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Current Cities Volume 04 Number 04
_Current_Cites_
Volume 4, no. 4
April 1993
Information Systems Instruction & Support
The Library
University of California, Berkeley
Edited by David F.W. Robison
ISSN: 1060-2356
Contributors:
Teri Rinne, Vivienne Roumani-Denn, Lisa Rowlison, Mark Takaro, Roy Tennant
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Electronic Publishing
Tenopir, Carol. "Electronic Access to Periodicals" Library
Journal 118(4) (March 1, 1993):54-55. Tenopir explains the
growing popularity of electronic journals, their advantages
and impact on libraries. - VR
Information Transfer
DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Electronic 'Neighborhood' Links Colleges in
14 Pacific-Region Countries" Chronicle of Higher Education (April
14, 1993): A14, A16. Curtis Hardyck, University of California,
Berkeley, is responsible for the Pacific Neighborhood Consortium,
a project linking 14 countries together. The goal of the project
is for institutions in the United States to share library
materials, electronic databases, and classroom instruction with
Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and others. - VR
Keyhani, Andrea. "The Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials:
An Innovation in Electronic Journal Publishing" Database 16(1)
(February 1993):14-23. Keyhani describes Current Clinical
Trials, the award-winning, first electronic, full-text with
graphics, peer reviewed electronic journal. Keyhani describes
how the journal was developed, how graphics are handled, and how
it is accessed. - VR
Schwarzwalder, Robert. "Engineering Information's Bold New
Moves" Database (April 1993):103-105. There are now several
ways to access Ei, Engineering Information, Inc. both for
professional and end-users. Through cooperation with DIALOG,
Ei has created Article Express International, a document
delivery service for "engineering and technical literature."
- VR
Stigleman, Sue. "Bibliography Formatting Software: An Update"
Database 16(1) (February 1993):24-37. "The bibliography
formatting field is now crowded with 52 programs" including
Pro-Cite, Endnote, Biblio, each described and listed in this
article. - VR
Networks and Networking
Blau, Andrew. "CPF Airs Issues for K-12 Access to the
Internet" Networks & Policy 1(1):3, 6 and in EFFector Online
5(4) (March 19, 1993). An Electronic Frontier Foundation
project, the Communications Policy Forum (CPF) met with K-12
stakeholders (educators, service providers, and legal
experts) to discuss some of the legal issues surrounding
Internet access for this constituency. Despite the fact that
"the Internet can enrich the resources available to both
teachers and students..." the main topic of conversation at
the meeting was the worry that "obscene" materials on the net
might be discovered by minors. A sidebar is included that
outlines the CPFs recommendations for increasing K-12 access
to the Internet. - DR
Bowman, C. Mic, Peter B. Danzig, and Michael F. Schwartz.
Research Problems for Scalable Internet Resource Discovery.
Boulder: University of Colorado, March 1992 (Technical Report
CU-CS-643-93)[available via anonymous ftp as a text or
PostScript file from cs.colorado.edu in directory
/pub/cs/techreports/schwartz as files
ASCII/RD.ResearchProblems.txt.Z or
PostScript/RD.ResearchProblems.ps.Z]. The authors describe
some of the ways that developers of Internet resource
discovery tools can address the problems of scaling. There
are three areas of growth to contend with in the Internet
environment: an increasing user base, an increase in the
volume of data, and an increase in the variety of data.
These changes will make tools like WAIS, archie, and Gopher
untenable in the not-too-distant future. As the authors put
it, "Imagine attempting to browse through a Gopher menu
system with one million times as many entries as are
currently present...." - DR
"Computer Professionals Call for Public Debate on New
Government Encryption Initiative" (April 16, 1993) posted on
CPSR@GWUVM (April 16, 1993). The Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility has filed a series of Freedom of
Information Act requests with numerous government agencies
involved in telecommunications policy. The request calls for
full disclosure of both the technical specifications and
implementation plan for the White House's data encryption
scheme [see below]. At the heart of the request is concern
that the National Security Agency will have too large a role
in the creation and implementation of a non-military
encryption scheme. - DR
DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Campus Officials Pleased but Worried
by Clinton Plan for 'Information Superhighway'" Chronicle of
Higher Education 39(30) (March 31, 1993):A17-A18. While at
the Coalition for Networked Information meeting in March,
many campus officials cautiously applauded the Clinton
administration's support of national network development.
The concern is that the traditional support of educational
goals will be lost in the effort to gain the support of
businesses. A key area of concern here and in other forums
is the proposal to limit access to the NSFNet backbone to
data traveling between four (!) supercomputing centers.
