SEARCIIEB
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`Push
`Technology
`on Ihe Nel
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`Modems:
`
`The Future
`
`Is Now
`
`page 22
`
`
`
`Archiving
`Ihe Ne!
`
`page 52
`
`EVERNOTE EX. 1010
`
`1of16
`
`

`

`SEABCIIER
`
`The Magazine for Database Protessionuls
`
`CONTENTS
`October l 997
`
`Volume 5, Number 9
`
`
`COLUMNS
`
`DEPARTMENTS
`
`5ecircher’s Voice—With KRI up For sale and the Internet continuing
`its dominance bq looks at the New lntormation World Order
`”Turned Upside Down" in 5earcher’s annual "all-technology" issue. 4
`
`Contacts
`
`77'
`
`0E
`
`USIE
`
`FOOD -
`
`LOTHING - AUTOMOTIVE
`
`Ccinadci and Beyond—Ulla de Striclcer shares the painlul
`lessons she‘s learned about carpal tunnel syndrome — lessons
`that led to a much happier discovery.
`
`The Better Mousetrap—Bob Buntrock looks at some ot the
`man Net/Web versions at MEDLINE and reports whether
`the llle is "healthier" now than it was before.
`
`Re-Tooling the Information Professional—Ei.igenie Prime,
`"Oneal the most dynamic, visionary, and evangelistic
`practitioners of the librarian's art," is interviewed.
`
`The Internet Express—|rene McDermott looks at both sides
`ol the "browser wars," comparing the old and new versions
`ol Netscape’s and Microsotfs Internet navigation products.
`
`8
`
`32
`
`28
`
`69
`
`
`FEATURES
`
`Push Technologies on the Net—Joe Helter analyzes this
`burgeoning aspect ot information technology and whether
`it's a push in the right or wrong direction for online searchers.
`
`Cable Modems: The Future Is Now—Cindy Chick raves
`about — and a little at — how her lnternet lite has changed
`now that she's got high-speecl connections.
`
`‘I 2
`
`22
`
`Apple Macintosh: Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?—John Rosenberg,
`an Apple and IBM veteran,
`ets to the core of the Mac vs. DOS
`debate and tells which way fies leaning — at least For now!
`
`27
`
`The JcivciOne ConFerence—Randy Mcircinl<o got his Full at JAVA
`at this new exhibition, which oozed with energy, the sound oi
`money, and venture capitalists, as well as impressive products.
`
`”Emmerce"’ lmmersion—Lysbeth Chuck previews the players
`in the emer in world oi electronic commerce, explaining
`the potentiagl a vcinta es and problems of emmerce and
`what it all means to thge searcher community.
`
`37
`
`42
`
`Archiving the Net—5ue Feldrnan discusses the ditliculties in knowing
`what’s worth archivin in an environment that's constantly changing
`and updatin , highli Shts some existin archives and preservation
`projects, on points out the technical
`rriers to Net preservation.
`Octolier I99?
`
`"Einmerce" Immersion
`
`52
`
`Pug 42
`
`3
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`2of16
`
`

`

`THE SEARCHElt’S VOICE
`
`
`(c0rtririr,tcd_fi'(mt page 4)
`
`services have begun to help stabilize the
`Net
`itself by applying their tools and
`skills to Net traffic problems. All the ser-
`vices have begun using the Web as a
`commercial location. A few traditionals
`have even made the move with some
`
`prospect of success at increasing busi-
`ness in a Web environment. Looking at
`the product design and marketing strate-
`gies for most of the new Web versions
`from the traditionals, however. you
`would have to assume that most only
`hope to defend existing markets.
`Once again. as we said a year ago in
`the editorial to the i996 “all-technolo-
`gy" issue. searchers must
`look to the
`Newbies. the Net—bom vendors, for the
`future of infortnation services. Enjoy
`the traditionals while you can. Sad
`though it makes Inc to say it. until I see
`action by the traditionals that commits
`them to more than just repeating their
`quarter-century—old accomplishments in
`corralling the knowledge lodged in print
`into a digital venue. until I see them step
`up to today’s and tomorrow’s challenge
`of dealing with the archiving and
`accessing of massive Net— and Web-
`born knowledge. until I see them recog-
`
`nize that what people will pay for today
`and tomorrow differs from what people
`would pay for yesterday ~ until
`I see
`those signs, I cannot hold out hope for
`their extended future.
