Connections Volume 5 Number 1 & 2, Spring 1995

              a newsletter from the library to the faculty of The Claremont Colleges
Spring 1995
Message From The Director
With this newsletter, we are introducing several new resources and services. The emphasis is on non- print or electronic resources and on delivery of information to you where and when you need it- your workstation either in your homeor office virtually any time of theday. You might say we'veadopted as theLibraries' slogan" a library oneverydesk."
This concept is one which is often referred to as the virtual library or the electronic library and itis the focus ofa planning effort undertaken this year by ' members of the Library Council. They have been hard at work writing a planning paper entitled " Establishing a Library for the Year 2000." Their goal for the remainder of the Spring Semester is for each College's representatives to develop anappropriatestrategy for discussion of the document on their campus. Library Council members hope that " Establishing a Library for the Year 2000" will be ready for review by The Council of Presidents before the beginning of the Fall Semester.
The Library Council plan outlines an incremental path for proceeding to the type of library that is needed in Claremont by 2000. But time is not stan ing still, and the pace of change for technology in the Libraries may be compared to the growth of English ivy - first it sleeps, then it "... emphasis is on non- print creeps, then it leaps. The sleeping
or electronic resources and
phase occurred over a period of nearly two decades as library on delivery ofinformation to processes were automated
youwh reandwhenyouneed
beginningin theearly1970sbutwith seemingly few direct benefits for it... " ourlibrary users. Thecreepingphasc occurred d ring the first half of the 1990s with introduction of an online catalogavailablefrom remotesitesas well as pro isionof myriad electronic bibliographic databases. Today, technology as well as itseffects is growing by leaps in every phase of library services and resources. We must manage its growth to our advantage rather than allowing it to overrun us.
One way to do this and one of the most exciting developments in the Libraries is our World Wide Web CNWW) Home Page. We expect to use this Home Page to present many ofour resources in an easy to use format. Access to WWW has allowed us to purchase for each faculty member's desktop copiesoftheEncyclopedia Britannica andMerriam- Webs ter's Collegiate Dictionary.
Due to popular demand, you may now also search Lexis- Nexis for support ofclassroom instruction from your desk. While not as elegant as the " pointand click" accessoftheWWW, Lexis- Nexis isan invaluablesearch tool. Or ifyou need a quick fact orquick help with a research question, try out our new reference service provided via electronic mail. This service, along with electronic submission of interlibrary loan requests, is now available via our library menu. That menu is reachable from any faculty, staff, or student electronic account by telnetting to library. c1aremont. edu ( or by dialing direct to 621- 8361) and selecting " P" for services available to Claremont Colleges students, faculty, and staff.
In addition to electronic resources and services now being delivered over the campus networks, we are adding to our other non- traditional collections. These includeourrapidlyexpandingmultimedia, audio, and videocollections.
Volum 5 Numbers 1& 2
One of the most exciting areas of technological progress is in Special Collections where the Libraries can make a significant contribution by making our unique collections easily accessible to the broader scholarly community.
For more detailed information about the services commented on above, please tum to the other articles in this issue of Connections. If you like the direction weare going, let us know. Ifyou don't, we need to know that, too. OuronlygoalistoprovideThe Colleges with ever- improving, technologically­sophisticated
libraries that contribute totheacademicmission ofeachCollege.
With this in mind, weareespecially pleased that the Council of Presidents has approved a significant increase to the Libraries' budget for 1995/ 96. This increase will allow us to add two staff positions - one in Government Publications and one in Interlibrary Loan. Other funds will be applied toward improving the Libraries' information infrastructure by upgrading internal wiring to standard ethernet and by replacing outdated equipment.
As technology continues its dramatic transformation of libraries, weplantobeat theforefront byoffering you the lx.> st resources available. With your help and with guidance from " Establishing a Library for the Y r 2000," we believe that we can g t ever closer to theideal of havingalibraryon every desk.
• Bon nie J. Clemens
In
Message from the Director
Libraries' WWW Home Page 2
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 3
Lexis- Nexis from your Office 4
Electronic Reference Service 4
Collections... Alternate Formats 5
Foreign Video Collection 5
Special COllections 6
Denison Honnold/ Mudd Seeley G. Mudd Sprague Special Collections in the Electronic Library
Viewed by generations of undergraduate students as mysterious and mostly inaccessible, special collections have become todayas vitala teachingand learning resource for many undergraduates as for graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars. Not only are faculty assigning projects necessitating the exploration of primary materials, undergraduates discover useful materials through Blais searches.