This would force the regional networks to contract with
commercial providers for Internet access. - DR
Dern, Daniel P. "Peter Deutsch, 'archie,' and Bunyip Systems"
Internet World 4(2) (March 1993):11-16. In an interview with
the Editor of Internet World, Deutsch offers a history of the
wildly successful archie ftp archive locator system
(developed by Alan Emtage and himself), his views on free-
market information systems on the Internet, and the plans for
the commercial development of archie and other offerings from
Bunyip Systems. While charged with heresy by some in the
Internet community, Deutsch believes that information and
information services are best developed in a free-market
system so consumers have more power, and providers can be
paid. As for universal access he says that after we secure
funds for development and maintenance, "We can then seek to
provide universality through grants and subsidies if we as a
society decide (as I hope we do) that everyone should have
access to the cornucopia." - DR
Dillon, Martin, et al. Assessing Information on the
Internet: Toward Providing Library Services for Computer-
Mediated Communication: Results of an OCLC Research Project.
Dublin, Ohio: OCLC, 1993. Available from OCLC for $20 or
free via anonymous ftp from ftp.rsch.oclc.org as a PostScript
file in directory /pub/internet_resources_project/report.
This interesting report covers three main topics: a survey of
the mass of materials on the Internet, a study involving the
cataloging of 100 networked electronic texts using USMARC
standards, and recommendations for extending the USMARC
format to include fields for access information for
electronic, networked resources. The report itself is 39
pages and includes numerous charts and graphs describing the
types of material available at ftp sites. There are also a
number of appendices, including an excellent bibliography. -
DR
Fidelman, Miles. "More Info on ALOT/CCN/SDIN" posted on PACS-
L@UHUPVM1 (March 18, 1993). Fidelman describes the work of
two grass-roots community networking projects: The Center for
Civic Networking and its Sustainable Development Information
Network project which has received an award of a number of
public-access computers from the Apple Library of Tomorrow. -
DR
"Leading Telco CEOs Jointly Support Clinton-Gore Technology
Initiative" (March 23, 1993) posted on PACS-L@UHUPVM1 (April
7, 1993). In a press release signed by the CEOs of the
leading US telecommunications companies, support is offered
for the Clinton-Gore technology initiative as outlined in the
paper "Technology for America's Economic Growth, A New
Direction to Build Economic Strength." Specifically, and not
surprisingly, they support an increased role for private
investors in the national networks, and a shift of government
funds to specific areas that address societal needs and away
from general subsidies which have inhibited commercial
progress. - DR
Polly, Jean Armour. "NREN for All: Insurmountable
Opportunity" Library Journal 118(2) (February 1, 1993):38-41
[also available via anonymous ftp from Project Gutenberg at
mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu as file etext/etext93/nren210.txt].
Polly, a former public librarian who now works for NYSERNet,
Inc., provides a realistic look at what Internet/NREN access
for all might mean. Is it worth it? Should public libraries
participate? Hint: in the end, Polly says, "Yes." - DR
Quarterman, John. "Recent Internet Books" RFC 1432 [available
via anonymous ftp from nnsc.nsf.net with pathname
rfc/rfc1432.txt.]. Quarterman describes 27 recent books
about the Internet in a clear and concise format. Especially
helpful is a section providing contact information for the
publishers. - DR
Roberts, Michael M. "Information Highways and the NREN"
EDUCOM Review 28(2) (March/April 1992):10-12 [also available
via anonymous ftp from educom.edu in directory /pub/Review as
file EDUCOM-Review-Mar93-Roberts]. Roberts describes the
proposition of private development of the public network in
an era of decreasing federal budgets. Also included is a
list of National Information Infrastructure design goals as
developed the EDUCOMs networking task force. - DR
Schwartz, Michael F., et al. "A Comparison of Internet
Resource Discovery Approaches" Computing Systems 5(4) (Fall
1992):461-493 [previously published in WAIS-discussion Digest
56 (October 22, 1992)]. Schwartz and his co-authors (Alan
Emtage, Brewster Kahle, and B. Clifford Neuman) present a
taxonomy and analysis of Internet resource discovery tools.
They include an overview of resource discovery systems
(WHOIS, X.500, archie, Prospero, WWW, WAIS, Knowbots (tm),
Netfind, and Gopher) and apply their taxonomy to these
systems for analytic purposes. Lastly, they summarize their
findings and discuss the implications for the further
development and integration of resource discovery tools. - DR
Smith, Jane. "CNIDR: Coordinating Internet User Tools"
Internet World 4(2) (March 1993):8-10. Smith, Assistant
Director of CNIDR (pronounced "snider"), describes both the
work of the Clearinghouse for Networked Information Discovery
and Retrieval as well as the six tools of discovery currently
used on a wide scale (archie, Gopher, veronica, WAIS, WWW,
and hytelnet). CNIDR promotes the use and further
development of NIDR tools by providing pointers to access to
and information on the tools as well as a coordinating
function between development groups. In describing the tools
here, Smith focuses on the current developments (including
commercialization of archie and WAIS) and how these tools are
being used in concert. Also included is information on how on
can benefit from the work of the Clearinghouse. - DR
"Statement by the Press Secretary [White House Crypto
Statement]" (April 16, 1993) posted on CPSR@GWUVM (April 16,
1993). The White House announces its proposal to create a
relatively inexpensive data and voice encryption standard
that would be required of governmental organizations and
voluntary for other. This proposal is aimed at settling a
long-running dispute between privacy advocates [see above]
and law enforcement officials who want access to encrypted
communications. At the heart of the proposal is a
government-developed "clipper chip" which is intended to be
easily and cheaply added to telephones and other data
communications devices by their manufacturers. Encryption
keys will stored by the US Attorney General in a secure
database only accessible by court order. - DR
Steele, Shari. "EFF Organizes Coalition to Oppose Wiretap
Proposal" Networks & Policy 1(1):4, 7, 10. Steele describes
the proposals by the FBI to remain tapped in to the
communications network in the age of digital telephony and
rapidly changing technology (defeated last year, sure to
reappear this one). The FBI wants every service provider to
assist in their efforts to engage in wire-tapping and would
fine those companies that use technologies that are secure
from such monitoring. - DR
"Steve Jackson Games Wins Lawsuit Against U.S. Secret
Service" EFFector Online 5(4) (March 19, 1993). In what the
Electronic Frontier Foundation hopes will be a precedent
setting case, a federal judge ruled that e-mail and bulletin
board system postings are Constitutionally protected speech. -
DR
Weitzner, Daniel J. "Rep. Markey Endorses EFF's Open
Platform Proposal" Networks & Policy 1(1):1, 3, 8-9.
