ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 540 / CérRL News NEW T E C H N O L O G Y •Bell & Howell is now marketing a new desktop microform reader that also prints, the M icro­ Copy 15. A completely dry imaging process delivers high quality prints from the top of the unit. Front- projection optics produce clear, legible images on the reader’s anti-glare screen. Interchangeable drop-in lenses are available in six magnifications, and an optional universal film attachment allows roll film and microfiche to be used simultaneously. Contact Bell & Howell C o., Microfilm Products Division, 6800 M cC orm ick R d ., C hicago, IL 60645-2797; (312) 675-7600. •R.R. Bowker has introduced electronic ver­ sions of Books in Print and Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory, each accessible on a single CD-ROM diskette. BIP Plus will provide access by author, keyword, publisher, subject, title, edition, audience, language, price, and publication date to Books in Print, while Ulrich’s Plus will cover over 68,000 periodicals. Quarterly updates for both publications are planned, with initial shipments scheduled for October. The annual subscription prices, valid until March 3 1 ,1 9 8 7 , are $795 for BIP Plus and $295 for U lrich’s Plus. C ontact R .R . Bowker, 205 E. 42d Street, New York, NY 10017; (212) 916-1600. •Datatek Corporation has announced a proto­ type digitized photo archive system using optical disk technology for the storage and retrieval of pre­ printed photos and corresponding text. The photos and articles are stored in one database and are re­ trieved using a computer terminal, a video moni­ tor, and an optical disk reader. Datatek developed the prototype in conjunction with Battelle Labora­ tories for the BASIS software end-users who cur­ rently store their published information on a Da- taTimes in-house computer or at the DataTimes service bureau center. A photo archive begins when photos are entered into the database using a standard video camera and permanently stored on a hard disk. The images and story text are then as­ sociated with each other by a field in the BASIS software. The system will initially be available to newspaper libraries; but once the ability to send ar­ chived images from the database to the printer has been established, Datatek expects the system to be in widespread use. Contact Datatek Corp., 818 Northwest 63d, Oklahoma City, OK 73116; (405) 843-7323. ’ • General Research Corporation has made available its database of over 4 million MARC rec­ ords on four CD-ROM laser disks. LaserQuest is playable on Hitachi CD-ROM players and accessi­ ble on IBM PCs or compatibles with at least 512K memory and GRC software. Contact General Re­ search Corporation, Library Systems, P.O. Box 6770, Santa Barbara, CA 93160-6770; (800) 235­ 6788, (805) 964-7724. •Hedges Manufacturing Company now offers microfiche storage files made of acid-free fibre board and equipped with a spring-loaded metal follower to keep fiche upright. Each file is 5" H x 6" W x 14" D and holds approximately 1,200 fiche. Contact Hedges M anufacturing C o ., 3729 N. Ravenswood, Chicago, IL 60613; (800) 621-9896, (312) 477-3825. • The Institute for Scientific Information has developed a prototype CD-ROM edition of its Sci­ ence Citation Index with access to more than 3,300 scientific and technical journals. A CD-ROM edi­ tion of the Permuterm Subject Index has already been developed and the Citation Index is in prog­ ress. In the CD-ROM version of the Permuterm Subject Index, “bibliographic coupling” allows us­ ers to locate articles similar to an already known or previously retrieved article without using subject terms. Test sites for the prototype will be selected this fall from current ISI library subscribers. ISI has also introduced menu-driven software for preparing and reformatting bibliographic ref­ erences. The Editor, the third component of ISI’s Sci-Mate Software System, formats references in 15 styles including those required by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Council of Biology Editors, and the editors of Nature and Science. Bibliographic data can be entered at the keyboard or imported from other software. Contact the Institute for Sci­ entific Information, 3501 Market S t., Philadel­ phia, PA 19104; (800) 523-1850, (215) 386-0100. •Pergamon Infoline has agreed to provide on­ line access to a database containing bibliographic information and English-language abstracts of patent documents published by the People’s Re­ public of China. Patent Abstracts o f China will be available this month. Patent documents in Chinese have been published since April 1, 1985, when the patent law of the People’s Republic took