Guest Editorial
Facing Our Technology (p.85-86)
BRIAN AVENEY
Feature Articles
MEDLARS II: A Third Generation Bibliographic
Production System (p.87-97)
ROBERT V. KATTER AND KARL M. PEARSON, JR.
MEDLARS II, the replacement for the MEDLARS system used by the National Library of Medicine over the past decade, incorporates a number of major advances in the state of the art for massive information retrieval systems: on-line access to a number of very large bibliographic files, an efficient throughput figure, validation and mapping of inputs against authority files, and modularity and parametric programming to provide the flexibility needed to support future system enhancements. Major MEDLARS II subsystems described are: (1) specification maintenance, (2) input and release, (3) file maintenance, (4) retrieval, (5) publication production, and (6) management reporting. The MEDLARS II retrieval subsystem (ELHILL) incorporated the results of the experimental AIM-TWX service.
Library Support Through Automation: The
California State University and Colleges Plan for Library Automation (p.98-114)
JOHN C. KOUNTZ
The nineteen campuses of the California State University and Colleges (CSUC) are spread across a distance equal to that between Maine and North Carolina. The extreme distances between the individual campuses and the enormity of the student population served, one quarter million FTE, lead to a variety of problem types and levels for library automation. It is within this context that a systemwide approach using standardized equipment, procedures, and techniques for library automation is being developed and coordinated for the California State University and Colleges. As a result of over two years' planning, specifications, schedules, and budgets have evolved for a ten-year program leading to a total system of library automation for the nineteen libraries. In this article, software, hardware, procedural, and operational components of the CSUC systemwide approach to library automation are reviewed with specific emphasis on the time periods involved, the phasing of implementation, and finally, the costs and benefits anticipated from this project.
Blocking and Deblocking Variable Length
Records in a Direct Access File (p.115-126)
WILLIAM L. NEWMAN AND FRANK H. COXFORD
Subroutines which provide efficient access to a directly organized file by blocking and deblocking variable length bibliographic records are described. Design of these subroutines was accomplished by simulating the acquisitions and cataloging in-process file in the original in blocked mode, and then with various blocking strategies. A reduction in overall computer hardware charges has been achieved through the use of these subroutines.
Automated Serials Control: National and
International Considerations (p.127-146)
MARY KAY DANIELS
The proceedings of the October 1974 ISAD institute on automated serials control are summarized.