`I still
`This may sound strange. bttt
`don’t think it’s too late for the tradition-
`als to act — even now. As the Internet
`and its Web grow and grow (some
`experts expect it
`to reach hundreds of
`millions of people before 20l0). more
`and more people wrestle with more and
`more data. Exhaustion and frustration
`are powerful forces for yanking money
`out of people’s pockets — and the
`Internet has brought a lot more pockets
`into play. However. people who come to
`advanced information through the Net
`and its Web will not pay for solutions to
`print data handling. That’s like trying to
`sell well—bui1ding to people with poor
`plumbing.
`(No one‘s
`that
`thirsty.)
`Netters will only pay for solutions to Net
`or Web knowledge and then only for
`value that matches their perceptions.
`These days even traditional online‘s tra-
`ditional market — information profes-
`sionals — have become Netters.
`There was a wonderful
`line in a
`Clark Gable/Doris
`Day movie,
`Tericlmir Per. As I recall, the line went.
`
`“There may be some things more
`painful than the truth. bttt I can‘t think
`of any." That’s how I feel
`telling the
`truth as I see it here. But searchers and
`their vendors have to see the truth
`before they can change it.
`
`...bq
`
`SEARCIIEB
`
`Editor-in-Chief
`Barbara Quint
`
`Editor
`Lauree Padgett
`
`Art Director
`Jeitltifer Burmood
`
`Production
`Jeanne Wachler
`
`Illustrator
`Gib Robbie
`
`Advertising Director
`Michael V. Zarrello
`
`Advertising Sales for Europe
`Pauline Clarke
`Oxford. England
`t0|| at-1 I71 3l(i9’_’82l
`Circulation
`Inge Coffey
`Publisher
`Thomas I-l. Hogan
`
`Phone: 609-6-54-6266
`Fax: 60‘)-654-43[l‘)
`
`Copyright ©|997
`by information Today. Inc.
`(fortnct'ly Learned Information. Inc.)
`All rights reserved.
`i\‘¢=rtn--Jim
`II
`Ntr .t-r,._w_-m.- r,-.- l'MmFtrt\1- Pmli'.\.umm.l.i
`put-listicil
`ltl
`lillldx per y
`Fchtuttry. Mtlll'It.
`April.
`lv-lay. June. Jul;-h\
`'
`tpluiiiber. October.
`Not'ctnbcr.lDcccttiltcrihy lttlortnatton Today. Inc. I thriller’-
`I5‘
`l.cut'ncil Inliirinttlton.
`In
`1-13 OI-I M:|r|Inn Pike.
`1.
`Mcdtnril. NJ oansi, Registered in lJ.S. Patent and
`t‘r:.dt-min-l." tllticr t[SSl\' H170--t‘l"J5:. 5l|l1.\4.Tl|tlItitt\ from
`
`the U
`. °.ifi'J.95. Cttnudu and N1;-\icu, !'.7l.ll[l. lit».-t.vh-:rc'
`!':>t3.I)tl turtle: ttoni l,t.‘iIlllt.‘t'.l lnturm.-ti:-it Ltd _ Wmdwlc.
`lllltlnf)‘ Hil|.()\I'onJ l’)Xl ftlifi. U K.) All editorial nutc-
`ri.ul- .~.houltl he \L‘lIl
`to Barbara Quint Editor. 912 lltti
`
`hit
`. Suilt: 9. Sztrlla l\IoItli.‘:|, (‘1\‘)ll4l|fi
`
`Autliurimttou to ptioiocopy Il¢Il|.\ hen-in ix granted by
`Iiitorniatniu Tntlay.
`llll. ttormerly Learned Iiifuttnalion.
`lIl\._|. prtwidcsl that lllll
`lv:t~t: lcc ol 53.51) per 1‘(\pt., plus
`Slit: per page is paid directly to tlapyrtght Cleatrancc
`Counter. 222 Ro.u.-wood Driw. Dunn.-rs. MA tll‘I2.i.
`
`SEAllCl'lER: llte Mugn1ine for Dntttliuse Prolessiontis
`
`3of16
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`
`
`A Sad Day at Searcher Magazine
`We‘ve got some bad news and some good news. Sadly, Aggi Raeder. the
`loyal and wonderful columnist who produces the monthly Internet Express col-
`umn. has decided to hang up her mouse. Aggi has opted to accelerate her retire-
`ment process and give up her column writing duties. No more early morning
`calls, no more last minute imponuning forjust one more Web search. no more
`looking out the door for the FedEx driver while Aggi re—checks site addresses
`one last time.
