Library Technology Guides

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Volume 6 Number 02 (February 1986)

Videodisc copyright ruling

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ruled that a hotel does not violate copyright when it rents videodiscs from its lobby gift shop to hotel guests for in-room use. A number of motion picture studios--including Columbia, Disney, and Universal--sued Professional Real Estate Inc., the owner of a Palm Springs resort hotel claiming that the videodiscs of studio properties could only be used for private home viewing by their purchasers. Hotels are public places and must pay royalties on all. uses of videodiscs (and videotapes). Judge William P. Gray ruled that when a patron closes the door on a hotel room, he is entitled to the same sort of privacy as at home. A viewing in a hotel room is not open to the public and is, therefore, not “public showing” under the law. He stated “renting or lending for private viewing does not violate copyright.”

The decision appears to further strengthen library lending for home use, including lending for a fee.

Common command language draft standard

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO), Z39, Committee G, has completed a draft standard for a common command language for online interactive information retrieval. The standard specifies the vocabulary, syntax, and operational meaning of commands in a command language. The purpose is to help users by making it unnecessary to learn more than one language to perform similar tasks on different systems. This would include not only online patron access catalogs, but also “gateway” data base access and search facilities. The scope applies to bibliographic, textual, numeric, and other types of data bases. The standard does not restrict the use of a “native” non-standard language, but requires that each system shall recognize and respond to the common commands when the functions to which they apply are used. The standard does not specify the manner in which system designers implement the functions it describes. The primary commands are explain, help, start, stop, choose, find, scan, relate, print, sort, more, back, review, save, delete, show, set, and define. Each is, defined and a three letter abbreviation is given.

The draft will be circulated to voting members of NISO with responses due by early March. The objective is to gain consensus, rather than to achieve a majority vote. It may, therefore, be several more months before the standard is revised and adopted.

[Contact: National Information Standards Organization (Z39), National Bureau of Standards, Admin. 101, Library E106, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.]

Compact disc data format standard

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has appointed Martin Hensel to chair its newly created Compact Disc Data Format Committee. The group's first meeting was held in December in Washington, DC. The standard is expected to specify a logical file structure that will enable electronic publishers to master a single compact disc and know that replicated copies will be readable on most compact disc players, computer hardware, and computer operating systems. It will also give software developers uniform file environments in which to design and implement applications; and manufacturers of disc players the guidelines to write a single version of file server software. Mastering services will also be able to validate replicated copies of compact discs using the directory and other standard information elements to verify accurate placement of data on the discs.

The committee will seek to devise a structure for the directory and other information on the discs; specifically the location and format of bootstrap blocks containing application-specific information including: title and description of contents, character sets used for contents, designation when the disc is part of a set, logical block size, length and format of file names, location and minimum contents of the directory to the files, and location and minimum contents of the attribute fields associated with each file.

Electronic publishers and librarians contacted at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting appeared to be quite supportive of standards development in this area, but there was also some opposition to drafting a standard at this time. The argument is that the absence of standards encourages manufacturers to continually seek improvements in technology. If standards are set too soon, development may be constrained.

[Contact: National Information Standards Organization (Z39), National Bureau of Standards, Admin. 101, Library El06, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.]

Micromedex prefers CD-ROM

Micromedex Inc., publisher of three well known medical data bases, POISINDEX, DRUGDEX, and EMERGINDEX, currently offers its products in both microfiche and optical media editions.

The company began producing microfiche data bases in 1974 and subsequently added online versions. However, online as a means of information delivery, was eventually dropped for the following reasons: high connect time costs, lack of menu driven software for inexperienced users, its inability to integrate graphics with text, and the fact that the online data bases did not generate sufficient royalties. In an attempt to provide fast service and up-to-date information along with user friendly software for doctors and nurses with no training on the system and who were unwilling to study a manual, Micromedex decided to investigate the use of optical media.

