Carlyle Systems, a new California company formed by librarians working on the University of California Online Catalog Project, has announced TOMUS (The Online Multiple User System), an online catalog service that makes it possible for libraries in a region or metropolitan area to share a system with sophisticated searching techniques and resource-sharing capabilities without investing in hardware and software development.
With TOMUS, terminals are connected by dedicated lines to a powerful computer located centrally within the geographic region. Carlyle will supply terminals for approximately $750 each, but a library may use any terminal which meets the ASCII standard.
A regional data base is created from records from bibliographic utilities (OCLC, RLIN, or WLN); libraries' own systems; or, if necessary, by Carlyle. Once stored, the records can be maintained directly online. Each regional data base will contain only one bibliographic record for each item, but all holdings and other local information will be retained for each copy of an item. With this system, users may access a particular library's holdings or all holdings for a title in the region.
Patrons can search without previous training, and without prior knowledge of computers. Instructions and information are conveyed in simple English. The system provides a choice os search approaches, permitting simple menu-like searching or more advanced Boolean capabilities. Browsing is provided and authority records are incorporated in the searching process, providing automatic "switching" from a non-preferred term input in a search to the preferred term used in the data base.
Displays may be requested in four different formats, each designed for quick assimilation of information.
The cost is $400 per month per port, plus a one-time charge of 15 cents per record stored. It is claimed that most libraries will be able to save most--if not all--of the cost by eliminating the filing and maintenance of card catalogs.
Geac, a Canadian-based library automation systems vendor and Carlyle have announced a joint marketing agreement under which each company will market the other's product as well as its own. The agreement will "provide libraries with an integrated approach to sophisticated catalog searching and circulation control" according to Carlyle officials. [Contact: Carlyle Systems, Inc., 2000 Center Street, Berkeley, CA 94704. (415) 549-0541 Ext. 1158.]