`That‘s the bad news. The good news is that Aggi has introduced us to a won-
`lt'ene’s first Internet Express column
`derful replacement, Irene McDermott.
`runs in this issue — an insightful. searcher-oriented review of the new Netscape
`and Microsoft Internet browsers.
`lrene‘s comtnitment to the magazine appears
`very genuine. She has already purchased a new cotnputerjust to make sure her
`working environment matches the ones of our readers. Since lrene works at the
`University of Southern California's Leavey Library. she can also write from the
`perspective of someone free from modem—only limitations in Internet access.
`By the way, if any Seatrhet‘ readers care to get in touch with Aggi Raeder.
`we have included her contact information one last time (sigh) in the Contacts
`section. Her e-mail address is aggi@netcom.coin. Don‘t lose hope. We may
`still see Aggi’s name in the magazine again. As Star Trek movies scorn the
`power of death. Sectrcher Magazine laughs at notions of retirement — espe-
`cially when the target still lives in the editor's home town.
`
`
`
`
`
`

`

`”ARCHIVING THE NET"
`FEATURE-
`
`by Susan E. Feldrrtarz
`President, Dtt!r1Search
`
`“It Was Here a Minute Ago!”:
`Archiving the Net
`virtual collection. For instance, several
`sites labeled “Software Archive” or
`“Math Archive” (http:/larchivesmath.
`utk.eduJarchives.html) concentrated on
`creating links to useful materials stored
`elsewhere. These meta-sites seem more
`concerned with facilitating access to
`materials than with preserving them.
`Other sites, such as the Internet Archive,
`try to collect everything on the “public
`Web.” but have not yet made the collec-
`tion accessible. Organizations such as
`OCLC are more concerned with creat-
`ing access to materials than with storing
`actual materials. However, their shared
`cataloging represents resources which
`their member institutions do preserve.
`For the purposes of this article, we
`distinguish an archive as a collection of
`material which someone has vowed to
`maintain for the foreseeable future and
`that offers some kind of access to the
`collection.
`
`ll
`...preserve whatever
`
`you ran, particularly
`
`if no one else is
`
`peserving if.”
`
`to
`The urge to archive — to save,
`store,
`to preserve for posterity — is
`endemic to our profession. Enter the
`shifting sands of the Internet, with its
`here today, gone tomorrow contents. We
`find a world frustrating and confusing
`in which materials which may have
`some lasting intrinsic value are treated
`as disposables. How do we as a profes-
`sion use our unique skills to choose
`what is worth saving and to preserve it?
`How do we preserve the invisible? How
`do we do it fast enough so that we don’t
`lose years of materials while we discuss
`the problem?
`let me clarify the
`Before we start,
`topic of this article. There are all kinds
`of archives on the lntemet. In fact, the
`Internet itself has become an archiving
`device, one which publishers have
`begun to use for their products, in par-
`ticular scholarly publishers with prod-
`ucts such as Elsevier Science Direct,
`library vendors such as OCLC with
`Electronic Collections Online, and
`libraries themselves such as the JSTOR
`consortium effort at
`the University of
`Michigan. In most cases, however, these
`archiving activities -— important and
`revolutionary as they are to the future of
`information service — still focus on
`
`reproducing print products in a digital
`venue. This article’s primary target is
`the more amorphous material — the
`Web- or Net-only material. In some
`cases, e.g., e-zines or Webzines,
`the
`sources overlap, which explains some
`of the overlap in this article.
`
`What Is an Internet Archive?
`
`Good question. I ran across several
`archival flavors in the course of gather-
`ing
`information
`for
`this
`article.
`“Archive“ is a very handy term to apply
`to any collection of resources, even a
`
`What Should We Preserve?
`
`The short answer is preserve whatev-
`er you can. particularly if no one else is
`preserving it. Efforts to preserve elec-
`tronic materials range from the “pre-
`serve everything and then we’ll decide"
`mentality of the lnternet Archive to the
`extremely selective approach of OCLC.