Today, as Special Collections materials are acquired and cataloged, a record appears in Blais. Collections held before the application ofcomputertechnology arebeingconverted toonlinecatalog access. Electronic record for manuscript and archival collec ' ons are being added to Blais, alerting potential users nationwide to their location in Claremont.
One of the most significant projects making a rich and distinguishedcollectionofmaterials related to the West and California moreavailable to users has been the conversion ofthe Mason Collection. Funded by a grant from the State Libraryovera twoyearperiod, 1992­1994,
nearly three quarters of the Collection's 7000 titles have been added to Blais, and therebytoOCLC, the national bibliographic utility. The resulting quadrupling in use of the Mason Collection has demonstrated the valueofelectronic accessibility.
Cataloging backlogs have long plagued the Special Collections Department. An effort to make significant gift books accessible via Blais before complete cataloging is done has led to the development of the " WW" classification. This sim lified cataloging device has enabled the Department to enter basicbibliographic data forover500 titles using call numbers starting with " WW. II ( To view these titL s to ether, search Blais by " LC Call No." WW.)
Widespread accessibility to Claremont'sSpecial Collections will lead to an availability through correspondence and electronic communication unknown in the past.
The Libraries of The Claremont Colleges
800 North Dartmouth Avenue Claremont, CA 91711- 3991
CAMPUS
Further adaptations of technology toenhanceuseofSpecial Collectionsareimminent. Electronic access to photographs in the various colleges' archives through images linked to bibliographic citationswill soon be a reality. Home Page descriptions of Special Collections and presentations of the Libraries' exhibits will enable World Wide Web users to view ourcollectionsas they are displayed for learning and teaching purposes.
Unique primary source material from the Libraries' special collections will increase in usefulness to res archers in Claremont as well as to scholars in far away places. The va ue of these collections will increase as our holdings become more widely identifiable and accessible.
• Judy Harvey Sahak
Assistan t Director of Libraries and Librarian, Denison. Library
BOOKSALE
HOJll10Id/ Ml.- ttlct LiI1I'CtYU
Metrch 30 - 9vUll to 4pm
AIL
6ı The Libraries' Collections in Alternative Formats
The Libraries continue to expand their collections beyond the traditional ones of books, periodicals, and microforms. Uyou are reading this article through your Gopher' or World Wide Web connection to the Libraries, you are probably already familiar with many of the online and other computer resources we make available. These resources include our Blais online catalog, CD- ROM databases, and connections to remote databases through the Internet. Butothertypes of resources in alternative formats areavailable in the Librariesas well.
In this issue of Connections, the articl , " ForeignVideoCollectionat Honnold/ Mudd," describes our video collections. Our multimedia collection and the multimediastudio in Honnold/ Mudd where those materialscanbeused weredescribed last spring in a Connections article ( see gopher: Libraries and Research> About Claremont Colleges Libraries> Articles from Library Newsletters> Multimedia MAC). Recent titles added to this collection include Josef Albers' Interaction ofColor, AntoninDvorak's Symphony No. 9, " From the New World," The Maroels of Rome, and John McDaid's hypermedia novel, Uncle Buddy's Phantom Funhollse. For more information about use of the multimedia collection, contact Gale Burrow, ext. 3987.
Denison Library hasa collection of almost 1000 audiocassettes, records, and audiotapes of poetry, prose, and plays performed or read, often by the author, as well as a small number of classical music recordings. These materials are not yet in Blais; however, there is a card file in the Holbein Roomat Denison, or you can telephone ext. 3941 for further information.
Finally, when you search Blais, you may see materials which have a " multi- format" location. Most of these are printed materials which have accompanying computer diskettes or tapes. Each of the libraries has some multi- format materials.
