A regional medical library network. (25/39)

The raison d'etre for cooperative networks is discussed, and the development of the SUNY Biomedical Communication Network is traced briefly; a description of the system and its products is given. The cooperative cataloging program engaged in with the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine and the National Library of Medicine is described, as are the efforts of the Network in the production of regional and state-wide union lists of serials.  (+info)

Time-shared computing. Implications for medical libraries. (26/39)

Many library data processing systems are unresponsive to the needs of librarians because of the necessity to batch-process transactions in a computer center. Such systems tend to be reportoriented rather than information-oriented with resultant problems in the timeliness of information. Time-shared computing permits multiple users to process jobs simultaneously through on-line interaction with the computer. Such systems offer to the librarian the advantages of immediate access to information, costs shared with other users, and direct man-machine interaction. This tutorial paper describes time-shared systems with applications in the library. Problems concerning the cost and present state-of-the-art of time-sharing are discussed.  (+info)

The need to standardize descriptive cataloging. (27/39)

Because there are too many ways to describe a book, its presence may not be discovered in a bibliography or catalog. Standardized descriptive cataloging is needed to solve this problem and also to eliminate wasteful duplication of cataloging. The Anglo-American Cataloging Rules and the COSATI Standard disagree on choice of main entry, and the Library of Congress does not follow the AACR all of the time. But the essence of standardized cataloging is widespread availability and general acceptance of the data, regardless of principles followed. Local adaptations in standard cataloging data are necesary, but those which affect all copies of a book, not just unique features of particular copies, must be made available for use by all libraries by correction of the standard cataloging data. The national structure for communicating standard cataloging data today is mainly printed tools, but tomorrow local library terminals on-line to a shared computer data bank may provide the instantaneous access needed. The problem of getting the wider community of library users to standardize their citation practices is more difficult to solve, but hope for improvement lies in making access to standard data easier.  (+info)

Convergence toward common standards in machine-readable cataloging. (28/39)

The adoption of the MARC II format for the communication of bibliographic information by the three National Libraries of the U.S.A. makes it possible for those libraries to converge on the remaining necessary common standards for machine-readable cataloging. THREE LEVELS OF STANDARDS ARE IDENTIFIED: fundamental, the character set; intermediate, MARC II; and detailed, the codes for identifying data elements. The convergence on these standards implies that the National Libraries can create and operate a Joint Bibliographic Data Bank requiring standard book numbers and universal serial numbers for identifying monographs and serials and that the system will thoroughly process contributed catalog entries before adding them to the Data Bank. There is reason to hope that the use of the MARC II format will facilitate catalogers' decision processes.  (+info)

Handling technical reports in the medical library. (29/39)

One of the most widely neglected sources of information in the medical library is the technical report. Often this bibliographic form is ignored because there is a general lack of information on the part of the librarian concerning its mysteries. In many cases the technical report provides the most recent and current information on a given subject, and to ignore it or wait for its appearance in the published literature could prove costly to a research project. Technical reports have reached flood proportions since World War II, and are issued from many diverse sources. Means of acquiring, processing, and using the tools which abstract and index this literature are discussed.  (+info)

Topics in library technology: labeling techniques. (30/39)

Labels which do not fit on the spines of books should be placed on the upper rather than lower left corner of the front cover, because the upper corner becomes visible first when a volume is tilted from the shelf. None of the past methods of marking call numbers on the spines or covers of books-direct hand lettering by pen, brush, or stylus; affixing cold release characters; embossing by hot type; or gluing labels which are handlettered, typed, or printed-nor even present automatic data processing systems have offered all the advantages of the relatively new Se-Lin labeling system: legibility, reasonable speed of application, automatic protective covering, permanent bonding, and no need for a skilled letterer. Labels seem unaesthetic to some librarians, but their advantages outweigh this consideration. When only one or a few copies of the same call number are required, Se-Lin is the best system now available for libraries marking over 1,000 books a year.  (+info)

The NEOUCOM Cooperative Cataloging Service: development and review of the first four years. (31/39)

The Basic Medical Sciences Library of the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) provided a Cooperative Cataloging Service to fourteen of its affiliated hospitals' libraries since March 1978, using the OCLC system. Analysis of the first four years of service showed that the hospital libraries spent almost $30,000 to catalog more than 18,000 titles. Personnel expenses and other costs eclipsed the savings from a 31.3% duplication rate. Centralized bibliographic control control and the principal by-product of the service, a uniform, machine-related data base, provided the foundation for an on-line integrated library system to serve the consortium. The hospital libraries contributed 44% of the unique titles in this data base, which emphasis the need to share resources and continue cooperation.  (+info)

OCLC for the hospital library: the justification plan for hospital administration. (32/39)

This paper delineates the necessary steps to provide hospital administrators with the information needed to evaluate an automated system, OCLC, for addition to the medical library. Based on experience at the Norton-Children's Hospitals, included are: (1) cost analyses of present technical processing systems and cost comparisons with OCLC; (2) delineation of start-up costs for installing OCLC; (3) budgetary requirements for 1981; (4) the impact of automation on library systems, personnel, and services; (5) potential as a shared service; and (6) preparation of the proposal for administrative review.  (+info)