`The situation with the Internet frankly
`does not differ philosophically from
`what has happened historically to mate-
`rials in more traditional formats. The
`difference lies in what technology has
`made possible.
`Technically we can now record prac-
`tically everything which appears on the
`Internet, barring private sites. materials
`on intranets, or materials separated
`from the user and the Web crawler by
`some barrier such as a registration box,
`query screen, or other CGI script.
`Anything on the public Internet, though,
`is fair game, technically if not legally.
`This situation works pretty much like
`
`SEIRCHER: Tile Mngarlne lar Database Prafassiolds
`
`4of16
`
`

`

`
`
`“ARCHIVING THE
`
`FEATURE-
`
`anything which an organization or indi-
`vidual stuck in a box in an attic I00
`
`years ago and/or bequeathed to a histor-
`ical society and thus preserved for pos-
`terity in an archive. This appeals to the
`“preserve first and decide on value
`later" mentality.
`Archivists and librarians differ
`
`in
`
`deciding what to preserve and on other
`issues such as whether
`to organize
`materials so that they confonrt to some
`sort of standard subject or topic outline.
`Archivists want to preserve the social
`history, not only the materials, but the
`way in which individuals kept
`them.
`These purists feel
`that the method of
`keeping may shed some light on indi-
`viduals and their times. Librarians per-
`ceive all
`information as existing on at
`single continuum, and believe in group-
`ing materials in a single subject hierar-
`chy. They aim to create an information
`service that can give their clients any-
`thing and everything pertaining to a
`subject
`in one place. Archivists don't
`throw things out. They preserve small
`things which might become sociologi-
`cal clucs. Librarians learn selectivity in
`library school. They seek the best. orga-
`nize it, and — ideally — create com-
`mon access through a single access sys-
`tern.
`
`Even within the library community.
`though, decisions on what is valuable
`differ according to the “mission” of the
`library. Do you have a corporate
`library? Then anything relating to the
`company is
`itnportant, down to the
`smallest brochure or newspaper adver-
`tisement. Public libraries try to find a
`representative sampling of all subjects,
`usually for the educated laity, but they
`also tend to specialize in the history and
`culture of their own area. For example,
`my public library has an excellent col-
`lection of books and materials about the
`Finger Lakes area of New York State.
`including local wineries. the early lilm
`industry, and lists of local restaurants.
`Their how-to-do—it collection is out-
`standing.
`Even
`though
`Cornell
`University exists in the same town, pro-
`fessors wanting to make snowshoes
`Come to the public library for the infor-
`mation. Cornell’s mission.
`in turn.
`emphasizes both breadth and depth in
`tldolier I99?’
`
`loeatinn: http /3'w-N-w lesarnuil edt.t."'r'|Hba'lIerirIa.l’t|:ruI
`
`
`
`6095 nt 89? Eatl -lKJ'see 25 secs rrmninmi
`'rl.ln9J
`"dares on Ihe Web. Does this have archival value?
`le
`st their vacation
`Some
`
`
`scholarly knowledge on a research
`level.
`
`The answer, then. to the question of
`what to preserve. if not everything, is to
`select What
`is valuable to your own
`organization. preserve it, create easy
`access to it. and maintain the collection.
`That is what libraries and information
`
`professionals do, and we do it well.
`If librarians let what people want to
`access inlluence their selection proce-
`dures. how can they ever support “fu|l"
`archiving? Because, though we all pre-
`serve different things. we expect other
`librarians and other arcltivis-ts to cover
`what we miss. Out of the concatenation
`
`of multiple resources emerges the huge
`single archive. Cooperating to create
`single access points to mttltiplc sources
`using
`standardized
`formats,
`e.g.,
`through ttnion catalogs, OCLC. RLIN.
`or Z3950 Web— based public access cat-
`alogs. all goes
`to create the great
`archival edilice of modern libraries.
`
`In general, although archivists and
`librarians may disagree on fine points
`and definitions. most information pro-
`fessionals define something as worthy
`of preservation
`-
`if it is the best. or one of the best, of
`its kind.
`
`-
`
`is of generally high quality or
`if it
`from a reputable source.
`
`0
`
`if it is unique, the only one in exis-
`tence. the last known copy.
`Seiection criteria differ considerably.
`but quality. high content value, and
`uniqueness generally count.
