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Current Cities Volume 04 Number 07
_Current_Cites_
Volume 4, no. 7
July 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
______________________________________________________________________
Hyper- and Multimedia
Tierney, John. "In Multimedia Storm, Text Thrives" The New York
Times 142(49,383) (July 5, 1993). The written word (and even
paper!) are here to stay, at least for a while. Noting the
parallels between multimedia and television while addressing the
prominence of text in electronic forms, the new journals NewMedia
and Wired are profiled as representative of the future of text.
Tools such as the briefly described reading tablet for electronic
works may ease the transition of text to future media. - MT
Information Transfer
Kennedy, Bev. "Comparing Menu Systems for End-Users: After Dark,
Knowledge Index, and FirstSearch" ONLINE 17(4) (July 1993):52-58.
An informative comparison of BRS After Dark, Dialog Knowledge
Index, and OCLC FirstSearch, including comparisons of costs, type
of databases, time available, search features, and display
options. Kennedy includes a "User-Friendly Checklist"
comparing menu designs, response time, command language. - VR
O'Leary, Mick. "Dialog and Data-Star Look To Online's Future"
ONLINE 17(4) (July 1993):14-19. O'Leary describes the history and
customer reactions of Dialog's purchase of Data-Star, and looks
at the future development and challenges facing Dialog. - VR
Tenopir, Carol. "When Is the Same Database Not the Same?:
Database Differences Among Systems" ONLINE 17(4) (July 1993):20-
27. Tenopir examines differences among the major databases
produced by the major database vendors and provides a table
comparing database updates, date ranges covered in the databases,
price per hour. She also reports on the treatment of field
subdivisions content, and support features in the various
databases. - VR
Networks and Networking
"ANS CO+RE's Security Services to Incorporate RSA Public Key
Cryptography" HPC Select News 2(27) (July 9, 1993) [article
available by sending an e-mail message to more@hpcwire.ans.net
with the number 738 in the subject]. ANS announces the
release of RSA public key cryptography for Internet users
scheduled for later this year. This implementation of the RSA
encryption scheme will be compatible with the full suite of
TCP/IP applications: Telnet, FTP, SMTP (e-mail), X windows, and
NNTP, and includes digital signature data authentication. - DR
Carson, Sylvia MacKinnon and Dace I. Freivalds. "Z39.50 and
LIAS: Penn State's Experience" Information Technology and
Libraries 12(2) (June 1993):230-237. Carson and Freivalds
describe their experience developing and deploying a Z39.50
client/server pair for their local online catalog system. The
client has allowed them to successfully connect to a number of
remote databases across the US, and the server allows remote
users to access the Penn State system. One of the interesting
things the authors noted is the Z39.50 paradox: when Z39.50 is
successful, users don't know it is there and can't understand
what the excitement is about. The users wonder why it took the
developers two years to make their catalog look the same! - DR
"Clinton Administration Aims for Open Information Policy" posted
on Clinton-News-Distribution@campaign92.org (June 28, 1993) and
reposted on GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.BITNET on July 1, 1993.
[URL=ftp://nis.nsf.net/omb/omb.a130.rev2; also available via e-
mail by sending a message to nis-info@nis.nsf.net with no
subject, and with send omb.a130.rev2 as the first line of the
body of the message.] This press release announces the latest
revisions to OMB Circular A-130, which is titled "Management of
Federal Information Resources". These much anticipated
revisions state that, among other things, federal agencies must
treat electronic documents in the same fashion that they treat
print documents, must not place restrictions on secondary user
of government data, nor charge users more than the cost of
dissemination of that data. The circular also requires that
agencies develop indexes, directories, and other tools to assist
users in locating such information. - DR
Cooke, Kevin and Dan Lehrer. "The Internet: The Whole World is
Talking" The Nation 257(2)(July 12, 1993):60-66. Cooke and
Lehrer provide an excellent overview of the Internet in a way
that will help mainstream readers understand its power. They
cover how the Internet has already affected world events (i.e.
Tiananmen Square), the current size and growth of the net,
current legislation about the net, and privacy on the net. The
strength of this article is that it provides a broad overview of
network issues in lay terms without losing the important
details. - DR
DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Compromise Reached on Legislation Leading
to National Information Network" The Chronicle of Higher
Education 39(42) (June 23, 1993):A15, A17. Unlike the usual
compromises on the Hill, this one seems to make everyone happy.
