ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 546 / C&RL News The scholar’s workstation RESEARCH FORUM By V ictor Rosenberg President, Personal B ibliographic Softw are, Inc. Associate Professor, University o f M ichigan T h e idea o f a scholar’s w orkstation has em erged from th e developm ent o f new and pow erful m icro ­ com puters ca p a b le o f hand ling a num ber of the tasks involved in the research process. O bviously research in n uclear engineering varies greatly from th a t in E liz a b eth a n d ram a, b u t nevertheless m any o f th e activities involved are the sam e. T h e m ain medium o f co m m u nicatio n in all fields is still the research paper or m onograph. A scholar’s w orkstation m ust have all th e tools necessary to develop ideas, c a rry out th e info rm a­ tion processing aspects o f th e research and produce th e p a p e r. T h e m etap hor o f a w orkstation or w ork­ ben ch is really ra th e r ap t, since a set o f specially de­ signed tools are arrayed on th e researcher’s desk. T hese tools m ust fu nctio n sm oothly together, and th e system m ust allow for extensive com m u nica­ tion w ith colleagues th a t is such an essential p a rt of th e research enterprise. From creation to publication T h e aspect of research com m on to all disciplines is the creatio n o f th e w ritten w ork. C u rrently , the creatio n o f the p aper o r m onograph is usually done by a num ber o f individuals ranging from th e au­ th o r s ) , th e ed itor, th e typesetter and th e p rinter. W ith the developm ent o f new h ard w are and soft­ w are th e en tire process c a n now b e under th e con­ trol o f th e author. T h e processing o f words into fin ­ ished typ eset m anu scrip ts b en efits g rea tly from au tom ation. C ritics have argued th a t th e advent of th e w ord processor has tu rned creative scholars in to ty p ists. S in c e a u to m a tio n c a n a c co m p lish m uch o f the rou tine w ork, the transfer o f control to th e author does not carry w ith it all th e drudgery usually associated w ith th e prod uction o f printed works. T h e recen t progress in typesetting softw are has been d ram atic. In th e past, typesetting softw are and h a rd w a re system s w ere sp e cialized fo r th e publishing industry and prohibitively expensive fo r individual researchers. N ow , how ever, these sys­ tem s are m igratin g to m icrocom puters and are b e­ com ing generally availab le. A softw are package called T e X has been developed fo r M S-D O S P er­ sonal Com puters and it allows fo r com prehensive typesetting and p age com p osition. O u tp u t can be routed to a sim ple dot m atrix p rin ter fo r d ra ft work an d to a high q u a lity la ser p rin te r fo r finished w ork. T h e system also interfaces w ith professional t y p e s e ttin g m a c h in e s fo r p u b lic a tio n q u a lity results. The research process A t th e risk o f oversim plifying th e process o f re­ search , th e process and th e resulting m anuscript generally follow th e outlin e of: 1) statem en t o f the p ro b lem ; 2) th e litera tu re survey; 3) analysis of d ata; 4) statem en t o f results; and 5) conclusion. Such a stru ctu re, w ith v ariations, can be used in a l­ most all fields. T h e tools needed for each p a rt are different and w ill b e tailo red to m eet th e needs of sp ecific disciplines. F o r exam ple, th e w ord proces­ sor used for co m p arativ e litera tu re m ust b e ab le to handle n on-English c h a ra cte r sets, w h ile th a t used in physics m ust have th e sym bols o f m ath em atics. C erta in tools are com m on to all disciplines, fo r ex­ am ple, b ib lio g rap h ic organizers and typesetting systems. N ovem ber 1985 / 547 T h e tools a v a ila b le fo r ea ch p a rt o f th e g