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Current Cities Volume 06 Number 05
_Current Cites_
Volume 6, no. 5
May 1995
Information Systems Instruction & Support
The Library
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by Teri Andrews Rinne
ISSN: 1060-2356
URL:http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ISIS/current-cites/
Contributors:
Campbell Crabtree, John Ober, Margaret Phillips,
David Rez, Richard Rinehart, Teri Rinne, Roy Tennant
Electronic Publishing
Blumenstyk, Goldie. "Copyright Clearance Center" Chronicle of
Higher Education 41(32) (April 21, 1995):A32-A33. -- The
Copyright Clearance Center, the non-profit organization that
facilitates permission to reprint portions of copyrighted
materials, unveiled a Web-based service that will allow its
users to read the catalog of rights and fees, report
photocopying plans, and calculate the costs of reprinting
materials. See [http://www.directory.net/copyright]. By going
online, the Center hopes to streamline the process by which
libraries, colleges and businesses obtain the rights to
reproduce portions of books and journals for participating
publishers. Furthermore, the Center hopes to encourage
publishers to create "electronic books" that could be sold
and delivered over the network. Right now, the service
includes information on the rights to photocopy about 75,000
titles which covers somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of the
items requested. Members of the publishing industry are quoted
as saying that they are still reluctant to hand over
responsibility for managing reproduction rights until they
better understand the market and the technology. -- MP
Boeri, Robert J. and Martin Hensel. "What Good is SGML?"
CD-ROM Professional 8(4) (April 1995):108-110. -- Citing the
experiences of three publishing groups, Boeri and Hensel
provide reasons for CD-ROM publishers to use Standard
Generalized Markup Language (SGML). They found that using
SGML is an economical way to publish, dramatically reducing
both cost-per-page and time-to-market. Particularly appealing
about SGML is its system independence, which assures data
longevity, and that multiple, customizable products can be
derived from one SGML-encoded source, reducing duplication of
effort. The potential difficulties of using SGML (the transition
of production, conversion of legacy documents) are easily and
quickly outweighed by the rewards of increased data flexibility
and reduced creation cost. -- CJC
Caruso, Denise. "Digital Commerce" The New York Times 144
(April 17, 1995). In this week's column, Caruso muses on the
potential profits that publishers could make by going online.
Rather than making electronic publications available through
online services like America Online to which they must pay a
fee, publishers are now realizing that they can publish directly
on the World Wide Web. And, with electronic payment systems now
being designed, publishers can charge for their services and
reap their profits directly. Caruso celebrates the fact that
there are believed to be 100 new Web sites created every day
and that the Web allows anybody -- from Time-Warner to
angst-ridden teenagers -- to produce a homepage. However, she
does not question the lack of access to these sites and seems
perfectly satisfied with the fact that her favorite Web site was
discovered the way most "neat stuff on the Web" is found --
someone sent her the address. -- MP
Lewis, Peter H. "Big Newspapers to Help Locals on Internet"
The New York Times 144 (April 20, 1995). -- This story in the
Times business section reports on the establishment of the New
Century Network, an alliance of eight major U.S. newspaper
companies whose goal is to provide technical and consulting
support that will allow more than 123 affiliated daily
newspapers to develop online services on the World Wide Web.
Though some major newspaper companies are not affiliated with
the alliance, New Century Network hopes to create common standards
and a unified, nationwide system to withstand competition from
regional telephone companies and commercial information networks.
--MP
Reisman, Richard R. "CD-ROM/Online Hybrids: The Missing Link?"
CD-ROM Professional 8(4) (April 1995):67-74. -- Reisman argues
that since CD-ROM and online, the two most effective and popular
technologies in electronic publishing, have complementary
advantages and disadvantages (see Wiedemer and Boelio below),
the two technologies should be combined into a hybrid system.
