ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

NEW TECHNOLOGY

•Bell & Howellhas introduced a new 6600 cut fiche, COM recorder with online capability. The recorder will process wet or dry microfilm and produce ready-to-duplicate, original cut microfiche in less than one minute. Its high speed capability results from the system’s capacity for fast internal processing, an ability to handle large multiple blocks of information, and a data buffering system that allows the recorder to process a full page of data at one time. English language commands are uitilized throughout for greater speed. Job setup information is displayed on the CRT one screen at a time and entries are cross-checked for consistency. Extensive features are available for titling, indexing, data extraction, and data frame formatting to enable greater ease of information retrieval.

The 6600 system utilizes a DEC PDP-11 minicomputer, a 6601 COM recorder, a tape drive, dual floppy disk drives, and hardcopy and CRT terminals. A Winchester fixed disk drive unit with an integrated 1.25 megabyte floppy disk drive can replace the dual drives, providing 10 or 20 megabytes of storage. For more information, contact Bell & Howell, COM Division, 16691 Hale Avenue, Irvine, CA 92714; (714) 641-1050.

•Blackwell North Americaand Carrollton Press have finalized an agreement on a project under which the two will offer libraries a joint automation service combining Carrollton’s REMARC retrospective conversion system and B/NA’s authority control services. Libraries that contract for combined services will be charged 6%-13% less than if each service were purchased separately. The amount of savings depends upon the ratio of MARC to REMARC records in a library’s collection. Contact: Dan Miller, Sales and Service Manager, Blackwell North America, Inc., 6024 S.W. Jean Road, Building G, Lake Oswego, OR 97034; (503) 684-1140.

•DataPhase Systemshas announced that the acquisitions module of their Automated Library Information System is now under general release to current and future users. The software completes a totally integrated library system that controls bibliographic, order and circulation information from the time materials are ordered through circulation. The system also features a spine label production facility, and a four-tiered fund accounting tree that allows for accurate and automatic accounting of funds. For further information, contact DataPhase

Systems, 3770 Broadway, Kansas City, MO 64111; (816) 561-6450.

•Gaylordhas designed a binding system that can perfect bind reports, proposals, manuscripts, and other materials in less than a minute. Pages are left intact with no loss of margins or visual appeal, and bindings open flat for easy photocopying. Both hardcover and softcover books may also be bound with the Bookcraft 380 system, which is suitable for public use. For more information, contact Gaylord Bros., Inc., Box 4901, Syracuse, NY 13221; (315) 457-5070.

•The Highsmith Company has introduced two microcomputer-based library circulation systems designed for small libraries with a maximum of

8,0 active patrons. The Circa I and Circa II Systems are designed for the Apple lie and Apple III microcomputers respectively and utilize five or ten megabyte hard disk drives for mass storage. Light pens allow entry of library materials and patron barcode identification labels. Highsmith will also offer the Circa II system for the new IBM Personal Computer XT by Fall 1983. Prices begin at $3,795 for a limited package including software, light pen, and hard disk. For more information, contact The Highsmith Co., Inc., P.O. Box 800, Highway

106 East, Fort Atkinson, WI; (414) 563-9571, or (800) 558-2110.

•Maxwell Library Systems,Acton, Massachusetts, has merged with Boston Copico of Norwood, Massachusetts, to provide Public Access Microcomputers, hardware and software for specific functions, and data conversion services to libraries. The new company, Maxwell Library Systems at Boston Copico, will offer a microcomputer, complete with monitor, disk drives, a printer, and full complement of business and educational software, to participating libraries at no charge if the library agrees to make the microcomputer available to the public and colect $2.50 per hour for its use. For further information, contact Maxwell Library Systems at Boston Copico, 1400K Providence Highway, Norwood, MA 02062; (617) 769-3810.

•Northwestern Universityhas made a longrange commitment to offer its integrated, comprehensive library system to libraries in the United States and abroad. The library system, Northwestern Online Total Inregrated System (NOTIS), is an operationally tested set of computer programs with full documentation and procedural manuals. It has an online catalog component that enables library patrons and staff to locate items held or on order and to determine their status, as well as a library materials management component that supports acquisitions, serials check-in, cataloging, authority control, catalog maintenance, and circulation services.

The NOTIS software package may be licensed either on an annual or a permanent basis and is available for use on IBM or IBM-compatible equipment. NOTIS uses standard programming languages. Maintenance includes enhancements to programs as they are developed and assistance in installation and use. The NOTIS system was installed at the Biblioteca Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela, in 1979, and is being installed at the Biblioteca Nacional, Santiago, Chile. Other users of NOTIS software are the University of Florida, University of South Alabama, Central State University, Washington University, and the University of Cincinnati. It will be installed this year at Clemson University and Harvard University.

For further information, contact Kenton Andersen, Northwestern University Library, 1935 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201; (312) 492-7004.

•Omnitec Data,a manufacturer of computer peripheral products, is now offering to educational institutions a discount of 25 % off their list price on all their modem products. The company has a broad line of medium and low speed modems to satisfy Bell 212A and Series 100 compatible data communications requirements. Contact: Dan Mitchell, Vice President of Marketing, Omnitec Data, Inc., 2405 South 20th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034; (800) 528-8423, or (602) 258-8244.

•The University of Manitoba Libraries recently added the second operational module to SIRIUS, its online serials system. The new Order Module went into service on April 18,1983, joining the Bibliographic Module which has been available for over a year. SIRIUS, a joint development of the university’s computer services and libraries, is an IMS-supported system running on the campus’s Amdahl mainframe. Records are accessible through a pattern-driven index using four phrases: title, ISSN, SCN, and order number. Search phrases allow for full Boolean logic manipulation, as well as positional and adjacency indicators. The system was conceived as a series of expandable modules, each of which is divided into a number of transactions and in turn into a range of functions.

The new Order Module now handles all the ordering and payment of serials, including currency conversions, mail-ready vendor notices, payment histories, daily reconciliations, and transmittal notices for the university’s Comptroller’s Office. With a heavily decentralized library system—the University of Manitoba has thirteen libraries and over 20 public service points on two campuses— SIRIUS is invaluable for providing bibliographic and financial information instantaneously to the library, the campus, and the province at large. Forfurther information, contact P J. Fawcett, Systems Coordinator, University of Manitoba Libraries, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2; (204) 474-9475.

•Walter C. McCrone Associateshas completed a series of tests on two dustcloths used during the cleaning of the collections in the Newberry Library, Chicago. The tests were designed to show whether the two cloths, Chicopee’s Stretch’n’Dust and Guardsman Chemicals’ One-Wipe, left harmful residues on leather, paper, or book cloth that would contribute to deterioration over time. McCrone Associates made use of microscopical examination, phloroglucinol tests, pH determination, color change, the Elmendorf tear test, and the MIT folding endurance test on the two cloths. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the samples treated with a dustcloth and those not treated, and both cloths can be recommended for use in collections that require special care. ■ ■