`
`Existing Arthives or Internet
`Preservation Proietts
`Several groups have already begun to
`create archives, or to lay the ground-
`work for them. These projects all share
`two common viewpoints. They seek to
`preserve information currently on the
`Internet. They plan to make their collec-
`tions publicly accessible.
`I. The .lirtw'net ArL'hft.'e [http:/fwww.
`archiveorg/I
`"Wejust think it‘s worthwhile to do,
`and if we all wait for complete consen-
`sus and everybody to agree. then anoth-
`er l0 years will go by and it won't be
`saved." — Brewster Kahle
`Squat-ely at the save-it—al| end of the
`archive
`spectrum sits
`the
`Internet
`Archive. Started by Brewster Kahle,
`well-known for his creation of the
`WAIS [Wide Area Information Server)
`architecture, the Internet Archive plans
`to save everything it can from the Web.
`In addition.
`they store postings from
`Usenet newsgroups and a few FTP sites.
`
`{crmtimted on page 54}
`
`F
`
`5of16
`
`

`

`FEATURE-
`
`”ARCH|V|NG
`
`THE NET”
`
`(contimtedfmm page 53)
`
`Note, however, that the Internet Archive
`crawls only the “public Web.“ Anything
`hidden behind a registration box. a
`query box. or some other kinds of CGI
`scripts is probably not accessible. Nor
`does it reach information on sites run-
`ning robot exclusion software.
`The Internet Archive adds roughly
`l.5 terabytes of data a month and has
`already amassed seven terabytes. Sites
`are crawled approximately every two
`months, with some sites crawled more
`often, as frequency of change or value
`of information indicates the need. The
`software is "smart" enough to compare
`current pages with those already stored
`and only grab modified ones. This is
`known as doing a “conditional get” in
`the HTTP protocol. A “well-behaved"
`HTTP server will only offer modified
`pages. It also uses an “MD5 checksum“
`to compare new pages with old ones.
`The Internet Archive crawler differs
`from most others in that it crawls on a
`
`site basis and keeps a map of the site.
`The limit for collecting at atty one site is
`32.000 objects. Limits are placed volun-
`tarily so that the crawler doesn’t inun-
`date
`large
`sites
`like Geocities or
`America Online with
`too many
`requests. Large compendia of valuable
`information which have low traffic vol-
`utne are crawled in their entirety.
`the
`Mike Burner of Alexa Internet,
`commercial side of the Internet Archive.
`
`tells me that they do care about intellec-
`tual property issues. They will retroac-
`tively remove materials if requested by
`the originator.
`The Internet Archive plans to offer
`searchable access to its information. but
`does not offer it yet. However, Alexa
`Internet [http:/!www.alexa.com| already
`offers an interesting use: as a way to
`avoid frustrating dead ends from broken
`links. The Alexa software. designed to
`work with an Internet browser on a
`
`Windows machine, offers the option of
`having Alexa retrieve the original page
`every time you get a broken link “Error
`404" message. Alexa also gives you
`information about the site, such as com-
`pany name and location, number of
`pages, speed of server, popularity based
`W
`
`on number of hits, recommendations on
`related sites — where to go ttext — and
`the option of viewing an older version
`of the page. Alexa depends on advertis-
`ing income to support both itselfand the
`Internet Archive.
`2. A Business Compttss [http://ab
`compasscom]
`I know, A Business
`So far
`as
`Compass (ABC) is the only archiving
`organization to reach beyond the regis-
`tration and query box barrier in order to
`gather high-quality materials
`from
`WWW databases. They regularly crawl
`1.200 preselected sites which contain
`materials of specific interest to the busi-
`ness community. If an article is avail-
`
`”Tlte eWatcit Classic
`
`service provides current
`
`awareness with scans
`
`of incoming data with
`
`customer profiles built
`
`by the user.”
`
`able in print, they do not add it to the
`archive. This collection consists of
`“lnternet—only“ materials. Thus, articles
`in The New York ”t'"imes‘ Cybertimes. or
`the
`Son
`Frctttc‘t'.rc‘0
`Citrottideli‘
`Cybersection will go into their archive.
`but not
`those from the main paper.
`However, if the article appears first on
`the Web, they will index it. This causes
`some overlap with titles
`such as
`PCWeek.
