Surveys four possible types of multimedia computer systems: hypermedia, multimedia database, multimedia message, and virtual reality systems. The potential use of multimedia computer systems as public access systems in libraries is discussed, including fiscal, legal, organizational, standardization, and technological challenges that would have to…

Discusses problems with Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) not keeping current, particularly with ethnic and racial headings. A historical review of changes over the past 20 years is provided, including various studies of LCSH; Canadian adaptations are described; and making subject heading changes in online catalogs is discussed.…

Discusses the copyright implications of adding tables of contents and book indexes to online catalogs and examines the differing interpretations of fair use in for-profit and nonprofit institutions. (EA)

Discussion of online catalogs focuses on issues in interface design. Issues addressed include understanding the user base; common user access (CUA) with personal computers; common command language (CCL); hyperlinks; screen design issues; differences from card catalogs; indexes; graphic user interfaces (GUIs); color; online help; and remote users.…

Describes results of a study of transaction logs from three university libraries' online catalogs that analyzed subject queries to determine the extent to which they matched subject headings in the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Computer and manual analyses are described, and user satisfaction with LCSH matches is considered. (14…

Describes the procedures followed in inventorying, cataloging, and barcoding government documents records from Government Printing Office (GPO) tapes as part of an integrated online system with Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore College libraries. The use of a vendor to help with retrospective cataloging is also described. (nine references) (LRW)

Describes the development of the Adaptive Network Library Interface (ANLI), an interactive computer program that acts as an interface between the users of an online card catalog and the catalog itself. Highlights include historical background; hypertext and the ANLI; neuronal nets and von Neumann computer architectures; and future possibilities.…

Examines bibliographic relationships within the context of a global bibliographic database. Results of this research indicate that a core of works of similar character constitute the bibliographic population of American academic and research libraries (OCLC, Online Computer Library Center members). The size of a bibliographic family seems to be…

Discusses new developments in online library catalogs, including Web-based catalogs; interconnectivity within the library; interconnectivity between libraries; graphical user interfaces; pricing models; and a checklist of questions to ask when purchasing a new online catalog. (LRW)

Discusses how to catalog nonbook, or nonprint, materials in school libraries. Highlights include advantages of putting nonbook materials into an online catalog; weeding the collection; note fields; updating skills and knowledge for nonbook cataloging; documentation for the online system; and contacting other librarians and catalogers for help.…

Describes the University of California at Berkeley's participation in the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) interactive track experiments. Highlights include results of searches on two systems, Cheshire II and ZPRISE; system design goals and implementation; precision and recall results; search questions by topic and system; and results of…

Uses continuous-time stochastic models, mainly based on semi-Markov chains, to derive user state transition patterns, both in rates and in probabilities, in a Web-based information system. Describes search sessions from transaction logs of the University of California's MELVYL library catalog system and discusses sequential dependency. (Author/LRW)

After a summary of background knowledge useful in searching for information, the authors cover extensively the sources available to the researcher interested in locating educational data or conducting a search of bibliographic materials. They list reference books, dictionaries, almanacs, yearbooks, subject matter summaries; and sources for…

Full displays of bibliographic records for 5 monographs were analyzed in 36 library online catalogs and compared with International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD) and traditional catalog-card displays. Sampled characteristics included completeness, visual layout, data sequence, label specificity, and integration of description and…

This article describes the card-sorting techniques used by several academic libraries, reports and discusses the results of card-sorting usability tests of the Western Michigan University Libraries' Web site, and reveals how the WMU libraries incorporated the findings into a new Web site redesign, setting the design direction early on. The article…