Number 38 March 30, 1995

Edited by David Morse (University of Southern California) dmorse@hsc.usc.edu

Editorial Board members:

  • Joann Crocker (University of Nebraska) jcrocker@unmcvm.unmc.edu
  • Brenda Lucas (Harvard) blucas@warren.med.harvard.edu
  • Melanie Wilson (University of Iowa) cadmlwts@uiamvs.bitnet
  • Naomi Fackler (Texas A & M) fackler@tamvm1.tamu.edu
  • Susan Gerding Bader (Majors Scientific Books) majorbad@class.org

    • Email address for all correspondence and subscriptions: dmorse@hsc.usc.edu

    WEB Edition Published at Duke University:
    HTML coding by Eric Albright, maldacht@duke.edu
    Masthead design by Dan Barkey, d-barkey@nwu.edu

    About BLAB

    Current Subscribers: 360

    CONTENTS

    EDITOR'S NOTE:

    Things have been pretty quiet this month in BLABLand -- probably the March doldrums. If everyone would send in just one item next month (e.g., news, rumors, reviews, gripes, etc.), we could have an April issue worthy of BLAB's Third Anniversary.

    1. RESPONSE: IDENTIFYING ALTERNATIVE JOURNAL FORMAT AVAILABILITY

    From: Richard Gedyer, Oxford Univ. Press <GEDYER@oup.co.uk>

    Here is a partial answer to Joann Crocker's query in BLAB No. 37. Swets publishes an annual catalog of serial publications on CD-ROM, but it includes abstracting and indexing services as well as full text journals. I presume it is free to anyone who asks for a copy.

    Here are a couple of phone numbers for Swets:-

    USA office: 610-524-5355 or
    1-800-447-9387 (1-800-44 SWETS)
    Netherlands Head Office: +44 31 2521 35111

    Hope these help.

    2. RESPONSE: GORDON AND BREACH BILLING PRACTICES

    From: Christopher Schneider, Gordon & Breach <christopher.schneider@gbpub.com>

    I would like to reply [to the item in the previous issue] about our journal Growth Factors and our billing schedule. Ages ago, we used to send out renewal invoices at different times throughout the year when we were going to press with the new volume group. You can imagine the reaction we had then since this did not conform to many budget schedules. In response to this, we changed our renewal period to Summer for the following calendar year. For these renewals we have already projected the number of pages we will publish for that year. We publish those volumes accordingly, but not on a strict monthly, bi-monthly, etc. basis.

    Sometimes the last issue of the subscription year may publish into the following year, or conversely the first issue may publish before the subscription year begins. However, if by Summer it looks like more issues of that current year will still be publishing into the next year, we do not issue a renewal invoice.

    Growth Factors - We billed for Vols 10-11 in Aug. '93 for 1994. The last issue, Vol. 11#4 published in February '95. A slight carry-over, but the other seven issues all published in the year for which we billed.

    We also have a publication schedule telephone number :(201) 643-7500. Dial extension 290.

    This interactive response system will ask the caller to enter the ISSN and pound sign. The caller will hear the date of the last issue published, and the date the next issue will be published. Otherwise, you may call (215) 750-2642 and ask for Customer Service. Any further questions to this message, please email me at
    <Christopher.Schneider@gbpub.com>
    Thank you.

    Christopher Schneider
    Vice-President, Sales/Marketing
    Gordon and Breach

    3. BOOK REVIEW: MUSIC AND MEDICINE

    From: Mark Funk, Cornell Medical School <mefunk@med.cornell.edu>

    I recommend "Music and Medicine," by Anton Neumayr, Medi-Ed Press, 1994.0-936741-05-8. $35.95 postpaid. A translation of a work by a Viennese physician, it covers the lives, works, and medical histories of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert. In addition to fascinating stories about the composers lives and deaths (did you know that Haydn's head was stolen after he was buried in 1809? It was not re-united with his body until 1954), it also offers great detail on 18th and 19th century diagnosis and treatment. This is volume one of a planned two volume set. Volume two, due this summer, wil cover Hummel, Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Bruckner.

    Medi-Ed Press
    Constitution Place, Suite A
    716 Empire St.
    Bloomington, IL 61701.

    4. NOTICE: NEW MEDICAL REFERENCE WWW SITE

    From: The Editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>

    An interesting new WWW site that brings together many medical sources on the Web is the "Multimedia Medical Reference Library" at http://www.tiac.net/users/jtward/index.html

    It has been compiled by an M.D./Ph.D student at Tufts; so its future is uncertain. Some of the linked sources are also disconcertingly unidentified.

    5. NOTICE: FAXON WWW SITE INCLUDES GOOD INFORMATION ON STANDARDS

    From: The Editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>

    For those needing information on emerging library-related standards such as the X12 standards and EDI, the recently established Faxon WWW site offers some excellent information as well as references to the literature and sources for ordering the standards themselves. The URL is http://www.faxon.com.