`While ABC stores copies of tlte text
`for searching purposes, at present they
`only link to the articles. ABC staff write
`an abstract for each article. Users can
`
`search the archive and get a list of titles
`and abstracts. Requests for the original
`article link to the originating site. after
`ABC checks that the version on the Web
`matches the one in their archive. If they
`
`find a discrepancy. they default to the
`newer version. Users at present must
`register separately to use materials on
`each site. ABC has negotiations under-
`way for a blanket access agreement for
`its registered users.
`If a URL changes or the article no
`longer appears on the publisher's site.
`ABC obtains permission to use their
`stored copy. However. at present,
`they
`only store text, not graphics. They plan
`to keep their archive forever, and thus
`may become the only source for these
`historically important documents in the
`future.
`In addition to this newly established
`service, ABC has initiated a news ser-
`vice which will crawl the top 50 busi-
`ness news sites every hour. Machine-
`generated abstracts, rather than human,
`update the database quickly. This ser-
`vice may provide an important solution
`to creating a centralized repository for
`ephemeral and quick changing news
`articles.
`Subscriptions to ABCompass cost
`$50
`fsix months
`for
`the
`home
`researcher. At presstirne.
`institutional
`pricing remained unclear.
`3. eworils iitcfs £?l«’l’it!!L‘i’l [http:t'Iwww.
`eworks.com; http://www.ewatch.com|
`Founded in i995, this small Net ven-
`dor has several years worth of full-text
`archives generated by downloading the
`content of some 33,000 newsgroups and
`8.000 listservs. as well as
`input
`to
`forums
`on CompuServe. America
`Online (AOL), Prodigy, attd Microsoft
`Network (MSN). The system processes
`as many as 250,000 new messages a
`day. From the eWatch database. several
`spin—off products. primarily aimed at
`serving corporate executive competitive
`intelligence needs. are produced. The
`eWatch Classic service provides Current
`awareness with scans of incoming data
`with customer profiles built by the user.
`The ewatch WebAlert service provides
`immediate notification when the system
`detects changes in Web sites the user
`has selected.
`With ewatcli Classic, daily reports
`including a brief analysis, executive
`summary. and full text ofall clips gath-
`ered. go to the customer through e—mail.
`Web, or fax. They also offer weekly
`
`SEAIIGIER: ‘Ilia Mngntina lot liutnltnse Proiesslnnnls
`
`6of16
`
`

`

`FEATURE-
`
`”ARCH|V|NG
`
`THE NET”
`
`summary reports for specific industry
`areas — consumer goods, environment.
`health care. and investor
`relations.
`Recently, eWorks began offering an
`intranet—compatible version of eWatch
`reports to companies.
`Fees are not cheap. One profile (up
`to 10 search criteria or I0 URLs) on one
`service costs $295 a month or $3,186 a
`year, pltts separate "clip fees" for each
`ful|—text message ranging from $2 per
`clip for monthly subscribeis to $1.80 for
`annual customers. Clip fees do not
`apply in the case of ewatch WebAlert.
`Additional criteria — above the ll) —
`cost
`{ill or 90 cents. depending on
`whether the client has a monthly or
`annual account, with additional Web
`sites costing $5/$4.50 each.
`[In an interesting twist. eWorl-:s not
`only talks about the weather in cyber-
`space, it does something about it. They
`offer basic instructions and assistance in
`handling a cyber public relations prob-
`lem and special services for real emer-
`gencies through a joint arrangement
`with the Delahaye Group. an “image
`
`in the
`
`specializes
`
`consultancy that
`lmernet."|
`Sound like an interesting service? It
`is, but
`it also amounts to a unique
`archive of Net lratlic, searchable retro-
`spectively by special arrangement with
`eWorks.
`4. OCLC3‘ Ehlcfmnfr: Cr).t'!ccft'(m.s
`Online (ECO)
`OCLC offers two alternatives for
`organizations that don’t want to archive
`their own collections.
`First, OCLC
`maintains an archive of electronic text
`
`submitted by publisher for a collection
`of journals — Electronic Journals
`Online (E10), at present, some 500
`titles. OCLC guarantees access in per-
`petuity to subscribers for the issues to
`which they have subscribed. This
`archive retlects print moving to online.
`however.
