Library Technology Guides

Document Repository


Volume 20 Number 12 (December 2000)

Supreme court to hear copyright case

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the publisher of a print publication may add an article written by a freelance writer to an electronic database without the author's permission when there is no contract between the parties or the contract does not specifically cover the future use of the article in an electronic database. Six freelance writers are pursuing the case and claim the right to publish a printed version of an articles does not automatically include the right to publish it electronically.

Copyright law allows a publisher to include an article without the author's permission in a revised version of an original publication, but a federal appeals court in New York ruled last year that an electronic database does not qualify as a revision of an original print publication.

There is considerable disagreement, about the potential impact of a Supreme Court ruling that agrees with that of the New York court. Lawyers for the publishers and database companies argue that losing the right to publish electronically would require the deletion of more than 100,000 articles from widely used electronic databases, a costly and cumbersome undertaking, and one which would "create holes in history." Lawyers for the authors contend that fewer than 1% of articles would be affected-a seemingly small percentage, but one that probably is equal to 100,000 or more articles.

Although the case was brought by authors of magazine and newspaper articles, it has fueled a long-standing dispute between authors of books and their publishers. Random House, the largest English-language publishing house, has announced that it will evenly split its electronic book sales revenue with authors. Although authors typically receive 10% to 15% of the cover price on the sale of hardcover books and 7.5% of the cover price of paperbacks, authors have received half the proceeds when a publishes sells a license to use the contents of a book to another publisher. The Random House policy would consider an electronic publication analogous to the licensing of the contents of a book to another publisher.

Bertelsmann, Random House's parent company, likely will set a precedent the rest of the industry will follow to keep the issue of electronic book revenue out of the courts. The Authors Guild, a writer's trade group, had not yet commented on Random House's move at the time LSN went to press, but the response is expected to be favorable because it has called for an even split in the past.

Bertelsmann is also a major magazine publisher. A company spokesman chose not to speculate whether the company would await a Supreme Court decision, probably in 2001, or offer financial compensation to freelance authors who do not participate in litigation.

epixtech stresses suitability of Horizon for public libraries and small libraries

epixtech's recent press releases stress the suitability of Horizon, a product initially developed for mid- and large-size academic and special libraries, public libraries, and very small libraries. As examples of the former, it points to the Ontario City Library of California and the Harris County Public Library of Texas. The Orange City Library is a library' serving a community of 150,000 with a collection of 180,000 volumes. The Harris County Public Library serves a population of nearly 1.2 million through 25 libraries with a collection of 380,000 titles. The libraries are among more than a score of public libraries that have selected Horizon in the past year.

Offered as an example of a small library is the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, a library with 44,000 volumes serving a student body of 75. The library accesses the Horizon system through an ASP (Application Service Provider) agree-ment.

[Contact: epixtech, inc., 400 W. 5050 North, Provo, UT 84604-5650; tel: 801-223-5200 or 800-223-5413; fax: 801-223-6202; Web: www.epixtech.com]

Ex Libris moves beyond academic library market

Ex Libris, a vendor that has focused its U.S. efforts on the academic library market is easing into other markets. It recently moved into the museum and archives market by signing the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. An Aleph 500 system will be installed to provide access to archival materials and

to published works on the history of Mississippi. The system, which will be licensed for 18 concurrent users, will run on an Intel/Linux platform.

Ex Libris will add public and school library customers through its selection by the Minnesota Library Information Network (MnLINK). MnLINK is a state-wide virtual library composed of both an integrated library system and a gateway. Ex Libris will provide its Aleph 500 product as a shared library automation system for libraries of the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota State Colleges and University System, state government, and interested public libraries and K-12 schools. The gateway is a mechanism to facilitate electronic access to many types of library resources, including other major automated library systems in the state. A signed contract is likely by the end of the year, and the first libraries are expected to go live in mid-2002.

If the public and school libraries using the Aleph system are enthusiastic about it, Ex Libris will likely receive many RFPs from similar libraries.

[Contact: Ex Libris (USA) Inc.; tel: 877-527-1689 (toll free); fax: 773-404-5601; Web: www.exlibris-usa.com]

Geac cutting workers to position itself for possible sale

Geac Computers, Inc., has announced plans to cut its workforce by about 12% (150 by attrition and 350 by handing out pink slips) to return to operating profitability and prime itself for a potential sale. Most of the cuts will involve administrative employees or come from JBA Holdings, an enterprise resource planning subsidiary. The impact on the library division should be minor.