    6. WWW SITE FOR U.S/CANADIAN FACULTY RESEARCH PROFILES

    From: The Editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>

    The database of U.S. and and Canadian scientific faculty research profiles, formerly known as Best North America, is now available as a WWW site, under its new name "The Community of Science."

    It contains a registry of over 42,000 researchers and scientists at major research universities and government laboratories in the U.S. and Canada. The extensive researcher profiles are keyword searchable in most fields. The site also includes connections to the NSF and NIH WWW sites for information on grant opportunities and recent awards.

    URL is http://cos.gdb.org

    7. NOTICE: EDUPAGE: DIGEST OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY NEWS FROM EDUCOM

    From: John P. Glueckert, Dental Library, Univ. of Southern California
    <gluecker@hsc.usc.edu>

    [Editor's Note: John forwarded the latest issue of this valuable news service. Information on subscribing is included at the end of the issue.]


    Edupage, a summary of news items on information technology, is provided three times each week as a service by Educom -- a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.

    TOP STORIES

    ALSO
    SOFTDREAMS FROM DREAMWORKS AND MICROSOFT
    The movie studio DreamWorks SKG will work with Microsoft to produce game software and explore other high-tech entertainment possibilities. DreamWorks is the high-profile company formed recently by movie director Steven Spielberg, producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music producer David Geffen. An industry observer said: "This partnership validates Spielberg's idea that big-budget movies can be created from the beginning with a view toward spinoffs such as software." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 3/23/95 G3)

    AT&T'S FIBER OPTIC PLAN FOR AFRICA
    AT&T is looking for investors to fund its "Africa One" plan to encircle Africa with a fiber optic backbone that would have landing points in 41 African countries in addition to Italy and Saudi Arabia, to close the communications gap between Africa and the rest of the world. (Financial Times 3/23/95 p.5)

    APPLE ADMITS IT WAS "A LITTLE TIMID" ON POWER MACS
    Apple CEO Michael Spindler acknowledges the company fell behind in filling orders for Power Macintosh computers, primarily due to poor planning and a shortage of chips. "We were a little timid," says Spindler. "As a result, we left some money on the table." IBM makes the PowerPC microprocessors for the high-end Macs. (Investor's Business Daily 3/22/95 A17)

    MICROSOFT PLEDGES TO SUPPORT MAC PRODUCTS
    Microsoft is still peeved over Apple's unsuccessful copyright infringement lawsuit, but Bill Gates doesn't hold a grudge forever -- "No amount of lawsuits will deter us from doing what is right for both PC and Macintosh customers," he says. Meanwhile, Gates is banking heavily on Windows 95: "We believe with Windows 95 we will see the biggest installed base upgrade the industry has ever seen." (Wall Street Journal 3/22/95 B6)

    STRATEGIES ON LCD MANUFACTURING
    The CEO of the largest U.S. manufacturer of liquid crystal displays, Three-Five Systems Inc., is skeptical about government efforts to boost LCD manufacturing in this country: "My own personal opinion is that it is a waste of taxpayers' money, unless the government is willing to commit the billions (of dollars needed) to support this effort. But it is my understanding that the largest grant has only been $90 million." Three-Five's main disadvantage with respect to Japanese competitors is that the raw materials needed for LCD manufacturing must all be imported from Asian vendors. (Investor's Business Daily 3/23/95 A8)

    SUN AND KODAK WORK FOR BETTER IMAGING ON THE NET
    Sun Microsystems and Eastman Kodak have extended an existing relationship to jointly develop products that will improve the way images are distributed over the Internet. Kodak will incorporate Sun's Sparc technology in its Photo CD digital photo-processing systems, and Sun will use Kodak's color-management software in its Solaris operating system. According to the Internet Society, 56% of the servers on the Internet are Sun computers. (Information Week 3/27/95 p.32)

    "DIGITAL INFORMATION FACTORY"
    Toronto's Centennial College officially opened its "digital information factory" -- a $33-million high-tech training ground for multimedia communications. In partnership with private sector heavyweights such as Bell Canada, Silicon Graphics, Alias Research, Sony and the CBC, the school bills itself as a conduit for creating content on the info-highway. (Toronto Star 3/22/95 C3)

    DESIGNER OF SATAN DISMISSED BY SILICON GRAPHICS
    Dan Farmer, the designer of the SATAN program (an acronym standing for Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks), has been dismissed by his employer, Silicon Graphics, because of its worries that his software plans jeopardize the security of cyberspace. On April 5th, Farmer plans to give wide and free distribution to his program, which can scan thousands of host computers on the Internet for security vulnerabilities. In Mr. Farmer's view, it's a freedom of speech issue: "I want to teach people and have them learn about computer security." (New York times 3/22/95 C4)

    MORE POWER TO THE POWER COMPANIES
    The electric power industry has two very strong incentives to build the information superhighway: the economic driver for initial installation and the prospect of improved customer satisfaction. Power companies are constantly looking for ways to avoid taking on the debt involved in building new generating plants, and with the money they save by avoiding construction, they can easily afford to invest in an alternative demand-side management systems that provide the same benefits. A savings of only 10 to 15 percent per customer is equivalent to the entire investment per customer of the cable TV industry. By giving them choices they've never had before, electric utilities plan to work closely with their customers to match the size of the electric bill to the "energy lifestyle" they choose. (Telecommunications, March '95 p.68)

