+ Page 1 + ----------------------------------------------------------------- Public-Access Computer Systems News Volume 4, Number 8 (1993) ISSN 1050-6004 Editors: Dana Rooks (LIBL@UHUPVM1) and Linda Thompson (LIB1J@UHUPVM1). Issued on an irregular basis by University Libraries, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-2091. ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS Kluwer FTP Server, 1 OCLC Acquires Information Dimensions, Inc., 2 OCLC Installs PRISM Keyword Searching, 3 OCLC Library School Program in Europe, 4 LC Announces Selection of Cataloging Research and Exchange Program Applicants, 4 FirstSearch Users Can Now Place Electronic ILL Requests, 5 DiscLit: British Authors Named to Media & Methods Awards Portfolio, 6 KLUWER FTP SERVER The new Kluwer ftp server offers comprehensive information on Kluwer's electrical engineering and computer science journals. The ftp server enables retrieval of the complete table of contents, dating back to issue 1/1 and including those of forthcoming issues not yet published. It also is possible to retrieve the Aims and Scope, Instruction for Authors, and Ordering information for each journal title. Besides information on journals, the ftp server also contains LaTeX style files for authors wishing to submit manuscripts. In the near future, Kluwer Academic Publishers plans to extend this service to include book previews (offering preface and table of contents). The Kluwer ftp server can be accessed at the following address: ftp world.std.com login: anonymous directory Kluwer/journals This service can also be reached using gopher. + Page 2 + If difficulties are encountered or for additional information, contact one of the Kluwer help desks. These desks can be reached at the following email addresses: for North America: for outside North America: Eric Maki emkluwer@world.std.com Martin van der Linden vanderlinden@wkap.nl OCLC ACQUIRES INFORMATION DIMENSIONS, INC. OCLC Online Computer Library Center has acquired Information Dimensions, Inc. (IDI) from Battelle Memorial Institute. IDI, located in Dublin, Ohio, will operate as a for-profit subsidiary of OCLC, a non-profit organization which is also located in Dublin. Immediately following the acquisition, the IDI board of directors elected K. Wayne Smith as chairman of the board and chief executive officer of IDI. Jim Hackbarth was named president and chief operating officer of IDI. K. Wayne Smith is president and chief executive officer, OCLC. Jim Hackbarth was formerly OCLC's director of sales and market planning. IDI markets computer software products for managing electronic documents and text on leading mainframe computers, microcomputers, workstations, and personal computers. Its two major software products--BASISplus and ZyINDEX--are widely recognized as industry leaders in database and documents management. IDI's clients include more than half of the Fortune 100 companies as well as numerous government agencies, publishers, and financial organizations. Sales in 1992 were $33 million, more than half of which were international. IDI has 280 employees worldwide, 130 of whom are located in its headquarters in Dublin. It maintains major sales offices in London, Paris, Geneva, Milan, Stockholm, and Frankfurt as well as eight such offices in North America. IDI has a subsidiary in Australia and distributors in Spain, Scandinavia, Korea, Singapore, Argentina, and other industrialized countries. IDI was founded in 1986 as a for-profit subsidiary of the not-for-profit Battelle Memorial Institute, the world-renowned research and development center headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. For additional information, contact Nita Dean, 614-761-5002. + Page 3 + OCLC INSTALLS PRISM KEYWORD SEARCHING Catalogers and interlibrary loan librarians now have the key to gaining wider access to the world's richest bibliographic database. PRISM Keyword Searching, installed April 17, is a powerful new tool for library staff, providing keyword access to all 27 million bibliographic records in the OCLC Online Union Catalog as a supplement to existing PRISM features. The added searching method provides subject access from within the PRISM interface to allow streamlining of workflow so virtually all searching can take place on PRISM. With PRISM Keyword Searching, users can perform searches using the "find" command with 12 new keyword indexes: author, frequency, language, notes, place, publisher, report number, series, subject, subject/title/contents, title, and uniform title. PRISM Keyword Searching also allows users to combine up to eight terms using the Boolean "AND," qualify searches by date and format, broaden searches with character masking, and revise their last search using the new "revise" command. Keyword searching supplements numeric, derived key, combined key, and title phrase searching options in PRISM. Copy catalogers will be able to locate records and verify headings more easily with PRISM Keyword Searching. Original catalogers can use keyword searching to determine the appropriate subject headings and classification numbers to assign to a work. The catalogers will be better able to locate records and headings that are more difficult to retrieve through other searching techniques. Interlibrary loan librarians will find it helpful for locating records from requests that are either incomplete or inaccurate. Because it requires more computer resources than numeric or derived search keys, PRISM Keyword Searching is priced higher than other PRISM searches. Searchers will use keyword searching when it is the most efficient technique to find what they're looking for--an approach that will save them valuable time. The new service is priced on a per-search basis. Users should check with their networks for pricing levels. For additional information, contact Chris Grabenstatter, 614- 764-6181, or Nita Dean, 614-761-5002. + Page 4 + OCLC LIBRARY SCHOOL PROGRAM IN EUROPE The OCLC Library School Program will be offered to schools of library and information science in Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. The program, available since 1984 to ALA accredited library schools in North America, was established to provide library school faculty and students access to OCLC cataloging, reference, and resource sharing products and services to be integrated into the school's teaching program. OCLC waives charges for the use of most services, thus contributing to the teaching resources of those schools that participate in the program. Most library schools in Europe have