In 1983, the company began working with Reference Technology, Inc., of Boulder CO on a system that used a CLASIX D-2000 read-only drive and a 12-inch digitally encoded videodisc. However, the available software for data management and searching was limited so that it was difficult to quickly update the files or to offer rapid retrieval. In June 1985, new operating system and data base management software for a CD-ROM based system was released. The CD-ROM hardware was less expensive and potentially more attractive to Micrornedex customers. Furthermore, the technology appeared to be easier for the data base producer than that for videodisc. Therefore, Micromedex decided to switch from videodisc to CD-ROM. Now, based on a half year of experience, the company is convinced that its decision was correct. For Micromedex, at least, CD-ROM is the better optical medium for data base publishing.

While more than 1200 clients continue to subscribe to the microfiche editions, 40 currently subscribe to the company's CD-ROM editions.

There are now more than a score of optical media products on the market. However, to our knowledge, Micromedex is the first data base producer to have published in two optical media. Their experience may be useful to others considering electronic publishing. It can also serve as a warning to libraries to be wary of investing heavily in optical media hardware before the data base producers have had some experience with the different technologies and have fixed upon the most appropriate one for their products.

[Contact: Micromedex Inc., 660 Bannock, Suite 350, Denver, CO 80204—4506 and Reference Technology, Inc., 5700 Flatiron Parkway, Boulder, CO 80301.]

UMI fax service

UMI Article Clearinghouse in Ann Arbor, MI has announced two telefacsimile delivery options, its own Group III Artifax service and Federal Express ZapMail.It is hoped that same-day service will soon be available

IAC enhances InfoTrac

Information Access Corporation (IAC) has enhanced InfoTrac to permit dial-up access to remote data bases, downloading, and word processing. The enhancements are optional. But with the new capabilities, a keystroke is all that a user will need to dial into remote data bases via a modem, and, after displaying the search results, may then download selected references, or even full text, onto a floppy disk, which in turn, may be edited before it is printed The word processing capability will make it possible to incorporate the references or material into other documents.

The new capabilities complement access to local data bases stored on digitally encoded videodisc technology. The original optical data base includes indexes to some 1,000 business, technical, and general interest magazines and newspapers. The second——LegalTrac——covers more than 700 law journals. Newly added data bases include the Government Publications Index and the Wall Street Journal Data Base. The latter includes the full text of the Wall Street Journal indexed in the InfoTrac data base.

InfoTrac is available only on an annual subscription basis. The minimum charge is $8,500 a year for the hardware and software, plus charges for individual data bases which range from $3,500 to $5,500 a year each, for back—file and 12 monthly updates.

[Contact: Information Access Company, 11 Davis Drive, Belmont, CA 94992, (800) 227—8431.]

OCLC's CJK workstation

OCLC's long-awaited CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) workstation will be available as a general release product in mid-1986. Beta test sites should be installed by April 1986.

The workstation is configured around the SC/350 (an IBM XT with a special PROM which provides the full ALA character set display and the OCLC telecommunications protocols), a 10 MB Winchester disk drive, an Epson LQ-l500 printer, and three applications software packages, online cataloging, card production, and word processing.

The software was originally developed as a CJK word processing package by Asiagraphics of Mt. Sinai, New York and was enhanced by OCLC to include other modules. The online cataloging module allows interaction with the OCLC online system and will support local record creation. The card production package supports local catalog card production and transfer of machine-readable records to a local library system, if an interface has been installed. The word processing package can be used for producing bibliographies and preparing correspondence.

The input method is natural language. For example, in Chinese, the pronunciation is entered, followed by the tone and is then qualified using a radical. A single keystroke is assigned to each of 52 radical families. Depressing the space bar causes the character(s) to be displayed on the screen. If there is more than one match, the options are displayed and the operator is asked to make a selection. The interchange code employed is the same as that adopted by RLIN and LC. It is not necessary to compose the 17,000 characters in the data base, although the capability exists to compose any character. One cannot load the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tables simultaneously, but changing from one to another takes only seconds.