    DECOMPRESSING CHIP
    A new single-chip decoder made by C-Cube Microsystems will enable consumer electronics manufacturers to upgrade standard compact disk players and disc-based video game machines to video CD capability for less than $100. In Japan, PVC has already incorporated the chip in five video CD models capable of accepting audio CDs, music and movie videos, karaoke titles, and photo collections. (Popular Science, March '95 p.73)

    FAX USE STILL EXCEEDS E-MAIL
    A Gallup poll of Fortune 500 companies found that fax charges account for 40% of the average company's $34-million phone bill in 1994, with each corporate location now reporting about 27 fax machines, up from 19 last year. And the National Association of Purchasing Management reports that 75% of its members use fax machines more often than e-mail when procuring goods. (Wall Street Journal 3/23/95 A1)

    GRANT PROGRAM TARGETS INTERNET LITERACY
    The Berger Family Technology Transfer Endowment has been established at Tufts University, with a $250,000 donation by Louis Berger. "Our primary objective is to enable students at Tufts and elsewhere to efficiently access the vast and increasingly dense resources of the Internet," says Mr. Berger. Tufts' director of information technology and libraries says the grants will go to librarians and faculty members, who in turn will impart the knowledge they gain to students. (Chronicle of Higher Education 3/24/95 A23)

    THE ENEMY WITHIN: COMPUTER ABUSE BY EMPLOYEES
    A survey of more than 200 programmers and other information technology professionals at nine Ohio-based manufacturing and service companies found that 41% would illegally copy software for themselves or a friend, 7% would adjust a bank account system to avoid incurring a service, and 10% saw nothing wrong with sending a virus program that would output the message, "Have a nice day." (Computerworld 3/20/95 p.16)

    SPRINTMAIL PRICES CUT
    Sprint Corp. is cutting prices of several SprintMail electronic mail services, reflecting the growing popularity of e-mail for electronic commerce. The number-three long-distance carrier is eliminating charges for the number of characters sent per message, as well as the surcharge for additional addresses. Instead, there will be a flat, 30-cent fee per message. (Investor's Business Daily 3/22/95 A17)

    LOCAL PHONE COMPETITION HEARINGS
    The Stentor alliance of phone companies paved the way for competition in local phone services by filing a proposal with Canadian regulators to allow access to any part of its local network. Critics charge the plan fails to ensure open access to local markets. (Toronto Globe & Mail 3/23/95 B13)

    Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas (douglas@educom.edu). Voice: 404-371-1853, Fax: 404-371-8057

    NATIONAL NET'95, the premier policy conference on the National Information Infrastructure, will be held April 5-7, 1995 in Washington, DC. For info: net95@educom.edu.

    EDUPAGE is what you've just finished reading. To subscribe to Edupage: send a message to:
    listproc@educom.edu

    and in the body of the message type:
    subscribe edupage Nathan Detroit

    (assuming that your name is Nathan Detroit; if it isn't, substitute your own name) ... To cancel, send a message to:
    listproc@educom.edu

    and in the body of the message type:
    unsubscribe edupage.

    EDUCOM REVIEW is our bimonthly print magazine on learning, communications, and information technology. Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.; send mail to offer@educom.edu. When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because we'll be so happy! Seriously! (Not the bell part, the happy part.)

    EDUCOM UPDATE is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational news and events. To subscribe to the Update: send a message to: listproc@educom.edu and in the body of the message type: subscribe update Nicely-Nicely Johnson (assuming that your name is Nicely-Nicely Johnson; if it isn't, substitute your own name).

    HONORARY SUBSCRIBER NOMINATIONS are always welcome: comments@educom.edu.

    ARCHIVES & TRANSLATIONS. For archive copies of Edupage or Update, ftp or gopher to educom.edu or see our WWW server: URL: http://educom.edu/. For Portuguese or Spanish editions of Edupage, send mail to edunews@nc-rj.rnp.br. An Italian edition is available on Agora' Telematica; connection and/or free subscription via BT-Tymnet and Sprint (login: <agora>) or via telnet <agora.stm.it>; mail: <b.parrella@agora.stm.it> for info.

    Educom-- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
    The BIOMEDICAL LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS BULLETIN (ISSN: 1064-699X) is published by the Medical Library Association's Collection Development Section with the cooperation of the University of Southern California Norris Medical Library. BLAB is published more or less monthly, and includes items of news and opinion contributed by its readers concerning biomedical library acquisitions.

    Editor: David H. Morse: dmorse@hsc.usc.edu. Paper mail: USC Norris Medical Library, 2003 Zonal Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033. Telephone: (213) 342-1134. The BULLETIN is distributed free of charge, in electronic form only.

    Requests for subscriptions and all editorial correspondence should be sent to the editor <dmorse@hsc.usc.edu>.