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Current Cities Volume 02 Number 05
_Current_Cites_
Volume 2, no. 5
May 1991
Library Technology Watch Program
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by David F.W. Robison
ISSN: 1060-2356
Contributors:
Clifford Lynch, Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani,
Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant
Expert Systems
Belew, Richard K. "Artificial Life: A Constructive Lower Bound for
Artificial Intelligence" IEEE Expert 6(1) (Feb. 1991):8-15. The goal
of Artificial Life (ALife) "is to abstract the 'logical form' of life" in
order to understand and possibly create artificial life. Unlike
genetic engineering, ALife does not begin with organic matter,
rather, like AI, its development occurs via computer. Making the
claim that "the dumbest smart thing you can do is stay alive," ALife
considers itself to be a lower bound for the work of AI. While this
is not immediately relevant for the field of library and information
science, this work does present itself as an interesting development
in the current AI-related technologies.
Tuthill, G. Steven "Legal Liabilities and Expert Systems" AI Expert
6(3) (March 1991):45-51. Mr. Tuthill briefly presents the potential
areas of liability in knowledge programming. While there has yet to
be a great deal of AI-related court cases, he offers his view on the
specific types of risk which are imminent in knowledge
programming and suggests a corresponding seat of responsibility.
This is an area that we, as information providers, will be very
concerned with if we do indeed choose to develop expert systems.
West, David M. and Larry E. Travis "The Computational Metaphor and
Artificial Intelligence: A Reflective Examination of a Theoretical
Falsework" AI Magazine 12(1) (Spring 1991):64-79. An excellent
article which discusses the role and importance of metaphor in
science generally, and then focuses on the predominant metaphor of
AI (the computational metaphor: computer as mind, mind as
computer) West and Travis present an interesting assessment of the
value and shortcomings of both this strongly challenged metaphor
and of its alternatives.
Hyper- and Multimedia
Steffey, Ramona J. "Compton's MultiMedia Encyclopedia: Bringing
Multimedia to the Masses" CD-ROM Professional 4(3) (May,
1991):13-20. A description and review of the award-winning
multimedia encyclopedia from Britannica, which contains the full
text of the 26-volume printed version integrated with images, maps
and 60 minutes of sound. A dictionary accompanies the work,
rounding out a package that will set the standard for future
products. A variety of search tools leads the user through a chosen
path that can include bookmarking of articles, cut and paste options
and other features.
Communications of the ACM 34(4) (April 1991). An entire issue of
this journal devoted to digital multimedia systems, with a number
of very technical articles and some of more general interest.
Standards are emerging for a number of multimedia tools, the most
notable being from the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) and
the Moving Picture coding Experts Group (MPEG). Standards such as
these will govern design of these aspects of multimedia and make
development of products by individual companies more likely in the
near future. As common coding, compression and authoring
standards are used in new products, further interest in the field
becomes a better investment.
Information Transfer
Cornwell, Douglas W. "Downloading from Dialog into dBase III Plus"
Online 15(3) (May 1991):91-93. Cornwell details procedures for
downloading records from Dialog to dBase III Plus using the Dialog
Report function.
Jackson, Mary E. "Library to Library" Wilson Library Bulletin 16(5)
(April 1991):84-87. Jackson describes the RLG Document
Transmission Workstation (Ariel) its functions, capabilities, and its
integration in ILL department procedures (with UCB as one of the
test cites). It's an improvement over the fax.
Networks and Networking
Dempsey, Lorcan Libraries, Networks and OSI: A Review of North
American Developments. Bath: UK Office for Library Networking,
1991. [210] p. : ill. ISBN 0951685600 (pbk), 0951685 600. This
book, is a detailed study of library application protocols for
information retrieval and interlibrary loan, plus a discussion of
EDI, X400 and X500, and their use in library networking. It covers
developments both in the US and in Europe, and provides a
fascinating European perspective on recent developments in the US.
Considerable attention is given to policy and infrastructure Q
resource sharing, the NREN movement, the Coalition for Networked
Information -- and to existing projects, such as Carnegie-Mellon's
project MERCURY, UC's MELVYL system, and CARL. -- Clifford Lynch
Dictionary of Data Elements for Online Information Resources
(MARBI Discussion Paper no. 49). USMARC Advisory Committee,
[199?] Distributed by CNIDIR-L@UNMVM.BITNET. This paper, up for
discussion at ALA in Atlanta (7/1/91 2:00-5:30), is a look at where
the MARC format is heading with respect to online information
resources. Using Berkeley's own GLADIS OPAC as an example (among
others) we can see how these resources can be cataloged to give the
fullest and most useful access. Just trying to cite the paper itself
has heightened my appreciation of the issue!
Hall, Stephen C. "The Four Stages of National Research and Education
Network Growth" EDUCOM Review 26(1) (Spring 1991):18-25. In this
article Hall describes the projected growth of the NREN by looking at
the history of computing and the needs of the network's
constituencies. According to Hall, we are in stage IIQgrowthQ with
the stages of reduced or controlled growth (a privatized network)
and maturity (a public network) to follow.
Jacobsen, O. and D. Lynch A Glossary of Networking Terms . Interop,
Inc., March 1991. Network Working Group RFC 1208. This 18 page
glossary covers terms of the more technical aspects of networking,
as well as the numerous acronyms. Very handy for someone delving
into the networking world. Available via anonymous ftp from
nnsc.nsf.net (128.89.1.178) with pathname rfc/rfc1208.txt.