During a teleconference in mid-October, William Nelson, interim CEO, said he expects to start receiving offers from prospective buyers in late November. The company could be sold off as a single entity or split into pieces, he said.

[Contact: Geac Computers, Inc.; tel: 800-825-2574; fax: 800-759-0126; Web: www.geac.com]

Innovative's Millennium to support Mac OS X clients and netLibrary eBooks

Innovative Interfaces has installed its Web- and Java-based Millennium automated library system client software on the Beta release of Mac OS X, a new operating system that fully supports Java. Millennium has been operating on an iMac in Innovative's office and will soon be operating at several customers' sites in Beta version. General release for Mac OS X is expected in early 2001.

Innovative's Millennium clients also run on the Windows and Linux operating systems. The multiplatform options for clients are available because Millennium was developed in Java, rather than Windows.

Innovative Interfaces' integration of netLibrary eBooks is now available at no cost to libraries using its automated library system. Innovative has developed features that enable users to access collections of netLibrary eBooks directly. Full MARC records are downloaded into the library's catalog so full-text access to eBooks requires only clicking on an icon. The netLibrary record loading process is fully integrated into the acquisitions module's EDI system. Additional features provide for search limiting, previews, and check-out.

[Contact: Innovative Interfaces, Inc.; 5850 Shellmound Way, Emeryville, CA 94608; tel: 800-878-6600; Web: www.iii.com]

OCLC will distribute ILLiad software

OCLC has announced it will be the exclusive distributor for ILLiad software, a package that automates routine interlibrary loan functions and provides extensive statistics. The software includes interfaces to the OCLC ILL services, the National Library of Medicine’s DOCLINE, and RLG’s RLIN ILL service. A Web-based user interface allows patrons to submit ILL requests and lets them track the status of their requests without staff intervention.

Libraries interested in OCLC ILLiad should contact their regional network or service center. They should also contact the vendor of their automated library system since a few already have a comprehensive ILL module and several have one in the late stages of development.

Sirsi teams with Northern Light

Sirsi Corp. has signed an agreement with Northern Light Technology, Inc., to integrate Northern Light's Web search engine into Sirsi's new iBistro Internet Access Center. Using Northern Light's patented classification technology (one that uses natural-language processing), search results are relevance-ranked and organized into custom search folders that dynamically group results into categories. Northern Light also offers advanced search features, including the ability to limit searches to particular subjects, types of Web sites (commercial, government, academic), languages, countries, and date ranges.

Northern Light indexes more than 310 million Web pages as well as more than 50 million pages of business information from more than 7,000 business and information sources not easily found on the Web.

iBistro provides access not only to the Web but also to the catalogs of libraries and online reference services. Users can personalize iBistro to create a "My Bistro" resource where they receive information about new titles of potential interest.

[Contact: Sirsi Corp.; 101 Washington St. SE, Huntsville, AL 35801; tel: 256-7047000; fax: 256-704-7007; Web: www.sirsi.com]

Dell cuts server prices

Dell Computer has announced a price reduction for its PowerEdge line of servers. Depending on the model, the cut is from 14% to 47%. The greatest cuts are in fully configured, four-processor PowerEdge 6400 and 6450 servers. For example, a PowerEdge 6450 with four 700 MHz Pentium III processors and 2.0 GHB of memory will drop in price from $31,446 to $18,042. The majority of libraries that installed automated library systems this past year did not need a platform more powerful than the PowerEdge 6450.

IBM Mainframe Rivals Bow Out

Amdahl Corp. has announced it will quit the mainframe business due to the high cost of staying competitive with IBM's recently announced 64-bit systems. The announcement follows one by Hitachi, which is also dropping its mainframe business.

For the past two years IBM's competition for the mainframe (IBM 390) market was coming from UNIX vendors such as Sun and Hewlett-Packard, rather than Amdahl and Hitachi. The main advantage of UNIX-based platforms is that they are less expensive, however, mainframes offer greater stability.

The departure of Amdahl and Hitachi may mean higher prices for large mainframes, but at the lower end of the market there should be enough competition to keep prices down.

