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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 7, 1985)
University librarian urges reference area automation By Michael Hosmar Of the Kmorald Television cameras were trained on the University of Tennessee chancellor as he handed books from the campus library to the person behind the circulation desk. In no time the library employee handed the books back. “Is that all there is to it?” the chancellor ask ed. books in hand. “He spent the next 20 or 25 seconds just looking at the circulation employee,” and the television stations had to re-shoot the entire scene, says George Shipman, University librarian. On that day in the early 1970s, the chancellor from Tennessee was inspecting the University’s newly automated library system — a system that dramatically increased the amount of resources available to students and educators, while cutting in half the time spent looking for resources. Oregon’s eight state-funded colleges and universities, having recently asked the Legislature for $6 million, are saying it is time for further automation. “It’s a monstrous project,” Shipman says, but it’s something the University needs in order to conduct “normal business.” "It won’t put us on the cutting edge. It’s basic to the University,” he says. The Legislature won’t have a final decision on the request until later in the session. With the funds, the University library would primarily convert a portion of the reference sec tion from the manual card catalog to a computer data base, Shipman says. The system calls for computer terminals on each floor of the library would enable students, teachers and library administrators to quickly find a variety of the library’s 360,000 records, he says. New books would be continually added to the data base, making record maintenance more efficient. Shipman says a research institution like the University would be more attractive to resear chers with an automated library. “With a good system, we can recruit quality faculty and students and keep them here.” * Although the computer system would in crease the efficiency of library operations, it would more importantly “enhance scholarship" at the University, he says. Finding a book using the current card catolog system is time consuming, Shipman says, and students must look through hundreds of cards, sometimes being referred to a number of addi tional sources on different floors in the library. With the automated system, he says, students can “let the machine do this sorting and walk ing." The computer could also store more infor mation than a manual card catalog. Students could tap into the system by runn ing a computer wand over a magnetic strip or bar code on the back of their student identification card, Shipman says. Once on-line, the computer would tell students if they have any overdue book fines, whether the book they’re looking for is on loan and, if so, the length of the book’s loan period, he says. With a telephone coupler system, University professors could tap into the library’s directory from their offices and students could use com puter terminals in their dormitories, he says. Educators at other institutions also could tie into the University library records, Shipman says. The computer system also should include: •Key-word search that will enable the com puter users to find a book knowing only one word in the book’s title. •Boolean logic search capacity, enabling users to find a wide range of resources by stringing together two unrelated topics, such as racquetball and undergraduate education. Shipman says the computer system would help the library staff with their jobs. They won’t be able to do anything “exotic” with the system, ■ he says, but it will enable the "grossly understaff ed" library to function more efficiently while . .enhancing the student's ability to do research and the faculty's ability to teach. LiCld^ Continued, from Page 1. Democratic headquarters in the • Watergate building. . , . Liddy said Ellsberg’s release of the‘‘Pentagon Papers” was a . ■ national security threat. Since * Ellsberg had- access to other government secrets, ■ it was . . necessary to determine whether he was responsible for deliver ing” a copy of the top-secret documents to the Soviet Em-’ bassy, he said. Watergate, on the other hand, had nothing to do with national security, but had a merely political purpose. Liddy said. Following his speech, Liddy was questioned, challenged and accused in an often emotional question-and-answer period. In the middle of one question, a student called Liddy anti American, then shouted “Sieg Heil.” Questions ranged from U.S. foreign policy to. the details of. L i d d y * s best-selling autobiography “Will.” "The Soviet Union may be communist, but it is not crazy,” Liddy said. “The Soviet Union, respects only two things: first, superior force, and second, willingness to use it.” When one man accused the United States of fanning “those fires of misery and oppression” in Central America, Liddy responded that the United States did not create those problems. It is in the United States' best interest to back Latin American countries that are anti-Soviet in order to avoid being surrounded by hostile neighbors, he said. When Liddy. who makes more than 200 speaking engagements a year, was asked later to compare the University audience with those at other “liberal” campuses he has visited, he gave the University audience a C-plus. “There was an awful lot of emotionalism out there,” he said. "1 don't give good grades for employing emotionalism when what should be employed is rationalism.” About 300 people were turn ed away at the door after the Ballroom sold out. said Colin Cooper, contemporary events coordinator for the Cultural Forum, which sponsored the event. “Mr. Liddy has proved he is not a freak show, but an in telligent man, whether we agree with him or not,” Cooper said. MOLIERE’S TARTUFFE IS A RARE COMIC TREAT! The 17th century comes to life with period sets, lights, and brilliant costumes! FEBRUARY 28, MARCH 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 ROBINSON THEATRE 8 p.m. a Call 686-4191 for ticket reservations. -6 AFTER DARK IN THE EMU. . . Wake Up and Smell The Coffee! Introducing Fresh Ground International Coffee in The Skylight Refectory 5 to 10pm • Mon.-Fri. • Expresso • Viennese • French Roast • Costa Rican • Fresh Ground Decaf COLOR T.V. RENTALS MONTHLY $3000 (Deposit $50.00} LARGE SELECTION OF USED COLOR T.V. 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