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Current Cities Volume 04 Number 01
_Current_Cites_
Volume 4, no. 1
January 1993
Library Technology Watch Program
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by David F.W. Robison
ISSN: 1060-2356
Contributors:
Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani, Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant
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Information Transfer
Beaver, David. "Pushing Beyond Paper" MacUser 9(1) (January
1993):215-221. Beaver foresees that "our struggles to give up
paper will seem endearingly backward" as we move into the 90s,
and document servers and electronic document management systems
become more sophisticated, more affordable, and more
commonplace functions of the future workstation. - VR
Computers in Libraries 12(11) (December 1992) Special issue on
document delivery. This entire issue is devoted to several
aspects of electronic document delivery, including copyright
issues of electronic publishing; the relationship of libraries,
publishers, and authors in an electronic world; and
developments and trends of document delivery systems. - VR
Welch, Elisa M. "Can You Read This?: OCR Software" MacUser
9(1) (January 1993):152-184. Welch provides us with a detailed
comparative study of eight stand-alone optical character
recognition (OCR) software packages for the Mac. Among these
are OmniPage, WordScan, AccuText, Read-It, and TextPert. The
business letters her group chose to test included italics,
bold, underlined words, and other difficult character
combinations. - VR
Willett, Perry, and Diane Geraci. "Optical Scanning in an
Academic Library" College & Research Libraries News 53(11)
(December 1992):698-701. Libraries at SUNY Binghamton, Albany,
Buffalo, and Stony Brook participated in a project to determine
whether or not it was feasible for libraries to provide optical
scanning technology services to their users. Users could either
scan materials they needed themselves, or ask library staff for
assistance. Project participants concluded that the library
should continue to provide scanning technology services to
their users. - VR
Networks and Networking
Calcari, Susan. "NSF Network Information Services Awards"
posted on nis@cerf.net (January 5, 1993). Calcari describes
the NSF award of a $12 million grant to three organizations
(AT&T, General Atomics, and Network Solutions) to launch a
cooperative project to provide seamless network address
services (IP numbers, domain name services), white and yellow
page services, as well as general network information assistance.
The providers will be free to charge for their services to those
outside the US research and education arena. - DR
Dern, Daniel P. "Internet Consultants" Internet World 3(9)
(November/December 1992):12-16. Dern conducts an e-mail
roundtable with five network consultants to discuss some of the
issues facing Internet service providers, users, and potential
users, with a focus on the last group. They point out that
users are now demanding full service from the providers and the
service providers are responding appropriately. While many
potential users may be ignorant of the possibilities and
potential benefits of Internet access, more and more are
recognizing its importance and value. Also included in this
discussion are some of the commercialization/privatization
issues facing users and service providers. - DR
--. "Provider Spotlight: PANIX: Bringing the Internet to the
Big Apple" Internet World 3(9) (November/December 1992):8-11.
Dern's interview with Alexis Rosen President of New York's first
public-access Internet provider, PANIX, provides an interesting
view of an Internet pioneer (yes, there are still some pioneers
out there!). Find out what it takes to offer public access
service and whom to trust to get the work done. Rosen also
describes some of the future plans for PANIX' expansion, as well
as the contingency plan in the case of a common-carrier take-
over. After the interview Dern has included an excerpt from
PANIX' sales information as well as the address for the full
text. - DR
Hinnebusch, Mark. "The Z39.50 EXPLAIN Service" Academic and
Library Computing 9(10) (November/December 1992):12-14.
Hinnebusch, "Mr. Z39.50", describes the recent work on the
development of the Z39.50 implementors on the much desired
EXPLAIN service. This service will hopefully have its first
implementation in the next revision of the standard (Z39.50-
1993). EXPLAIN will allow a Z39.50 compliant client to query
a server's EXPLAIN database (using a Type 1 Query) and find out
crucial information about the use of the server. EXPLAIN
database attributes will not only let the client know how to pay
for a search, but it will also give information that can assist
the client in optimizing a search. - DR
Loen, Larry. "Hiding data in plain sight: Some Key Questions
About Cryptography" EFFector Online 4(5) (January 7, 1993).
