Library Technology Guides

---

Volume 14 Number 10 (October 1994)

McDonnell Information Systems still active in U.K. and Europe

When McDonnell Information Systems stopped marketing its URICA automated library system in the United States, many librarians assumed that the company had completely lost interest in the library market. In fact, there is an active sales program in the United Kingdom and on the European continent, with 20 “new name” sales in 1993. There are now 140 sites installed, including 40 academic and 40 public library systems, but recent sales have almost all been to public libraries in Europe.

The product is now available on several different platform families, including DEC Alpha and VAX, IBM RS/6000, HP 9000, and Motorola RISC. The most frequently supplied when a “turnkey” procurement is specified are HP 9000 and Motorola. There are multiple operating systems: UNIX, VMS, and Reality.

Sales in 1993 were under $10 million, and there was no after-tax profit, but the company was actively developing and maintaining software with a staff of 22 analysts and programmers. The major enhancement in 1993 was a new user interface.

There are sales offices in London, Dublin, and several major German cities. The company hopes to expand its market reach after it completes the design and development of a new generation system to be known as “PRO-IV LION.”

[Contact: Dagmar Koch, Director, Library Systems Worldwide, McDonnell Information Systems Ltd., Marylands Park South, Boundary Way, Herts HP2 7HU; Telephone (0442) 232424; FAX (04242) 244896.]

P.S.S. Tapestry signs Notre Dame

We usually don't publish information about the selection of a vendor by a single library or consortium because that would mean publishing more than 1,000 articles a year. We're breaking our own rule this month because we've recently learned that P.S.S. Tapestry, a very recent entrant into the market (November 1993), has been selected by the University of Notre Dame. The Library has a collection of more than two million volumes, and expects to support as many as 300 concurrent users on its new automated library system. Not only is this a major account for a new market entrant, it is made even more important by the fact that Bethel College, Holy Cross College, and Saint Mary's College will share Notre Dame's system.

The system will include bibliographic, acquisitions, serials control, circulation, and online patron access catalog modules. Linkages to other automated library systems will be through Z39.50 client/server. Implementation is expected in early 1995.

No decision has yet been made about the hardware platform. The present platform is an IBM mainframe. While Tapestry can be accommodated on a mainframe, the usual operating system environment is UNIX, the database management system is ADABAS, and the programming language is NATURAL—the latter two products of Software AG.

[Contact: P.S.S. Tapestry, Inc., 8623 Old Perry Highway, Pittsburgh, PA 15237; (412) 366-0100.]

Compressible cartridge tape drives

Almost all multi-user automated library systems now include a cartridge tape drive, usually a 4mm or 8mm unit. We have frequently urged that these drives be sized to equal the total amount of disk storage on a library's system so that a complete database back-up or a database “dump” can be undertaken without staff having to remain near the system to change tapes. For many libraries that has meant spending several thousand dollars on a tape drive with considerably more capacity than needed. Often a library needing just a little more than 2.0GB may have been required to purchase a 5.0, 8.0, or 10GB cartridge tape drive.

There is now a more attractive alternative: a compressible tape drive. Using standard hardware data-compression techniques, it is possible to double a drive's storage capacity without adversely affecting performance or file security. Data compression works by reducing the size of the records through the elimination of empty fields and unnecessary data.

The equivalent to the 2.0GB drive is a 2.0-4.0GB compressible unit offering most libraries more than enough capacity at basically the same price as a 2.0GB unit. For libraries requiring more than 4.0GB of storage there is a 4.0-8.0GB compressible unit, which is less expensive than a 5.0 or an 8.0GB drive. While not all product lines have the same capacities—for example, a number of product lines have a 2.7GB cartridge drive, rather than a 2.0GB, virtually all lines include compressible drives which offer double the capacity of the regular drives.

Freenet access

Freenets, community based computer information networks, are now available for residents of as many as 100 communities in North America. Freenets provide information about everything from local community activities to social, health, government, and library services. They also may provide the text of documents: city ordinances, minutes of meetings, etc. Freenets usually are connected to the Internet, allowing access to information contained in other community information systems, federal information services, and remote databases. Some freenets allow direct modem access. However, accessing freenets from the Internet usually is accomplished by connecting via telnet or a gopher client.

Some freenets require an application for a user name/password, others may allow one to register “online” after logging in as a “guest.” In some instances, freenets are developed by a local library and require a local library card number as well.

Automated library system vendors offer community information modules which can be a major component in a freenet, and most can assist a library with connecting its library system to the Internet and a community WAN (wide area networks) to broaden access to its community information module.