CRN Test Center releases UPS ratings

The CRN Test Center, a center operated by CRN, a major computer industry trade paper, has tested eight uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and determined there are some real differences. It gave its top rating to the APC Smart-UPS 1400, a rack-mounted line interactive UPS with 1,400 VA of backup power at a price of $849. A line interactive UPS simply monitors the AC line and kicks in battery power only when the AC input falls outside set margins. In contrast, an online UPS continuously provides power from the batteries, which are constantly kept fully charged by the AC input. The top-rated online UPS, the Tripp Lite SU2200RT2U, was rated second overall. Details of the tests are available at the test center's Web site.

[Contact: CRN Test Center; Web: www.crn.com/testcenter.]

T-Carrier line speeds

Many libraries are now connecting branches to their central site or their PCs to the Internet using T-1 or fractional T-1 circuits. First introduced by AT&T in the 1950s, a T-carrier line is the most common type of broadband communication line. A T-carrier point-to-point line consists of four copper wires: one pair to receive data, the other pair to transmit it. A T-1 carrier line offers a rate of 1.544 Mbps (million bits per second). A fractional T-1 is often available at 64, 128, 256, 512, and other levels below full T-1. What is less well known is that there are options above T-1.

T-1C, the equivalent of two T-1s, offers a bandwidth of 3.152 Mbps; T-2, the equivalent of two T-1Cs, offers a bandwidth of 6.312 Mbps; T-3, the equivalent of seven T-2s, offers a bandwidth of 44.736 Mbps; and T-4, the equivalent of six T-3s, offers a bandwidth of 274.176 Mbps. Library administers can expand bandwidth to whatever their facility needs. The only obstacle is cost. The monthly charge for T-1 service begins at about $400. A T-3 costs several thousand dollars per month.

OSHA releases workplace ergonomic rule

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a rule setting forth workplace ergonomic standards aimed at reducing the repetitive-motion injuries that afflict 1.8 million people annually, including 600,000 who lose time from work. More than 100 million workers will be affected by the rule when it goes into effect on January 15, 2001. Employers will have until October to come into full compliance.

Employers will be required to educate workers on musculoskeletal disorders, including tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, caused by repetitive motions. In addition, employers will have to address worker complaints by examining working conditions. For example, a company may have to provide adjustable chairs. Workers who are injured will be entitled to medical care and paid leave.

OSHA will not normally inspect workplaces or investigate employer practices unless a complaint is filed.

The November-December 2001 issue of L brarry Technology Reports will address ergonomics for libraries.

FCC opens more wireless spectrum

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is allocating an additional 50 MHz of spectrum for use in wireless devices. The transfer of the 3650-3700 MHz band from government control to commercial use for fixed and mobile wireless services will temporarily reduce wireless bandwidth congestion in and near major cities. The FCC is exploring other options for dealing with what it calls spectrum drought.

Panel doesn't push filtering

A congressionally appointed panel examining how to protect children from pornography on the Internet has decided against pushing filtering. The Commission on Child Online Protection said in its Oct. 20 report that existing technologies not only raise concern among advocates of free speech, but they fall short in their ability to distinguish between proper and improper text and images.

The 18-member commission urged that more research be conducted into software programs that block or filter questionable material. It also called on the adult entertainment industry to do a better job of regulating itself.

Senator John McCain (R-Az.), a proponent of Internet filtering, was sharply critical of the Commission and warned the White House to do nothing to defeat or weaken legislation that would require filtering in public schools and libraries if they received federal funds. The legislation was still in limbo at the time LSN went to press because it was tacked onto a spending bill that was not completed. All spending bills are expected to be completed and signed before Christmas, but a veto, or threatened veto, may sweep away many of the riders.

International Union Catalog of Braille and Audio Materials expands

The International Union Catalog of Braille and Audio Materials has added more than 30,000 catalog records from the United Kingdom's National Library for the Blind. The addition brings the database to 21.4 million copies of more than 370,000 books and magazines from collections in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand.

The catalog, which is available at lcweb.loc.gov/nls/web-bind/bph.html, can be searched by author, title, subject, and keyword. Many search limiting options are available.

Items in the database are available only to qualified users of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Program through NLS cooperating libraries and to those libraries requesting interlibrary loan service for blind or handicapped individuals.

Additional information is available by phone, fax, and e-mail.