Loen provides a kind "Encryption 101," that originally appeared
as an FAQ on the USENET group sci.crypt: what is encryption, how
it works, how it is tested, attacked, who are the players, and
who are those trying to thwart the system. This is the first of
a series on encryption that will appear in EFFector Online. - DR
The National Research and Education Network Program: A Report to
Congress / submitted by the Director, Office of Science and
Technology Policy. Washington, DC (20506): The Office, December
1992. 57 p. [The report is available from the National
Coordination Office for High Performance Computing and
Communications, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bldg. 38-A, Room B1N30,
Bethesda, MD 20894, 301-402-4100.] This report, required by the
first NREN legislation, describes the government's proposal for
the actual implementation of the legislation. The report
addresses six major issues: funding of the Network and its
continued development; the future operation and evolution of the
Network; how commercial services can pay for usage of the Network
and how users can be charged for such services; technical issues
of allowing commercial use of the Network and its component
networks; protection of copyright; and privacy and security.
Included here are descriptions and charges (i.e.,
responsibilities) of the myriad groups, committees, and
consortia that constitute the organizational structure of the
Network. Clearly this is an important document in the
development of the NREN. - DR
Nickerson, Gord. "World Wide Web: Hypertext from CERN" Computers
in Libraries 12(11) (December 1992):75-77. Without going into
too much detail, Nickerson provides a view of the underside of
the operations of the World Wide Web (WWW). Readers learn how a
networked hypertext link works and the relationship between the
HyperText Transfer Protocol, the HyperText Markup Language and
other developing standards such as SGML, Z39.50 and MIME. - DR
Pengelly, Vicki L. and Barry N. Brown. "'King Kong Versus
Godzilla': A Team Approach to Training on Internet Resources"
Proceedings of the ACM SIGUCCS User Services Conference XX:
Learning from the Past, Stepping into the Future, 1992, pp.181-
186. Pengelly and Brown offer an interesting look at their
Internet training program. The three part course covers WANs,
library catalogs and databases, and computer conferences and
electronic journals. In this article the authors relate their
experiences teaching the course and include a course outline,
as well as some of the problems that have come up. For those
planning Internet training, this article should provide some
useful guidance. The authors themselves are from the computing
center and the library of their campus, respectively, and have
found this combination to be complimentary. Beyond this, the
collaboration on the class has fostered a better relationship
between the two departments in general. - DR
Smith, Jane D. "Clearinghouse for Networked Information
Discovery and Retrieval" posted on PACS-L@UHUPVM1 (January 8,
1993). Smith describes the mission of the Clearinghouse for
Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval (CNIDR). CNIDR
will work closely with the Coalition for Networked Information
and the Internet Engineering Task Force and developers of
resource discovery tools such as WAIS, Gopher, and WWW to
provide developers with up-to-date information on standards and
protocols. In this way CNIDR hopes to foster better
interoperability, "compatibility and consistency, and, to the
extent possible, convergence of the tools." - DR
Smith, Richard J. "Report on Navigating the Internet: An
Interactive Workshop" posted on NETTRAIN@UBVM and PACS-L@UHUPVM1
(January 12, 1993). Smith describes his second online Internet
course that provided training for 15,000 users and lasted over
seven weeks. The students were an eclectic group from over 50
countries and administration of the class became a full-time job
for Smith. Plans are in the works for further such training as
well as a published report on the workshops. - DR
Steele, Shari. "BBS Legislative Watch: Legislation from Last
Congress that May Affect Your Online Communications" EFFector
Online 4(1) (December 17, 1992). Steele provides a round-up of
recent legislative issues on the electronic frontier. In this