Such a hybrid system would be formed by embedding a specialized
software communications module into a conventional CD-ROM
product, maintains all the features of the original CD-ROM while
adding an easy to use, inexpensive communications facility to
retrieve updated information from a remote service. This approach
brings to CD-ROM products the immediacy of online access while
retaining none of its disadvantages. -- TR
Wiedemer, John David and David B. Boelio. "CD-ROM Versus Online:
An Economic Analysis for Publishers" CD-ROM Professional 8(4)
(April 1995):36-42. -- The authors compare the costs, advantages,
and disadvantages of CD-ROM and online as an electronic publishing
distribution medium. They predict that CD-ROM and online services
will co-exist peacefully and even work together in some cases. One
of the main selling points of online services is instant access to
vast amounts of data that can be updated as frequently as desired.
Less time-sensitive material can usually be provided more cheaply
by CD-ROM, with its relatively high capacity and cost efficient
storage capabilities. The article's accompanying graphic compares
the cost of delivering one megabyte of information: online $17,
print $3.50, 3.5 diskette $0.55 and CD-ROM $0.0024! -- TR
Multimedia and Hypermedia
Ardman, Harvey. "IBM Digital Library Manipulates Multimedia"
Imaging World 4(5): 1, 66. -- With the number of "digital library"
initiatives being announced recently, one can become confused as
to where the libraries are in all this. IBM's announcement of
their own company-wide "digital library" project can be seen as a
booster-shot in the arm of digitizing library collections by
drawing the interest and support of one of the leading computer
companies, or conversely, as a movement that by-passes the
professional leadership of actual librarians. A project that is
the combination of both is, of course, ideal. IBM is not alone
in this project; its interesting partners range from the Vatican
and the L.A. Public Library to ViaCom and TelStar. -- RR
Argoski, Jason. "Virtual Museums: The Web Experience"
[http://mirror.wwa.com/mirror/rov-int/95/museums.htm]
-- The author covers many salient points raised in getting a
museum to create a presence on the Web. He points out that while
much educational information on the 'net has tended to be rather
rigorous and academic, museums are often both educational and
entertaining - a winning combination with the Web's newer home
audiences. Other issues raised are the flexibility of data,
intelligent use of hyperlinks, easy navigation and more. This
article would be an excellent companion piece to a more
technical article for someone starting to plan for any
educational institution's public face on the 'net. -- RR
Bowen, Jonathan. "Museums and the Internet"
["http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/museums/talk/]
-- This is actually a set of slides from a talk the author
gave on the Internet, with hyperlinks online, creating a
brief reference piece. The slides/pages would be useful to
anyone giving a persuasive presentation to a museum board
about going "online"; the author has explicitly allowed
duplication for non-commercial use. The author also maintains
the extensive list of online museums on the WWW Virtual
Library at Oxford University Computing Laboratory. See
[http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/museums/"]. -- RR
Networks and Networking
"Do We Really Want to Be Wired?" Educom Review 30(3)
(May/June 1995):12-23. -- The academic technos on the
Educom Review mailing list are getting a surprise in
their mailbox this month, in the form of a parody/imitation/
critique of the publishing phenomenon known as _Wired_.
Educom Review editor and publisher John Gehl is openly
gleeful at being able to break the rules of readable
typography and comprehensible page layout under the guise
of mimicking the style of the magazine that the six pieces
in this special section discuss. Some contributors argue
that _Wired_ is much more than its eye-straining visual
experimentation, while others assert it is mere technodazzle
without content. But no matter which side of the fence you're
sitting on, Gehl states, "_Wired_ has been doing something to
pay attention to, if you're interested in information
technology, contemporary education, or modern culture." Gehl's
audience is likely interested in all three. -- RT
Jacobson, Robert L. "Librarians Agree on Coordination of Digital
Plans" Chronicle of Higher Education 41(35) (May 12, 1995) A28.
-- The Commission on Preservation and Access of the National
Digital Library Federation is a newly-established, non-profit
group of leading academic and public libraries whose goal is to
set policy on financing the development and access of digitized
material. With so many projects that have sprung up recently,
the federation hopes to adopt "common standards and best
practices" for digitizing and retrieving information in order
that electronic materials be as widely available as possible.
