Issues In Science and Technology Librarianship 002 (May 1992) URL = ftp://ftp.lib.ncsu.edu/pub/stacks/sts/sts-002 ------------->> ---------- ---- -- ##### ####### ##### - # # # - # # # S - ##### # ##### T ELECTRONIC - # # # S COMMUNICATIONS -- # # # ---- ##### # ##### --------- ----------------------->> ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIANSHIP May 1992 Number 2 __________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS: FROM THE EDITOR: lines 52-84 FROM THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR--GUEST COLUMN: lines 85-163 BY FRED FRIEND, LIBRARIAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON, ENGLAND PATENTS--A SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE INFORMATION: lines 164-280 BY SUSAN ARDIS, HEAD MCKINNEY ENGINEERING LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ADVENTURES IN PUBLISHING: lines 281-446 BY JINNIE Y. DAVIS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR PLANNING & RESEARCH, NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, RALEIGH, N.C. BUBL: AN ONLINE GUIDE TO NETWORKED INFORMATION RESOURCES: lines 447-637 BY JEAN SHAW, SUB-LIBRARIAN, SYSTEMS DIVISION, STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY, GLASGOW, UK THE DEFENSE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CENTER: lines 638-787 BY BARBARA LESSER, CHIEF, PROGRAMS AND NETWORK SERVICES DIVISION, DTIC, ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA SEARCH MAESTRO: lines 788-836 BY CHRIS CUPP, CHIEF, NETWORK SERVICES BRANCH, DTIC, ALEXANDRIA VIRGINIA A PROFILE: SIRSI, UNICORN, STILAS: lines 837-957 COMPILED BY KAREN ALBRIGHT, SIRSI CORPORATION, HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA PATENT AND TRADEMARK DEPOSITORY LIBRARY CONFERERNCE XV: lines 958-1055 BY DENA THOMAS, PATENTS/SCIENCE-ENGINEERING LIBRARIAN, CENTENNIAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO ___________________________________________________________________________ FROM THE EDITOR: ISTL continues to pick up new subscribers and this issue is going out to over 500 electronic addresses including being posted on some bulletin boards. The announcement in the Chronicle of Higher Education concerning this publication added to our subscribers' list. Marilyn Geller of MIT will be selectively indexing articles from ISTL in her electronic Citations For Serial Literature. To subscribe to that publication you may send a message to listserv@mitvma.bitnet or listserv@mitvma.mit.edu. For more information about Citations For Serial Literature, contact Marilyn at mgeller@Athena.MIT.EDU. I would like to remind our readers that if you would like to submit an article to be included in ISTL, send it to one of the following people and addresses: ACCESS SERVICES ISSUES: John Sapp, ALIGS@MTSUNIX1.BITNET VIRTUAL LIBRARIANSHIP: John Saylor, JOHN_SAYLOR@QMRELAY.MAIL.CORNELL.EDU CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP REPORTS: Lynn Kaczor, LKACZOR@HAL.UNM.EDU PRESS RELEASES, ANNOUNCEMENTS, AND OTHER TOPICS: Harry LLull, ACRLSTS@HAL.UNM.EDU Later this week you will be receiving the STS Update for the ALA Annual meeting to be held in San Franciso. Harry LLull University of New Mexico ACRLSTS@HAL.UNM.EDU ______________________________________________________________________________ {============} { } { } { } { } FROM THE { } -------------------------------------------- / D I R E C T O R ' S \ /----------------------------------------------\ || | { } | || || | { C H A I R } | || || | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | || || | ( ) | || || | ( ) | || || | ( ) | || || %%%%%%%% || || @ @ || By: Fred Friend, Librarian University College London, England ucylfjf@ucl.ac.uk I sit on a nineteenth-century chair at a nineteenth-century desk, tapping in on a late twentieth-century machine my thoughts about libraries in the twenty-first century. The chair I sit on was owned by a man who was the friend of Wordsworth and of Coleridge, of Goethe and of Schiller, and I contemplate the future of the literary heritage I have inherited. Since 1826 University College London Library has acquired 1.3 million volumes in all academic disciplines, and I ask myself: is this so much excess baggage or is it a priceless inheritance to be safeguarded at all costs? "At all costs" - therein lies the rub, for while some may be shocked that the question is even asked, a library director today has to be prepared to justify the costs incurred by keeping books and journals as well as the costs incurred by acquiring them. This is but another example of the juggling act Barbara von Wahlde described so clearly in the first contribution to this column. As Barbara pointed out, the needs of humanities and science users of our libraries do appear to be diverging. For humanities users it is important that we conserve the books and manuscripts we have inherited; there is no substitute for the historical depth of the collections. The choices in science and technology provision are less clear-cut. Older runs of journals are still of some importance to - say - geologists but virtually never to - say - life science users. But what about the historians of science and medicine? The case for discarding around 100,000 volumes of UCL's older scientific material is a strong one when use is related to the cost of retention, but could I carry our faculty members with me? There is a strong sentimental attachment to old paper and even our present policy of relegating older material to remote storage meets with resistance. The decisions are even less clear-cut and more controversial when it comes to current subscriptions to scientific and medical journals. Again when use is related to cost it would be cheaper for UCL Library to cancel half its 8000 subscriptions and rely upon document delivery instead. But how can I offer document delivery in several days as an alternative to a faculty member walking to the library in five minutes to consult the journal on the shelf? We have to develop faster document delivery services on a mass scale before we can switch resources from holdings to access. Much of my time recently has been spent on examining the various document delivery systems and services available: a sign of the way I see the future. Part of the juggling act is fitting all the day- to-day decisions into that long-term perspective, to have goals and objectives and yet to be sensitive to the immediate needs for information that have to be satisfied. Sensitive also to the views of library staff; if I am right about the future it will not be easy to turn an organization around from one structured for collection-building to one structured for access to information. Our success in handling such issues will determine the effectiveness of libraries to the next generation of students and faculty. Looking down on me as I write