ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries O ctober 1984 / 503 N E W T E C H N O L O G Y • AMIGOS Bibliographic Council recently an­ nounced the implementation of a low-cost method of analyzing library collections using a library’s O CLC archival tapes. The AMIGOS Collection Analysis Service compares the library’s call num ­ bers against a classification table to produce re­ ports that highlight collection strengths and needs in specific areas. The holdings of several libraries can also be compared for cooperative acquisitions programs. Funding for the initial project was provided by the Association for Higher Education of North Texas, a consortium in th e D allas-F ort W orth area. The AMIGOS programs will analyze and compare the holdings of AHE’s 17 member institu­ tions against the RLG Conspectus classes. AHE will use the collection analysis reports to help for­ m ulate and coordinate the consortium’s coopera­ tive acquisitions policies, and to identify strengths in individual library collections. The Collection Analysis Service may be utilized as an additional product of a library’s OCLC tape processing by AMIGOS C omputer Services, or a li­ brary may contract for this service separately. Af­ ter an initial collection analysis has been produced, periodic updates or com parisons m ay be p e r­ formed. Contact AMIGOS Bibliographic Council, 11300 N. Central Expressway, Suite 321, Dallas, TX 75243. • The Faxon Company has announced that the O CLC M300, an IBM personal computer to which O CLC has added special hardw are and software features, can be used to access the LINX network. Through the purchase of one of several communi­ cations packages, the M300 can be made to emu­ late the IBM 3270-type terminal which is used for LINX. For further information, contact Faxon, 15 Southwest Park, Westwood, MA 02090; (800) 225­ 6055. • The L ibrary Software Company introduced at the 1984 ALA Annual Conference an IBM PC XT version of Circulation Plus, a hard disk library cir­ culation system that also runs on the Apple and TRS-80. Circulation Plus was itself designed by li­ brarians and is capable of checking in and out 65,000 books to 10,000 patrons on a 10 megabyte hard disk drive. For more information, contact Li­ brary Software Company, P.O. Box 23897, Pleas­ ant Hill, CA 94523; (415) 943-1413. • The National L ibrary of Medicine is now of­ fering subsets of its MEDLINE bibliographic d ata­ base for use on personal and institutional com­ puters. A subset licensing policy and agreement have been adopted, and NLM is now prepared to provide citations from MEDLINE and its backfiles on magnetic tape (and later on diskettes) for stor­ age and re-use locally. Those wishing to receive MEDLINE subsets are allowed considerable lati­ tude in defining the portion of the database they re­ quire. Subsets may be defined by subject, time pe­ riod, language, journal title, or other delimiting factors. The charge for the service varies w ith the size of the subset and the medium of distribution, w hether updates are chosen, and w hether the sub­ set is intended for use by one or more persons. For an information packet, w rite MEDLARS Manage­ m ent Section, National Library of Medicine, Bldg. 38A. Room 4N421, Bethesda, MD 20209; (301) 496-6308. • Searchmart Corporation has produced a free access Software Library that can be accessed by calling (305) 845-6466. Anyone with data com­ m unications capability can locate descriptions, prices, and other details about thousands of soft­ w are products stored in the Library. Updated facts on applications, operating systems, language com- patabilities, memory, and configuration require­ ments are provided for mainframe, mini, and mi­ c ro c o m p u te rs. S e a rc h m a rt does n o t sell th e softw are products it advertises; it merely offers software shoppers a convenient marketing tool that can offer advertising messages directly to end users. Contact: Searchmart Corporation, Suite 101, 745 U.S. Highway One, North Palm Beach, FL 33408; (305) 845-2996. • Sydney Dataproducts has formed a consor­ tium that will work with the company on expand­ ing their Easy D ata Integrated Library System. The consortium, made up of Exxon, Southern C ali­ fornia Gas, and PanC anadian Petroleum C orp., is creating design specifications that will autom ate serials control in corporate and special libraries in early 1985. The new software package will extend the system currently available, which handles cat­ aloging and circulation. Contact Sydney D atapro­ ducts, 11075 Santa Monica Blvd.. Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90025; (213) 479-4621. ■ ■