The keyboard is the standard IBM PC keyboard, rather than the more common 200 character keyboard already available for CJK. It takes 3 to 8 keystrokes per character. There are 1 and 2 character optional abbreviations for many common characters and compounds. The speed appeared to be only slightly slower than English language cataloging. A speed of 60 characters per minute is quoted by OCLC.

It is possible to retrieve records using the vernacular author search key (which usually retrieves multiple records), the vernacular title search key (which usually retrieves a single record), and the vernacular name/title search key (which almost always retrieves a single record). The records can also be retrieved using the Romanized author search key (which usually retrieves multiple records), the Romanized title search key (which usually retrieves a single record), and the Romanized name/title search key (which almost always retrieves a single record).

The software and character set support both Pin-Yen and Wade Giles transliteration schemes as well as full and simplified character sets of the Chinese language. Katakana and Romayi are available for Japanese. The character set employed is the same as that used by RLIN. While the character set is limited to approximately 17,000, there is a program module for the generation of characters not in the data base. With a 20 MB disk drive it would be possible to accommodate over 30,000 characters. But that would require local entry or a future character set enhancement by OCLC.

Catalog cards can be printed singly or in sets. The printer operates left to right for Roman and up and down for the vernacular.

Many CJK records will be stored in the OCLC online data base only in Romanized form. The records can be displayed

or printed out locally in pictographic characters using the software and character set in the workstation.

OCLC has not yet loaded CJK records into its online data base because LC's distribution has been delayed until April 1986. Plans are to load the tapes as soon as received. Agreement in principle has been reached with the Research Libraries Group (RIG) to obtain tapes of CJK records in the RLIN data base. However, 90% of the records are IC records which will also be available through the MARC distribution service. A contract has been signed with the National Center Library to obtain 40,000 Chinese records for loading into OCLC. The National Center Library will convert them from Chinese MARC to LC MARC before shipping them in mid-1986.

The National Center Library has committed to supplying up to 6,000 new records annually. They will have both vernacular and Romanized information. There is a real possibility that the records will be entered online using a CJK terminal.

While Japanese MARC records are available, there are no plans to load them at this time.

Pricing is still tentative and is based on the assumption that all users will be online cataloging participants on the OCLC system. The hardware and online cataloging package is $12,400 for the first unit, $11,400 for the second, and $10,400 for additional units. The printer is $1,222 additional. The software is included in the initial one-time charges for the first year, but there will be annual software license fees thereafter. The tentative prices are $2,000 per institution for the system support and online cataloging package for up to five CJK workstations, $750 per year for each card production package, and $500 per year for each word processing package.

While the pricing formula differs considerably from that adopted by RLIN, the OCLC prices are at least 50 percent less.

The workstation is designed to use the OCLC online data base. No standalone version is envisioned, although there should be no technical problems in creating such a product. Apparently no decision has been reached with regard to sales to non-OCLC participants.

The SC/350 CJK workstation can also be used as an OCLC M/300 terminal or as a regular IBM XT. With the exception of the PROM--which is necessary only if one wishes to access the OCLC system through its dedicated telecommunications network--the hardware can be maintained by any service organization familiar with IBM PCs. The software and files can be backed up onto floppy disk or a streamer tape drive by adding the appropriate additional equipment to the basic configuration.

No CJK product literature had been published as of mid-January. Asiagraphics has produced product literature only for its word processing package on a Hewlett-Packard HP-86 micro.

[Contact: Andrew H. Wang, Online Systems Products & Services, OCLC Inc., 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017-0702, (614) 764—6000.]

RFP responses require 8 weeks

A number of libraries have expressed concern about the long time vendors of local library systems require to respond to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and their reluctance to respond fully to Requests for Information (RFIs).

The time is required because each RFP is read several times and rewritten more than once. The reluctance to respond to libraries seeking information rather than being ready to purchase a system is that a comprehensive response costs from $3,000 to $10,000 to prepare.