-- MP
Jacobson, Robert L. "Taming the Internet" Chronicle of Higher
Education 41(32) (April 21, 1995):A29-A31. -- This article
focuses on efforts by librarians to seek better subject
indexing of the ever-growing yet unorganized mass of materials
that now makes up the Internet. While some tools and guides to
the Internet do exist, most of these resources were created by
computer experts, not librarians. Librarians, it is argued, have
the professional training and collection development expertise
to provide authoritative subject access and analysis of Internet
material in the same way that they evaluate and provide subject
access to printed materials. The peer review process for printed
journals along with collection development policies help users
of traditional libraries know which resources are important or
reputable; the Internet, however, does not have similar
standards. As long as library administrators fail to make
organizing the Internet a priority, argues Jacobson, the
academic potential of the Internet will never be realized.
The article profiles collaborative efforts by New York area
librarians to index specific subjects in the Internet by
creating subject-based gophers. Also discussed are efforts by
the Research Libraries Group, OCLC Online Computer Library
Center and the Association for Research Libraries to develop
online catalogs to electronic resources as well as their efforts
to develop a Web homepage that would provide links to electronic
journals. -- MP
Koster, Martijn. "Robots in the Web: Threat or Treat?,"
ConneXions 9(4) (April 1995): 2-12. -- In this informative
article, Koster reviews Web robots (or "spiders," "wanderers,"
or "worms") which are used for dynamically gathering information
on Web resources. He reviews the uses to which robots can be put,
the operational costs or dangers of using them, issues relating
to the quality of the resulting catalog of resources, ethical
questions any prospective Web robot author should consider,
and alternative strategies for resource discovery. This excellent
overview of the Web robot phenomenon includes a thorough
bibliography. -- RT
Ober, John. "Challenges in Teaching and Learning Multimedia,"
FID News Bulletin 45(4) (April 1995):116-120. -- Current
Cites contributor John Ober enumerates the challenges
facing those learning and teaching multimedia systems.
Specific instructional problems discussed include the
difficulty of creating useful metaphors to explain aspects
of multimedia systems, the challenge of describing entirely
new forms of interaction and work (hypermedia, for example),
and the pitfall of being seduced by powerful presentation
possibilities (color, sound, moving images) to the detriment
of attention to actual content. -- RT
Pountain, Dick. "The British Library's Catalog is On-Line"
Byte 22(5) (May 1995): 62-70. -- This article describes the
system that The British Library built to place their 18 million
volume paper-based catalog online. One of their primary goals
was to have full-text searching capabilities across the multiple
languages and alphabets included in the paper catalog. The focus
of this article is on the technology involved in building this
system. The hardware (a two-level client/server system using DEC
computers with touch-screens) and the software (BRS/Search for the
full-text retrieval and Fontographer to handle special characters
needed for the various languages and ancient scripts contained in
the catalog) are at the heart of this informative piece. The
illustrated side-bars and the list of product vendors make this
a useful reference for others interested in undertaking a similar
endeavor. -- DR
Quarterman, John S. "The History of the Internet and the
Matrix," ConneXions 9(4) (April 1995):13-25. -- The author of
_The Matrix_ covers the high points of the development of
the Internet, starting with Vannevar Bush's oft-cited article
"As We May Think" (published in 1945) and ending with
January 1995. While Quarterman occasionally interjects
opinion and comment on the events he chronicles, it is largely
a factual listing of milestones that is an excellent resource
for authors and others who need to quickly check a fact. If
a book-length Internet history is desired, see the Salus
citation below. -- RT
Pacific Bell. _ISDN: A User's Guide to Services, Applications &
Resources in California_ 1994. (Also at
[http://www.pacbell.com/Products/SDS-ISDN/Book/toc.html])
-- Though the title of this document is accurate - it details the
services and pricing of ISDN services in California - it also is
a very readable introduction to ISDN (credit is given to a similar
work produced at France Telecom, Inc.). Given that ISDN is likely
to be a major strategy for access to the Internet for the home user
and small business user alike, developing a clear understanding
of what it is and how it might be priced and made available is a
worthwhile activity for all Internet aficionados. Through clear
text, inviting graphics, and explanatory sidebars, this small
publication fits the bill. -- JLO
Salus, Peter. _Casting the Net: From ARPANet to Internet
and Beyond..._. Addison-Wesley: Reading, MA, 1995. -- In _Casting
the Net_, Salus throws his wide and draws in an eclectic mix of
dry network history, interesting characters, and selected RFCs
(Requests for Comments) to tell the history of the Internet. Salus,
author of the definitive (only?) history of UNIX (_A Quarter Century
of UNIX_), benefits from being close enough to the subject to know
the major players but remote enough not to be one. Each of five
parts of the book is preceded by a timeline, and the collection of
these provides a most useful summary history. "Diversions" are
sprinkled throughout, and mainly consist of the more humorous and/or
poetic RFCs. If a book-length Internet history is not what you seek,
see the Quarterman article cited above. -- RT
United States General Accounting Office. Report to Congress.
