http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1205 26th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (1989). Edited by Charles H. Davis. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1266 Desktop Research and Software Connectivity Rosenberg, Victor "Desktop research" encompasses the various tools that a scholar requires in the course of his or her work. The "scholar's workstation" of the future will involve several software packages from a number of developers to accomplish the tasks required in doing research and creating publications. To function effectively, the programs must be able to interact with each other and communicate data. A common user interface will ease the learning of each new addition to the software repertoire. A model workstation is discussed that allows searching of bibliographic databases or library catalogs, the assembly of bibliographies, the ordering and acquisition of documents, and the preparation of manuscripts. (The workstations to support the concept of desktop research were provided under an Apple Library of Tomorrow grant from Apple Computer, Inc.) Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1265 Micro Generations: Current and Future Directions Kochtanek, Thomas E. A digital computer is a programmable device which on the broadest level supports the manipulation of symbols aggregated as data. Simply put, the computer is a tool for creating, maintaining, organizing, storing, transmitting and disseminating data of all types. Developments in computing hardware have a certain historical significance and offer a clear portrait of the role of technology in society. Newer technology has its roots in this compact history. The first section of this paper traces the history of computer hardware in general. The second section focuses on the evolution of microcomputers as a subset of general computing systems. The third section focuses on progress in the area of 32-bit microcomputer architecture. The final section ties those advancements in microcomputing to existing and proposed database applications in libraries and related information agencies. Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1264 A Realistic Blue Sky System Davis, Joyce N. This particular conference has a long history of providing the opportunity for librarians to join together in their troubles/concerns. In this spirit, the author would like to share, if not her troubles, at least some concerns. My first experience with computers was in 1974 when, on the second day of employment, my new boss said, "Oh, by the way, that thing sitting in the middle of the cataloging department is our new CLSI computerized circulation system. It was delivered last week. It will be your responsibility to load the data and get the system up and running." I had to learn fast, and have been learning ever since; in the process, I have become somewhat of an expert on the relative merits of various database management systems, or at least qualified to discuss what you may want and/or need a system to do. It is important to have computer people around to help evaluate the technical aspects of the hardware and system software. They may also be needed to run the system once it has been selected. But, in the final analysis, if the applications programs do not support the activities of your library and do what you want done, it really doesn't matter if you have a Cray supercomputer with the latest operating and database management systems or a Brand X microcomputer from a mail order house. Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1263 Object-Oriented Databases for Libraries and Other Complex Systems Kitchel, Sidney W. If the author had been as creative as Debora Shaw (these proceedings), the title of this paper could have been "Libraries and Object-Oriented Database Systems, or When Do You Need an SST?" However clever the title, the intent of the following discussion is to examine some of the latest developments in database technology and to conjecture how they might be applied to information processing within the library world. The main new development that will be considered is an objectoriented database system. But other new developments will be addressed as well. Database systems and practice have developed to satisfy an organization's critical needs for operational data. A database management system (DBMS) is supposed to make it easy to share and protect vital data and information. The designers of such systems are charged to get all the right information into the system, make it easy for multiple sub-organizations to get at it and, yet, prevent the wrong eyes from seeing the parts of it they have no right to. DBMSs are further charged to make sure that a minimum of crucial information is ever lost by accident or disaster, or is destroyed by miscreants. Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1262 Libraries and Mainframe Computers, or When Do You Need a 747? Shaw, Debora In consideration of the long-standing title of these meetings as "clinics on library applications of data processing," we should remind ourselves that data processing is a means of improving the work of libraries as information-handling systems. Information has been defined as "data placed in context" (Loomis, 1987, p. 3) with the database as one part of the context, and the library another. We are also concerned with data from the system's viewpoint, noting that one goal of database management has been to "create more independence of the data from the programs that access them" (Lucas, 1986, p. 220). These quotations highlight important aspects of how databases and their associated software have evolved, and how they are viewed by current developers and knowledgeable users. Data are an essential component of information, and hence of information systems, including libraries. Because of their enormous processing power compared with manual filing and retrieval systems, computers can be used to create a revolution in library services. It is therefore incumbent on librarians and information specialists to understand and make the best possible use of computer power in information handling. Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1261 How We Got Where We Are: A Brief Chronology Davis, Charles H. The creation of machine-readable databases and computer-based services has always been predicated on the availability of appropriate hardware and software. During the first generation (roughly 1949 to the late 1950s), very little happened because the machines were slow, had relatively little storage capacity, and were extremely expensive. In addition, most programming was done at the machine level a tedious process. Second generation computers (from the late 1950s through the early 1960s) used transistors instead of vacuum tubes, which meant they were faster, more reliable, held more data, and could be afforded by institutions smaller than the federal government. To facilitate programming, a number of higher-level languages were developed during the early years. FORTRAN was designed primarily for scientific and engineering applications; ALGOL, the first of the so-called procedure-oriented languages, provided an internationally recognized structure for program documentation; LISP eventually proved valuable in studying artificial intelligence; and COMIT, the first language designed specifically for text processing, was used in computational linguistics and early studies in information retrieval. Higher-level languages greatly facilitated software development, because programs using them were shorter, easier to understand, and could be used on a variety of computers, unlike programs written at the machine level. It was also during this period, in 1958, that Hans Peter Luhn of IBM described the mechanized production of keyword indexes as well as an automated current-awareness service called SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information). Machine-readable bibliographic data Database management Libraries --Data processing Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1208 Front matter including Introduction and Table of Contents to Database management--how much power is enough? : issues for librarians and information scientists. Papers presented at the 1989 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing. Table of Contents Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1207 Back Matter including Contributors and Index to Database management--how much power is enough? : issues for librarians and information scientists. Papers presented at the 1989 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing Biographical information Index Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/1206 Database management--how much power is enough? : issues for librarians and information scientists. Papers presented at the 1989 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing. These proceedings are unusual in that they consist of papers contributed to a conference that did not take place. The Association of College & Research Libraries, which was later than usual in announcing its own conference, coinciden tally scheduled its meeting on the dates we had chosen for the 1989 Clinic. Although quite a few people registered, there were not enough to make the Clinic financially viable, and the event was cancelled. Nevertheless, because of the encouragement we received from numerous individuals, the hard work of the authors, and the importance of the topic, we decided to publish the contributed papers as though the Clinic had actually taken place. Serials catalogers should rejoice! The sequence of the papers is the same as that planned for the original presentations, which were arranged by size of computer: mainframes first, then minicomputers, and finally microcomputers. Although mentioned in passing, supercomputers were not included in the planning for this particular conference. Machine-readable bibliographic data --Congresses Database management --Congresses Libraries --Data processing --Congresses Sun, 01 Jan 1989 00:00:00 GMT