`A second, new service will archive
`any special collection for an organiza-
`tion. They guarantee that
`they will
`mount. maintain the archive, store it,
`and migrate the data to new technolo-
`gies when appropriate. They will pro-
`
`Netscape: Intertnl lllenz Server: lo I on
`
`“"° I
`Ed
`Forward Home
`Befik
`R-eluad
`Image
`Print
`Find
`Lo 33°l¢i: http :Horc.rscn.eclc.org:69'9D!
`
`l
`
`Welcome to the OCLC Interim Ceraloglrg Project‘: Catalog of Inwmet Resources.
`
`Tihis seacrchat:-Ie dmbam contains l:<1‘bliogru.p?iiz: records for lmernet resources that have been
`selected and catahged by libratries worhiwide. It was updated on Augusto, 1997.
`Each descfipfive zecorrl provide: Internet access laiommfloa, and you can access many resources
`tin-thy cltlcing 1112 u.n:leI1i:oeI1 portion of the "Electronic Access" fieli.
`
`E3
`OCLC’s |nterCut is a publicly available database of MARC records for Internet resources. As nl
`August 1997, it contained cwer 15,000 records.
`Ortolier I997
`
`vide authorized access only to the col-
`lection. Eventually,
`they may offer
`access to the collections on a per—usc
`basis. They will attach PURLs and cata-
`loging.
`5. Sc-holcirly Publ't‘.rhers
`Scholarly and professional associa-
`tion publishers such as the Association
`for Computing Machinery (ACM) and
`the Institute of Electrical and Electronic
`Engineers (IEEE) have plunged into
`electronic publishing with a will. They
`see electronic publications as a needed
`solution to rising publication costs and
`falling subscription numbers. Particu-
`larly when it comes to niche publica-
`tions with small but devoted audiences
`and consequently high subscription
`prices, the Web offers a good alternative
`to print. Putting pubs on the Web can
`significantly shorten the publication
`cycle and eliminate costs for paper and
`postage, while still guaranteeing peer
`review of articles. The trend appears to
`be that
`the association will offer its
`major publications in both paper and
`electronic formats. Niche publications
`may migrate entirely to online-only.
`As an example,
`the Association for
`Computing Machinery drafted one of
`the first policies of its kind for electron-
`ic intellectual property management and
`mapped out plans for an electronic pub-
`lishing program as well. At present.
`their plans call for some continuation of
`print publishing, some side-by—side
`publishing with electronic and print
`media co—eXisting. and some e-journal-
`only
`publishing. Subscribers may
`choose their medium. The ACM also
`has undertaken to maintain its own
`archive of its publications and to make
`the archive searclnible. Both print and e-
`journal subscribers have access to the
`full archive.
`If you
`though.
`Here's the catch,
`become a subscriber to the electronic
`journal, and, after a number of years.
`drop your subscription. you lose your
`access to those years of your subscrip—
`tion —— i.e..
`the equivalent of all your
`back issues —— as well. At a recent con-
`ference (Advances in Digital Libraries
`‘97),
`several
`scholarly
`publishers
`
`(continued on page 56)
`55
`
`7of16
`
`

`

`FEATURE-
`
`"ARCHIVING THE NET”
`
`tconriitaerffrotar page 55)
`
`NEISCEDE THE IlllBl'|'IEt HF!)
`
`IJB
`
`unveiled similar plans.
`All scholarly publishers are consid-
`ering the new medium, some with more
`Caution than others. Each publication
`program differed, but
`the projected
`growth of Net-only titles will mandate
`that libraries stay on top of publisher
`Web activities.
`5. Newspapers
`Newspapers appear in the vanguard
`of electronic publishing and archiving.
`They also have a long tradition of main-
`taining backfiles, or morgues. of previ-
`ous articles. Electronic publishing has
`made it easier to create an archive, as
`well as to search it. Early incarnations
`of oniine newspapers emphasized cur-
`rent news and prepared online—ot1ly arti-
`cles as incentives to checking a site sev-
`eral times each day. Return two hours
`later to check an article you glimpsed at
`breakfast and you would find later news
`had replaced it. This can create addi-
`tional problems ofjust citing newspaper
`material. as titles change in cyber-ver-
`sions of the paper and even dates move.
`In recent months. others have finally
`recognized the value of these online-
`only articles, such as those in The New
`York Tt'me.r’ Cybertimes. The Times tells
`us that it now adds Cybertimes articles
`to their own archive, as well as to the
`online
`file
`searchable on LEXIS-
`NEXIS. According to Steve Luciani,
`chief technology officer at The New
`York Times Electronic Media.