Image enhancement products

Now that libraries are beginning to pursue imaging on standalone systems and as add-ons to their automated library systems, LSN will begin to track hardware and software for these applications. The focus of this issue is image enhancement products: software which makes it possible to improve the scanned image by changing resolution contrast, masking unwanted information, and removing blemishes. Product capabilities go well beyond what most libraries will need or ever use, but there is almost nothing one may want to do that cannot be done with one of the top-ranked packages. In our experience, for library applications the most useful features have been the ability to increase contrast when the original has faded and to bring out—or suppress—marginal notes and drawings on a manuscript or document.

Although there are at least 14 products available, the two leading products as ranked by Computer User, a trade publication, are described below:

Adobe System's Photoshop is available for both Macintosh and Windows computers. Photoshop 2.5.1 features increased performance over previous versions, and PowerPC users can download or plug-in any of several online services to further increase performance.

The Windows menu contains a series of palettes that can be accessed through the menus or an extended keyboard's function keys. Using the Magic Wand selection tool along with “Grow” and similar commands, selections can be refined to use the Quick Mask tool in the toolbox. A gradient tool creates gradient color between foreground and background. “Adjust Variations” permits users to make critical color corrections and adjust the color balance of an image's shadows, highlights, and mid-tones. Rotate, Stretch, and Distort options let one alter image shapes.

Photoshop also permits independent editing of four-color-process images, and the program's device—independent support allows calibration of output for precise color matching on different printers and paper stock.

Photoshop can produce output in many forms and, unlike similar packages, reads and writes CompuServe GIF files.

With the Aldus PhotoStyler 2.0—a Windows-only package—one can convert images from color to grayscale, and vice versa. PhotoStyler has Paint and Select palettes, and using the palettes, artistic (if not realistic) color, such as Firelight or Pseudo Color, or grayscale images can be added.

PhotoStyler has 14 different tools to tweak an image and improve on it. Images can be selected in many ways to correct color mixes or to create composite images, and they can be skewed to change the perspective or creatively distort an image.

The color similarity and transparency options also can be used to change an object's color without making it look artificial. Besides the expected options—brightness, contrast, hue and saturation—a Gray/Color Correction command enables adjustment of the contrast throughout the current image while adjusting the brightness level of highlight, shadow, and midtone areas. For artistic image editing, the program also includes numerous filters including despeckle, blur, edge enhancement, sharpen, trace contour, add noise, emboss, mosaic, and motion blur.

PhotoStyler provides two different clipboards, the standard Windows clipboard and an internal one. A third-party filter package, such as the Kai's Power Tools 2.0 from HSC Software, can be also added.

For Macintosh users, Aldus also offers a Macintosh grayscale program called Digital Darkroom 2.01. The program's tool palette includes an Eye Dropper, a Magic Wand (allows selection of areas of similar values), and a Paper Cutter (makes straight-line cuts in an image) as well as more common drawing, brush selection, and gradient-fill tools. Transformations such as Rotate, Stretch, Distort, Slant, and Add Perspective add shadows to a photograph or create three-dimensional objects with photos mapped onto them.

[Contact: Adobe Systems, 1585 Charleston Road, Mountain View, CA 94039-7900; (800) 776-2333 or (408) 996-1010; Aldus Corporation, 411 First Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104-2871; (800) 628-2320.]

OCLC announces FirstSearch enhancements

Release 3.0 of FirstSearch will shortly be made available. There will be a number of enhancements, including full-text, Boolean OR, and holdings control.

There will be full-text files from more than 1,000 journals, with the ASCII text provided by UMI. The Boolean OR will augment the currently available Boolean AND. Holdings control will give users the option of displaying regional or group holdings, or to turn off all holdings.

[Contact: OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017; (614) 764-6000 or an OCLC regional network.]

LC expands name authority file

The Library of Congress has expanded the LC Name Authority File into the Anglo-American Authority File (AAAF) by adding names from the British Library. Discussions are still underway with the National Library of Canada and Australian Bibliographic Network to further broaden the program. The goal is to build a file with standardized forms of names that has contributions made electronically by the major national libraries of the English-speaking world, and to make the names accessible worldwide through the Internet.

[Contact: LC Cataloging Distribution Service, Washington, D.C. 20541; (800) 255-3666.]

NISO to ballot revised Z39.50

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has announced that a revised z39.50 Information Retrieval: Application Service Definition and Protocol Specification is ready for ballot by NISO Voting Members. The ballot period will close November 30, 1994.

Since its introduction in 1988, z39.50 has become an essential part of today's information retrieval services and systems, including automated library systems and database services. The standard makes it possible for any organization with z39.50 compliant software to extend its reach beyond its own collections to tap the resources of remote collections and databases that also are z39.50 compliant. It allows users to conduct searches of remote systems with the familiar commands and displays of a user's local system.

