Showing papers in "Vine in 1986"

Improving okapi: transaction log analysis of failed searches in an online catalogue

Abstract: The experimental online catalogue Okapi has been running at one of the Polytechnic of Central London's (PCL) library sites for the last eighteen months. The work of this British Library project has been reported previously in VINE and the report itself which recorded the development of Okapi and outlined the rationale behind its design has been extensively discussed since its publication.

Remote access to opacs, and the use of electronic mail, in university libraries: developments in the use of the joint academic network (janet)

Abstract: University libraries and their use of JANET (the Joint Academc Network) were the subject of a survey in March by Elizabeth Rodger, Librarian of the University of Sussex', for SCONUL's Advisory Committee on Automation Policy. Respondents were asked if and how they used the network both to access other OPACs and to send email. Those who provide OPACs on JANET were asked for details of access, service hours, catalogue coverage, and indexes provided. Replies were received from all universities in Great Britain bar six.

CATS ― a machine independent on-line catalogue system

Abstract: Introduction The CATS on‐line catalogue system has been in operation at Cambridge University Library since 1982, (see report in VINE 47). This article reports the current state of the system which has been greatly enhanced since that time. The system supports the library's on‐line catalogue of books begun in 1978 and also a union list of serials for Cambridge University. The catalogue records are in UK‐MARC format and are coded according to AACR2, with Library of Congress Subject Headings. The system provides both an on‐line public access catalogue and a cataloguing service whereby staff can create or amend records on‐line.

Automation in the university of london

Abstract: The University of London's far‐reaching plan for a new generation of library automation has become a casualty of the UGC's latest round of cuts in funding for universities. A strategy had been developed over recent years to replace the four existing shared systems and to introduce a five to seven year phase of expansion. The integration of all library functions, the provision of online access, and emphasis on resource sharing and a rational approach to library provision in London for the remainder of the century were the main objectives. A distributed network was planned to link all the diverse libraries of the University in a common system, affording online access to shared bibliographic and, where appropriate, shared borrower data. Considerable interest in the scheme was being shown by libraries both at home and abroad.

Elan: a local area network for education and training of information professionals

Abstract: ELAN (Educational Local Area Network) is the local area network of IBM PC's installed in the Department of Information Science; Strathclyde Business School. Essentially; it has a dual role (a) as part of the administration and management of the Department and (b) as a working example of electronic information handling and transfer which can be demonstrated to; and used by; students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Much student work is now prepared electronically; and there are signs that; in the future; much of it will also be submitted electronically!

Quartet: a collaborative research project in digital information interchange

Abstract: [The British Library Research and Development Department recently awarded its largest grant — £794,000 over 3 years — for a quadrapartite project to investigate a wide range of factors affecting the creation and exchange of electronic information. Technical, human and organisational aspects will all be considered. The following pages set out the background to the project and describe the main areas for research. Though it is not directly relevant to library housekeeping, the project will look at many of the issues which are beginning to interest librarians, particularly as they move towards greater networking of library services and information. Ed]

CAFS as a university library catalogue search facility

Abstract: Background; Library Glasgow University Library (GUL) has a Geac 8000 system Which includes MRMS for data entry and the online public catalogue (OPC). By the early summer of 1986, the master bibliographic file (MBIB) contained in excess of 250,000 MARC records which could be searched online at any of more than 40 public enquiry terminals by author, title, author/title, title keyword, subject or subject keyword. The system, however, remained deficient in two respects which the Library found particularly disappointing. Firstly, the keyword indexes were much less useful than they would have been had users been permitted the range of manipulation techniques associated with the standard Boolean operators. Secondly, Geac's Community Access Module permitted remote access via X‐25 to not the OPC files but to the bibliographic data associated with the Circulation system, with the results that the advantages of using full MARC records and a fairly sophisticated user‐friendly catalogue system were lost on those of ou...

Periodicals cataloguing on ls/2000 at newcastle university library

Abstract: Introduction A machine‐readable file of periodical records was first created at Newcastle in 1977, and held on the University's IBM 370/178. By 1985 the file consisted of about 12,000 records of which 3,400 were for current titles. The output was in microfiche, produced once a year, with one print‐out for staff use, which was amended regularly to keep it up‐to‐date. The microfiche was an alphabetical title listing but access was also provided by corporate bodies and different forms of title; for example, Journal of the American Medical Association appeared as Journal‐American Medical Association and American Medical Association‐Journal. Use of OCLC for cataloguing began in 1982, and cataloguing on LS/2000 (OCLC's local system) started in April 1985. OPAC terminals were made available at the same time and with the majority of the bookstock accessible through the OPAC it was obviously desirable to include periodical records as well. Two main options emerged, either to use the existing file or to catalogue all the periodicals from scratch, using records taken from the OCLC Union Catalogue. Periodical records on OCLC are fuller and more complex than we require and the size of the database means some difficulty in searching for the correct record. It was felt that to use OCLC records in a retroconversion project would take more time and staff effort than to load and edit our existing file. The latter option also meant that the records, albeit un‐edited, were all available on the OPAC from one date, rather than being added gradually.

An introduction to osi and the linked systems project

Abstract: Humans have had to communicate with computers since the latter were invented but now it is also becoming important for the computers to be able to talk to each other. One way of providing these computer to computer links is to follow the developing Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) standards. Several organizations in North America have been developing initial links between their systems using these standards. This development has the general title of the Linked Systems Project (LSP).