General Conference - Thursday, February 29, 1996

Track B - The Electrifying Environment:: Are Libraries Moving Too Fast?

Track C - Virtual & Special Libraries

Track A - CD-ROM & Multimedia

Networked Access to CD-ROM
While many libraries are now networking CD-ROMs, many are just beginning to investigate the possibilities. Whether the library is directly responsible for the installation and management of such a network or simply offers the network services to its patrons, this track will familiarize participants with the concepts of networking, the types of networks that are available, which LAN architectures work best, and some of the problems that are to be encountered when multiple platforms and multimedia are involved on the network.

Moderator: Paul Nicholls - Pelican Island Information

9:00AM - 9:45AM - CD-ROM Networking: Theory and Practice

Karen Perone - Rodman Public Library
Ann Tenglund - Saint Bonaventure University

Beginning with the theory behind CD-ROM networks, this session describes various network architectures focusing on those best for CD-ROMs, commercial solutions for various network requirements, and how to best handle networking across platforms and multimedia. The session also describes a CD-ROM network that was installed at St. Bonaventure University -- its network architecture, types of products networked, problems encountered, and solved. Plans for the future of this network will also be outlined.

9:45AM - 10:30AM - Remotely Possible? Choosing and Using Remote Access for Your Network

Margaret Sylvia - St. Mary's University Academic Library

Users are clamoring for convenient remote access to information on the library network. There are a number of options available to the system administrator who chooses to implement remote access. While these options are reviewed, the process of selection, installation, and implementation of one system, Everywhere Access for a Novell network, is described. Everywhere Access provides telnet access to the network for multiple remote users through a single workstation. The problem of mapping the function keys is solved through remapping into combinations of key strokes.

10:30AM - 11:15AM - Coffee Break - Visit the Exhibits

11:15AM - 12:00 Noon - Are CD-ROM LANs a Thing of the Past?

Apurva Mehta - University of Massachusetts

With several major vendors such as IAC, EBSCO & UMI now offering remote access to full-text databases via the Internet -- should libraries continue expanding and investing in CD-ROM local area networks and databases? This paper brings to light the shortcomings of offering access to networked CD-ROM databases and compares such scenarios with access to full-text remote databases, highlighting: inherent weaknesses, licensing and copyright issues, the ability to print & download data, view images, graphs and charts, the disadvantages of offering access to remote databases. The world beyond print, multimedia, is discussed highlighting its format, evaluation, and creation.

12:00 Noon - 1:45PM - Lunch Break - Visit the Exhibits

1:45PM - 2:30PM - Beyond Format Integration

Emily Gallup Fayen - IME Systems Inc.

Traditional information storage and retrieval practices for libraries and information centers have relied on assumptions about the format of materials being referenced in the catalog or other databases. Format integration goes a long way toward solving the problems in describing multimedia materials appropriately. However, increasingly, many types of information may never exist in any of the print formats. This presentation describes some new concepts in information representation brought about by the need to describe information (e.g. how does one catalog a collection of sound effects or icons) and make it accessible to users along with traditional library materials.

2:30PM - 3:15PM - Evaluating Multimedia Materials

Paul Nicholls and Jacquline Ridley - University of Western Ontario, London

Electronic materials have been exploited by libraries since the early 1970s, and many evaluation schemes or checklists have appeared to help deal with these resources. As these electronic materials moved from bibliographic online databases through full-text CD-ROMs to multimedia and the World Wide Web, these checklists accommodated additional characteristics and concerns in response to each new system aspect. However, over a quarter century, these evaluation schemes have never advanced far beyond the crudely descriptive level that was appropriate to the early online systems. A multimedia interface can be light years away from the stark command line, and the complexity of current multimedia materials defies proper understanding and evaluation within our present framework. Drawing on Panofsky's approach to criticism in art history, and supported by what is known in the areas of interface design, aesthetics and ergonomics, a new and more comprehensive framework for understanding and evaluating multimedia resources is proposed and illustrated.

3:15PM - 3:45PM - Coffee Break

3:45PM - 4:30PM - Digital and Multimedia Documents: A New Curricular Emphasis in LIS

Howard Besser - University of Michigan, School of Information & Library Studies

This presentation reports on an effort to design a curriculum that will train information professionals to use and construct digital documents. Digital documents include publications, online documents, Web resources, and multimedia materials. The curriculum straddles the traditional fields of information studies, publishing, and design. It also involves business issues (such as marketing) and legal issues (such as copyright). The curriculum will train students to be end-users, marketers/distributors, selectors/evaluators, and builders&127; of digital documents. This presentation discusses the current design of the curriculum, the process of developing that design, and the problems raised in implementation.

Track B - The Electrifying Environment:: Are Libraries Moving Too Fast?

Electrifying the Library

Many libraries are embracing the "Information Revolution" as a panacea for the future. Technology, in terms of both hardware and software, is seen as the solution to financial and political woes. Traditional collections and services are being replaced rapidly with electronically-based products. Is this "replacement" beneficial to patrons? Are our libraries and their parent institutions receiving positive results? Are we moving "too fast" into the technological future?