is the bust of the first Librarian of University College. On first thought it seems as though the decisions were easier in his day, but then I turn up a decision in the 1885 minutes of the Library Committee that an expensive series should be cancelled because of its high cost and low use, a decision that the College's Committee of Management overturned! I also lift from the shelf the first UCL Library catalogue, dated 1833 and containing in beautiful handwriting the list of all the books donated by one of our illustrious founders, the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. As a Utilitarian perhaps he would have taken a hard pragmatic approach to the decisions we face. Perhaps too much thinking is a bad thing and we ought to just get on and do what we think is best for the future! _______________________________________________________________________________ PATENTS--A SOURCE OF COMPETITIVE INFORMATION By: Susan Ardis, Head McKinney Engineering Library, University of Texas at Austin and author of An Introduction to U. S. Patent Searching, 1991, Libraries Unlimited Introduction It is regularly said that economic growth and job creation in the new, globally-competitive world will call for a revitalized partnership between government, business and academia. To most people this means developing relatiohships between high technology companies, government labs, and faculty researchers. But when I read this, I think of access to competitive information and libraries. There are really two reasons for this. First, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, most new jobs in this country have been created by small businesses and by the year 2000 they predict that a majority of Americans will be working for firms with less than 100 employees. Secondly, today 35 million people work for companies with less 100 employees. If we accept that most new jobs will be created by small to medium sized business, where will these businesses find the competitive information they need? Most of them do not have and will not have their own libraries or information centers. They can and should look to public supported libraries for help. In fact some very valuable competitive information is publicly available in many libraries including the 70 Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs). PTDLs are located in almost every state and in most larger cities. All are open to the public and a list of these libraries may be found in the front of the -Official Gazette- (OG) which is published by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. Uses of Patent Information Patents are information rich and loaded with raw competitive information. A quick definition is in order: a patent is a limited monopoly granted to a human inventor for a new, novel, and unobvious solution to a perceived problem. Patents are granted only after the Patent Office has done an extensive search through all previously granted US and foreign patents, the relevant literature, and product catalogs. Probably the most common and best known use of patents is as a record of what has been invented. This use is referred to as a patentability search. Users search through the patents to determine if an invention has already been granted a patent. While this is important, it is not the whole picture by a long shot. Patents are also a record of what specific individuals, companies, universities , and branches of government are doing or have done. And at the same time, they are a window on what is happening (or not) in a particular technology. They demonstrate other ways of solving a problem. In other words, they are loaded with competitive information. Specifically: -the latest inventions assigned to a specific company, university or government agency, e.g. patents assigned to IBM, DOE, or MIT. -latest invention in a subject area. This is possible because each patent is classified into defined and controlled hierarchical classification. -current awareness. Many companies and venture capitalists regularly scan specific subclasses for information on "what's happening." -you can discover the "players" in a specific area of invention. e.g. what company is inventing in 3 dimentional copying -patents unassigned and therefore available for licensing or purchase -trace the specific assignee history and who now owns a specific patent -monitor your competitors activity, e.g. IBM can see what Dell is up to -find out which patents have expired because of failure to pay fees. How to Find This Information. Competitive information can be found using the following tools: -Official Gazette-, many public and univeristy libraries receive the OG as part of their documents collection or as a PTDL. Issued every Tuesday it can be scanned by inventor, assignee, and class/subclass. It also provides the title, the most relevant drawing, and the largest, most encompassing claim. -subscription services, such as Patent Alert, which provide information on patents granted by selected class/subclass or assignee. -commerical databases such as World Patent Index, Lexpat, Claims. -Department of Commerce's experimental Bulletin Board (703-305-8958) which provides access to patents issued each week, as well as OG notices and TAF Files (Technology Assessment and Forecast) -Cassis cd-rom found in all PTDLs. It is issued quarterly and provides free access by assignee, inventors nams, clas/subclass, patent title, words from abstract. Other Information Found in Patents -initial sources of information since patents are filed before journal articles are published. -provide detailed descriptions--articles often talk only about operational properties. -access to information on inventions not yet in production. Conclusion Libraries are not just a source of information on historical innovation, but they can also be a source for current information on innovation. As a result, librarians are well positioned to play a positive and active role in helping disseminate publicly available competitive information By actively promoting libraries as sources of competitive information we can have an impact, help our society, and level the playing field for entrepreneurs and small to medium size businesses. _____________________________________________________________________________ ADVENTURES IN PUBLISHING By: Jinnie Y. Davis, Assistant Director for Planning & Research North Carolina State University Libraries (This article first appeared in the NCSU Libraries' publication FOCUS, v. 12, no.2, 1992. The author retains the copyright for this article.) Actions taken by faculty members nationwide in response to the scholarly communication crisis range from resignations from editorial boards of certain publishers to agitation for change in promotion and tenure requirements. On the North Carolina State University (NCSU) campus, many