Vendors receive up to 140 RFPs a year and a substantially smaller number of RFIs. Each is read through once to determine whether a response should be made. Smaller vendors respond to fewer than half, while the largest vendors respond to 70-90%. Reasons for declining to respond include an apparent bias toward another vendor, harsh and inflexible contract requirements, required functionality which the vendor does not offer and does not have in its development schedule, and a host of other factors which may preclude realizing a profit. Some vendors also limit responses to institutions which have previously talked with them about their needs.

Requests which are to receive a response are read a second time to determine the structure, ascertain requirements that will require research, and identify missing information which should be sought from the library. A period of consultation with the following groups within the company usually follows: the development staff, to determine whether future products will meet the requirements within the required time frame; the sales. representatives who may know the account, to clarify the library's requirements and needs not described; and the company management, to determine what commitments may be made which will impact on the development schedule or other human resources.

After these consultations, a bid writer drafts the proposal. The process usually takes a week, although the total writing time is usually 20 hours or so. The first draft is then reviewed by the sales department, including the field sales representative, if there is one.

The bid writer makes revisions and—in most organizations--then turns the proposal over to a production specialist who puts it into final form, adds all required certifications, installation lists, manuals, bid bonds, etc. The number of copies required is determined and produced. Libraries typically require two or three copies, but some have required as many as 20--a total of as much as 75 pounds of material. Packing and shipping are then arranged, with Priority Mail and Federal Express the most common. The 20—copy shipments are sent via United Parcel Service (UPS).

The actual in-house time is usually six weeks. Writing time is almost always under 40 hours, but research and consultation can take an equal number of hours. Because several people are involved-—some of them in other communities—the time stretches over several weeks. A compressed schedule is possible, but it will result in a more general and cautious response. It is, therefore, in the best interest of the libraries to plan for an eight week response period.

Inasmuch as no vendor responds to 100% of the RFPs it receives and each response is expensive, the RFIs receive only as much attention as is necessary to avoid alienating a prospective customer. The libraries that are merely seeking information usually get a response which costs less than one-third of that given to a library actually seeking to procure a system.

While the foregoing description is a generalization based on interviews with several vendors, there is unanimous agreement among the vendors that comprehensive responses take time and are expensive to prepare.

Data base services expand

The following companies have recently added new data bases and expanded their services in other ways.

• BRS will mount Meckler Publishing's Subject Guide and Supplement to Micro forms in Print and Words on Tape beginning in the second quarter of 1986.
• Disclosure's data base will continue to be available through Dialog, with an upgraded version to be loaded in early 1986. There will also be a new product: Compact Disclosure, a CD-ROM based file. The CD-ROM disk contains profiles for over 10,000 companies, with the information gathered from 10-Ks, 10-Qs, 8-Ks, etc. The system requires an IBM PC. Disclosure supplies the compact optical disk player, the software, and quarterly or annual updates. Prices are from $2,200 to $4,500 a year depending on the customer type and frequency of updates.
• Mead Data Central has added the Los Angeles Times.
• Pergamon Infoline reduced rates to $25 a search in late 1985 and on the basis of the response has decided to offer the rate to users who agree to do 50 patent family searches in the next 12 months. Unlimited searches cost $3,600 a year.
• VU/TEXT has added the Albany Times-Union, Anchorage Daily News, Arizona Republic, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Times-Herald, Knickerbocker News, Los Angeles Daily News, and Phoenix Republic to its full—text data base service. VU/TEXT is now available through a gateway in ALANET.

[Contact: BRS, 1200 Route 7, Latham, NY 11219, (518) 783—1161; Disclosure, 5161 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20816, (301) 951-1300; Mead Data Central, 9393 Springboro Pike, P0 Box 933, Dayton, OH 45401, (513) 865—6877; Pergamon Infoline, 1340 Old Chain Bridge Road, McLean, VA 22101, (703) 442-0900; VU/TEXT Information Services, 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 205, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 665—3300.]