e n e ra l­ ized resea rch process fa ll in to re la tiv e ly d istin ct categ o ries. T h e d e fin itio n o f th e re sea rch p ro b le m , a n d th e su b seq u en t o u tlin in g o f th e p ro je c t an d th e resu ltin g p a p er b e n e fit fro m th e use o f w h a t a re c a lle d “id e a o rg a n iz ers.” Su ch so ftw a re allow s th e re sea rch er to w o rk exten sively w ith o u tlin es and m o d ify th e o u tlin e w ith ease. T h e y a re o fte n c o n ­ sid ered “b ra in sto rm in g ” tools b eca u se th ey allo w th e e n try o f ideas in ran d o m fash io n and th e n p e r­ m it easy o rg a n iz a tio n o f th e ideas. T h e lite r a tu r e survey c a n b e aid ed b y a v a riety o f to o ls r a n g in g fr o m s p e c ia liz e d c o m m u n ic a tio n so ftw a re fo r accessing o n lin e b ib lio g ra p h ic d a ta ­ bases, to so ftw a re fo r fo r m a ttin g b ib lio g ra p h ies a c ­ c o rd in g to th e re q u irem en ts o f jo u rn a ls o r p u b ­ lishers. T h e a sp ect o f th e re sea rch process th a t varies m o st across disciplines is th e c o lle ctio n an d analysis o f d a ta . T h is c a n ra n g e fro m th e c o lle ctio n o f p ri­ m a ry do cu m ents m ost co m m o n to th e h u m an ities to th e g a th e rin g o f n u m eric a l d a ta fo r analysis. N ot su rp risin gly, th e so ftw a re fo r this a c tiv ity also v a r­ ies g rea tly a c co rd in g to th e d iscip line. I n gen era l, th e so ftw a re consists o f s ta tis tic a l analysis o r m o d ­ ellin g p ro g ra m s b ecau se th ose p ro g ram s h a v e h is­ to rica lly b een a v a ila b le fo r co m p u ters. T h e m u si­ c o lo g is t’s a n a ly s is o f o r ig in a l m a n u s c r ip ts , fo r ex a m p le, h as n o t b een so w ell rep resen ted in th e c a ta lo g s o f a v a ila b le s o ftw a re . S p e cia liz e d s o ft­ w a re is e m erg in g in v irtu a lly all d isciplines, so th a t th e analysis p ro ced u res c o m m o n to a field a re in ­ clud ed . E c o n o m ic s , socio lo g y, en g in eerin g and sci­ en ce a re esp ecially ric h in such sp ecialized so ft­ w a re. T h e d e lin ea tio n o f results and conclusion s a re usually h an d led b y generalized w ord p rocessin g so ftw a re, b u t even h ere , sp e cialized system s a re b e ­ in g developed. W o rd processors designed fo r b u si­ ness use w ill p ro v id e m ost o f th e re q u ired fu n c ­ tio n s . M o r e s p e c ia liz e d s o f t w a r e w ill p r o v id e ex ten siv e fo o tn o tin g , a llo w p ro ces sin g o f la rg e r m a n u scrip ts, an d w ill p rov ide th e n ecessary sp ecial ch a ra cters . Literature management and the scholar’s workstation A ny w o rk o f re sea rch o r scho larship m u st re fe r to previously w r itte n w o rk. In d eed , th e b ib lio g ra p h y by itse lf is o fte n a w o rk o f co n sid era b le s c h o la rsh ip . T h e m a n a g e m e n t o f c ita tio n s u su ally proceeds in th e fo llo w in g w a y . A t th e in c ep tio n o f th e p ro je c t, o fte n fo r th e p ro p o sa l, a c o lle ctio n o f m a teria ls is ga th e red . T h is c o lle ctio n is co n sta n tly added to as th e p ro je c t p rogresses. O fte n a n n o ta tio n s a re m a d e o n th e in d iv id u a l r e c o r d s , a n d th e d o c u m e n ts them selves a re a cq u ired an d c o lle cted . T h e a n n o ­ ta tio n s ev en tu a lly fo rm p a rt o f th e resu ltin g p u b li­ c a tio n s , an d th e c ita tio n s en d up as fo o tn o tes and b ib lio g ra p h ies. Sou rces o f b ib lio g ra p h ic in fo rm a tio n a re p ro lif­ era tin g an d lib ra ry ca ta lo g s a re b e in g a u to m a ted at a rap id ra te . T h is m ean s th e ca m p u s-b ased sch o la r c a n sea rch th e o n lin e c a ta lo g an d d e term in e th e status