Weitzner describes the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Open
Platform Proposal which aims to "make voice, data and video
services accessible to everyone, in the near term, and at low
cost." While optical fiber in every home and office may be a
long term goal, the EFF believes that a near-term solution is
ISDN. The goal of the platform is to encourage telephone
carriers to create and interoperative open ISDN services. -
DR
White House Electronic Publications and Public Access EMail:
Frequently Asked Questions. Version dated April 7, 1993
posted on PACS-L@UHUPVM1.BITNET (April 12, 1993 ). This
document, which is updated periodically and reposted around
the net, comes from the White House e-mail account on
Compuserve. Included in this FAQ are instructions for
accessing White House press releases, policy papers and other
documents electronically via WAIS, Gopher, and BBS. Also
included is the address for sending e-mail to the White
House. Please be advised that the White House e-mail system
is under construction and responses, for the time being, will
be via US mail and may take some time. - DR
Optical Disc Technologies
Guglielmo, Connie. "Photo CD: The Big Picture" MacUser 9(5) (May
1993):177-183. Guglielmo provides an intelligent and
understandable explanation of Kodak's Photo CD technology,
refreshingly devoid of the usual hype and hoopla surrounding
the product. - TR
Kesselman, Martin. "CD-ROM Trends" Wilson Library Bulletin 67(6)
(February 1993):70-72. Kesselman provides a CD-ROM industry
update. The column includes descriptions of two new networking
options being offered by SilverPlatter, multimedia encyclopedias,
CD-R (CD-Recordable) technology, and the CD-ROM version of
Newsweek magazine called Newsweek Interactive. - TR
Shuler, John A. "A Tale of Two Federal Offices" CD-ROM World 8(3)
(April 1993):73-76. Shuler shows how CD-ROM technology has
liberated government agencies from the need to design large
central computer systems. The Department of State's Office of
Public Affairs (OPA) and the National Library of Medicine's (NLM)
National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) are
profiled. - TR
General
Kountz, John. "Tomorrow's Libraries: More than a Modular
Telephone Jack, Less than a Complete Revolution" Library Hi-Tech
10(4) (1992):39-50. Kountz presents a provocative view of the
library of the future. The author advocates converting the
library into an electronic information distribution center that
can support users regardless of physical location. Fundamental
to Kountz's vision of information delivery is the tablet
computer, which he predicts will be an inexpensive ($150-$300),
mass market commodity by the year 2000. - TR
Wilson, David L. An Evangelist for Technology Wins Many Converts in
Humanities. The Chronicle of Higher Education (April 14,
1993):A14, A17, A18.
Forthcoming
Bauwens, Michel. "The Cybrarians Manifesto: Towards a new
organisational model for corporate libraries?" Business
Information Review (April 1993). Baumen argues that the
organization of the traditional corporate library and its
process of collecting and disseminating information has been
made obsolete by technology. As information becomes less
dependent on location, and industries require information on
a more timely basis and in formats that are readily usable,
cybrarians must take the place of librarians. Baumen also
believes that this model will created a better job for the
information professional by focusing on the most professional
aspects of the job and thereby "free[ing] our creative
capabilities even more and become real
agents of constant innovation." - DR
Engle, Mary E., et al. Internet Connections: A Librarian's
Guide to Dial-Up Access and Use. LITA Monograph 3. American
Library Association, c1993. To be published May 1993 and
available at the 1993 Annual Convention of the American
Library Association. Engle and her colleagues have collected
a wide array of helpful information on the Internet and its
resources and services. Especially helpful is the inclusion
of a section on getting your own connection through a service
provider with a list of dial-up access providers. Also
included are lists of helpful electronic journals, discussion
lists, and network resource discovery tools. - DR
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Current Cites 4(4) (April 1993) 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)643-9494
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