A summary of one library's experiences in one year of searching a variety of bibliographic data bases. (PF)

The first of a three part series, this review covers the online bibliographic and numeric databases of physics, mathematics, and computer science. Two database directories are mentioned, and a table listing databases, producers, major subjects, and starting dates is appended. Fifteen references are provided. (EJS)

Describes the selection policies, subject access, search aids, indexing, coverage, and currency of three online databases in the fields of electronics and computer science: COMPENDEX, ELCOM, and INSPEC. Sample searches are displayed for each database. A bibliography cites five references. (FM)

This paper is concerned with providing automatically generated online explanations to the user of a user interface or "tool" about what the interface can and cannot do, and what parameters or options are available or required with a given command. The COUSIN interface system, developed at Carnegie-Mellon, supplies a cooperative…

Academic/administrative data processing is centralized in one computer facility at East Tennessee State University. Students check computer printouts listing course availability, fill out one schedule card, present it to an operator at a computer terminal, and are able to register for classes in less than a minute. (Author/MLF)

This comparison of bibliographies/online databases regarding their classification schemes, periodicals list, coverage of articles, indexing, and overlap reveals that only five bibliographies cover whole of subject area, and differences exist between number of periodicals scanned (73 to 2,771) and percentage of articles included from six…

Examines design functions of present file organizations in the context of available data storage devices and identifies current developmental trends. (Author/RAA)

Presents a description of Act I, the newest database from Data Courier, Inc., which provides an online directory of computer related companies and products. Highlights include content, applications, most useful features, classification code/classification name, and output. A sample record, journals list, and database specifications are included.…

Outlines the automation process at the Library of Congress begun in 1961, noting problems encountered and future possibilities, and describing databases currently in use--SCORPIO, MUMS, MARC, COPICS AND COINS, ISIS, AND PAGING. (EJS)

Lists organizations in the United States which sell or lease software or provide subscription service for on-line information retrieval from the full text of documents in user-provided data bases. (Author/CWM)

User perception of data importance and the economic feasibility of hardware and storage devices will determine the future direction of online systems. A retrieval system's functions are ultimately dictated by database design. Early online sytems were designed for bibliographic information limited to citations only using sequential files. When…

Discusses the Vocabulary Switching System (VSS), an experimental, automated switching system, which specifically addresses the problems of heterogeneous database vocabularies and indexes and the difficulty these pose for users who wish to combine more than one database in a single online search. (CWM)

The workshop had its genesis in the belief that interactive bibliographic data base searching will become an essential function of reference service and that there is a need for indepth training and more communication with suppliers--the on-line system supplier and the data base supplier. The workshop included presentations by data base suppliers,…

Describes applications of new technology to information handling on the basis of two trends--the miniaturization of electronic circuits and the shift from analog to digital modes of communication. Information technologies discussed are microcomputers, word processors, telecommunications, storage technologies, databases, videotex, and teletext.…

The 15 papers in this collection discuss various aspects of computer use in libraries and several other aspects of library service not directly related to computers. Following an introduction and a list of officers, the papers are: (1) "Criminal Justice and Related Databases" (Kate E. Adams); (2) "Software and Hard Thought:…