Optical storage conference

The Fourth Annual International Conference on Optical Storage of Documents and Images is scheduled to be held in Washington, DC on March 11-13, 1986. The conference will address areas of interest to libraries such as the current status and future capability of optical memory technology for storage of documents and images, the expected costs, how the architecture of computer systems will have to change to accommodate optical storage, and what will be the impact of optical character recognition and related technologies. The keynote speaker will be Edward J. Westlund of 3M's Engineering Systems Division. The registration fee for the conference is $895.

[Contact: Rothchild Consultants, P0 Box 14817, San Francisco, CA 94114—0817, (415) 626—1133.]

New Meckler publications

Meckler Publishing has introduced two new journals: Public Computing, a journal about public access computing; and Optical Information Systems Update/Library & Information Center Applications, a journal devoted exclusively to optical technology. Both are bimonthly publications which begin with a January/February 1986 issue, with the prices set at $18.00 and $33.40 respectively. Meckler will continue to publish Videodisc and Optical Disk, and its related Update.

[Contact: Meckler Publishing, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880.]

Sharing a computer

A number of libraries are one unit of larger organizations that seek to support all automation applications on a single computer system. Whether the computer is already installed, or is still to be selected, sharing a computer with applications as diverse as accounting, personnel and/or student records, and motor pool booking can pose problems for a library.

First, if the library application is to be run on a machine shared with non-bibliographic applications, it is unlikely that the available library applications software packages will use the same operating system and data base management system as that already in use or planned for the other applications. This is because the requirements for library applications differ substantially from those for accounting and other applications usually performed on computers intended primarily for administrative or academic use. It may then be necessary to purchase additional systems software which, in turn, may lead to unpredictable performance problems associated with attempting to maintain two operating systems on the same computer.

Second, there are seldom sufficient computing resources available to accommodate the addition of a library applications package on an existing machine being used for other applications without an upgrade that can cost as much as supporting the library applications on a separate, smaller computer system. While requirements vary, the typical library applications software package

requires from 512 KB to 1 MB of primary memory on a mini and from 4 to 6 MB on a mainframe. The files require 4,000-5,800 characters of disk storage for each title in the library's collections.

Third, the cost of the library applications software is usually higher when purchased for a shared computer because their license fee is based on the size of the CPU regardless of its non-library use. A bundled package for a mid-size minicomputer usually costs $60,000 or so, including systems software; but a package for a mainframe costs $85,000 or more, plus system software of $25,000 to $70,000. Software for minis generally costs about $20,000 more when purchased for a machine which the customer already owns or is obtaining from another supplier.

Fourth, whether the hardware is shared or dedicated to library applications, there will probably be a need to engage in local programming and software maintenance because none of the available library applications software packages is as fully table driven as the turnkey packages——those from vendors which provide hardware, software, installation, training, and ongoing support. It is, therefore, necessary to do considerable adapting, a costly process a best, but made more difficult by the fact that documentation is usually inadequate.

Fifth, no supplier of a library applications software package will assume responsibility for system performance when hardware and software are brought together by the user. A library could find itself involved in a controversy between the hardware and software vendors, each blaming the other for a system deficiency.

Sixth, the suppliers of software packages, on average, do not remain in the market for as many as five years and rarely get more than a handful of customers. Only Northwestern University Library--which has been selling its NOTIS package for large IBM mainframes (4300 and 3080 series) for four years and has 25 installations—-has demonstrated staying power and consistent growth. Recently its sales have increased to a rate of two per month, a figure comparable to the sales of the turnkey vendors. Northwestern is the exception to the rule.

In summary, the same factors which have led 95 percent of all libraries to implement systems using dedicated computer and almost 85 percent to purchase turnkey systems, lead to the conclusion that a library should press to have the standalone, turnkey option seriously considered as an alternative to sharing a machine with non-library applications.

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