Editorial
A Communication on Communication (p.189)
WILLIAM D. MATHEWS
Feature Articles
Planning for the Catalogs: A Managerial
Perspective (p.192-205)
JOSEPH A. ROSENTHAL
Problems inherent in planning for a transition from traditional card catalogs to other catalog forms are discussed. Some attention is given to the implications of AACR II, the lack of an automated authority control system, and difficulties in obtaining machine-readable retrospective files. A planning approach is outlined in some detail, giving specific questions that might be addressed. Focus is on the decision-making process and identifying information that must be known by management before new designs for a catalog can be implemented effectively.
Libraries and the Consumer Communications
Reform Act (p.206-222)
R. MARSHALL CROWDER
The communications industry is heavily shaped by decisions of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its counterpart commissions in the various states. Responding to liberalized regulations that allowed increased competition, AT&T and other independent carriers supported a bill in the last session of Congress called the Consumer Communications Reform Act (CCRA), familiarly known as the "Bell Bill." Although the bill was never acted on, and the focus of congressional attention is now on the Communications Act of 1978, it is important to understand the issues that the bill addressed. This article reviews the history of federal regulation in the communication industry, places the "Bell Bill" in some historical perspective, and relates the significance of activities in the regulatory sphere to the concerns of libraries.
Index Access to On-Line Records: An Operational
View (p.223-238)
ELIZABETH J. FURLONG
On-line field index access is a powerful improvement upon search key access to on-line records and a viable alternative to full key word access. Developed at Northwestern University Library for its NOTIS-3 on-line total integrated system, which utilizes a data base of some 300,000 records for acquisitions, cataloging, and serial control, index access is easy to use and has an effective browsing capability. Operational use of index access is described.
A Computer Network Protocol at the Application
Level for Libraries and Other Information Science Services (p.239-245)
JOHN L. LITTLE
This paper outlines the essential details of a computer network protocol at the application level for interchanging information between host computers in the community of libraries, book publishers, and bibliographic service centers. The protocol was developed by a task force appointed by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, with technical assistance from the National Bureau of Standards and from selected consultants. The protocol defines the header portion of control and data messages at the application level and is independent of the topology of the communications subnetwork supporting the network. Control header structures is detailed, and a skeleton outline is given for twenty header field types and fifteen control message types.
Recommendations to the Carnegie Commission (p.246-253)
In December 1977 the Carnegie Commission on the Future of Public Broadcasting asked a number of organizations, including ALA, to submit their views on public broadcasting. The commission, an independent, nongovernmental panel funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, was created to investigate and make recommendations on the future course of public broadcasting in the United States. The ALA statement, submitted in March 1978, was prepared by Harold Wigren, telecommunications consultant and ALA member. It is partially based on an earlier ALA statement on telecommunications submitted to the House Communications Subcommittee. That statement, prepared with the assistance of several LITA members, was published in the June 1978 issue of JOLA. The Carnegie Commission plans to issue its report on public broadcasting early in 1979, in time to be considered by the House Communications Subcommittee in its deliberations on revision of the Communications Act.
Technical Communications
Use of On-Line Services by the OVAKO Group
(p.265-266)
PEKKA POHJOLA
(no abstract available)