issue: Threats to Privacy: FBI's Wiretapping Proposal Thwarted;
Cellular Scanners Prohibited; Threats to Free Speech: Federal
Agency to Study Hate Crimes on BBSs; Threats to the Public's
Right to Government Information: Fees Charged for Use of
Government BBS; Federal Employees Denied Copyrights for
Government Software; Reproducing Copyrighted Software Now a
Felony; Network Access for All: Commercial Users Given Internet
Access. - DR
Strauss, Howard Jay. "CWIS: What's in a Name?" Academic and
Library Computing 9(10) (November/December 1992):14-17. Strauss
describes the two most important features of the Campus-Wide
Information System (CWIS) that will make it successful: that it
really be campus-wide and that the information be interesting
(and obviously so). He makes the point that like a newspaper,
a CWIS should have something for everybody. In the interest of
keeping the mounted information up-to-date and serving a wide
range of interests, Strauss recommends that the CWIS should be
administered by the campus public relations office (as the
library's and computing center's foci would be too narrow). - DR
Tomer, Christinger. "Anonymous FTP Resources" Academic and
Library Computing 9(10) (November/December 1992):8-12. Tomer
presents an analysis of the use of the File Transfer Protocol
(FTP) at Washington University over a two year period. In
addition to a four-fold increase in usage between 1990 and 1991,
Tomer presents findings on the most popular types of files
retrieved. Given the large number of files retrieved per year
(7.5 million in 1991 from this site), and the fact that the
large majority of the files are software, Tomer concludes that
"anonymous FTP servers have materially altered the development
and distribution of software." Also included is a description
of the archie file index system and a helpful sample archie
session. - DR
Optical Disc Technologies
Zarnosky, Margaret R. "Knowledge Served on a Silver Platter:
Planning and Paying for CD-ROMs" RQ 31(1) (Fall 1992):75-84.
Zarnosky explores the planning and budgetary considerations of
building a CD-ROM collection. The article covers selection
criteria, issues involving library personnel and users, and
various costs associated with CD-ROMs. Zarnosky presents a
number of alternatives to paying for CD-ROM databases, including
grants, library budgetary allocations, fees, and cost savings.
- TR
General
Communications of the ACM 35(12) (December 1992):26-81. Special
section on Information Filtering. Information filtering is the
solution to information overload we're all waiting for. The
articles presented here cover both the theoretical and practical
aspects of information filtering and its current development.
o Baclace, Paul E. "Competitive Agents for Information
Filtering," p.50. Baclace describes an agent system under
development at Autodesk that literally employs multiple agents
for a user in a competitive fashion. Each agent is paid, and
must pay rent to keep its disk space!
o Belkin, Nicholas J. and W. Bruce Croft. "Information
Filtering and Information Retrieval: Two Sides of the Same
Coin?" pp.29-38. Belkin and Croft analyze information filtering
and retrieval in parallel in order to discover the relationship
between the two. They find that the two operations have much in
common, so much so, that they encourage researchers in
information filtering to employ certain findings in IR research.
They also point out where the two diverge, and must be treated
differently.
o Bowen, T. F., et al. "The Datacycle Architecture," pp.71-
81. Bowen, et al. describe the Datacycle database system that
provides flexible processing by eschewing indexing. Datacycle
accomplishes its processing by filtering a complete copy of the
database as it is broadcast to a parallel processing system. The
database is continuously rebroadcast so that the data is kept up-
to-date. This method allows for complex Boolean queries as well
as the creation of fuzzy sets.
o Foltz, Peter W. and Susan T. Dumais. "Personalized
Information Delivery: An Analysis of Information Filtering
Methods," pp.51-60. Foltz and Dumais describe their research
into the application of information retrieval methods in n
information filtering. Working with technical documents (less
dynamic than news articles) as a sample, they found that Latent
Semantic Indexing provides the best results.