o f a b o o k o r jo u rn a l fro m his o r h er o ffic e o r h o m e. O n c e th e lib ra rie s set up d o cu m e n t deliv ery system s, th e re sea rch er c a n o rd er th e b o o k d eliv­ ered as w e ll. As all system s go to C D -R O M system s, I c a n envision a fresh m a n a rriv in g on ca m p u s and b u y in g a c o m p a c t laser disk co n ta in in g t h e u n iv e rsity’s D e fin it io n o f r e s e a r c h c a n b e d o n e w i t h a n “i d e a o r g a n iz e r . ” en tire lib ra ry ca ta lo g . T h is d a ta b a s e ca n be search ed an d th e d ocu m ents o rd ered ju st like p izza deliv ery. N o d o u b t th e c a ta lo g c o m p a c t disk w ill b e shelved n ex t to th e stu d en t’s aud io disks. B e fo re co m p u ters, th e m a n a g e m e n t o f b ib lio ­ g ra p h ic d a ta re q u ired a g rea t d eal o f red u n d a n cy o f effo rt. W h e n a sea rch w as d o n e in th e lib ra ry c a ta lo g , th e d a ta w as cop ied o n to 3 x 5 c a rd s , a n n o ­ ta tio n s w e re ad d ed , an d th e result rety p ed in to a b ib lio g ra p h y . Su rely , as soon as th e b ib lio g ra p h y w as ty p ed , tw o m o re re le v a n t c ita tio n s h a d to b e add ed! T h e do cu m ents them selves h a d to b e o b ­ ta in e d an d i f th ey h a d to b e a c q u ire d th ro u gh in ter- lib ra ry lo a n , th e d elay w as o fte n weeks o r m o nths. O u r w o rk d evelop in g th e P r o f e s s i o n a l B i b l i o ­ g r a p h i c S y s te m w ith B i b l i o - L i n k is a n a tte m p t to c r e a t e t h e l i t e r a t u r e m a n a g e m e n t p a r t o f t h e sch o la r’s w o rk sta tio n . T h e so ftw a re allo w s th e r e ­ s ea rch er to access o n lin e d a ta b a s e system s o r o n lin e l i b r a r y c a ta lo g s b y te le p h o n e a n d c o n v e r t th e d o w nlo ad ed reco rd s to cita tio n s in th e m icro co m ­ p u ter. T h e P r o f e s s i o n a l B i b l i o g r a p h i c S y s te m p ro ­ vides co m p reh en sive m a n a g e m e n t o f th e records a n d allow s th e m to b e re triev ed an d p rin te d in all th e w ays th a t a sc h o la r w ou ld use th e m . O u tp u t fo rm a ts c a n b e custom ta ilo re d to a n y jo u r n a l’s style re q u irem en ts. T h e cita tio n s o r th e a n n o ta ­ tions c a n b e m erg ed in to th e m a n u sc rip t. A subset o f b ib lio g ra p h ic record s c a n even b e sen t b y te le ­ p h o n e to a d o cu m e n t d eliv ery service an d th e d o cu ­ m en ts w ill b e sent by m a il o r fa c s im ile tra n s m is­ sion. As th e d a ta b a ses m ig ra te to th e C D -R O M d evices, th e en tire system w ill b e a self-co n ta in ed w o rk sta tio n . O f co u rse, c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith c o l­ leagues a n d ex ch a n g e o f b ib lio g ra p h ic an d o th er in fo rm a tio n w ill re q u ire te leco m m u n ic a tio n s . T h e id ea o f a s p ecialized b ib lio g ra p h ic d a ta b a se is c e n tra l to p erhap s a m a jo rity o f re sea rch p r o j­ ects. Su ch a d a ta b a se is a g ro w in g an d d y n a m ic c o l­ le c tio n o f th e w orks re le v a n t to th e re sea rch er or th e re sea rch te a m . T o use th e c o lle ctio n e ffectiv ely , th e s ch o la r m u st b e a b le to fin d item s ea sily , q u o te 548 / C&R L News from th em , and tra n s fer th e data to a m anu scrip t. T h e system requires flex ib le im p o rtin g and exp ort­ in g facilities. D a ta must b e im ported from m any sources, includ ing th e o n lin e resources, lo ca l li­ b ra ry systems, as w ell as oth er scholars’ systems. T h e system m ust allow exp ortation to a m anu scrip t or to a typ esettin g system . I t m ust also allow export to an o th er individual’s com p uter. A lo gical exten­ sion o f th