faculty and administrators have contributed actively, both as individuals and as members of groups such as the University Library Committee, toward the resolution of the problem. A unique case is that of Dr. Ernest Hodgson, William Neal Reynolds Professor and head of the NCSU Toxicology Department. Hodgson, a pioneer in calling public attention to the potentially harmful effects of pesticides on humans, helped to delineate the field of environmental toxicology as a discipline in its own right. A native of Durham, England, Hodgson was featured last summer in Raleigh's The News and Observer as "Tar Heel of the Week," earning praise as an "environmentalist before being an environmentalist was cool." During his thirty years at NCSU, Hodgson acquired a reputation as a leading international expert in toxicology; as a result, he has served on editorial boards of several major publishers. Last year, his busy publishing schedule included editorship of Reviews in Environmental Toxicology and Reviews in Biochemical Toxicology, as well as authorship of A Textbook of Modern Toxicology, an excellent introduction to the field. Hodgson's publishing experience includes work with half-a-dozen major companies, to varying degrees of success. He characterizes the publishing industry as being "like the medieval trade guilds," and sees a fundamental difference between the motivations of publishers and academics: "to some extent, commercial publishers are parasites who live off the academic community to make a profit. In the academic community, we don't publish to make money, we publish because we believe our discipline is important and the results that derive from our discipline need to be disseminated. I don't know anyone in science, except for a very, very few textbook authors, who've ever made even minimum wage out of publishing. I think we do it for different reasons." Those differences surfaced in Hodgson's experiences with the Amsterdam office of Elsevier Publishing Company, one of the world's three major publishers in the fields of science, technology, and medicine. After Hodgson published three volumes of Reviews in Environmental Toxicology with Elsevier, both editor and publisher agreed that neither side was satisfied with the publishing arrangements. Elsevier found it difficult to identify a market for the emerging field of environmental toxicology and was willing to let the series languish. Hodgson, however, did not want to see the publication die. He considered the field an important one, in which the spread of scientific knowledge was essential. He disagreed with Elsevier's marketing approach to Reviews in Environmental Toxicology as well, because they chose not to have the title handled as a continuing serial publication, selling each volume as a separate monograph instead. Hodgson considered this practice a mistake, "letting internal company policies dictate what's done on the distribution end." He concluded that large publishers expend less effort on the promotion of academic books because they generally have guaranteed institutional sales that ensure healthy profits, and that publishers prefer to produce new titles rather than to promote current titles. Hodgson also considered it critical to bring the cost of the title down to an affordable price for both individuals and libraries. At the time, Elsevier was charging from $80 to $110 per issue for Reviews in Environmental Toxicology. In Hodgson's experience with providing camera-ready copy for the publisher, the production cost of each volume was approximately $10 a volume. Although a major publisher will obviously have large overhead and other costs, Hodgson believes that "clearly, there's more than just a normal profit there. With that kind of a mark-up, you only need to sell probably 100 books, and you're making a profit." Hodgson could not identify an alternative among noncommercial publishers. "I would have loved to have done it through the 'NCSU Press,' but we have none on this campus." His earlier attempts, years ago, to interest a traditional university press in publishing a scientific journal proved unsuccessful: "they didn't understand the importance of timely publication. In science, there must be a balance between rapid publication and quality of content. I had no success whatsoever in convincing them of that." So Ernest Hodgson decided to take over publication of Reviews in Environmental Toxicology himself. What may appear to be a major step for most individuals is downplayed by Hodgson: "It's not quite as dramatic as it seems. It just happened that that particular project wasn't going particularly well. The publisher and I didn't agree on how it ought to be handled--their answer to everything is just to increase the price, because if you sell fewer copies, you still make as much money. It doesn't work that way." Through negotiations with Elsevier, Hodgson was able to purchase from the publisher the copyright to Reviews in Environmental Toxicology, as well as rights to both the title and volume number. "That," he states, "is important because you can always start a new series, but if you have to start with a new title and a new volume number, you lose all the advantage that you gained from having published the earlier series." He also bought from Elsevier the rights to all the earlier volumes in the series. Although he had no previous experience as a publisher, Hodgson decided to incorporate his own company, Toxicology Communications, to continue publication of the series without infringing on his University responsibilities. Most of the small editorial board remained with the series; Hodgson thinks that "generally speaking, people in science serve on editorial boards to be helpful--they don't care who the publisher is, as long as the idea is one they support." He also had no trouble soliciting manuscripts. He soon learned, however, that his major difficulty was in the distribution and sales aspect of publishing. "Of the whole publishing venture from initiating the idea to actually selling the book, the thing I probably know least about is how to sell books. It's difficult and time-consuming, and I would not necessarily encourage others to do it unless they have help." Another piece of advice he has for academic authors is to retain the copyright to any work they publish. "It gives you a tremendous amount of freedom to do the project the way you want to do it, because if a publisher doesn't want to do it that way, you can always find another publisher. Publishers don't like to do that, but they will. If they want to publish the book, when it comes right down to it, they'll let the author keep the copyright." Hodgson believed that he would be able to continue publication of the series at a substantially reduced cost while maintaining a steady subscribership. "As it turns