The development of a commercial interconnection between DATAPAC in Canada and TELENET in the United States has made international packet switching between the two countries a reality. Potential cost reducations are emphasized in discussion of how packet switching works, its advantages, and the impact of this service on Canadian libraries and…

Twenty-eight California campuses of higher education cooperate in an interactive data base, which is available on computer to disseminate information on instructional improvement efforts in the U.S. system. The formation, modes of usage, data base content, use of the data base, software, and future development of the network are described. (CMV)

An example of an on-line printout from the Dow Jones News/Retrieval Service (DJNR) is given accompanied by a brief discussion of how to use the service, description of how one library uses it, and some of its constraints. (JPF)

Six data bases common to Lockheed and SDC were singled out for a study conducted by DOE to determine whether it would be advisable to maximize the use of one data base vendor for their searches. Results indicated that maximizing either SDC or Lockheed was not practical; differences in costs of two systems are outweighed by their different search…

A description of how one special library uses B ALLOTS for answering specific questions dealing with monographs, verification of citations, bibliographies on either subjects or authors, background information on organizations, and interlibrary loans. Features of the BALLOTS data base are discussed, including system files, indexes and search keys,…

The Minneapolis Public Library and Information Center collected data in November, 1977 on the use of the machine assisted reference service (MARS) with no charge to the library patron. Results are reported in tabular form from responses to questionnaires completed by both patrons and searchers for data bases used, time, online charges, and percent…

Describes PHILSOM III, the automated serials system of the Washington University School of Medicine Library. (PF)

Estimates of frequency of spelling errors are made based on a sample of 3,600 index terms drawn from 11 bibliographic data bases. The impact of these errors is discussed by tape supplier, tape user, and end user; with some suggestions for search strategies.

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)

Describes the various roles and business-related concerns of independent information professionals. The impact of online databases is discussed, and several publications for information entrepreneurs are reviewed. (MES)

Characteristics and advantages of database machines are summarized and their applications to library functions are described. The ability to attach multiple hosts to the same database and flexibility in choosing operating and database management systems for different functions without loss of access to common database are noted. (EJS)

Designed to characterize journals as part of the selection process for journals to be included in an information retrieval database, two studies used bibliometric techniques to examine patterns of publishing and topic patterns and coverage, and a third developed a rule-based system to evaluate the qualities of a journal. (CLB)

Provides overview of Ergonomics Abstracts Retrieval System (EARS), an online bibliographic search and retrieval system in the area of human factors engineering. Other online systems are described, the design of EARS based on inverted file organization is explained, and system expansions including a thesaurus are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Three online databases that provide information on regional, state, and local business news are compared in terms of publications indexed, indexing guidelines, record structure, span of coverage, currency, and availability. (CLB)

Describes two types of online vendor gateways--front-end buffers and host-to-host links. The potential threats and opportunities of gateways to database owners, online vendors, and users are identified, and a code of practice developed by the National Federation of Abstracting and Information Services is presented. (CLB)