e system is th e p u blicatio n of b ib lio g ra ­ phies as com p uter files, such th a t th e recip ien t o f th e b ib lio g rap h y could m erge it into an existing datab ase or add to it as m uch as necessary. U pdates could b e sent out as diskettes o r th ey could b e m ade a v a ila b le online. C D -R O M technology now allow s th e C D player to w ork side b y side w ith a diskette drive or a fixed disk drive. Access so ftw are w ill b e id en tical. Im a g ­ ine accessing a C D -R O M system w ith over one m il­ lion citatio n s in your field and a t th e sam e tim e a c ­ cessing a disk ette w ith th e la te s t up d ate on it. M o d ificatio n o f th e file w ill b e to th e diskette, b u t it will all look like one file to th e user. T h e obvious next challen ge w il b e to develop re triev a l and data m anag em en t systems w orth y of th e new h ardw are. Document production in the Age of Electronics A fter th e idea o f a research p ro je c t is bo rn , the first step is th e p rep a ra tio n o f a prop osal, eith er for o b ta in in g fu nd ing fo r th e p ro ject or to organize the research a ctivity. O n ce th e idea is refined into a c le a r s ta te m e n t o f th e p ro b le m , th e lite r a tu r e search is begun. T h is search in g of th e litera tu re and adding to th e b ib lio g rap h ic datab ase continues throu ghout th e course o f th e p ro ject. As new in fo r­ m ation comes to th e a tten tio n o f th e research er, it is added to th e database. W h ile th e body o f in fo r­ m ation is sm all, it is easily m anag ed , b u t as it grows an effectiv e retriev al system is necessary. D u rin g th e early phases o f th e p ro je c t th e re ­ searchers c a n ta k e notes on th e works and add them to th e citatio n s in th e d atabase. L a te r, w hen the p apers and m onographs are w ritte n , th e notes w ill form m uch o f th e text. W ith th e P r o fe s s io n a l B i b ­ l i o g r a p h i c Sijstem th e quotations from th e text of th e notes can easily b e transferred into th e m anu ­ script. T h e citatio n s them selves ca n b e transferred as footnotes or endnotes. T h e g athering o f info rm atio n for a research p ro j­ e c t is com p licated b y th e diversity of th e sources. In m a n y field s, lite r a tu r e from a n u m b er o f d isci­ plines m igh t b e relevan t, so th a t searches m ust be cond ucted in several online databases and in sev­ eral lib raries. Studies of overlap am ong databases show th a t it is less th a n m ight b e exp ected. F o r ex­ am ple, th e research er looking for in fo rm a tio n on “a u to m ob ile lu b rica n ts” m ight search databases of th e A m erican Petroleum In s titu te, th e Society of A u to m o tive E n g in eers, th e A m erica n C h em ica l Society , Com pendex (E ng in eerin g Index) ‚ and sev­ eral others. A n um b er o f d ifferen t lib raries m ight b e used as w ell. N ovem ber 1985 / 549 T h e d a ta b a se crea ted fo r th e p ro je c t is useful in itself. I t could b eco m e a p a rt o f a la rg e r datab ase th a t serves several groups o f researchers in related areas. T h e d a ta b a se w ould identify c erta in c ita ­ tions as o f interest to sp ecific individuals or groups. It w ould fu nctio n m uch as th e R esearch L ib ra ries In fo rm a tio n N etw ork, but instead o f tag gin g the records w ith th e U niversity hold ing th em , th e r e c ­ ords w ould b e tagged to id entify th e individuals most interested in th em . T h is d ata b a se w ill reside on a file server co nn ected to m a n y m icros. F o r this reason, th e M S -D O S and M acin tosh editions o f the P r o f e s s i o n a l B i b l i o g r a p h i c S y s te m w ill use th e sam e in tern a l reco rd fo rm a ts. T h is w ay m any d if­ fe ren t