_Information Superhighway: An Overview of Technology Challenges_.
January 1995. -- While avoiding some of the critical issues still in
debate, this "Report to Congress" does serve as a useful tutorial for
three main technological issues including security (including privacy),
interoperability of services and systems, and the reliability
the network as more commerce and mission-critical data is carried
on the "superhighway." -- JLO
Optical Disc Technology
Beiser, Karl. "Library of Congress Resources on CD-ROM" Online
19(2) (March/April 1995):94-97. -- Beiser heralds the release of
two Library of Congress products available on CD-ROM of special
interest to technical services librarians. CDMARC Bibliographic
is a multidisc collection of all machine-readable cataloging
records distributed by the Library of Congress since 1969,
regardless of language or form of materials. The Cataloger's
Desktop is a Windows-based CD-ROM featuring sophisticated
full-text access to a variety of reference materials helpful
in cataloging materials (LC Rule Interpretations, Subject
Cataloging Manual: Subject Headings, Subject Cataloging Manual:
Classification, USMARC Concise Formats, USMARC Format for
Authority Data, and USMARC code lists). -- TR
Bennett, Hugh. "CD-R Growing Pains" CD-ROM Professional 8(4)
(April 1995):29-35. -- When compared to the CD-R systems of two
or three years ago, today's CD-R systems are considered
relatively stable, refined and reliable. Bennett chronicles
the technical growing pains of the CD-R industry: buggy firmware,
questionable quality of CD-R discs, disc readability problems,
and small memory buffers. Although many of these hurdles have
been overcome, CD-R is not for everyone or every company--yet.
One industry spokesperson advocates a conservative approach
when implementing a CD-R system in the workplace: "If somebody
wants to dedicate half of one person's full-time salary to use
the equipment on a daily or weekly basis, and dedicate internal
resources--meaning manpower--to understand the technology and
use it on an everyday basis, CD-R is a very wise investment."
If, however, a company's interest in CD-R has only one project
for which they would only infrequently use the technology,
relative cost savings would be marginal. -- TR
Herther, Nancy. "CD-ROM at Ten Years: The Technology and the
Industry Mature" Online 19(2) (March/April 1995):86-93. -- It's
hard to believe that just ten years ago, CD-ROM drives cost
$2000 each and only about a dozen title were available for
sale. Today, drives can be purchased for $75 and a conservative
estimate of the number of titles available would be in excess
of 14,000! Herther celebrates the ten-year anniversary of CD-ROM
by reviewing industry trends of the past decade and by looking
forward into the next decade. Herther predicts future growth
and penetration of CD-ROM technology, a further explosion of
in-house CD-ROM production in corporations, and lower prices
for better quality products at all market levels. -- TR
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Current Cites 6(5) (May 1995) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (C) 1995 by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks
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publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of the
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[URL:http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ISIS/current-cites/]
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[URL:ftp://ftp.lib.berkeley.edu/pub/Current.Cites]. This message
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trinne@library.berkeley.edu // trinne@ucblibra // (510)642-8173
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