The Public Access Computer Systems Review vol. 2 no. 1 (1991)
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Item Libraries, Networks and OSI: A Review, with a Report on North American Developments(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Lynch, Clifford A.Lorcan Dempsey made a study trip to North America in May 1990 as part of a British-Library-funded study of library networking (i.e., use of computer networks by libraries) in North America. Based on this trip, as well as on extensive literature research and follow-on electronic mail and phone discussions, he prepared the report reviewed here. The prospective reader should understand that this book is in fact a published report. Some sections assume considerable familiarity with the subject matter; extensive quotations from the literature are included. Some sections are quite detailed and discuss work in progress (and some of this material will date quickly). Sometimes, the coverage is a bit encyclopedic, which makes for slightly tedious reading, but such detail is necessary in a comprehensive report.Item Copyright, Digital Media, and Libraries(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Halbert, MartinItem Providing Data Services for Machine-Readable Information in an Academic Library: Some Levels of Service(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Jacobs, JimMany libraries are facing two trends that are moving them closer to providing services for electronic information products: (1) information in electronic formats is becoming more plentiful, diverse, and obtainable; and (2) a growing number of library users want--and demand--access to information in electronic formats.Item How to Start and Manage a BITNET LISTSERV Discussion Group: A Beginner's Guide(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Kovacs, Diane; McCarty, Willard; Kovacs, MichaelThe following article only attempts to outline the major steps you must take in establishing a LISTSERV discussion group. It assumes that if you are in any doubt you will be able to obtain help on demand from an expert in your local computer center or from an experienced colleague. The expert may be called the "postmaster," the "LISTSERV owner," or something similar. If you are fortunate enough to find a helpful expert, cultivate him or her. The discussion lists LSTOWN-L@INDYCMS and ARACHNET@UOTTAWA are designed specifically to provide list owners with access to LISTSERV experts and experienced list owners (see Appendix A). The following also assumes that you will be in charge of the group (i.e., you will both manage or supervise the daily operations and be responsible for its success). LISTSERV groups, particularly those that are moderated, require someone who is attentive (if not devoted) to these operations and an adept editor. Note that the mechanical and the intellectual tasks required by an electronic discussion group cannot be cleanly separated; the editor/owner should be willing and able to undertake both. Keep organizational matters as simple as possible, and as loose as possible, at least until you have a sure grasp of what your group is all about. As editor/owner, you will certainly have influence, but much will be determined by the membership as a whole. In electronic communications, "vox populi vox Dei" is as good an initial motto as you can have. At the same time, total license communicates lack of attention and concern, even lack of wit. The experts, such as we have them, agree that a successful group requires an active, though not dictatorial, editorial persona.Item The Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Tuttle, MarciaCurrently, serials librarians face two important issues: (1) unacceptably high journal subscription prices, and (2) the emergence of electronic publishing as a viable alternative to the traditional paper journal. An electronic serial, the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues, serves as a case study that illustrates one way librarians are responding to both of these issues. This article documents one effort to use electronic technology to meet a critical scholarly need.Item EJournal: An Account of the First Two Years(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Jennings, Edward M.As I write these first paragraphs of EJournal's autobiography, it is the morning after the first issue hit the "newsstands." Yesterday, I uploaded the mailing list to the list server from my personal account on SUNY Albany's VAX. Then I finished the unexpected task of deleting 283 copies of the subscription confirmation message that was sent to recipients. Ready at last, I e-mailed the fourth "final" version of the 421-line issue to the list server for network distribution. Then came the catch: I was not privileged to send anything to the list from that account. So, it wasn't until I had gone through one more file transfer and the deletion of a "wrong-address" header that EJournal 1.1 went off into the "matrix." Yesterday's episode is typical of the last two years: one adjustment of expectations after another. This essay will fill in some of the twists and turns along EJournal's short journey. It will be a kind of editorial autobiography, and I will finish up with a rationalized interpretation of the response to the midMarch 1991 mailing. Near the top