http://hdl.handle.net/2142/913 12th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing (1975). Edited by F. Wilfrid Lancaster http://hdl.handle.net/2142/927 Machine-Readable Data Bases in Libraries: Criteria for Selection and Use Williams, Martha E. Traditionally, libraries have been the source of stored information the collective memory of a community or a civilization. In recent years, with the proliferation of publications and governmental involvement in research, machine-readable data bases have evolved as separate entities which store in indexed and abstracted form much of the current information found in libraries. As the quantity of recorded information increases, libraries are, and will be increasingly, forced to rely on these machine-readable data bases to search the accumulated knowledge if they are to retrieve it efficiently or at all. Some libraries are now providing data base search services to their patrons; many more are considering it. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval database selection Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/926 NASIC And The Information Services Librarian: Room In The Middle Wax, David M. As activity related to the provision of information has increased and become more complex in recent decades, the role of the intermediary between the information producer and the information user has similarly become more complex and specialized. The referee, the journal editor, the abstracting and indexing service, the publisher, the bookstore owner and the librarian are all examples of educated intermediaries who have a significant impact on the quantity and kinds of information resources available to the user. This paper will consider the activities of two types of intermediaries in one of the newer and more complex information delivery processes: the computerized bibli- ographic search. Initially, I shall discuss a new role for a traditional intermediary the reference librarian. Later, I shall describe and evaluate an attempt to define an organizational intermediary, of which the Northeast Academic Science Infor- mation Center (NASIC) is a prototype, developed specifically in response to this new information service. While this discussion emphasizes the delivery of machine-readable services in the academic community, most of the comments are equally applicable to the special library and public library communities. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval NASIC Information Services Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/925 Natural-Language Question-Answering Systems Waltz, David L. In his excellent book, Libraries of the Future, 1 J.C.R. Licklider paints an elaborate picture of what libraries may become by the year 2000. He sees libraries as being accessible through and augmented by digital computer programs and evolving into "procognitive systems," or general aids to think- ing. Many library documents, as well as much text, such as that of computer- typeset books have already been made computer-readable. But how far have we come in devising programs that do this reading automatically? And how close are we to systems that can understand users' questions, comments and commands? These are questions I will attempt to answer in this paper. The systems I will describe all deal primarily with facts rather than documents. I assume that facts are inherently more difficult to deal with, and that documents are a special case of fact. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Natural-language systems question-answering systems Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/924 The Public Library as an Information Dissemination Center: An Experiment in Information Retrieval Services for the General Public Summit, Roger K. A decade ago, on-line access to large bibliographic data bases was restricted to large governmental organizations that had the financial assets needed to prepare large data bases and to access them in an efficient manner. As a result of reduced computer and communications costs, this access broadened to industrial users and to universities over the past several years' and now, finally, an experiment is being conducted which brings such access directly to the public through the public library system. If the use of on-line services for reference retrieval is to continue to grow, the next potential user group is the general public who, in fact, paid for much of the creation of these data bases through taxes. It is appropriate that an attempt be made to allow the general public to benefit from the vast research and development expenditures of the 1960s through convenient computer access to these files of bibliographic material. The first part of this paper summarizes the experi- ment to date; the second part provides individualized insight into its operation through the eyes of one of the participating librarians in the study. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Public Libraries Information Dissemination Information Services Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/923 Machine-Readable Data Bases In Australia: A State-Of-The-Art Report Schmidmaier, Dagmar This paper aims to present an overview of the use of machine-readable data bases in Australia. (A summary of some commerically available services is given in the Appendix.) I will discuss the Australian scene in the light of some problems which are, if not unique to, certainly aggravated by the Australian environment. These include problems of geography and population distribution, formulation of national information policy, government support of research and development, and the Australian telecommunications network. Plans expounded during the last four years have aroused an unprecedented interest among librarians. Unfortunately, progress to date has been disappointing. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Australia Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/919 Community Information Center: Talk or Action? Dowlin, Kenneth E. Fuller, Ellizabeth How do you change a nice, traditional library into a community information center? The literature is full of bright ideas, but a mere facelift will not do it. We must change our image, provide rapid information services, use visual and other media, and use the computer. This presentation concerns itself mainly with the computer. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Community Information Center Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/920 Computer-Aided Information Retrieval In A Large Industrial Library Hawkins, Donald T. Stevens, B.A. Pierce, A.R. This paper describes some of the experiences we have had with com- puter-aided information retrieval during the past years in the Bell Telephone Laboratories library network. In order to put the environment in which we work and the methods we use into perspective, a brief overview of Bell Laboratories and its library network will be given. Following this, some of our methods of information retrieval will be discussed in detail, including machine-readable output and computer-aided literature searching (both batch and on-line). After a short description of our indexing and dissemination methods, we will offer some suggestions on machine searching and draw some general conclusions. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Corporate Library Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/921 Have Information Services Been Successful? A Critique Lancaster, F.W. This paper is somewhat different from those presented earlier. The others have dealt with experiences in the provision of information services through the use of machine-readable data bases. By and large, they reported successes. The present paper is more a series of observations and impressions on the achievements of the field of information service in the past twenty years. In particular, it is my intention: (1) to point out certain failures, or at least limitations, of existing information services, (2) to mention some findings on use and users of information services that seem to be of special signifi- cance, and (3) to suggest some directions for future work. I intend here to raise questions rather than to answer them. In parts, at least, the paper is deliberately provocative and should be viewed in this light. "An information retrieval system will tend not to be used whenever it is more painful and troublesome for a customer to have information than for him not to have it." This statement was made in 1960 by Calvin Mooers 1 and is frequently referred to as "Mooers's Law." It is perhaps the single most important quotation in the entire literature on the provision of information service. 1. Mooers, Calvin N. "Mooers' Law, or Why Some Retrieval Systems Are Used and Others Are Not," American Documentation 1 l:ii, July 1960. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Mooers's Law Information Services Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/918 The User Interface For Bibliographic Search Services Briggs, R. Bruce The user interface for a bibliographic search service includes the entire set of user-service interactions, from initial phrasing of the information needs to final review of the results. This interaction has occurred in reference libraries for many years, and an investigation of the literature in this area yields a wealth of information. Analysis of this information, however, shows that while the functions of the reference process are fairly well defined, the pro- cess itself is not, and is essentially left to the judgment of the reference librarian. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Interface Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2142/922 Mind Transplants, Or The Role Of Computer-Assisted Instruction In The Future Of The Library Lyon, Becky J. The concept of the library has broadened a great deal over the past several years. Since the time of cuneiform tablets in Sumerian civilization, libraries have been concerned with storing and accessing recorded knowledge. For hundreds even thousands of years, this recorded knowledge has been in book, manuscript, and picture form, and only within the past ten years have libraries and librarians become increasingly aware of other media as a source of recorded knowledge. More and more progressive schools have integrated these media into a new and bigger creature called the "learning resource center" which has combined the more traditional library functions and services with vehicles less traditional than the printed word. Reference services (Libraries) --Automation Database searching Online bibliographic searching Information retrieval Learning Wed, 01 Jan 1975 00:00:00 GMT