ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

NEW TECHNOLOGY

•Apogee Robotics has produced an optically guided robot vehicle, The Orbitor, that can deliver books and other library materials from return areas to the circulation desk for discharge and reshelving. The Orbitor follows a retro-reflective tape that attaches to the floor. Bar codes on the floor provide the vehicles with location information and operating instructions, while the rest of its functions are controlled by an on-board Hewlett- Packard 71B computer. Safety devices include three forward scanning ultrasonic sensors, front and side impact bumpers, flashing lights, audible chimes, and a speech module. It can hold 300 pounds of books. Contact Apogee Robotics, 2290 E. Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525; (303) 221-1122.

•Aries Systems Corporation has developed software that simplifies searching a subset of the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database. Knowledge Finder, which runs on the Apple Macintosh computer, contains full citations drawn from all journals in the NLM’s Abridged Index Me- dicus, and in the Brandon/Hill journal lists recommended for small medical libraries, nursing, and the allied health sciences. The database, which covers January 1983 through the present, is distributed on CD-ROM optical disk. Field testing will be completed by the end of this year and Knowledge Finder should be available by January 1988. For further information, contact Aries Systems Corporation, 79 Boxford Street, Andover, MA 01845- 3219; (617) 689-9334.

The Orbitor, a robot book-fetcher.

•Bell & Howell is now marketing a microcard/ microprint adapter that can be used in conjunction with their 5100 Bond Paper Reader/Printer to view and print materials in those formats as well as microfiche. Contact Mala N. Garg, Bell & Howell Company, Document Management Products Division, 6800 McCormick Road, Chicago, IL 60645- 2797; (312) 675-7600.

•CLSI, Inc., is offering a compact and costeffective automation package for small libraries with 100,000 or fewer titles in their collection. The MicroLIBS System is a full-function incorporation of CLSI’s LIBS 100 System architecture that uses microcomputer components. Options are available for systems with either one or two 120-megabyte disks. The system is smaller than a two-drawer file cabinet, but it has the potential for enhancements into a larger network. Contact CLSI, 320 Nevada Street, Newtonville, MA 02160; (617) 965-6310.

•Demco has designed a compact videotape display unit, the Video Browser Sleeve System, that displays up to 240 tape cartons in a 13" x 25" space. The cartons are flattened and placed into clear plastic sleeves that can be labeled and arranged in browsable bins that attach to wall or countertop. For more details, contact Demco, Inc., P.O. Box 7488, Madison, WI 53707; (800) 356-1200.

•General Research Corporation has developed LaserGuide, a CD-ROM patron catalog with two unusual search capabilities in addition to the usual keyword and Boolean methods. LaserGuide’s map feature displays a map of the library showing the location of a selected book. Maps can be modified at any time or expanded to a set of maps showing different floors or branches, and different colors can be used to differentiate areas. The system’s browse feature allows patrons to use cursor control keys to see titles to the left or right of specific books, even in such “unbrowsable” sections as closed stacks, storage, or acquisitions. Contact General Research Corporation, 5383 Hollister Ave., P.O. Box 6770, Santa Barbara, CA 93160-6770; (805) 964-7724.

•The Library of Congress has produced a compressed audio disk with 33 hours of sound on one side. The disk contains nearly every spoken word recording manufactured before 1910 in the Library’s collections. The disk contains 668 selections and is believed to be the first of its kind in the world. Its production coincides with the centennial of the invention of the first audio disk in 1887 by Washington inventor Emile Berliner. The Library has produced the disk only for use at the Library and is not offering it for sale. Interested audiophiles may listen to it in the Recorded Sound Reference Center of LC’s Performing Arts Reading Room, LM 113, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Access to the title, performer, genre, and subject of each selection is controlled by the user through a menu-driven microcomputer. The disk includes 19th-century actors and actresses, minstrel shows, vaudeville, Presidential candidates, jokes, music, and sound effects. The system was developed for LC by Interactive Production Associates of Santa Monica, California.

•Midwest Library Service is now offering an automated technical services system, MATSS, that interfaces with OCLC, RLIN, WLN, the Bibliofile System, and Bowker’s Books in Print Plus on CD- ROM. The system combines directly with bibliographic utilities, produces vendor-ready orders, tracks encumbrances and receipts of library purchases by account, allows for automatic claims and cancellations, monitors vendor performance, produces catalog cards, and prints spine and pocket labels. Orders can be checked for duplication in the LCCN and ISBN fields, and then produced in BI- SAC format for electronic transmission to vendors or printed for mailing. Multiple fiscal years are supported with the allowance for encumbrance figures to be adjusted into the new year. Received items are balanced against the invoice amount and corresponding funds are unencumbered and expended automatically. For more information on MATSS, contact Corey Hudson, Midwest Library- Service, 11443 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044; (800) 325-8833, in Missouri (800) 392- 5024.

•Paradigm Press is offering a free sample copy of discSCOPE, a floppy disk containing selections from SCOPE: Humanities Computing Software. Every four months, SCOPE lists courseware, software, and reviews relating to humanities research and instruction. The disk may be freely copied for distribution to interested users and uploaded to campus networks. Requests should be sent to Paradigm Press, P.O. Box 45069, Sarasota, FL 34277- 4069.

•The University of Minnesota’s Bio-Medical Library, in partnership with Health Sciences Computer Services (HSCS), recently installed Minne- MEDLINE (Minnesota MEDLINE). Minne- MEDLINE runs on the NOS/VE operating system of a Cyber 180/830 and utilizes IM/DM, a Control Data software product developed by Battelle Software Products Center. The MinneMEDLINE database includes the full bibliographic record, with abstracts for the entire database from 1985 to the present. Special features include: a search language closely patterned after NOTIS, a user- friendly interface, a linked locations database that permits sorting of retrieved citations by library stack location, and online Medical Subject Heading Tree Structures (including “explode” capabilities) . Additional databases are currently being considered for loading on the HCSC system as the University continues with its IAIMS development. Contact Sherrilynne Fuller, Director, Bio-Medical Library, 505 Essex Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

•Visual Horizons has developed an attachment for slide tray projectors that allows users to preview a full page of 20 slides. PAGE-VU attaches to the front of the projector and is designed so that the slides are enlarged and can be moved up, down, or sideways to check for photo details or positioning in the projector. Contact Visual Horizons, 180 Metro Park, Rochester, NY 14623; (716) 424-5300.

•Jay Ziolko, director of the Mississippi County Library and College Library in Blytheville, Arkansas, has developed an electronic device, the Laser Counter, that uses a light beam to count people entering the library. The device has an effective range for entrances up to 30 feet wide. Ziolko said he developed the Laser Counter because he found that state legislators and college administrators were more impressed with patron counts than circulation statistics. The device is four inches square, costs $199, and may be ordered from Laser Counter, 1420 W. Walnut, Blytheville, AR 72315; (501) 762-2251. ■ ■