The June issue of the OCLC Newsletter warns that telephone company service has slowed significantly since the break up of AT&T. OCLC recommends that users try to avoid requesting low priority work in the next few months. Completion dates for requested work appear to be running far in excess of the recommended lead time of 65 working days for the installation of a new modem or the movement of an existing modem to another building, and 35 working days for the movement of an existing modem within the same building.
To overcome these problems, OCLC recommends that libraries consider the following options:
- chain dedicated terminals to existing lines,
- use longer cables to connect terminals rather than moving modems when relocating equipment only a short distance within a building,
- temporarily use dial access for new M300 terminals.
A number of other telecommunications developments have occurred. The Summer issue of the CLSI Newsletter reports that the San Bernardino County Library in California uses a combination of local telephone lines and microwave transmission links to communicate with outlying branches. Adelphi University has installed a campuswide broadband local area network which it intends to use to link library and other automated systems. The Iowa City Public Library recently modified its CATV (Community Antenna Television) system to provide remote fully interactive access to the Library's online catalog to homes and offices which attach lowcost keypads to their TV sets. In Tucson, AZ, the city's two-way cable system is being used as a direct alternative to leased telephone circuits for data communications. Currently, the Library's technical service terminals are connected to the LIBS 100 system using this facility. There are plans to expand the linkage to more distant branch locations.
[Contact: Customer Installation and Support Services, OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017-0702 (614) 764-6000 and CLSI, 1220 Washington Street, west Newton, MA 02165 (617) 965-6310.]