`the
`Cybertimes articles going into Nexis
`will contain no multitnedia. only text, at
`this point. This shottld include the list of
`URLs appearing at the end of many arti-
`cles. though there are no plans to verify
`the URLs beyond the initial publication.
`6. Grrvemmett! Doctrmertrs
`Government documents have always
`constituted a peculiarly separate group
`of resources. Oriline delivery has not
`changed the situation. Those of us
`familiar with the depository library pro-
`gram have relied on these libraries as an
`archive for seldom-needed materials.
`
`We have also expected that library sub-
`scriptions to various publications, while
`slow. constituted the only possible
`access. However. the advent of the elec-
`
`56
`
`ulrimoulrdgrmrnii
`
`I
`
`fivcrtrfflrmbrrs
`
`l Hrtdtny U:
`
`.
`
`turn:-News
`
`5
`
`lvztnmaners
`
`| Home
`
`But -If
`a digital library for the future
`
`Our Mission
`
`E iggosmuw .arg_
`
` SETIVSIE.
`
`imeo1elAn:h1?e is I:o]]aI:tmg ani
`stonng pubis: maaarma from the
`lmB.l1‘el.9l.'ll:I]&3 the World Wide
`‘Web, Nelnews, and dowatloedathle
`
`Ackno-rrledgenierrts
`Board Members
`
`
`
`The Archive will provide l1]SD1'iBI|3,
`researchers, scholars, and others
`access In this vast collection of tiaha.
`(reaching ten tel>3h3E'teS}I,3.'f\l1 ertslflt
`the longevity of this irtformation.
`
`R
`For more imommanort about our
`philosophy and ohiecnves, please
`med Aitahrrizar Ira-‘It’.-.‘rb3r the
`Archive‘: founder, P'i«'E—'t‘l Kahlr.
`Visit The '96 US Presidential
`Election Web Amlnw. Tins archive
`was created in afflhallonwilh the
` .
`
`
`
`lnlemel Archive home ct .
`
`tronic age has plummeted us through a
`series of rapid adjustments. First, noth-
`ing was electronically accessible. Then
`it was all accessible via either listservs
`
`it is all on the Web.
`or gophers. Now,
`and in the “pull” environment of user-
`activated Web searching rather than in
`the push environment of listserv loads to
`e-mail boxes. This can force users to
`
`hunt through dozens of sites on a regu-
`lar basis.
`Unfortunately for libraries, deposito-
`ry programs find that government publi-
`cation on the Web has often meant that
`the publication drops out of the print-
`oriented depository library program.
`Although the Web provides potentially
`greater access
`than any depository
`library could.
`the problem develops
`when government agency Web sites
`have no archiving (or anti—archiving)
`policies. As budget cuts ax agencies’
`printing funds, administrators shift pub-
`lishing to the Web, often with no provi-
`sions for archiving.
`if publications
`remain in print, agencies may save
`money by cutting distribution.
`Documents
`librarians give high
`marks
`to the Government Printing
`Office for trying to cajole various gov-
`ernment agencies into a unified, pre-
`dictable publication program. electronic
`
`or not. In the ititerim before such a pro-
`gram wins out. librarians keep scram-
`bling to find copies of materials which
`used to arrive automatically.
`(For example. I had to track various
`funding
`opportunities
`for
`several
`clients. In the last year and a half. I first
`signed up for paper delivery. then for e-
`mail Llelivery, then had that discontin-
`ued in favor of searching a gopher. and
`finally saw a sudden migration to the
`Web. Along the way. agencies have
`offered forms you had to fill out
`in
`paper only, then in Postscript—only, and
`now in PDF only.
`I still haven’t found
`an interactive form that I can fill out on
`
`I now have the worst
`my computer. So.
`of both worlds: a downloadable form
`which requires a special reader to for-
`mat, and then a typewriter to fill
`in.
`What’s a typewriter?)
`Similarly, government documents
`librarians have to stay on their toes just
`to track the vicissitudes of government
`publishing.
`lit a typically deterrrtined
`librarian style, some academic libraries
`such as Cornell University have started
`managing servers for government agen-
`cies to gain a modicum of control and
`stability. Mann Library at Cornell man-
`ages a server for the U.S. Department of
`Agriculture (USDA) which provides
`
`SEIXRC