194 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
194 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
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_Current Cites_
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Volume 9, no. 12
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December 1998
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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/1998/cc98.9.12.html
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Contributors:
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Terry Huwe, Margaret Phillips, Richard Rinehart,
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Roy Tennant, Jim Ronningen, Lisa Yesson
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Digital Libraries
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Baker, Thomas. "Languages for Dublin Core" D-Lib Magazine (December
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1998) (http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december98/12baker.html). - This
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article offers a different and interesting perspective on the Dublin
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Core metadata element set and standardization process than those views
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that have come before. By looking at the process and content through
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the lens of language, Baker provides us with perhaps a better model
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and justification for the often frustrating and confusing process of
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defining a basic metadata standard. Baker also illustrates that the
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Dublin Core is emerging as a truly global draft standard, with
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implementations in dozens of countries around the world. The language
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issues that arise from these implementations are also briefly covered
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here as well. For DC wonks this is a must-read. For others, it may
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have some interesting moments but it is not essential for a basic
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understanding of the DC. - RT
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Greenstein, Daniel. "The Arts and Humanities Data Service Three Years'
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On D-Lib Magazine (December 1998)
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(http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december98/greenstein/12greenstein.html). -
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If you are unfamiliar with the collections and services of the Arts
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and Humanities Data Service, this article will serve as a good
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introduction to what they have to offer the academic communities in
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these subject areas. If you are familiar with their work (which
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includes the long-running and unique Oxford Text Archive, among other
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notable collections and services), then you should concentrate on the
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sections "Collections Development", "Resource Discovery" and
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"Challenges to be Confronted" to discover how they do it and what
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challenges remain. - RT
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"Lessons Learned: National Digital Library Competition" Washington,
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DC: Library of Congress/Ameritech, 1998.
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(http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award/lessons.html). - This Web page
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provides some useful insights into the process of creating digital
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library collections. The Library of Congress pulled out quotes from
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some of the reports submitted by libraries participating in the
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LC/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition. The purpose in
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doing so is to provide to others doing or thinking about doing
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something similar some anecdotal information about some of the issues
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they may encounter. In reading these brief extracts from a variety of
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projects, some interesting things emerge. One is the diversity of
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problems encountered and solutions selected. Another is that very few
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of the projects (if any) were executed exactly as initially planned.
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From this evidence alone it is clear that flexibility and
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problem-solving skills are two essential ingredients for any digital
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library project. Links are provided to the output of the various
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projects, so you can gauge for yourself how well these projects have
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overcome their challenges. - RT
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Nardi, Bonnie A. and Vicki L. O'Day. "Application and Implications of
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Agent Technology for Libraries" The Electronic Library 16 (5):
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(October 1998): 325-337. - At first glance this article may appear to
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be yet another instance of the librarian profession under siege.
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Happily, it turns out to be a balanced and persuasive case for the
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creation of a diverse information ecology, taking the best from both
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software agents and human agents. Nardi and O'Day present a set of
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nine principles for designing agent technology based on their studies
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of reference librarians ("exemplary human agents"). From their
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observations, they recommend that agents should be "activity-aware"
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and accommodate client's preferences, constraints and environment.
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They are careful to avoid the overly simplistic notion that software
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agents will replace librarians. Instead, the authors acknowledge the
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unique (and often invisible) skills of librarians such as the subtlety
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and tact of a reference interview and the mental cataloging of
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extensive resources. But they also explain some of the benefits that
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software agents would offer, in their conclusion that the strengths of
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both human agents and software agents are critical to effectively
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providing information services. For those who are still concerned
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about the future of the librarian profession, the authors offer
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important new librarian roles, including assisting in the design of
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these intelligent systems - imagine that! - LY
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Networks & Networking
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Peete, Gary R. Business, Government and the Law on the Internet.
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Berkeley, California: Library Solutions Press, 1999. ISBN:
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1-882208-24-2. - As with all of the Internet Workshop Series
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workbooks, this guide to business, government and the law is designed
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to be either a self-paced guide or a model training tool. Included in
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this book is a ready reference guide with a briefly annotated list of
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Internet sites. Module One focuses on the World Wide Web providing an
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overview of Netscape mechanics and Web search strategies that use
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business, government and law topics as examples. A special section on
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evaluating Internet sites is particularly useful. Module Two discusses
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other Internet series such as email, ftp telnet and even gopher. - MP
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Port, Otis. "Through a Glass Quickly" Businessweek 3607 (December 7,
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1998): 96-98. - Lucent Technologies has pioneered a new kind of
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photonics technology that may enable fiber-optics networks to shatter
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all previously forecast limits on traffic. This article showcases the
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new technology, known as "Wave Length Division Multiplexing," or WDM.
