Ever since North Carolina State University Libraries launched their Endeca-based OPAC replacement in the beginning of 2006, the library world has been completely obsessed with ditching their old, tired catalog interfaces (and with good reason) for the greener pastures of more sophisticated indexing, more accurate relevance ranking, dust jackets,…

Describes the use of HyperCard software as an economical alternative to an online catalog to provide access to works of literary criticism at New Canaan High School (Connecticut). Topics discussed include the search screen display; the use of a scanner to input actual book indexes; and a dictionary of authors. (LRW)

Compares traditional cataloging to Web-based. Discusses intellectual-access issues as they apply to reference services today, and outlines deficiencies in traditional cataloging, and corresponding attributes of Web-based intellectual access. Notes ways that catalogers and public-service librarians can address these issues. (Author/AEF)

Examines librarian's initiatives to incorporate access to external databases into local online catalogs; describes OCLC's new online reference system, EPIC, that provides subject access to databases; and discusses OCLC's plans to expand access to monographs by including tables of contents or book indexes in monograph records. (LRW)

The library at Phoenix College developed the Controversial Issues Files (CIF), a "home made" card file containing references pertinent to specific ongoing assignments. Although the CIF had proven itself to be an excellent resource tool for beginning researchers, it was cumbersome to maintain in the card format, and was limited to very…

Examines access problems that occur when the citations from indexes for articles in series differ from the way the items are cataloged. A search was conducted in the online catalogs of various libraries and a comparison made between the bibliographic entries found to citations both in electronic indexes and in authors' references. (AEF)

Based on the responses of 77 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries to a December 1986 survey of 106 ARL libraries (a 73% response rate), this report profiles the current state of bibliographic access to federal publications. Following a brief discussion of survey background and methodology, a summary of survey results indicates…

Explores to what extent the germ theory, when it was still a relatively new idea, is evident in the bibliographic records in the "Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office of the United States Army" (Index Cat), the largest medical bibliographical tool ever published. Data suggest that scientists are quick to apply the new…

At the Archives Departementales des Pyrenees-Atlantiques, the encoding of more than forty legacy finding aids written between 1863 and 2000 is part of a program of digitization of the collections. Because of the size of the project, an external consultant, ArchProteus, has been brought in and specific management procedures have been put in place…

This document was developed primarily in response to a bibliographic lecture in an upper-division Afro-American survey course that covers the American colonial period to the present. In addition to representative examples of reference works, bibliographies, bibliographic sources, and periodical indexes, a section is devoted to the proper use of…

The libraries of the University of Maine System, Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Colleges have installed integrated systems which are being linked electronically and are designed to promote the maximum sharing of library resources, thereby significantly enhancing the teaching and research capabilities of each institution. The institutions propose to…

Discusses the issues surrounding the selection and mounting of University Microfilms'"Periodical Abstracts" on the University of Hartford's integrated library system. Argues that increased access provided by loading tapes on the mainframe computer outweigh the disadvantages of poor print features and narrower scope when compared to the…

Presents a classification scheme for generations of online catalogs; discusses current online technologies and identifies deficiencies; and discusses enhancements that will take online catalogs into the next generation. Such enhancements will include increased access to information through user-system dialogue, automatic search aids, subject…

This study used focus groups, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires to collect input for developing the Mann Library Gateway at Cornell University. This Web-based information system provides access to catalogs, indexes, directories, numeric datasets, full-text documents, and spatial files. Concluded that scholars would benefit from…