ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

NEW TECHNOLOGY

•Blackwell North America now offers an ĬndicatorFix service that automatically checks and corrects filing indicators in title fields of MARC records. When properly set, filing indicators show the number of initial characters to be ignored when filing title field data. The service automatically compares lists of definite and indefinite articles organized by language against the data string in the 245 and other fields. For more information, contact Blackwell North America, 6024 S.W. Jean Road, Building G, Lake Oswego, OR 97034; (503) 684- 1140.

•Information Access Company has introducedan enhanced version of its InfoTrac system designed for use in corporate and academic libraries. The new option adds downloading, word processing, and dial out access to remote online databases to the electronic search and retrieval capabilities of the InfoTrac system. The InfoTrac database, introduced in January 1985, contains indexes to approximately 1,000 business, technical, and general interest magazines and newspapers. The new enhancements allow the searcher to download selected references or full text onto a floppy disk for editing or inclusion in other documents.

•OCLC, Inc., has made available the United

States Newspaper Program National Union List,derived from information added to the OCLC database by participants in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ United States Newspaper Program. Participating national repositories include the Library of Congress, the American Antiquarian Society, Center for Research Libraries, Kansas State Historical Society, New York Historical Society, New York State Library, Rutgers University, and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The union list provides information on more than 25,000 U.S. newspapers and identifies the libraries, archives, and historical societies that collect them. Four indexes provide access to the list: place of publication, intended audience, language, and date of publication. Hard copy and microfiche editions of the union list, containing entries input through June 1985, may be ordered from OCLC, 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017.

•ScholarNet is a new electronic mail service forscholars in the humanities and social sciences headquartered at North Carolina State University. The system allows scholars in 65 countries to communicate with each other and receive notices of new journals, books, and software programs. Two networks, PoliNet for political scientists and public administrators, and HumaNet for scholars in the humanities, are online with others to be added in the future. An initial subscription costs $29.95 for an individual or $100 for a company or academic department. Online fees are $16/hour weekdays, $6 for off-hours. Contact: Richard W. Slatta, ScholarNet, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-8101; (919) 737-2908.

•The University of California’s Division of LibraryAutomation has developed a talking terminal to enable blind and other visually impaired students at UC to use a library catalog without assistance. The terminal unit incorporates a keyboard labelled with large letters and braille, a screen display that magnifies print, and a digital speech synthesizer. It is connected to the University’s MELVYL online catalog, consisting of 2 million book titles and over half a million periodical titles.

The terminal responds to users in two ways. To those who are totally blind the unit speaks by means of digital speech synthesis that can be recorded by a built-in cassette recorder. For those with partial vision a large print adapter enlarges the screen display up to 16 times its normal size. ■■