effect. The September 1986 / 541 English-language abstracts are produced by the Patent Documentation Service center of the Chi­ nese Patent Office. A database of United Kingdom patent documents is also scheduled for this year. Contact Pergamon Infoline, In c ., 1340 Old Chain Bridge Road, M cLean, VA 22101; (800) 336-7575, (703) 442-0900. • SilverPlatter Information now offers a C ROM starter kit that includes a subscription to the ER IC database, SilverPlatter retrieval software, and a one-year lease for a CD-ROM Hitachi disk drive. The software allows for Boolean searches, proximity searches, searches in a specific field, nu­ meric range or limit searches, and searches using right-hand truncation. The annual cost is $1,550. Contact SilverPlatter, 37 W alnut St., Wellesley, MA 02181; (617) 239-0306. • Sydney Dataproducts has a new version of their Sydney Library System software that runs on the entire D E C VAX series (VMS operating sys­ tem). The software automates all library functions in five fully automated modules and was designed for the small and medium-sized special library. C o n ta c t Sydney D a ta p ro d u c ts , 1 1075 S a n ta Monica Blvd., Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90025; (213) 479-4621. •Utlas International has developed a Japanese language version of its Cataloging Support Service (CATSS) to be distibuted in Japan by the Maruzen Co. L td ., the largest importer of English language books and magazines in Japan. Japan CATSS has accommodated nearly 7,000 Japanese characters and will be used primarily to catalog the many D English-language books imported from the West. ontact Utlas International, 80 Bloor Street West, oronto, Ontario M5S 2V1. •Vantex D ata Systems offers a word processing ackage designed for use on IBM PCs and compati­ les. Vantex has an integrated spelling checker us­ ng an updatable 90,000-w ord dictionary, eight -orte d directory-list formats, 30 user-settable de­ aults, and automatic ASCII import and export. he text is manipulated in highlighted block mode ith full backwards-forwards search-replace ca­ ability. Valuable format control features include argins, justification, microjustification, single to riple line spacing, selectable strike-through and ard-blank characters, and multiple headers and ooters with variables for page number (Arabic, etter, roman). Text can be edited while printing. he software sells for $49.95 plus $5.50 shipping nd handling. Contact Vantex D ata Systems, P.O . ox 507, C hatham , NJ 07928; (800) 524-2838, (201) 635-5686. •Xerox is now marketing strip-off label stock, esigned for high-speed copiers and laser printers, hat can be used for all label applications including ar codes. Its non-bleeding adhesive backing is trong enough to support a coffee mug with ease. he high-speed labels are made of a bright white aper, come in 33-label or 6-label per sheet stan­ ard formats, or can be customized to customer re­ uirements. C ontact Xerox C orp ., 800 Phillips d ., W e b s te r, NY 1 4 5 8 0 -9 7 0 1 ; (716) 4 2 3 - 535. C T p b i s f T w p m t h f l T a B d t b s T p d q R 3 • A u tom ated L ib ra ry Systems in ARL L ibraries, SPEC Kit #126 (108 pages, July 1986), contains six documents describing the automation planning process, three documents describing implementa­ tion, and four documents dealing with operational issues— two on computer center relationships, one example of use statistics, and one general system description. SPEC kits are available by subscrip­ tion, or individually for $20 (plus $5 postage out­ side the U .S.). Checks should be payable to the ARL Office of Management Studies, 1527 New Hampshire Aveġ, N .W ., Washington, D C 20036. • T he C hanging System o f Scholarly C om m uni­ cation (7 pages, May 1986) summarizes the percep­ tions held within the research library community about changes taking place in the scholarly com­ munication system. The paper, prepared by the ARL Task Force on Scholarly Communication, ad­ dresses the new technological environment, the changing needs and practices of scholars, the role of publishers in the process, the record of scholar­ ship, and users of the record of scholarship. Copies are available for $1.00 (prepaid) from the Associa­ tion of Research Libraries, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., N .W ., Washington, D C 20036. • D esk D iction aries: A C on su m er’s G u id e, by Robert M. Pierson (32 pages, June 1986), reviews 20 currently available desk dictionaries according to potential readership, scope, authority, and orga­ nization. The $2.95 booklet is an expanded version of a review th at appeared in A LA ’s R e fe r e n c e B ooks Bulletin for Decem ber 1, 1983. C ontact: