These two reports published by the Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA) include a comparison of digital and microfilm imagery, as well as discussions of chemical deacidification; ASCII (nonimage) files; and storage, conversion, and transmission considerations. A structured glossary of terms relating to media conversion and digital computer…

This paper describes methods used for maintenance of bibliographic records in online catalogs and compares them with maintenance in the conventional card catalog: addition of bibliographic records, identification and correction of errors, application of authority control, addition of information to records, and withdrawal of records from catalog.…

Discussion of Web databases, or search engines for the Internet, presents a series of questions that can be used to analyze these tools based on library literature. Six search engines are analyzed; collection methods, indexing, and abstracting are compared; and a proposal for a future ideal Web database is included. (Author/LRW)

Describes ALEPH, the research library network in Israel, and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of its decentralized structure. Highlights include comparisons between RLIN and ALEPH; centralized versus decentralized networks; the format of ALEPH; authority control in ALEPH; and non-Roman scripts in both networks. (16 references) (LRW)

Discusses electronic-document preservation and argues that digital tablets, storing both the documents and the software to use them, should be developed as a more permanent alternative to migration, currently the primary preservation strategy. Discusses technology that could be used to produce a digital tablet, lists life expectancy of digital…

Review of the literature on international computerized indexing systems for visual materials also describes technologies available for reproducing images, highlighting videotex, videodisk, and digital storage. Advances in the ability to interface these technologies with each other and with online retrieval systems are discussed. (76 notes with…

Describes the findings of the Committee on Preservation of the National Archives and Record Service, which compared the effectiveness of machine readable records and microfilm as storage media for archives. Discussion of the disadvantages of machine readable records focuses primarily on the rapid changes in technology. (4 references) (CLB)

This investigation of utilization of machine-readable bibliographic records for government publications in online public access catalogs consists of a literature search, identification of applications of Government Printing Office (GPO) MARC tapes by bibliographic services and libraries, sampling GPO MARC test tape and profiling depository…

Offers a model for choosing among CD-ROM, end user access, mediated online searching, or locally mounted files as alternatives for extending online catalogs and replacing printed indexes. Estimates of demand and comparisons of costs made at Trinity and Clemson Universities provide a quantitative framework for selection. (Contains four references.)…

Three user interfaces to LIBIS, a library catalog accessible through the Internet, were evaluated for use by people who are motor impaired to identify how interface design influences the motor actions necessary to operate the system. Problems and recommendations related to simplicity, consistency, instinctiveness, interaction/feedback, and…