. Gale Burrow
Information &
Research Seroices
Foreign Video Collection at Honnold/ Mudd
Late last year The Colleges
u ver450vid s ff reign films from the Turpentine Catvideo store. Thecollection iswide- ranging and includes works of major directors including Bergman, Wenders, Truffaut, Almodovar, Kurosawa, Uzo, Godard, and Bunuel. Works range from early films such as Cocteau's 1946 Beauty and the Beast to films as recent as The Crying Game.
The films are listed in Blais, the Libraries' onlinecatalog, and can be searched by title or by the subject " feature film." The collection is located in Honnold/ Mudd Library at the Circulation Desk near the Reserves collection. Videos are available on a two- day checkout to faculty, students, and staff of The Claremont Colleges. Faculty may reserve videos for classroom use by calling Circulation at ext. 8372.
These videos are a wonderful addition to the resources of The Claremont Colleges. Other videos in the Libraries include the BBC Shakespeare plays and some psychology films at Honnold/ Mudd and a collection of dance and art videos at Denison. To view records for Denison's videos on Blais, choose " Reserve Lists," then choose " Retrieve by Course" and type in " dance video list" or " art video list". The School of Theology Library also has a large video collection which can circulate to Claremont Colleges faculty, students, and staff.
To suggest other videos for puchase to support curriculum needs, or for further information on thesecollections, pleasecontact Meg Garrett, ext. 3987.
• Meg Garrett
Information & Research Seroices
Electronic Reference from page 4
isthepopulationofCostaRica? How many are women?"
Uyou have any questions about t e electronic reference service, send an e- mail message to csnyder@ rocky. claremont. edu or call Cindy Snyder at ext. 3722.
. Cindy Snyder Infomration & Research Seroices
5/ CONNECTIONS anewsletter from the library to thefaculty ofThe Claremont Colleges Libraries' WWW Home Page Under Construction
TheUbraries'WWWHome Page is now available. The address is ( hltp:/ lvoxllbrl•• c" remonl. ecIu).
This Server provides infonnation about our collections, facilities, and resources; provides
access to our services and resources for The Colleges' faculty, staff and students; and provides linkstoother Web servers and gopher sites we feel contain unique and important
Lexis- Nexiswhichprovidesthefull­text
of news and business articles from hundreds of publications, you can submit interlibrary loan requests, and you can ask reference questions.
Through our Home Page, you
can link. to the Libraries' Mission
d ..
and Goals statements, escnptJons
II
of the Libraries' co ections,
d" f ff'l' t d l'b'
escnptJons 0 a I la e I ranes,
d I' dtb
an gateways to on me a a ases
d Wh ' table ll'nks to other sl'tes and servers
an resources. ere appropna e, ı we have included hypertext links to that can act as indexes as well as toı
the Library Menu and/ or direct sitesandserversthatareofparticularıtelnet links to the services that are · Th C II ' tyı
mterest to e 0 eges communi .
accessible to anyone with telnet v h Th TAn. lei t tC t l Th
I a 00, e VYflO nerne aa og, e capabilities, Best of the Best, and the Guide to
~ inf~ o~ nn~ a~ tJ~' o~ n~. -,----,---_--:: l-_-,----:,.----:-;:~~~ G"" ov-';; e~ rn~ ment Infonnation are just four
1have identified that strive to make sense out
~ lnllel~ E~ d~ i~ t~ IIII!!! I!!!! IIIIIIIII!!!! I!~ · · ! SIeump~ sofsi~ we
of the chaotic nature of
.... ".""', ""-::""'.' ,-: -:,..,..:,:,:,:,., "::<' ;..,...... .
Through our Server, you can connect to Blais ( our online catalog) and other electronic resources and services by accessing the Library Menu. From there you can search many different library catalogs including MELVYL and RUN, you can access journal article citation databases through FirstSearch and Eureka/ Citadel, you can connect to
-: " ,,.... It is ourSpecial Collections that truly make the Libraries unique. Ranging from the rare book library of President Herbert Hoover to a collection of the author Irving
Wallace to subject collections on Western Americana and Californiana, The Libraries' Special Collections are made available literally to the world via our Web Server. In the months to come, we hope to spotlight a few of our collections and eventually have text and images describing and illustrating our vast holdings of rare and special materials.
Wb
The growth rate on the e is
mind- boggling. One of the most dl'ffl'cult tasks for anyone is trying to keep up with this explosion of I'nfonnatl'on. We have made aval'l­the
Web.