out, I was only partly right because I really haven't been able to devote the time to it that I thought I could--but I still think the principle is sound." He found validation in the fact that a market still existed for the back volumes in the series when he offered them for half the price ($45) that Elsevier had charged. By advertising through memberships of related professional societies, Hodgson reached several hundred individual subscribers. His greatest disappointment, however,was the lack of library response to the series;most of his institutiona l subscribers are companies, especially consulting companies. He puzzles, "For some reason, all of those several thousand members of societies either didn't ask their libraries to get it, or they did ask and the library didn't get it. So the fact that the series was being continued at half the price didn't seem to make the slightest difference, despite the crisis in libraries." Hodgson acknowledges that academic libraries are generally not interested in the products of a single-publication publisher unless a faculty member insists on the purchase. For this situation, he faults not the library but the scientists themselves: "they've got to understand that this is a different way of doing it." Hodgson believes, however, that academic libraries may not be asking the right question as they engage in serials cancellation projects. "When we're cancelling journals, we cancel them on the basis of 'do you use this or not?' And when we buy them, we buy them on the basis of 'do you have to have this, or can you do without it?' But in neither case do we say, 'if this cost $50 instead of $150, would it then be worth having?' That's the kind of message publishers need to get. They need to be told, what you're publishing is not bad, but we can't afford the price." While Hodgson has received little publicity about his publishing venture, he has been approached by several well-known scientists who have asked about the possibility of publishing other series with him. He believes that they came to him because they were attracted by the lower prices he charged, and because "i t was being done by scientists for scientists, and the principle of that appealed to them." In retrospect, Hodgson muses, "I suppose I did something that was a little unusual, but I never thought of it as unusual. It finally dawned on me that perhaps it was, when I was talking to an exhibitor at a national toxicology meeting, and he referred to me as a publisher!" He is pleased with his end product--"in style and appearance, volume 4 of Reviews in Environmental Toxicology is as good as Elsevier's publication. The bottom line, though, is that it has good articles in it." Because of the constraints of time, the future of the series remains uncertain. Hodgson states, "It's been interesting and a lot of fun. It's sort of nice to think that you're a publisher, even if it's only for one book. So I enjoyed it and will continue, but I suspect that it will always be a small venture." [Author's note: Reviews in Environmental Toxicology is published by Toxicology Communications, P.O. Box 17315, Raleigh, NC 27619.] ______________________________________________________________________________ BUBL : AN ONLINE GUIDE TO NETWORKED INFORMATION RESOURCES By: Jean Shaw, Sub-Librarian, Systems Division, Strathclyde University Library, Glasgow, UK "In which film did Bette Davis play a fiery small town librarian?" "Where can I get up to date information on the NASA space projects?" "How can I download files onto my micro, using ftp? Come to think of it, what IS ftp?" "I'm totally confused by all this talk of networked information resources. Where do I start?" An apparently disparate set of questions, but the answers can all be found in a common source; an expanding UK information service called BUBL. BUBL, the mnemonic for 'BUlletin Board for Libraries', evolved as part of the work of Project Jupiter, a two-year research project funded by the University Grants Committee in 1989-1990. The project was awarded to Glasgow University Library, and was managed by Andrew Wale, the Deputy Librarian. It had three aims: 1. To arrange a series of seminars throughout the UK, on the use of networks, and the Joint Academic Network (JANET) in particular. 2. To produce a Guide for Libraries on JANET. 3. To investigate the feasibility of a bulletin board for libraries. BUBL was launched as a prototype by the first Project Officer, John MacColl, and developed by his successor, Margaret Isaacs. After the conclusion of the project, the editorial and developmental aspects of BUBL were taken over by a team from Strathclyde University Library, led by Dennis Nicholson, with administrative assistance (Andrew Wale) and technical support (Ian Walker) from the University of Glasgow. More recently, BUBL has formalised its links with JUGL, the JANET User Group for Libraries, through the creation of a JUGL Steering Group with four members: Michael Breaks (Heriot Watt, Edinburgh), Andrew Wale (Glasgow), Michele Shoebridge (Birmingham) and Dennis Nicholson (Strathclyde). A number of other individuals have responsibility for specific sections and aspects of the information service, the major content of the bulletin board being handled by Strathclyde. Other volunteers are constantly sought! The original scope of BUBL coverage has widened considerably to include not only services and resources on JANET, but also other international networks such as the Internet and IXI. It also covers items of general interest to both librarians, and, increasingly, non-librarians, and is generally regarded as a major source of guidance on finding and using electronic information resources. I have worked with BUBL for almost a year, editing the Directories section, but I am still regularly surprised as I find yet more items of information on it which I didn't know existed! The following headings from BUBL give some idea of its content, but each of these somewhat prosaic section descriptions hides a veritable treasure trove of information. I strongly recommend regular browsing through all the sections, rather than simply targetting the one you need to satisfy a specific query: Section Headings on BUBL A--All about BUBL J--Glossary B--Reference Section K--Practical exercises C--New titles in LIS L--British Library R&D News D--Directories N--Latest changes to BUBL E--Current Contents O--CONCISE(Pan-European Inf.Serv.) F--Mailing lists S--Electronic Journals & Texts G--NISS V--Library Systems & Software H--Users' board Z--CTILIS An informal 'tour' of some of the section contents will give you a flavour of the scope of the information available. Basic details of organisations, names, addresses and phone/fax/email numbers are available in the Directories Section (D), covering mainly U.K. but also international