A bill, known as the Boucher bill (for Rep. Rick Boucher),
unanimously passed the House Science Subcommittee and if made
law, would take the US on the next step to creating a National
Information Infrastructure. One of the reasons the bill passed
the subcommittee is that it relies on previously authorized
funds, not new ones. In the long run, the bill puts most
networking activity in private hands and reduces the federal
role to certain subsidies, test-bed projects, and the national
supercomputing centers. In the shorter term, the bill provides
that the government will not force the research and education
users of the NSFNet to use private network service providers
unless they are of satisfactory availability - including being
affordable. Included with DeLoughry's discussion of the bill is
a sidebar listing the provisions of the bill which include a
directive to apply $110 million to develop library applications.
- DR
DeLoughry, Thomas J. "Software Designed to Offer Internet Users
Easy Access to Documents and Graphics" The Chronicle of Higher
Education 39(44) (July 7, 1993):A23. DeLoughry provides a brief
description of the much heralded Mosaic interface. Currently
only available in an X-Windows version (but slated for release
for Macintosh and MS Windows in the Fall), Mosaic starts with a
graphical World-Wide Web browser, and then adds other Internet
services like Gopher and file transfer (FTP), all in a seamless
interface. In its more developed form, Mosaic is intended to
not only assist users in accessing information, but also in
managing the information they gather as well as create. Not to
be outdone, Mosaic is engineered and distributed freely by the
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). - DR
Edwards, Morris. "Leaders Vie for Positions in Mobile Computing"
Communications News 30(7) (July 1993):39. Major communications
companies like AT&T, MCI, GTE, and the regional Bell operating
companies are preparing for the rapid increase in wireless
computing. Part of the increase will be spurred by the
appearance of personal communications service (PCS) devices like
Apple's Newton and the auctioning of bandwidth by the Federal
Communications Commission. The PCS network will operate on a
smaller, but just-as-ubiquitous, scale as the cellular network
does now (i.e. using smaller cells). There are also a number of
plans to employ satellite transceivers, including Motorola's
Iridium project which will provide world-wide satellite coverage.
Fasten your seat belts and unplug the computer! - DR
Kapor, Mitchell. "Where is the Digital Highway Really Heading?:
The Case for a Jeffersonian Information Policy" Wired 1(3)
(July/August 1993):53-59, 94. Kapor argues that with
technologies like ISDN (integrated services digital network) and
ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber loop - see Negroponte
below), and the cable and telephone companies poised, the
question is no longer who will be your network service provider,
but rather who will control what information comes in and goes out
of your network connection. Kapor believes that the cable and
telephone companies can use the pay-per-view Hollywood movies to
fund the availability of two-way high-bandwidth network service
to the home. The bandwidth is already widely available in the
form of a hybrid network of fiber optic cable, coaxial cable,
and copper wire. What's left is to be sure that the network is
switched so that data can be sent to specific places (and both
to and from the home), lifeline access that is cheap enough for
people with a low income, and standards that allow for
interoperability on a mass scale. - DR
Love, James P. "Information Policy for the Clinton/Gore
Administration: A Viewpoint" Government Publications Review 20
(1993):245-249. Love, Director of the Taxpayer Assets Project,
describes the legacy of the Reagan/Bush years that has allowed
government agencies to charge market-based prices for government
information. In many cases, Love charges, this has left
citizens in the research community out in the cold. Love
proposes that the Clinton/Gore administration and Congress set
information policy for the electronic media the way it has for
the printed media. This would mean that government agencies
would not only be forced to provide access to information
produced by the agency, but provide it at the cost of
dissemination, not market value (see the revisions of OMB
Circular A-130, above). - DR
Negroponte, Nicholas. "Debunking Bandwidth: From Shop Talk to
Small Talk" Wired 1(3) (July/August 1993):112. Negroponte
points out that the problem is not getting enough bandwidth into
the home, but using what we already have. As an example, ISDN
could provide video on demand by distributing part of the signal
on a CD-ROM. On the other hand, ADSL (asynchronous digital
subscriber loop) allows a compressed video signal to be sent
over copper wire. Negroponte asks: "Which would you prefer: 500
channels from which you can choose one, or one channel that can
be switched to any source on the network?" - DR