Here are some examples of the far­ranging
information available on the Web:
A Virtual Frog Dissection Kit ( http:// geo rg e. lbl. gov/ lTGI hm. pg. doc./ dl•• ecll Info. hlml) which is part of the Whole Frog Project prepared by the Imaging and Distributed Computing Group at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.
The Journal of 5tatistics Educa lion ( http:! Iwww2. nc. u. edu/ nc. u/ pa m .1. I a III nfo/) . el
homepage. hlml) is a refereed journal on the teaching of statistics that includes not just the text and graphics from the journal but also makes available computer programs that can be downloaded right to your own machine. A Guide to Legislative Infonllation ( http:// lhom••• loc. gov) prepared by .
contmued on page 3
2/ CO NECTIONS a newsletterfrom the library to the faculty of TIle Claremont Colleges WWW Home Page from page 2
the Library of Congress gives access to the full text of the Congressional Record and to the full text of bills searchable by keyword and bill number; it also provides links to other Internet sites like the House of RepresentativesWebServerand the Senate Gopher Site. In fact, the U. s. government information that is . accessible on the Internet is phenomenal. NASA, The Department of Energy ( DOE), and the Library of Congress are only a few of the agencies that have put great effort into their Web sites. Through theDOEsite, youcanaccess the national laboratories' Web Servers. The Los Alamos National Lab, Oak RidgeNational Laboratory, and Lawrence Berkeley Lab all provide outstanding information including technical reports, images, and project information.
Art erve at the ustr Han National University ( http:// ftlben.... u•• du•• u) contains textand thousands of images that deal with Art History. More and more museums and galleries are using the Web as a forum to mount online exhibits.
And it's notj t text and images that make the Web an exciting resource for learning and teaching; soundand videocanbe used to make the experience a truly multimedia one. PomonaCollegeProfessorBrian Stonehill's Spring 1994 Media 51 ( principles of Visual Literacy) class produced an Online Visual Literacy Projectthat incorporates text, images, video and sound. It is available on the Pomona College Web Server ( htlp: lw_. pomon••• du).
If you have any questions or comments regarding the Libraries' Home Page, contact Kimberly Mosshart through e- mail ( kmosshart@ rocky. c1aremont. edu) or at Sprague Library, ext. 8920.
• Kimberly Mosshart Sprague Library
3/ CONNECTION
En yclo aedia Britannica Online is Here!
Barnhard Riemann, eugenics, ı World War II, Shakespeare's sonnetsı
Whatdo th subjects have incommon? These arejustfourofthetopics researched in Britannica Online during the Libraries' recent free trial period of this amazing database. The comments and results from the trial period were resoundingly positive! Here are some of those comments made by faculty, staff and students of The Claremont Colleges about this new online resource:
" 1 love it!"
" Found concise and useful information"
" EB is fantastic!"
" very convenient"
" It was a snap [ to use] and fast, too."
" wo th mbs p!"
" The hyperlinks made research easy."
" The indexing structure is very good."
" This is very useful and cool stuff!"
That says it all!
Britannica Onli, te is available over the Internet as a World Wide Web site and is viewable throug browsers like Mosaic, Netscape, MacWeb, or Lynx. The Libraries' Home Page includes a link to the site or you can connect to the " EB" URL ( http~ w•• b. com) from any Claremont Colleges IP ( internet protocol) address using a WWW browser. Britannica Online includes the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Merriam- Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ( 10th edition), and the Nations of the World database, with " hotlinks" to statistical summaries, flags, maps, and much more. Other features include over 700,000 hypertext links, thousands of illustrations, and hundreds of links to other related Internet resources. Both natural language queries and Booleansearching may beused to locate information, and related information may be found, following the WWW convention of pointing and clicking. This new online encyclopedia truly is an asset to our resources!
• Linda Gunter Access Services
CONNECTIONS is published and distributed during the Fall and Spring semesters.