of EJournal's front page is the line: "An Electronic Journal concerned with the implications of electronic networks and texts." My interest in paperless texts goes back to an experimental course in 1985. In it, we almost abandoned the classroom in favor of writing to each other from terminals. My awareness of larger networks began when Frank Madden, of SUNY's Westchester Community College, introduced me to an Exxonsponsored project out of New York Institute of Technology. Michael Spitzer had convinced several people interested in using computers to help students figure out how to write more confidently. In the spring of 1989, after Michael's funding had dried up and Fred Kemp started MegaByte University (MBU) on BITNET, several intriguing issues began to pop up with some frequency. Let's turn the clock back, then, to Spring 1989.Item New Horizons in Adult Education: The First Five Years (1987-1991)(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Hugo, Jane; Newell, LindaOverview of the Journal's History The Syracuse University Kellogg Project began in 1986 with a mission to provide broader access to the university's adult education materials and to facilitate the exchange of information and learning using the very latest technologies where possible. In the fall of 1987 the Project initiated an electronic journal, New Horizons in Adult Education. The electronic journal, as initially conceived, was to (a) provide a means of disseminating, via computer, current thinking within the field of adult education; (b) develop new avenues for connecting adult educators worldwide; and (c) generate dialogue among researchers and practitioners. It was decided from the onset that the journal would be student run [1].Item The Journal of the International Academy of Hospitality Research(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Savage, LonThe Journal of the International Academy of Hospitality Research is a scholarly, refereed electronic journal, distributed via BITNET and Internet, for researchers in the academic discipline of hotel, restaurant, and institutional management and tourism. As such, it holds several distinctions: (1) it is one of the first, if not the first, among the refereed electronic journals to be marketed at a subscription price; (2) it is aimed at a small, well-structured academic market that has no particular affinity for computers and electronic communication; and (3) like a printed journal, it was planned to serve, and was marketed by direct mail advertising to all in the discipline--not just those who are computer literate and/or have access to BITNET and Internet.Item Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution in the Means of Production of Knowledge(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Harnad, StevanThere have been three revolutions in the history of human thought, and we are on the threshold of a fourth. The first took place hundreds of thousands of years ago when language first emerged in hominid evolution and the members of our species became inclined--in response to some adaptive pressures whose nature is still just the subject of vague conjecture [1]--to trade amongst themselves in propositions that had truth value. There is no question but that this change was revolutionary, because we thereby became the first--and so far the only--species able and willing to describe and explain the world we live in. It remains a mystery--to me at any rate--why our anthropoid cousins, the apes, who certainly seem smart enough, do not share this inclination of ours. At any rate, this divergence between our two respective species was a milestone in human communication and cognition, making it possible for culture to develop and be passed on by oral tradition.Item The Electronic Journal: What, Whence, and When?(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Okerson, AnnA quick scan of topics of recent library, networking, professional, and societal meetings leads to the inevitable conclusion that electronic publishing is the "Debutante of the Year." Supporting technologies have matured and present their dance cards to eager potential suitors: publishers and content creators. The newest entrant to the glittering ballroom is academic discourse and writing, suddenly highly susceptible to the nubile charms of the ripening medium. The season's opening features the youthful search for the future of the scholarly journal. By "journal," I mean the scholarly journal. The scholarly journal mainly communicates the work of scholars, academics, and researchers, and it contributes to the development of ideas that form the "body of knowledge." By "electronic journal," I generally mean one delivered via networks, although those locally owned through a static electronic format such as CD-ROM are not specifically excluded. This paper overviews several critical questions about the electronic journal. What is it? What is its appeal? Where will it come from? At what rate will it appear? When will it be accepted? It suggests that for the first time in over 200 years the paper scholarly journal can be supplanted or, at least, supplemented in a significant way by another medium, and this may lead to a new type of scholarly discourse.Item Contents(The Public-Access Computer Systems Review, 1991) Bailey, Charles W., Jr.