sources. Guides to OPACs, electronic conferences and Campus-wide Information Services (CWIS) can also be found here. Information from and about various network user groups (e.g. Royal Society's International Science Information Service, JUGL, UK Office for Library Networking and many others) appears in Section H1, in addition to 'Items for Sale' (library related!), online surveys, and Hot News (!), which gives up to date details of conferences, meetings, address changes, and, of vital importance, job vacancies! And just in case you're wondering how you could contact fellow environmentalists and conservationists, then Section H1V will give you details of GREENNET (Global computer communications network for Environment, Peace and Human Rights). "There's Gold in them thar Networks" is the intriguing title of an entry in Section B, from J. Martin of Ohio State University. As Mr. Martin so rightly comments, "you could spend your entire life browsing" information on the networks. "Gold nuggets" of information and file repositories available on the Internet are listed, including anonymous FTP sites, bulletin boards, email white pages and other Internet resource guides. Tim Clark of the University of Warwick offers a very good survey of the major national and international networks and the mysteries of sending email 'across boundaries'. Hints for getting mail through various gateways to and from JANET (Section B31) travels the world from the States to Japan, taking in Italy, New Zealand and China, not to mention specialist subject networks like SPAN (Space Physics Analysis Network). If you have a sudden brainstorm, and can't remember what ASCII stands for, then help is at hand! Section J is a glossary of 'computerspeak' acronyms and terms, provided by Caroline Leary of the Computer Centre at Sussex University. And then, of course, there is THIS journal, and other full text sources listed in Section S, along with contents listings of recent library and information science journals in Section E. Contributors in this section include both individual volunteers and organisations, such as the BLISS information service and the Meckler Corporation. Abstracts of new LIS monograph titles are provided in Section C by Book Data, while abstracts of recent journal articles are provided by the Library Technology Watch Program at the University of California. Section B12, Scott Yanoff's 'Special Internet Connections', offers yet another treasure trove of network resources, from the Archie anonymous FTP database, Gopher and Hytelnet services, through to a Science and Technology Information service, news services on earthquake activity and the NASA space shuttle programme, an online chat service called 'Cheeseplants house'(!) and 'Chess Server' which offers real time chess games to be watched or played! For European resources, details and instructions for accessing the CONCISE server are given in Section O. CONCISE is a pan-European information service and describes itself as "the central focal point for users to obtain information about networks, projects, products and services" relating to the European academic and research communty. So, I could go on, and on, and on, but it's much more fun exploring BUBL for yourself, and you could try the practical exercises in Section K. Don't forget to use the 'search text' facility, and remember you can jump from section to section without exiting back through the hierarchical structure. M will always take you back to the main menu. You can also post sections of BUBL back to your own email address. Look at Section A9A for advice on posting to Internet addresses. BUBL is an operational service with a long-term future. We are widening its coverage and improving the service, talking to various companies about sponsorship and investigating research grant possibilities. A sponsorship deal was recently negotiated with OCLC, and Meckler has also shown an interest. The growing range of resources and services available on national and international networks are of increasing importance to education and research efforts. However, finding these resources, and finding out how to use them is still a major headache. BUBL is a service which we hope will provide a little help and guidance on the way. Methods of accessing BUBL are given below. Username/password are not required, but please note that you may have to wait a few moments while the software is first loaded. Oh, and by the way, the Bette Davis query? Well, try searching Section H1P and I'm sure you'll find the answer! ACCESS TO BUBL 1. From the UK a) Direct JANET access On a PAD terminal, you would typically type: CALL GLA.BUBL or CALL 00007110004011 b) NISS Gateway BUBL can be accessed through the UK Information Services sub-menu on the NISS gateway. 2. Internet access To access BUBL from the Internet: telnet sun.nsf.ac.uk or 128.86.8.7 login: janet At the hostname: prompt type uk.ac.glasgow.bubl At the terminal type prompt enter vt100 _____________________________________________________________________________ THE DEFENSE TECHNICAL INFORMATION CENTER: THE KEY TO DEFENSE INFORMATION By: Barbara Lesser, Chief, Programs and Network Services Division DTIC, Alexandria, Virginia WHAT IS DTIC? The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) is the central point within the Department of Defense (DOD) for acquiring, storing, retrieving and disseminating scientific, technical and acquisition management information to support DOD research, development, engineering, studies and acquisition programs. DTIC is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia with regional offices in Boston, Albuquerque and Los Angeles. These regional offices, staffed by technical information specialists, assist DTIC users in their area by performing literature searches, ordering documents, and providing general assistance. DTIC also has an office in San Diego that serves the manpower, personnel, and training community. MATRIS, the Manpower and Training Research Information System, serves as an information sharing and decision support system for researchers in that community and for planners, managers, and policy makers at all levels of DOD. It answers questions about the history, present status, future directions, and funding and fiscal details of manpower and training research and development efforts. Customized products and reference services are also available. To contact the MATRIS Office call 619-553-7000. WHO MAY USE DTIC'S SERVICES? As a component of the DOD scientific and technical information program, DTIC provides service to DOD personnel, DOD contractors and potential contractors, and other U.S. Government agency personnel and their contractors. Participants in the Small Business Innovation Research Program, the University Research Support Program and the Historically Black Colleges