Michalak, Thomas J. and Thomas Kirk "Coalition for Networked
Information Maps Directions" C&R Libraries News 52(4) (April
1991):229-230. Michalak and Kirk point out that CNI is becoming the
"primary forum for discussing development of a national computer
network and capabilities for publishing and sharing information
electronically." The Coalition has organized seven working groups to
focus on specific issues: non-commercial publishing; commercial
publishing; architecture and standards; legislation, codes, policies
and practices; directories and resource information services;
teaching and learning; and management and professional and user
education.
"Network Management" BYTE 16(3) (March 1991):154-219. Actually
this is a group of seven articles and a resource guide providing some
of the latest information on managing a LAN. Perhaps the most
interesting article is Peter Stephenson's "Mixing and Matching LANs"
(pages 155-164) where one can learn the in's and out's of
interconnecting heterogeneous networks.
Pool, Ithiel de Sola Technologies Without Boundaries: on
Telecommunications in a Global Age. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard
University Press, 1990. 283 p. Pool's untimely death in 1984
deprived us of one of the great thinkers about the social and
political impacts of the new electronic technologies. This book is
the manuscript he had almost completed at the time of his death; it
extends and expands upon concepts discussed in his 1983 classic
work Technologies of Freedom (Harvard U. Press, 1983) and focuses
particularly upon international implications of the revolutions in
mass media, publishing, and computer networks. The book contains a
wealth of information about the impact of technological changes on
society, including many analogies between earlier communications
advances such as the telephone and telegraph and what is happening
today. -- Clifford Lynch
Price-Wilkin, John "Text Files in RLG Academic Libraries: A Survey
of Support and Activities" The Journal of Academic Librarianship
17(1) (March 1991):19-25. Textual analysis using electronic text
files is opening up new windows in the academy. Textual analysis,
as a specialized part of full-text retrieval, allows for the user to
interact with the text in the fashion of a concordance In addition
the user can. engage in stylometrics where the style of the author is
studied. Many text files are available through the Internet.
Stein, Richard Marlon "Browsing Through Terabytes: Wide-Area
Information Servers Open a New Frontier in Personal and Corporate
Information Services" BYTE 16(5) (May 1991):157-164. Stein takes
us on a trip to the land of mass storage, retrieval and data/text
manipulation using Wide Area Information Servers (WAIS). As he
puts it, "WAISes can distill the contents of vast archives into neatly
manageable and browsable folders." Included are some really
interesting visual examples using the Macintosh platform.
Weingarten, Fred "Five Steps to NREN Enlightenment" EDUCOM Review
26(1) (Spring 1991):26-30. Weingarten argues that now is the time
to articulate the vision of what we think the NREN should be. He
sees two visions being articulated currentlyQthe techie and the
universal, with "the true NREN vision" somewhere in between.
Optical Disk Technology
Bunge, Charles A. "CD-ROM Stress" Library Journal 115(7) (April 15,
1991):63-64. In the first of two articles dealing with resistance
and stress related to CD-ROM technology featured in this month's
Current Cites, Bunge explores this new villain of library stress.
Giesbrecht, Walter "Staff Resistance to Library CD-ROM Services"
CD-ROM Professional 4(3) (May 1991):34-38. This article examines
reasons for resistance to CD-ROM among library staff, including
psychological reasons, the problem of multiple interfaces, increased
teaching load, increased costs, increased stress, time required to
maintain CD-ROM service, and hardware/software issues.
Myslewski, Rik "Is it Time for CD-ROM?" MacUser 7(6) (June
1991):151-166. In answering the title's question, Myslewski
asserts that all signs indicate that the CD-ROM breakthrough is
finally underway. This article features a survey of CD-ROM disk
drives currently available for the Macintosh platform.
"Silver Platters that Matter" MacUser 7(6) (June 1991):171-186.
The editors of MacUser have compiled a descriptive list of
interesting CD-ROM titles ranging from state-of-the-art multimedia
extravaganzas to simple text dumps of books.
General
Larson, Ray "The Decline of Subject Searching: Long-Term Trends and
Patterns of Index Use in an Online Catalog" Journal of the American
Society for Information Science 42(3) (April 1991):197-215.
Larson studies MELVYL usage data and concludes that as the database
has grown, users are increasingly turning away from subject
searching to the use of title word searching due to various
dissatisfactions with subject retrieval, including problems in
formulating subject search terminology. -- Clifford Lynch
Schuman, Patricia Glass "Reclaiming Our Technological Future"
Library Journal 115(4) (March 1, 1991):34-38.
New Electronic Newsletter Announced
The Association of Library Collections & Technical Services of ALA
has announced a new electronic newsletter, ALCTS Network News (or
AN2), available through Internet/Bitnet and ALANET. According to
the press release distributed on PACS-L@UHUPVM1, "AN2 aims to
provide timely and comprehensive coverage of items of concern to
librarians engaged in collection management, acquisitions,
cataloging, serials, preservation, and the reproduction of library
materials. To subscribe, send the following message to
LISTSERV@UICVM.BITNET
SUBSCRIBE ALCTS Your-First-Name Your-Last-Name
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Current Cites 2(5)(May 1991) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (C) 1992 by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
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