Contributors: Gale Burrow, Bonnie Clemens, Meg Garrett, Linda Gunter, Judy Harvey Sahak, Kimberly Mosshart, Cindy Snyder, Jill Vassilakos- Long
Editors: Gale Burrow and Glenda Ebersole
Contact: Glenda Ebersole, Admin. Assist., Honnold/ Mudd Library, ext. 8046
anewsletterfrom thelibrarytothefacultyofTheClaremontColleges Search Lexis- Nexis from Your Office
Since mid- February, the Libraries have provided access to Lexis- Nexis through the Library Menu for faculty, students, and staff of The Claremont Colleges. You will find it under " Extra Services and Gateways." We can now have as many as three simultaneous users of Lexis- Nexis from remote connections in addition to the three dedicated connections in Honnold/ Mudd. These three new accounts will certainly allow more people to use the system; however, the number of simultaneous users is small, soweaskthatyou limitsearch sessions from remote connections to one hour.
All six of these accounts are through an educational subscription. Our cost is fa less than full subscri nons would last year we ould have spent $ 1,154,264! But there are some limitations on when and how we may use the accounts. They are not available Monday through Friday,
11: 00 a. m. to 1: 00 p. m. In addition, the system goes down every evening at 11: 00 p. m. for one to three hours. The educational subscription also stipulates that use of Lexis- Nexis should be related to classroom assignments.
Ifyou have used Lexis- Nexis in Honnold/ Mudd, you will soon discover that the remoteconnections worka bit differently. Most notably, you have to use " dot commands" rather than the function keys you may be used to: for example, in Honnold/ Mudd you can view the full documents retrieved in your search by pressing the F7 key; from remote access, you have to type the dot command . iu to view the full documents. For a list of dot commands, see the Library Menu file, " Summary of Lexis- exi Commands," under theLexis- Nexis option. Some communications software causes characters to be lost at the ends of lines or blocks of text to disappear from the bottom of the screen. If you have this problem, contact the Libraries' Systems Department. Printing and download' g will also be different. Both depend on the configuration of your workstation's printer and communications software.
All of our Lexis- Nexis connectionsare through theInternet which can be very slow. You may want to try the remote connectionat
arious times of day to detennine which times seem the fastest. You can also use a semi- colon to" stack" commands. You are then able to select library and file, make a search statement, and request a display format all in one transmission: by keying . cl; news; allnws;. ns; a east3dn and dna wJ3- evide e and date aft l/ 1/ 1994;. ci you can perform a new search in the " all news" file of the " news" library for articles on dna as evidence since January 1, 1994, and see the results in citation format.
Lexis- Nexis is an invaluable researchtoolforcurrentevents, law, government, and business. We are very excited that you cannow access the servicefrom yourofficeorhome. If we can be of help as you use the different databases, please let us know. When you have a question about using the service, call Honnold/ Mudd Reference, ext. 3959. Jill Vassilakos- Long, ext. 8921, teaches many of the Libraries' Lexis- Nexis classes. Contact Gale Burrow, ext. 3987, ifyouwouldlike to arrange an instruction session in your office for yourself or your colleagues. Send a message to the Libraries' Systems Department through the Library Menu if you have problems with the connection.
• Jill Vassilakos- Long Ordering & Receiving
Electronic Reference Service
Whenyouconnectto theLibrary Menu through your campus account, you have access to a wide range of library resources and services. Two of the services availableareInterlibraryLoan ( ILL) and Reference.
Last year the option of submitting ILL requests electronically was added to services to faculty, staff and students of The Claremont Colleges. When you select this option from the menu, you will be asked a series of questions about the material you need to borrow. Your request will then be sent to the ILL office, the request will be processed, and you will be notified when the items you requested arrive.
This year, The Libraries have initiated an electronic Reference Service. If you have a reference question and the reference desk is closed, or if you simply prefer to send it electronically, you can do so.
On the Library Menu, select " Ask a Reference Question." When you use this option, be sure to enter your e- mail address in the space provided. You should have an answer by return e- mail bySp. m. on the next regular working day.
Through this e- mail service, the Reference staff can answer general infonnationquestions. Wecanfind addresses, facts or statistics; we can answer questions about materials in our collections and give suggestionsfor materialsandsubject headings thatyou might tryforyour particular research topic: for example, " I need the address and phonenumberoftheUrbanInstitute in Washington, DC. Who is the presidentofthisinstitute?" or" What
continued on page 5
4/ CONNECTIONS anew letterfrom thelibrarytothefacultyofTheClaremontColleges