[Contact: Robert E. Fistick, NLS; tel: 202-707-9279; fax: 202-707-0712; e-mail: rfis@loc.gov]

Washington's diaries available online

The Diaries of George Washington, a collection that represents the efforts of the University of Virginia and the Library of Congress, are now available on the American Memory collections Web site at www.loc.gov or as one of six series of Washington papers at www.virginia.edu/gwpapers. The diaries, kept daily between 1748 and 1799, offer a window into all aspects of Washington's life.

A five-part introduction provides background on the diaries and on Washington himself.

OCLC releases Web data

OCLC recently completed its annual review of the Web. It has determined that the Web now contains about 7.1 million unique Web sites, a 50% increase over the previous year's total of 4.7 million. Public Web sites constitute 41% of the Web, or about 2.9 million sites. Private sites, which have content subject to access restrictions, comprise 21% of the Web, or 1.5 million sites. The rest are unfinished or in a transitory state. Private sites are steadily increasing in numbers and as a percentage of the total. The growth of public Web sites is slowing; the public Web increased by 712,000 sites in the past year, compared with 772,000 in the previous year.

Image drivers explained

An image driver is software that allows an image capture device (such as a scanner) to communicate with software applications on a workstation. Without an image driver, moving a captured image to a workstation for enhancement or storage is more complex: You must leave the application you are working in, locate and open a hardware driver, set the device options, acquire the image, save it to disk, close the hardware driver, return to the application, then locate and read in the image file from disk:

There are two major standards for image drivers, ISIS and TWAIN.

ISIS is a proprietary product, and a de facto standard, developed by Pixel Translation, a subsidiary of Cornerstone Corp. Until recently, almost all professional level image capture devices supported only ISIS, and Pixel Translation collected a royalty on almost all imaging products sold. In the past two years many scanner, software, and board vendors together created a standard that would be available to everyone in the industry to incorporate into their products without the payment of royalties. They then approached the TWAIN Working Group, a group that was overseeing the TWAIN image driver protocol used in many consumer level scanners.

The TWAIN protocol for professional level image capture devices, designated TWAIN 1.7, was adopted in 1999. In only a few months most of the industry had brought their current product lines into conformity with TWAIN. Although a few offer ISIS as an option, TWAIN is the current standard. When there is a choice, TWAIN should be specified.

The January-February 2001 issue of Library Technology Reports will address imaging for libraries and archives. It will not only describe imaging hardware and software but will include several case studies of libraries with imaging programs.

AMD introduces new chip sets

Advanced Micro Devices, Intel's major competitor in the PC chip industry, has released a new chip set that allows PC manufacturers to offer machines with clock speeds of 1.2 GHz, 1.13 GHz, and 1.0 GHz. Intel already has chip sets capable of 1.0 to 1.2 GHz. Prices of PCs with clock speeds over 1.0 GHz are expected to drop within a few months now that PC manufacturers have two suppliers of fast chips.

Windows 2000 is a family

Windows 2000 is not a single product; it has four products in the family. The most widely used is Windows 2000 Professional, a desktop and laptop operating system for organizations of all sizes. It combines the strengths of Windows NT Workstation 4.0 with the usability of Windows 98, plus some additional features such as power management, plug and play, and infrared data exchange. It requires more computer resources than the consumer model of the desktop operating system, which Microsoft has named Microsoft Millennium Edition (Windows ME).

Three other members of the Windows 2000 family account for most of the confusion because all are 2000 servers. The base model is the Windows 2000 Server. It consists of one to four processors in a single cabinet. The maximum memory is 4.0 GB, so it is likely to be widely used by vendors supplying NT-based systems to small and mid-sized libraries.

Windows 2000 Advanced Server consists of up to eight 64-bit processors, each more powerful than those in the Windows 2000 Server. The maximum memory is 64 GB. Two servers can be clustered, thus increasing the capacity even more. The Windows 2000 Advanced Server is intended to compete with UNIX based systems. It may be offered to mid- to large-sized libraries.

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server consists of up to 32 64-bit processors. The maximum memory is 512 GB. Up to four servers can be clustered. It is intended to compete with mainframe systems used in large-scale scientific and engineering simulations, large data warehouses, and intense online transaction processing applications. It is not likely to be offered by vendors of automated library systems.


Publication Information


PublisherLibrary Systems Newsletter was published by the American Library Association.
Editor-in-Chief:Howard S. White
Contributing Editor:Richard W. Boss
ISSN:0277-0288
Publication Period1981-2000
Business modelAvailable on Library Technology Guides with permission of the American Library Association.