Z39.50-l99x adds several new services and facilities, and includes numerous enhancements. New features include:

• the ability to search multiple databases more efficiently by enabling the combination of attributes from different attribute sets within a single query, as well as greater flexibility in the definition of attribute sets
• the abili.ty to request specific portions of a document (such as captions, images, or section headings); to request documents according to specific variants; and, to request only the most relevant pertinent portions of a document
• faster retrieval of a large number of records by allowing a server to respond to a present request with multiple consecutive response messages without intervening requests; also, better support of large records such as images through new segmentation features
• enables a client and server to agree to use a particular language (i.e., English, French, German) and/or character set during a session
• additional new services and facilities such as Scan (used to scan terms in a list or index), Sort (for sorting a result set), Explain (a client can search and retrieve details of the available databases on a server) , and Extended Services (services that relate to or support information retrieval such as document ordering, requesting prints of a result set, and defining a periodic query).

Copies of x39.50-199x are available from NISO Press for $45 per copy. z39.50 also is available electronically via anonymous FTP from the Library of Congress. Details on how to access the electronic version are available on the Library of Congress gopher server at . When connected: (a) select ‘Libraries and Publishers'; (b) select ‘z39.50'; and, (c) select ‘About z39.50 Ballot Text'.

[Contact: NISO, Box 1056, Bethesda, MD 20827; (301) 975-2814; FAX (301) 869-8071.]

NISO Internet access available

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO), in collaboration with the Coalition for Networked Information, has established an electronic forum on the Internet to provide quick and easy access to information about NISO's standards program. The new NISO forum called niso-l replaces the older LISTSERV list, niso-1.nervm.

Through niso-l, one can obtain:

• a balloting calendar listing NISO draft standards out for review
• the table of contents for the latest issue of NISO's newsletter, Information Standards Quarterly
• a list of published NISO standards, including prices and ordering information
• a list of draft standards developed by NISO, including prices and ordering information
• a NISO fact sheet
• short reports on current activities of NISO standards committees.

To subscribe to niso-1, send an e-mail message to listproc@cni.org. The message should contain the line subscribe niso-1 'your name' -for example, subscribe niso-1 jane jones.

All postings to the niso-l list are archived. The list archives and other NISO doduments can be accessed via anonymous FTP or Gopher. To access via FTP, type ftp ftp.cni.org. When prompted for your name, sign on with a login of anonymous. When prompted for a password, reply by sending an e-mail address—for example, niso@enh.nist.gov. Use the change directory command, cd, to select the directory containing NISO archives, cd/pub/NISO. The dir command will bring up a listing of available files and a listing of subdirectories which lie beneath the /pub/NISO directory. Again use the change directory command, cd, to select the NISO subdirectories. To transfer files, type get filename. (The system is very sensitive to upper and lower case letters. Be certain that letter cases match those found in the NISO directory.)

To access NISO files via Gopher, point the Gopher client to the address gopher.cni.org. NISO files are stored under the menus, “Coalition FTP Archives (ftp.cni.org)”; “Publicly Accessible Documents (/pub)”; “National Information Standards Organization (NISO)”. Access also can be acquired by telnetting to a public access Gopher client. For example, telnet consultant.micro.umn.edu and choose “Coalition for Networked Information” from the menu “All the Gopher Servers in the World.”

[Contact: National Information Standards Organization (NISO), P.O. Box 1056, Bethesda, MD 20827, Attn: Craig Summerhill; (301) 975-2814; FAX (301) 869-8071; e-mail craig@cni.org.]

ISI to index electronic journals

The Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) has announced acceptance of the first in a proposed series of electronic journals for .coverage in the ISI database. ISI has initiated this new program with The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing from the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. The journal is available through OCLC's Electronic Journals Online Service.

The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing will be included in three ISI publications: Social Sciences Citation Index, Social SciSearch, and Current Contents/Social & Behavioral Sciences. ISI's document delivery service, the Genuine Article, will provide the full text of articles published in the journal. ISI plans to access OCLC's Guidon software and download images directly.

ISI made the decision to index electronic journals in 1993. Subsequently, a task force identified review guidelines. To qualify for coverage in ISI publications:

• the journal must be peer-reviewed
• there must be an identifiable sponsoring body, editor, and editorial board
• the journal must contain original submissions and adhere to a minimum publication schedule
• subscriptions must be unrestricted—free or paid with no limitations
• all standard bibliographic elements must be present.

The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing—which has no print counterpart—meets all selection criteria.

