Reviews the origin, current state of development, and subject coverage of the secondary access services available to American social scientists, including bibliographic services for the various academic disciplines and a large variety of specialized services for subdisciplines and interdisciplinary fields. A 10-item reference list accompanies the…

Outlines the expansion since 1966 in the size, accessibility, and utilization of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), a national, computerized educational database. Describes four typical cases in which ERIC searches proved useful to clients of the San Mateo (California) Educational Resources Center, an agency offering ERIC search…

Discusses the problem of duplicate citations resulting from file overlaps in multidatabase searching and shows that such duplicates could be identified automatically and eliminated by a host computer as a complementary service to online retrieval. Steps involved in the realization of this service are described, and 11 references are listed. (RBF)

Describes the Library Computer System, an online circulation system used in 22 Illinois libraries, that features complete holdings and circulation status information for serials and monographs. Problems in the network environment, plans for modification, and reasons why the system works are identified. References and two additional readings are…

Surveys the technology of database software and hardware, describing some of the principal issues related to the user's view of data, sharing, concurrent access, security, and integrity. (JN)

Explains how a multipurpose bibliographic/MARC data base of machine-readable data files (MRDF), created according to the MARC II record format, was conceived, and how much an information resource would benefit the general user and professional librarian. (Author/CWM)

Describes the local off-line data base at North Carolina State University, which is updated from OCLC archive tapes, and reviews the processing required to make this data useful for maintaining the data base and providing some ancillary services. (CWM)

In order for health program evaluation to keep up with the evolution of disease patterns and epidemiology, a systems approach is proposed. Recommendations are made for the essential element in such an approach, namely, an integrated, comprehensive data base. (Author/AL)

Reviews the development of a fault tolerant database processor system which replaced OCLC's conventional file system. A general introduction to database management systems and the operating environment is followed by a description of the hardware selection, software processes, and system characteristics. (SW)

Presents an overview of nonbibliographic computerized databases in business and economics, science and technology, and the social sciences, and discusses some major issues in the field. (FM)

Description of AVLINE, a computerized information system that lists audiovisual materials in a broad or specific health-related area. It contains information about nonprint instructional materials in two categories: (1) instructional packages and (2) documentation of scheduled educational events. (JOW)

State education agencies, once passive, have assumed an important role in the collection and dissemination of education-related data for use at all levels of government and for a variety of purposes. (Author)

Explores design considerations of links between acquisitions and circulation systems, either manual or automated. Areas of concern include record formats, linking of data fields, and future demands of maintaining the interface. The benefits to these links are in transferring rather than recreating data, and in providing collection development…

In order to compare effects of input processing on information retrieval in three databases, 25 articles from a specific journal were examined. Tables and Venn diagrams show retrieval results from different manual and computer searches. The relation between document surrogates and subject matter of the documents is discussed. (SW)

Summarizes how the North Carolina Educational Computing Service, a regional resource sharing network, has responded to increasingly varied demands for services. (Author/CHC)