access to the European Academic and Research Network and to national and other Pan-European academic and research networks, and through these networks to the OCLC network node in Europe. These network facilities will allow access to OCLC's online products and services. The OCLC Library School Program is open to all library and information schools in Europe that are able to demonstrate they offer undergraduate and graduate degree courses in library and information science considered by their country's library association to be comparable to ALA accredited programs. For additional information, contact Nita Dean, 614-761-5002, or Sandra Brookes, 44 21 456 4656. LC ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF CATALOGING RESEARCH AND EXCHANGE PROGRAM APPLICANTS Winston Tabb, Associate Librarian for Collections Services at the Library of Congress, is pleased to announce the selection of four applicants for the Library's new pilot Cataloging Research and Exchange Programs. Announced last year, the programs are based on the Library's desire to improve its cataloging operations, particularly in the area of arrearage reduction, by engaging in applied research and analysis and staff exchange activities with the library community. Dr. Ling H. Jeng, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of California, Los Angeles, is one of two candidates selected for the Visiting Researcher in Cataloging Program. Her research will identify the specific factors essential to cataloging expertise at the Library of Congress to develop computer tools that will assist in the cataloging process. + Page 5 + Dr. Chandra Prabha, Senior Research Scientist in the Office of Research, OCLC, will also be participating in the Visiting Researcher in Cataloging Program. Her area of research will involve the components of original cataloging. Michi S. Hoban, Assistant Catalog Librarian at Dartmouth College Library, and Cynthia Watters, Head of the Catalog Department at Middlebury College Library, are the two candidates selected to participate in the Cataloger Exchange Program. The Library of Congress gratefully acknowledges the contributions of Beverly Lynch, Dean and Professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Library and Information Science, K. Wayne Smith, President of OCLC, Margaret A. Otto, Librarian of the College, Dartmouth College Library, and Ronald E. Rucker, College Librarian, Middlebury College Library, and their respective organizations for their generous release of valued staff. For more information on any of these programs, contact Glen Zimmerman, Director for Technical Processes Research, Collections Services, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 20540-4030; Internet: gzim@seq1.loc.gov. FIRSTSEARCH USERS CAN NOW PLACE ELECTRONIC ILL REQUESTS Libraries providing The FirstSearch Catalog now have the option of letting patrons enter interlibrary loan requests into an online review file that is processed by library staff. The newly installed link from FirstSearch to PRISM Interlibrary Loan (ILL) can help users who find items in WorldCat or in OCLC's ArticleFirst serials database to borrow materials from OCLC member libraries. WorldCat, OCLC's Online Union Catalog, with 27 million bibliographic records and over 450 million location symbols, gives FirstSearch users access to the holdings of thousands of libraries. The FirstSearch/ILL Link is optional and must be turned on by the library's FirstSearch system administrator. It also can be made available, via separate FirstSearch authorizations, to some users but not to others, depending on whether they have ILL privileges. There is no charge for using the link but libraries must be OCLC members that participate in PRISM ILL. The link is part of the OCLC Dispatch Service. In January, OCLC introduced a document ordering capability, and FirstSearch users began to order articles cited in ArticleFirst and Periodical Abstracts databases. + Page 6 + The FirstSearch Catalog is designed for library patrons, with an end-user interface that allows patrons to move easily through an online search in just a few simple steps, without training or online searching experience. It currently provides access to 32 databases. For additional information, contact Tam Dalrymple, 614-761-5054, or Nita Dean, 614-761-5002. DISCLIT: BRITISH AUTHORS NAMED TO MEDIA & METHODS AWARDS PORTFOLIO DiscLit: British Authors, a CD-ROM-based tool produced by G.K. Hall and OCLC for high school and college literature students, is one of the winners in the English CD-ROM category of the Media & Methods Awards Portfolio. Media & Methods presents annual awards for "outstanding instructional materials and services." Its awards "honor the commitment and creativity of the producers, manufacturers, and suppliers who are making a significant contribution to excellence in education nationwide." The award will be announced in the May/June issue. DiscLit: British Authors is the second OCLC compact disc to win in the English CD-ROM category. In 1992, DiscLit: American Authors was honored by Media & Methods. DiscLit: British Authors provides information and criticism about British authors. The disc contains the full text of 145 volumes of Twayne's English Authors Series plus the OCLC British Authors Catalog--200,000 citations of widely held books by and about British authors from the OCLC Online Union Catalog. The authors range from Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Defoe to Woolf, Stoppard, and Rushdie. Media & Methods combines today's educational media and technology with hands-on applications. The magazine features practical case studies, new developments, and implementation strategies that are vital to school libraries and classrooms. For additional information, contact Tam Dalrymple, 614-761-5054, or Nita Dean, 614-761-5002. + Page 7 + ----------------------------------------------------------------- Public-Access Computer Systems News is an electronic newsletter that is distributed on BITNET, Internet, and other computer networks. There is no subscription fee. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 (BITNET) or LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU (Internet) that says: SUBSCRIBE PACS-P First Name Last Name. PACS-P subscribers also receive two other electronic serials: Current Cites and The Public-Access Computer Systems Review. Public-Access Computer Systems News is Copyright (C) 1993 by the University Libraries, University of Houston. All Rights Reserved. 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