The Faxon Company has developed a user-friendly, menu-driven database that includes all serial titles from every subject area announced within the past three years. Accessible by ASCII terminals and personal computers, INFOSERV is available through Telenet and provides a brief bibliographic description together with availability information for…

Review of text processing software for microcomputers covers data entry, text editing, document formatting, and spelling and proofreading programs including "Wordstar,""PeachText,""PerfectWriter,""Select," and "The Word Plus.""The Whole Earth Software Catalog" and a new terminal to be…

Reviews features of front-end software packages (interface between user and online system)--database selection, search strategy development, saving and downloading, hardware and software requirements, training and documentation, online systems and database accession, and costs--and discusses gateway services (user searches through intermediary…

A tutorial introduction to the evaluation of communications software (enables microcomputer to function as terminal for purposes of communicating with remote device) covers computing hardware, modems, installation and operation, file transfers, printer controls, unattended reception, terminal emulation, documentation, and price. Detailed reviews…

Four information retrieval packages that run on single user microcomputers--CAIRS, INMAGIC, Sci-Mate, SIRE--are examined based on following criteria: storage requirements; hardware requirements; search features (Boolean logic, comparison searching, set building, truncation, and wild card characters); system output; security; system maintenance…

Summarizes types of machine access available for users of Chemical Abstracts Online, a database which can accept and print out graphics images of chemical compounds. The use of Tektronix terminals, capabilities and limitations of other types of graphic termials and microcomputers, and estimated costs are noted. (EJS)

This checklist based on an earlier version (1980) relates specifically to cathode ray tube and other visual display terminals (VDTs) and also applies to personal computers. Highlights include changes in VDTs, selecting a VDT (evaluate needs, survey market, observe and use, talk to users), and screen and keyboard characteristics. (EJS)

Presents the options and limitations available in microcomputer-based graphic systems. Factors that must be considered when selecting a system--resolution, color, video-compatibility, and cost--and the relationship between these factors are discussed. (MBR)

This special supplement to "Library Journal" and "School Library Journal" includes articles on technological dependency, promise of computers for reluctant readers, copyright and database downloading, access to neighborhood of Mister Rogers, library acquisitions, circulating personal computers, "microcomputeritis,"…