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WDM "compacts" the rainbow of light that conveys messages into
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ever-smaller bands on a fiber line. The result is that very dense
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communication, such as three-dimensional depictions of surgery, or
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instantaneous warehouse-to-consumer information streams, will pose no
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serious bandwith problem. Commercial products that use WDM may appear
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by the turn of the century, so it's not that far away. Here's a
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sampling of the good news. This technology offers a real possibility
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that network communications costs (both telecom and Internetworking)
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may drop to zero sooner versus later, enabling all computers and
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services to maintain constant connections. The bad news: the
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industries that will be most affected have not begun to speculate
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seriously about how to manage e-commerce if connectivity is
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essentially free, so there could be some serious catch-up work ahead.
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- TH
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General
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Schorr, Herbert and Salvatore J. Stolfo. "A Digital Government for the
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21st Century" Communications of the ACM 41(11) (Nov. 1998)
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(http://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/cacm/1998-41-11/p15-schorr/
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p15-schorr.pdf) - "Many government agencies procure expensive and
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complex information systems without the benefit of sufficient
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interaction with each other or with the R&D community." That
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representative quote is from the full report
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(http://www.isi.edu/nsf/final.html) of the Workshop on Research and
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Development Opportunities in Federal Information Services, which the
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CACM article summarizes. Examples of such opportunities are proposed
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projects in crisis management systems, large-scale statistical
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datasets, online public interaction with agencies, and "intelligent"
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transportation. Current government services are characterized as
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burdened by outmoded legacy systems which are limited to particular
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tasks and vertically integrated in an impermeable stovepipe
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configuration. (There's a clear tone of envy for the private sector,
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flowering with systems that are increasingly flexible, responsive and
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interoperable.) Admirably, thorny issues are addressed, such as the
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obstacles formed by the culture clash of the academic, industrial and
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public service communities. Though it's a bit buffered by the
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hifalutin' language used in both article and report, a little reading
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between the lines reveals a painful acknowledgement that for most
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computer people, "government" means "bloated bureaucracy" and they
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want nothing to do with it. But folks, remember DARPA and what it led
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to? This call for help is worth considering, not just for the
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immediate gratification in federal research money, but for the
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opportunity to create a better future for the public good. - JR
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Stoffle, Carla J. "Literacy 101 for the Digital Age" American
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Libraries 29(11) (December 1998):46-48. - Stoffle's thesis is that
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information literacy is essential for everyone, and academic
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librarians must rethink how they help students achieve it. Among the
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strategies that Stoffle suggests are: "Libraries will have to make
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education a priority"; "[We must] extend our concept of librarians'
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role as educators to partnering with faculty in designing individual
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courses and curricula"; "partnerships with other institutional units
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and professionals are equally essential"; "Librarians must also modify
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their concepts of how they'll teach such skills"; "we'll also need to
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identify how support staff can help"; "Librarians must learn how to be
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effective teachers and designers of assignments in more systematic
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ways than the hit-or-miss methods in vogue today"; and, "librarians
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will need to find ways to continually develop their own technological
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skills". A sidebar "Learning from the Teaching Libraries" by Kimberly
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M. Donnelly highlights a few of the porgrams around the U.S. which are
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attempting to implement such strategies.- RT
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_________________________________________________________________
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Current Cites 9(12) (December 1998) ISSN: 1060-2356
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Copyright © 1998 by the Library, University of California,
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Berkeley. _All rights reserved._
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/1998/cc98.9.12.html
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Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized bulletin
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board/conference systems, individual scholars, and libraries.
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Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their collections at no
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cost. This message must appear on copied material. All commercial use
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requires permission from the editor
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All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
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respective holders. Mention of a product in this publication does not
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necessarily imply endorsement of the product.
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To subscribe to the Current Cites distribution list, send the message
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"sub cites [your name]" to listserv@library.berkeley.edu, replacing
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"[your name]" with your name. To unsubscribe, send the message "unsub
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cites" to the same address.
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Editor: Teri Andrews Rinne, trinne@library.berkeley.edu, (510)
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642-8173
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