ISI has already started indexing The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing. This journal, and all electronic journals accepted by ISI for inclusion in its database in the future, will follow the indexing procedures for print publications, with only minor modifications to address the unique characteristics of this new format. For example, articles in The Online Journal of Knowledge Synthesis for Nursing are posted on OCLC's service individually. Each article is numbered, as is each paragraph within the article. ISI will maintain these identifiers when indexing. All other bibliographic information—including cited references—will be indexed.

[Contact: Institute for Scientific Information, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3389; (800) 336-4474 or (215) 386-0100; FAX (215) 386-6362.]

Apple to encourage clones

Apple Computer, Inc., which long has resisted cloning of its machines, is now actively looking for partners to license the unique Macintosh design. The idea is to significantly increase Macintosh's installed base—now estimated at over 7 million—by having several firms manufacture and market compatible units. Initially, annual sales may go up by as many as 500,000 units.

Apple stands to profit not only by licensing the design, but also by providing its special components and boards to licensees. As the product opens up, Apple also hopes to increase the overall number of applications packages available to Macintosh users.

Color LaserJet announced

Hewlett-Packard, the leader in laser printers, has announced the release of the HP Color LaserJet. The machine will ship with 8MB of PAM standard and will have a color resolution of 300 dpi (dots per inch). The monochrome print resolution will be 600 dpi. The printer will be equipped with the PCL 5 printer control language with color extensions and 35 fonts. Color print speeds will range between one and two pages per minute; monochrome will be ten pages per minute. Initial list price is $6,000, but this is expected to drop below $5,000 within a year.

Other models are expected to follow, with one of the earliest being designed specifically for the Macintosh market.

Hewlett-Packard also has introduced a color inkjet: the HP 450 DeskJet. Priced at $365, the printer has an interchangeable cartridge. For color printing, users need only replace the black ink cartridge with a three-color (cyan, yellow, and magenta) cartridge.

Windows upgrade to be called Windows95

Microsoft has officially christened the long awaited upgrade to the Windows environment: “Windows95.” The new naming will replace the earlier practice of numbering releases 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, etc., and the development code name “Chicago” will no longer be used. Windows95 will not be shipped until May, 1995, to give software developers time to complete applications which take advantage of the new release's features, including support for 32-bit systems.

The Gartner Group, which had earlier projected that the upgrade would be more costly to install and operate than the various versions of Release 3, has now estimated that costs for users of Windows95 will actually drop by nearly 20 percent because of improved ease of installation and use.

However, there still is considerable uncertainty about the effect of the new operating system on the market. While it is generally agreed that DOS will die a gradual, but inevitable death, no one is sure whether Windows95, OS/2, or UNIX will be the dominant operating system in the 32-bit environment. Our view is that all three will have a significant market share, but Windows95 will have an advantage because the name “Windows” has such positive name recognition. IBM's decision to bundle a number of Internet applications with the next version of OS/2 will give OS/2 only a temporary edge as these capabilities can easily be added to the other operating systems.

High-resolution color monitor prices drop

ViewSonic has started a new pricing trend in high-resolution color monitors by adding to its product line a $465, 15-inch color monitor which supports resolutions of 1,280 by 1,024. Some dealers have already quoted prices of under $430 per unit.

Like many of the other new 15-inch color monitors, ViewSonic uses a flat-square display which provides as much as 36 percent more viewing area than a standard 14-inch model.

Extending price guarantees in vendor proposals

A number of libraries have found that the 60 days which many purchasing agents specify for bidders to guarantee their prices until the signing of a contract is not enough because the evaluation process is lengthy and usually involves a number of people. It is quite reasonable to require 90 days. If that is not enough, one can ask for an extension of 30 days. Vendors rarely refuse to extend the guarantees another 30 days. The only exception we have encountered in the last 16 years was due to a price increase by a manufacturer. The vendor qualified the extension by passing through the increase on those particular components. Price increases by manufacturers are uncommon, and if small, often are absorbed by the vendors of automated library systems.

Yellow pages over the Internet

NYNEX Information Technologies is now offering the NYNEX NortheastAccess online Yellow Pages directory over the Internet. Access will be free for most academic and public libraries. While NYNEX plans to contact several thousand libraries, it will accept requests. NYNEX will issue passwords by mail.

[Contact: NYNEX at 1-800-35NYNEX.]

Radiation standards for monitors

Libraries concerned about radiation from monitors may want to specify that monitors they consider for purchase conform to the MRP-II low radiation standard, a standard set by the Swedish government, but widely adopted by companies that sell monitors internationally.

---

Maintained by Marshall Breeding

Copyright 1994-2024