up with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (which funded the report) to
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mail it out to 20,000 ALA members in leadership positions. The rest
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of us can simply visit the Web site to read it. The purpose of the
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report is to discover "where the public supports -- or fails to
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support -- libraries as they confront the digital world." We may
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not always like what we read, but we need to read it. -- RT
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Current Cites 7(12) (December 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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