Gary Pitkin - Dean of University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado

9:00AM - 9:45AM - Issues Involved with the Concept of Moving "Too Fast" in the Electronic Environment

Gary Pitkin - Dean of University Libraries, University of Northern Colorado

9:45AM. - 10:30AM - "Too Fast" and the Patron: The Positive and Negative Impacts of the Electronic Environment on the Client-Library Relationship

James LaRue - Director, Douglas Public Library District, Castle Rock, Colorado and author of the Wilson Library Bulletin column "The Body Electric" and currently writing The New Inquisition: Censorship at the End of the Twentieth Century.

10:30AM - 11:15AM - Coffee Break - Visit the Exhibits

11:15AM - 12:00 Noon - "Too Fast" and the Library: The Impact of the Electronic Environment on Services, Collections, Budgets, and Personnel

Tom Peischl - Dean of Academic Information Services, Northern Michigan University

12:00 Noon - 1:45PM - Lunch Break - Visit the Exhibits

Electrifying the Culture

Libraries proactively respond to the information needs of society. Libraries help define the cultural base of that society. Is it possible for libraries to move "too fast" in converting collections and services to electronic formats when society in general is moving in that direction? Is the electronic environment a panacea or a necessity? How do these factors relate to the library's mission of serving society, meeting academic demands, and identifying the "real needs" of the information consumer?

1:45PM - 2:30PM - "Too Fast": A Misnomer to Serving Society, or "Libraries Can't Move Fast Enough into the Electronic Environment"

Howard McGinn - Executive Director, PORTALS, Inc.

2:30PM - 3:15PM - "Too Fast" and Academic Considerations: The Changing Relationship of the Library to the Academic Community

Douglas Short - Fellow, Institute for Academic Technology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

3:15PM - 3:45PM - Coffee Break

3:45PM - 4:30PM - "Too Fast" and the Information/Library Consumer, or "What Will We Really Need from the Library Community"

Connie Willis - Greeley, Colorado; Voracious Library Consumer, author of Lincoln's Dreams, The Doomsday Book, Bellweather (March), To Say Nothing of the Dog (July); winner of six Nebula Awards, five Hugo Awards, and the John Campbell Award

Track C - Virtual & Special Libraries

Morning sessions focus on virtual libraries in corporate and public settings, while afternoon sessions describe innovative projects in special libraries.

Moderator: Laverna Saunders - Salem State College

9:00AM - 9:45AM - Knowledge Transfer in a Cyberspace-based Corporation and the Role of Cybrarians

Michel Bauwens - Managing Partner, E-Com, Belgium

Librarians working in cyberspace face the challenges of linking customers and knowledge in a way that preserves their value in the organization. The first "Cybrarian" discusses his experiences and the role he sees for future cybrarians.

9:45AM - 10:30AM - The Challenges of Providing Information Services to the Staff of a Virtual Corporation

Judith J. Field - Consultant & Senior Lecturer, Wayne State University

The viability of virtual libraries and virtual corporations is a reality. The challenge facing information providers is how to produce valued information services to a mainly invisible clientele who are supplied with the tools to do their own information retrieval.

10:30AM - 11:15AM - Coffee Break - Visit the Exhibits

11:15AM - 12:00 Noon - The Virtual Public Library

Susan M. Stearns - Gaylord Information Systems

With personal computers in many homes, access to the Internet and World Wide Web, and more and more resources available electronically, how do we ensure a place for public libraries in the future? This session offers a number of scenarios for what public libraries might look like in the future, focusing on the changes that technology will bring.

12:00PM - 1:45PM - Lunch Break - Last Chance to Visit the Exhibits

1:45PM - 2:30PM - Spinning the Web at DEC

Ellen Gilliam - Corporate Library Group, Digital Equipment Corporation

Being a full web development partner at a major computer company is both challenging and rewarding. This session describes some of the strategies, skills, and opportunities experienced by librarians at DEC.

2:30PM - 3:15PM - Partnering for Success in a Groupware Environment

R�nee A. Massoud - KPMG Peat Marwick LLP

With the development and marketing of Lotus Notes just four years ago, groupware has become more visible as a way of doing business and communicating for many corporations around the world. The organization, quality and selection of information (content) are critical to such a system. Librarians possessing the appropriate skills and knowledge are important partners in combining the technology and content. They are definitely evident in companies that have successfully implemented groupware such as Bankers Trust, AT&T, and MCI.

3:15PM - 3:45PM - Coffee Break

3:45PM - 4:30PM - Developing a Multimedia Database: The Andersen Media Collection

Laura F. Smith - Arthur Andersen & Co.

Creating a database is no easy task, but designing a multimedia database is not for the faint of heart. Using the Andersen Media Collection, containing video programs, interviews, stock footage, and graphic elements, as an example, this presentation provides helpful tips on: determining database functionality, researching potential consultants or products, documenting and communicating through the project, recognizing limitations of multimedia technology, indexing images, and maintaining a consistent GUI interface for ease of use.