o Goldberg, David, et. al. "Using Collaborative Filtering
to Weave an Information Tapestry," pp.61-70. Goldberg and
company describe their information filter designed at the Xerox
Palo Alto Research Center called Tapestry. This client/server
system allows users to select e-mail and other objects through
preset profiles as well as ad hoc search queries on the server's
archive using Tapestry Query Language. The advantage of this
specific filter is that it allows users to specify in the profile
or query attributes of an object such as whether or not the
object has received a response or comment from other readers,
hence a collaborative approach.
o Loeb, Shoshana. "Architecting Personalized Delivery of
Multimedia Information," pp.39-48. Loeb helps expand the bounds
of information filtering by approaching multi-type objects. She
also notes that two types of users must be satisfied, the casual
user and the proactive user. A detailed description of a music
information filter is included as an example of a filter for
primarily non-textual objects.
o Ram, Ashwin. "Natural Language Understanding for
Information-Filtering Systems," pp.80-81. In this sidebar, Ram
describes, in simple terms and a short example, how natural
language processing can be used to in information filtering. He
describes two systems in use or development now, as well as the
long term development goals of natural language systems in
information filtering.
o Stadnyk, Irene and Robert Kass. "Modelling Users'
Interests in Information Filters," pp.49-50. In a preliminary
study of Usenet News, the authors found that users were able to
describe with some regularity the reason(s) a message was or
was not interesting to them.
o Stevens, Curt. "Automating the Creation of Information
Filters," p.48. Stevens describes the INFOSCOPE system which
"employs rule-based agents that recognize a user's usage patterns
and make suggestions based on them." - DR
Computers in Libraries 12(10) (November 1992). "Special Section:
Library Equipment and Furniture," pp.8-34. The five articles in
this section cover design and purchase issues for library
technology and furniture with emphasis on ergonomic concerns as
well as ADA compliance. Included here are guides to electronic
information resources and a directory of vendors and distributors
of technological devices for the disabled. - DR
Forester, Tom. "Megatrends Or Megamistakes?: What Ever Happened
to the Information Society?" EFFector Online 4(1-2) (December 17,
1992). In this first part Forester looks at the effects or lack
of effect that information technology (IT) has had on society.
He finds that despite the dire and utopian predictions, IT has
not had the transforming effect as predicted. Forester also
looks at some of the reasons why the microchip has not made
humans obsolete or given us endless leisure time. In the second
part, Forester examines some of the unintended effects of IT,
including privacy breaches, information overload, electronic
crimes. - DR
Rogers, Michael. "Mile-High Technology: LITA Does Denver"
Library Journal 117(18) (November 1, 1992):30-32. Rogers
provides an entertaining synopsis of LITA's Third National
Conference held in September 1992. "The nexus of all the
speakers' messages," writes Rogers, "was that the library
without walls, or virtual library, is no longer a dream but a
cold, hard fact. With networking, and especially via Internet,
there is no piece of recorded information that isn't accessible
to anyone anywhere at any time." - TR
NewsBits
"Information and Technology" Chronicle of Higher Education
39(15) (December 9, 1992):A17.
o Wilson, David L. "Network Will Link 17 Universities and
the Library of Ohio."
o --. "Project Aims to Save Records of a Black Community
in Virginia." Personal papers and other records, including
those from churches and civil rights groups from Richmond's
black community, are being converted to optical disks and made
available to scholars.
o --. "System Catalogues Faculty members by Topics of
Interests." Kansas State University has developed a system
using library classification techniques and software, to provide
profiles of faculty and their particular expertise. - VR
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Current Cites 4(1) (January 1992) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (C) 1993 by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
All product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders. Mention of a product in this publication
does not necessarily imply endorsement of the product.
Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized
bulletin board/conference systems, individual scholars, and
libraries. Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their
collections at no cost. This message must appear on copied
material. All commercial use requires permission from the editor,
who may be reached in the following ways:
drobison@library.berkeley.edu // drobison@ucblibra // (510)642-7600
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