and University Program may also register for DTIC services. All users must register for DTIC's services. Approval authority for user registration is by higher-level government channels for government organizations or by the government contracting officer for contractors. Specifically, to register, an activity must have a sponsor willing to approve access and certify need-to-know categories for classified information. Currently there are about 3500 registered users, including managers and planners as well as researchers and intermediaries. DTIC DOES NOT PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC. To register for DTIC's services call 703-274-6871. WHAT DOES DTIC HAVE IN ITS COLLECTION? DTIC handles unclassified, limited and classified information up to the secret level. The collection is specialized and includes areas normally associated with Defense such as aeronautics, military science and missile and space technology. However, DOD's interests are widespread and therefore, the collection also includes subject areas such as biology, chemistry, environmental sciences, oceanography, computer sciences, sociology, and human factors engineering. Primarily, DTIC handles technical report literature dating back to World War II. The collection also includes theses, conference proceedings, bibliographies, and DOD patents and patent applications. DTIC's holdings also contain work unit summaries of ongoing efforts, which describe the what, where, how, when, by whom, and costs of these efforts. Summaries of independent research and development (IR&D) projects initiated and directed by industry which may complement or support DOD programs are also collected. This last category of data is proprietary and is available only to DOD organizations registered with DTIC. Each year around 30,000 technical reports are added to DTIC's collection of over 1.7 million documents. Approximately 20,000 work units summaries and IR&D project descriptions are also added. DTIC's unclassified/unlimited documents are available to the general public thorough the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). They are announced in the Government Reports Announcements and Index and are available online through the NTIS database. This database can be accessed through commercial database vendors. For further information call NTIS at 703-487-4650. To find out about DTIC's collections call 703-274-7044. DTIC ONLINE - WHAT IS DROLS? The Defense RDT&E Online System (DROLS) was developed by DTIC to provide both classified and unclassified online access to its three separate databases: Technical Report Database, Work Unit Information System Database and Independent Research and Development Database. It is used for interactive retrieval, input and ordering documents. DROLS is available only through DTIC. There are more than 1000 remote terminals located at sites throughout the United States linked to DTIC's central computer system. WHAT PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CAN DTIC PROVIDE? REFERENCE SERVICES - DTIC's reference staff aids users in identifying, locating and ordering technical reports. Subject analysts perform online searches of DTIC's three databases and produce bibliographies and work unit and IR&D summaries on demand. CURRENT AWARENESS PRODUCTS - Those users who have a recurring need for information in a specific subject area, may subscribe to the Current Awareness Bibliography, Recurring Reports and/or Automatic Document Distribution Programs. Through these Programs, users establish a subject-interest profile and automatically receive biweekly bibliographies or microfiche copies of reports based on the match between their profile and DTIC's newly acquired accessions. INFORMATION ANALYSIS CENTER (IAC) SERVICES - DTIC administers 14 of the DOD centers for the analysis of technical information, known as IACs. These Centers provide DTIC users with access to specialized reference services and subject matter experts. IACs are concerned with highly specialized, technical subject areas of major concern to DOD research and development programs. Their products include handbooks, state-of-the-art reports, special studies and analysis and evaluation reports, bibliographies, technical inquires referral and current awareness newsletters. DTIC publishes an Information Analysis Center Directory of all DOD IACs. To obtain this directory, please call 703-274-3848. For more information about the IAC Program call 703-274-6260. DOD Gateway Information System (DGIS)/SearchMaestro DGIS offers access to multiple databases through gateway technology. It allows users to access these databases using an automatic connect feature, download the retrieved information, "post-process" it into the form required by the user, and then place an order online. Electronic mail and the capability to communicate with another user interactively through a Talk feature are also available. SearchMAESTRO is a menu-driven, easy to use system that provides access to DROLS and over 900 commercial databases. A user does not need to know various search languages. He may select the database he wishes to search or the system will identify an appropriate database or will scan a group of relevant databases for him. Experience searchers who want to bypass the menu prompts may do so . A common command language is available. For more information about DGIS and SearchMAESTRO call 703-274-6434. HOW DO I LEARN MORE ABOUT DTIC? Please call the User Services Directorate, 703-274-3848, for more information about DTIC and or products and services. We will be happy to answer your questions. __________________________________________________________________________ SEARCH MAESTRO: ORCHESTRATES YOUR INFORMATION STRATEGIES LEADS YOU TO VITAL DATABASES CONDUCTS YOUR INFORMATION SEARCHES By: Chris Cupp, Chief, Network Services Branch, DTIC Alexandria, Virginia What will SearchMAESTRO do for me? SearchMAESTO (Menu-Aided Easy Searching Through Relevant Options) is a menu-driven, user-friendly method for accessing more than 850 commercial and government databases covering a broad range of subjects. This includes access to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) databases. A separate registration to access the DTIC databases is required. With SearchMAESTRO there is no need to know how to search any of these databases. SearchMAESTRO takes over the complications of locating and communicating with database hosts so that anyone, registered with SearchMAESTRO can search hundreds of databases. Just think of SearchMAESTRO as an expert assistant who will analyze your request, select the best database(s), enter the correct terms, and present the results. All the details --- passwords, logon protocols, search strategies --- are handled behind the scenes by SearchMAESTRO's sophisticated computers. And