ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

NEW TECHNOLOGY

• Carl Sandburg College, Galesburg, Illinois, has established an electronic information network that links seven resource centers in western Illinois through a high-speed facsimile transmission service. The FAX service is supported by an LCSA grant of $58,925 and is now available, free of charge, to more than a quarter million people in an 11-county area. The resource centers comprising the network are: Carl Sandburg College; Galesburg Public Library; Monmouth College’s Hewes Library; Western Illinois Library System, Monmouth; Western Illinois University, Macomb; and St. Mary’s and Cottage hospitals, Galesburg.

• GEL Systems has developed a C-Lab Class- room Language Laboratory that provides individual intercommunication monitoring, full Level II operation and All Call functions in a compact, selfcontained system. The system comes with interconnecting cables, cable duct, and a maintenance manual, and can be expanded in increments of 10 student positions. Contact GEL Systems, 68 Vine St., Everett, MA 01249; (617) 389-3900.

• Information Access Company and DIALOG Information Services have developed two full-text, online databases offering controlled-vocabulary access to 130 major magazines. Magazine ASAP and Trade ò- Industry ASAP add new issues shortly after publication and retain all retrospective material (back to January 1983) for reference. Users can search for specific topics or names and view full text of articles at the terminal or request reprints by mail. For more information, contact Blodwen Tarter, Information Access Co., 11 Davis Drive, Belmont, CA 94002; (800) 227-8431.

• The Wei T’o Associates mass deacidification process has been in the news of late, with “A Well-Documented Solution” in Dupont Magazine for November-December 1983, and “Creative Bookkeeping” in American Way for March 1984. The Wei T’o hand-sprayed liquid-gas solution has recently been tested by Princeton University, the London Binderies of the British Library, and the Public Archives and National Library of Canada.

Books are first vacuum-dried for 36 hours and then placed in a processing tank. The deacidification solution permeates the books under pressure, after which they are again vacuum-dried and left overnight to regain their normal moisture. The process does not alter the appearance of a book in any way. Cans of Wei T’o solution #11 currently sell for $13.50 apiece. For more information, contact Wei T’o Associates, P.O. Drawer 40, 21750 Main Street Unit 27, Matteson, IL 60443; (312) 747-6660.