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March 1995 LANL Research Library Monthly Newsletter
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ASK - Anomalous State of Knowledge: An anomaly in one's state of knowledge, or lack of
knowledge, with respect to a problem faced. The start of the information retrieval
process. Call 7-5809 or e-mail ref@lanl.gov to ASK.
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1. Desktop access to Library's specialized databases
2. Summer IS right around the corner!
3. Highlighting new specialized databases
4. Update & resources on Z39.50
5. New on the Library's WWW page in February
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1. Desktop access to Library's specialized databases
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Desktop access to the Library's specialized databases is here (almost). Several factors
affect access. One factor is the license agreement between the Library and the database
producer. Currently 14 databases can be accessed from without the library building. The
titles that can be accessed are:
Aerospace Database
Biological Abstracts
Business Periodicals Index
Computer Select
DOE Energy
Engineering Index
IHS Worldwide Standards
Inspec (Physics Abstracts)
Metadex
NTIS
Nuclear Science Abstracts
Science Citation Index
Standard & Poors
Thomas Register
The second factor limiting access is your computer and operating system. You have to be directly connected to the open network in the lanl.gov domain. Your e-mail address must be registered with postmaster@lanl.gov. If you are using a Sun workstation running SUNOS or Solaris with OPENWINDOWS we can provide access today. We also support the IBM-PC DOS/Windows environment for people running the Hummingbird Exceed X server software and NEXT users with the co-Xist 3.2 product and Mac users with MacX. What you get is a window with menus that look like the menus on the public workstations here in the Library. Printed output is e-mailed back to you at the close of your session.
For those with equipment not mentioned above, we are willing to work with you.
To get connected, please e-mail your request to lib-cdrom@lanl.gov with the following information: workstation vendor, workstation type, operating system, and X server vendor.
Frances Knudson, fknudson@lanl.gov
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2. Summer IS right around the corner!
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Are you planning to have students or post-docs work for you at the Laboratory this summer?
Keep in mind that the Research Library offers training geared to your student's needs:
from a basic orientation on how to use the Research Library facilities to subject specific
database searching.
On LIBNET, the Library's network, one can access the free specialized databases for business, chemistry, energy, industry standards, and physics, to name just a few. Some databases refer to journal articles or reports, others lead to directory type information and still others supply the user with full-text or full-image articles.
Computers in the Research Library also provide access to the Laboratory gopher/web servers, and subsequently the world. Learning one's way around the Internet can be an overwhelming task, but the Research Library again can help though courses such as "Information Resources on the Internet," a beginner's class, or subject oriented classes designed to help the user become a more sophisticated net navigator.
Monthly training schedules, list of CD products and basic factual information about the Research Library are posted on the Library's gopher (lib-info.lanl.gov) and the Library's web page. To access the Library's information and publications page directly use (http://lib-www.lanl.gov/libinfo/libinfo.html). In addition to the regular offerings, special classes and tours can be arranged with advance notice.
Please call 7-5809 or e-mail ref@lanl.gov for more information.
Marie Harper, mharper@lanl.gov
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3. Highlighting new specialized databases
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Several new CD-ROM databases are now available for end-user searching at the Research
Library. For training or more information contact the Research Desk at 667-5809 by phone
or ref@lanl.gov by e-mail. Currently, these titles are available on the stand-alone
terminal. Please ask for assistance at the Research Desk. Below is a brief summary of each
new resource.
BNA's Environment Library provides full-text access to New Mexico state laws and regulations involving the environment.
CA Surveyor (1991-1993) covers the subject areas of chromatography, magnetic resonance, organometallic chemistry, and cancer chemical research. Provides bibliographic and substance information, including chemical formula, registry numbers, structure and patent information.
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology (4th Edition) provides full-text access to an exhaustive and comprehensive composition of applied chemical sciences and industrial technology, its methods and materials, as well as the latest scientific advances in every branch of chemistry.
United States Code provides full-text access to the general and permanent laws of the United States, as of Jan. 2, 1992. The Code can be search by USC citation, statutes at large, public law code, public law name, and keyword.
Lou Pray, lpray@lanl.gov
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4. Update & resources on Z39.50
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UPDATE
Z39.50 - Information retrieval application service definition and protocol specification
for open systems interconnection - is an American National Standard that was approved by
the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), an American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) accredited standards writing body that serves the library, information,
and publishing communities.
Z39.50 is an applications-layer protocol within the OSI reference model developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO). Its purpose is to allow one computer operating in a client mode to perform information retrieval queries against another computer acting as an information server.
Z39.50 was first approved in 1988, with the 2nd version approved in 1992. Balloting for the third version was completed/closed in December 1994. Beginning with the 2nd version, alignment with ISO 10162/10163, the Search and Retrieve Service Definition and Protocol Specification was achieved. Z39.50-1994 is a compatible superset of the 1992 version.
The Research Library is currently testing a Z39.50 interface between the online catalog (ADVANCE) and a MOSAIC client. This allows a library patron to locate an item of interest in our online catalog and "launch" an electronic copy of that item. Clearly this applies to documents that exist in electronic form but for a certain number of LA reports it is a reality today. Z39.50 clearly plays an important role in delivering information to the desktop.
RESOURCES
There is a copy of ANSI/NISO Z39.50-1992 in the Reference ANSI standards collection. The
URL to the Z39.50 Resources Pointer Page is http://ds.internic.net:80/z3950/z3950.html
. Preliminary versions of the 1994 standard are available there.
Philips, Gary Lee, "Z39.50 and the scholar's workstation concept," Information Technology and Libraries, v.11, 1992, 261-270.
Needleman, M. H., "The Z39.50 protocol : an implementor's perspective," Resource Sharing and Information Networks, v.8, 1992, 89-103.
Tomer, Chris, "Information technology standards for libraries," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 43(8), 1992, 566-570.
Lynch, Clifford A., "The Z39.50 information retrieval protocol: an overview and status report," Computer Communication Review, v.21, 1991, 58-70.
Frances Knudson, fknudson@lanl.gov
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5. New on the Library's WWW page in February
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A new feature was implemented on the Library's web: LANL Hot Topics. Our first link was to
the Galvin Report. We also have two links to the Laboratory's Tactical Goals for FY95: one
plain text, and one in PDF format. We also used this feature to alert our users about
power outages in the building throughout the month.
Links were added to several Los Alamos publications on our Electronic Texts Page: Dateline Los Alamos, the Newsbulletin, and Los Alamos Science. We also added the Los Alamos Administrative Manual to this page. This is the online version from the Laboratory's Index Project, and requires that Adobe Acrobat 2.0 for access.
The Mathematics Resources Page appeared in February. This page features links to several electronic journals and preprint databases. There are also links to mathematical software and other mathematics resources. The electronic journal links also appear on our Electronic Texts Page.
The Engineering Page was updated to include links to several sites with information about nuclear power plants.
Links have been added to the U.S. Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The U.S. Code is a searchable version of the entire U.S. Code (with amendments through Jan 4, 1993). The Code of Federal Regulations is also searchable. Both of these servers are EXPERIMENTAL. Links can be found on both the Electronic Texts and Government Resources pages.
A new improved Zip Code Directory was added to our General Reference Page.
Added to the Biology and Genetics Page: Hazardous Substance Release/Health Effects Database and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports, as well as a link to Harvard Biological Laboratories.
The URL for the Research Library's web page is: http://lib-www.lanl.gov .
Suggestions for links are always welcome; please direct them to lib-info@lanl.gov.
Sharon Smith, lib-info@lanl.gov
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