"New Coalition Formed to Advance Public Interest Positions on
Telecommunications Infrastructure" posted on tap-info@
uunet.UU.NET (July 13, 1993) [available from the following
servers: ftp: ftp.cpsr.org; gopher: gopher.cpsr.org; wais:
wais.cpsr.org]. The Taxpayer Assets Project reports on the July
8th meeting of a number of people hoping to create a new
organization focused on public interest issues of the National
Information Infrastructure (NII). The new group is tentatively
called the Telecommunications Policy Roundtable and includes
Jeff Chester, from the Center for Media Education (CME), Marc
Rotenberg, from Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
(CPSR), and Prue Adler, from the Association of Research
Libraries (ARL), Carol Henderson from the American Library
Association (ALA), Richard Civille from the Center for Civic
Networking (CCN), and members of several other groups. The
Roundtable adopted six principles (and hope to receive comment
on them): the NII must include a public and civic sector, there
must be universal access, privacy must be protected, the NII
must be an open and accessible system, the NII must be a diverse
and competitive marketplace, and noncommercial programs and
services must be preserved. - DR
Raisch, Robert. "Registrar -- Resource Registration Service"
posted on uri@bunyip.com, com-priv@psi.com, and www-
talk@nxoc01.cern.ch (July 7, 1993). Raisch has posted this
discussion of a proposed Uniform Resource Name/Locator (URN/L)
registration server. In short, the Registrar accepts a URN (a
network analog to an ISBN) and returns a URL along with other
pertinent information for each instance of the object such as
type, size, encoding, who has access, and payment method and
cost. While all of the pieces are not quite complete, there is
a test version of the server running that users may try. - DR
Sulzer, Jack. "What Now? Is There Life After Access?: The
Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access
Enhancement Act and Its Implications" The Dupont Circle Reporter
9 (June 22, 1993) [posted on GOVDOC-L@PSUVM.BITNET as well as on
MAPS-L, AND LAW-LIB]. Sulzer provides an analysis of the
recently signed GPO Access Bill (see above). While there are
varying opinions about the effectiveness of the law, Sulzer
points to the indisputable lack of funding the law provides for
implementation. With the costs of implementation estimated to
be up to $10 million per year, it is not clear how the already-
strapped GPO will come up with the money. - DR
Wilson, David L. "Clinton Signs Bill on Electronic Access to
Government Data" The Chronicle of Higher Education 39(42) (June
23, 1993):A15, A16. Wilson describes the GPO Access bill that
was signed into law by President Clinton. The law requires the
Government Printing Office (GPO) to maintain an electronic
directory of federal electronic information, make the
Congressional Record and the Federal Register available
electronically within one year, and maintain a storage facility
for federal electronic information. What the bill does not do
is require government agencies to provide all their electronic
data to the GPO for publication nor provide any new funding for
electronic services. - DR
General
Rotenberg, Marc. "CPSR Workplace Privacy Testimony" posted on
CPSR@GWUVM.BITNET (July 2, 1993) [available from the following
servers: ftp: ftp.cpsr.org; gopher: gopher.cpsr.org; wais:
wais.cpsr.org]. Rotenberg testified before the House
Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations, Committee on
Education and Labor in support of H.R. 1900, the Privacy for
Consumers and Workers Act. Arguing that workplace privacy is of
increasing concern in an increasingly electronic office, and
representing the Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility (CPSR), he says, "It is our belief that computer
systems and information policies that are designed so as to
value employees will lead to a more productive work environment
and ultimately more successful companies and organizations."
CPSR recommends that the electronic monitoring of workers be
kept to a minimum, and that all such monitoring be known to the
employees being monitored. - DR
Forthcoming
McClure, Charles R., et al. "Toward a Virtual Library: Internet
and the National Research and Education Network" The Bowker
Annual (1993):25-45. McClure and his colleagues provide
background information on the Internet itself and the NREN
program, how libraries use the Internet today, and key issues
that face libraries in this period of transition to a ubiquitous
network. This last section is the most interesting, as it
outlines the barriers to network use faced by academic, special,
public, and school libraries. As is expected, the barriers
differ by library type. - DR
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Current Cites 4(7) (July 1993) ISSN: 1060-2356
Copyright (C) 1993 by the Library, University of
California, Berkeley. All rights reserved.
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