since SearchMAESTRO's state-of-the-art system is not omniscient, when in doubt you can send out an SOS, a special feature that permits you to consult with SearchMAESTRO's expert searchers in a live keyboard-to-keyboard conversation. Do I pay for SearchMAESTRO? Users are charged for their SearchMAESTO usage and pay through a deposit account which they establish with the National Technical Information Service in Springfield, Virginia. Fees are comparable to those being charged by the large database vendors (i.e. Dialog, BRS, Orbit, etc.) How do I start? In order to use SearchMAESTRO, you must be a registered DTIC user. For both DTIC and SearchMAESTRO registration, contact: Defense Technical Information Center, DTIC Registration Branch, Bldg. 5, Cameron Station, Alexandria, Virginia 22304-6145. (703) 274-7709, or DSN: 284-7709. For further information, contact: Chris Cupp, phone, (703) 274-7791; DSN: 284-7791; FAX: (703) 274-9274; EMAIL: ccupp@dgis.dtic.dla.mil ____________________________________________________________________________ A PROFILE: SIRSI, UNICORN, STILAS Compiled By: Karen Albright, SIRSI Coporation, Huntsville, Alabama The Unicorn system is a fully integrated library system, with a bibliographic database and operator interface common to all modules. Modules include bibliographic catalog control, authority control, circulation, enhanced public access, retrieval interface manager (intelligent gateway), reference database manager (local databases), academic reserves, acquisitions, materials booking, serials control, and electronic mail. Modules can be combined with the core module, bibliographic catalog control, in any combination desired. Unicorn can be purchased for single or multiple access points, and can handle collections ranging from below ten thousand up to millions. Libraries with the Unicorn system can offer their patrons dialup access from remote locations. It is also possible to form a network of Unicorn systems among cooperating libraries. Bibliographic records can either be stored and accessed in a short form, the full MARC format, or any custom format desired. Unicorn provides searchers with full-text retrieval capabilities based on the BRS/SEARCH ENGINE. Every word in every field of your bibliographic records is indexed and searchable. Library patrons can find a book by any word or words used in the description of any library item, even contents notes and abstracts. For example, to find items by "Charles Dickens", the patron can enter their search as "Dickens", "Charles Dickens", or "Dickens, Charles". Among other features, Unicorn also supports forward and backward truncation, adjacency and proximity searching, hypertext searching, and Boolean operators. Unicorn was designed as a complete inventory control system. All holdings of libraries using the system can be stored, accessed and tracked by the system. The system comes with extensive reporting tools which allow holdings and activity on the system to be printed in a variety of formats. Logs of all transactions are kept, providing reports on all system activity. Powerful management tools are offered allowing the library to tailor policies and the information on workstation screens without programming. Sirsi can supply retrospective conversion services through a variety of interfaces to sources of bibliographic information. For ongoing cataloging, online interfaces to OCLC and Marcive are available, along with an interface to bibliographic records on CD-ROM. Unicorn has no menus for staff functions. Instead, library functions are performed by entering different combinations of nouns and verbs, such as CREATE ITEM or CREATE HOLD. The most commonly used verbs and nouns have specially engraved color keys on the workstation keyboard to save time typing them in. Because of this user interface design, every screen for every module in Unicorn is accessible by pressing one, or a maximum of two keystrokes. With Unicorn, libraries are not forced to fit into a predetermined multilayered "menu" system. Founded by library computer professionals in 1979, Sirsi Corporation's goal is to provide reliable, modular, integrated, state of the art library automation systems to public, academic, private, corporate and government libraries. The achievement of this goal is represented by Sirsi's Unicorn Collection Management System, an integrated, automated library system now being used to meet the automation needs of all the above types of libraries worldwide. Twelve man-years of development and field-testing were invested in Unicorn before the product was released for sale. To date more than thirty additional man-years have been invested in enhancements and new functionality. Developed in C language exclusively for the UNIX operating system, Unicorn is operating successfully in a wide range of UNIX environments. Unicorn is a highly flexible library system, configurable by the library to its needs without the need for programming changes. The key advantage for the library using UNIX-based Unicorn is its portability. Unicorn was developed exclusively for UNIX specifically so that it would be portable to computer makes and models different from the computer it was written on. This portability enables libraries to choose any of a vast range of computers, from PCs to mainframes. Sirsi is a full-service company which provides every service necessary for the successful automation of a library: retrospective and ongoing records conversion; item and user identification labels; pre-installation consulting; software installation and training and post-installation support. Sirsi's staff includes not only experienced librarians and software specialists, but experts in hardware integration and the UNIX operating system. Sirsi is committed to standardization in the computer field in general, and in the library automation area in particular. Our early support of UNIX and C and MARC records is a reflection of that commitment. Unicorn is specifically written to allow easy communication to and from remote systems. Sirsi has a strong commitment and interest in maintaining the high quality of its service to libraries. A key to this is the continuing evolution of the Unicorn product. Sirsi has introduced many innovations to the library automation field: intelligent micro-computer workstations, receipt printers, all commands on function keys, academic reserves, and full text catalog. In addition to enhancements to existing modules, Sirsi has released an integrated gateway and retrieval interface manager, which will facilitate simultaneous connections to multiple databases, local and remote, through the common Unicorn interface. For instance, a library using Dialog could simultaneously search both their local Unicorn collection and also Dialog using the same search strategy. Sirsi's Scientific & Technical Information Library Automation System (STILAS) is an outgrowth of the demand of Unicorn in special and government library markets. Built on the power of Unicorn, STILAS has all the features of Unicorn. In addition, features of STILAS include not only MARC, but also the COSATI Technical Report format and interfaces to format DROLS/TR, WU and SBIN and NASA/RECON. Sirsi's new Accountability Module provides a management tool for accountable classified information. Government and/or technical libraries will be able to use Sirsi's STILAS software to create, update and monitor accountability records required by the Department of Defense's Industrial Security Manual for classified or specially controlled materials. _____________________________________________________________________________ Patent and Trademark Depository Library Conference XV By: Dena Thomas, Patents/Science-Engineering Librarian, Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico Imagine yourself in the following picture. Each year, sometime in the middle of May, you plan and deliver a fully relevant, educational, and entertaining program, 8 hours a day, for a full work week to ninety or so librarians and professional library staff from all over the nation. The topics: patent and trademark information. Sound tough? You bet it is-- it's a discerning and demanding audience, and one on whom nothing is lost. Yet each year, the staff of the Patent and Trademark Library Program office assisted by other members of the Patent and Trademark Office organize a comprehensive and thorough conference, and manage to pull it off with humor, vitality, and grace. It is truly a notable achievement. This year's conference, held May 11-15, in Crystal City (Arlington), Virginia was the best PTDLP Conference I have attended, and this was my fifth outing. There were three main areas of focus during the week: the APS (Automated Patent System), reorganization of the Patent and Trademark Office programs providing support and services to the PTDLs, and the increased number and quality of trademark information products. The area of most interest to the participating libraries was the APS pilot project, now progressing at 14 different PTDL sites. The APS database contains full text of most U.S. patents from January 1971 to the present, with weekly updates. 14 pilot sites were chosen from the 73 PTDLs to represent different types of libraries and clienteles. One librarian from each of the pilot libraries received two days' worth of training in May 1991. The pilot sites were equipped and ready for business by the end of August, 1991. During the pilot phase of the project, the public has free online access to APS. Generally, the pilot library responses to the project were overwhelmingly positive. Patron response has been positive, as well. The APS system is viewed as complementary to the CASSIS CD-ROM patent information that the libraries currently provide, in that much greater detail and currency are available through APS, while CASSIS files provide the depth of classification information needed for more comprehensive searches. While the pilot librarians were nearly uniformly pleased with the system (after some telecommunications problems were resolved) they were equally as united in their opposition to the proposed fees for the system which will be in effect following the pilot phase. Currently, the Patent and Trademark Office proposes a $40 per hour fee for system access, or even $70 per hour if an outside vendor, such as STN, were to carry the system, providing accounting of connect time and charges. Many think that these charges will limit access to this information to only those who can afford to pay, and this sort of stratification of service is very troublesome for most librarians. Further concerns included problems libraries would face in keeping track of search costs and billing; costs to the libraries in terms of staff time for training patrons and providing assistance as the patron searches; and costs for equipment and supplies. Several speakers from the Patent and Trademark Office addressed the large changes wreaked on the Office as it was mandated over the last year to operate in a full cost-recovery mode after traditionally being supported through budgeted allocations from Congress. The Patent and Trademark Office has also undergone a number of organizational rearrangements and those shifts in emphases and responsibilities were explained. The Patent and Trademark Library Program, headed by Martha Crockett Sneed, is now a part of the new Center for Patent and Trademark Information Services, directed by Carole Shores, the former head of the PTDLP. The final area of concentration of the conference was trademark information. In the past few months, the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries have received some new CD-ROM products from the Program office. "Trademark Assignments" includes updated information on any new assignment filed through the Trademark Office. "Trademark Pending Applications" includes pending application information and is complementary to the "Trademark Registrations" disk the libraries already receive. Searching the various files was also reviewed. The final day of the conference featured several attorneys from the Trademark Office, who gave informative talks on avoiding refusals, what constitutes confusing similarity, and cancellations and oppositions. Although the debate over the APS is far from over, the Conference provided attendees with a good forum for airing their concerns about the system and proposed charges. The dialogue will certainly continue in the months to come as the project progresses from pilot toward fuller implementation. In her welcoming address to the Conference, Martha Crockett Sneed reminded us that, "Change is the theme..." and warned, "Don't get caught in yesterday's paradigm for delivering information." By building on the existing partnership between the Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries and the Patent and Trademark Office, I think we can avoid the pitfalls and continue to provide valuable government information to the public. ***************************************************************** Issues In Science and Technology Librarianship is a publication of the Science and Technology Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. The Editor: Harry LLull. Editorial Board: Lynn Kaczor, Gregg Sapp, and John Saylor. This publication is produced at the Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and sent out in electronic form only over the internet. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Section or Division. Articles and requests for subscriptions may be sent to the editor at ACRLSTS@HAL.UNM.EDU. ***************************************************************** END OF FILE