com p uters c a n b e served by th e d atabase. As th e research progresses, analysis o f th e d a ta is aided b y th e co m p u ter in w ays sp ecific to th e d isci­ pline. In m an y cases th e o utput o f th e analysis, w h ether textu al o r g ra p h ic, can b e incorp orated in to th e m a n u scrip t. T h e d escrip tio n o f results could b e inp ut d irectly in to th e w ord processor. F in a l ed iting and en try o f typ esettin g codes p re­ pares th e d ocum ent fo r fin a l p rin tin g. In m any cases th e fin a l m anu scrip t subm itted fo r p u b lic a ­ tio n is alread y in “ca m e ra read y” form . T h e scho lar’s w orkstation co ncep t takes th e re ­ search p ap er from an idea to fin a l p u b lica tio n . It m akes th e process easy and e fficie n t, greatly re d u c­ ing th e delays b etw een w ritin g and p u b lica tio n . In areas w h ere th e cost o f p rod ucing th e finished p u b ­ lica tio n inh ibits th e tra n s fer o f know ledge, th e sys­ tem s provide th e m eans for self-p u b lica tio n or p u b­ lis h in g on d e m a n d . A sid e re s u lt is th e e n tir e p u b lica tio n in m a ch in e-rea d a b le fo rm , ready for en try into electro n ic p ublishing systems. T h e a v a il­ a b ility o f m anuscripts in this form aids co m m u n i­ ca tio n am ong scholars, and feeds d irectly into new docum ents w ritten by others. As m o re and m ore scholars gain access to th e scho lar’s w o rkstatio n, a new cycle o f com m u n ica tio n and scho larly p rod uc­ tio n begins. Research opportunity T h e A L A L ib r a ry R esearch R ound T a b le is a c ­ cep tin g entries for its 198 6 R esearch C o m p etitio n , w h ich features a $ 5 0 0 aw ard . All p apers subm itted m ust represent com p leted research n o t previously p u blish ed o r c u rre n tly un d er c o n sid era tio n for p u b lica tio n . T o en ter th e co m p etitio n applicants should send th re e copies o f th e p ap er no la te r th an F e b ru a ry 1 ,1 9 8 6 , to th e c h a ir o f L R R T ’s R esearch D evelop m ent C o m m ittee: M ildred L o w e, D ir e c ­ to r, D ivision o f L ib r a ry and In fo rm a tio n Scien ce, St. Jo h n s U niversity, Ja m a ic a , NY 11439. P apers w ill b e ju dged on th e fo llo w in g points: 1) d e fin itio n o f th e p ro b le m ; 2) a p p lic a tio n o f r e ­ search m ethods; 3) c la rity o f th e rep o rtin g o f th e re ­ search ; and 4) sig n ifica n ce of th e conclusions, as judged by th e C o m m ittee. T h e w in n in g p ap er w ill be announced a t A L A A nnual C o n feren ce in New Y ork and w ill b e published p rom p tly in an issue o f L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m a t i o n S c ie n c e R e s e a r c h . G uid elines for th e com p etition m ay b e o b tain ed from M ildred L o w e a t (718) 9 9 0 -6 1 6 2 , x 6 2 0 0 , or from th e address given above. ■ ■ Author query F o r a book on inn ov ative o rg anizatio n stru c­ tures in lib raries, I w ould ap p recia te h earin g from lib ra ries o r im p lem en ted n o n -trad itio n al structu res o f any kind. O rg a n iz a tio n ch a rts, jo b descriptions, exp lan atory notes w ill b e gra te­ fu lly a ccep ted . W rite Jo a n n e E u ste r, L ib r a ry D ire c to r, San F ra n cisco S ta te U niversity, 1630 H ollow ay A venue, San F ra n c isc o , CA 9 4 1 3 2 . WHERE ARE ALA n Y eeds O to know U where its members work and what they do. Such intormation is requested each year on the back of the membership renewal form but many members do not respond. Please do so when you return the renewal form for 1986. Planning for ALA in general and for specific units of the association will be more effective if planners are fully informed about members. Thank you very much. Director, ALA Office for Research