Action for Libraries

              ACTION FOR LIBRARIES
FEBRUARY, 1987
Volume XIII, No.2
':::/" ~ . ",<Jf~ 52nd YEAR OF SERVICE TO LIBRARIES
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ISSN: 0363-0250 I
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Editor: Joyce Coyne
Assistant Editor: Mary Flowers
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FEBIG 1981,
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Bibliographic Systems & S~v....i ces
The;i'o of the M300XTworkstation is the same as that of
t~~rpre ous M300. The monthly maintenance service fee
wi $2 more per month than the M300. The workstation
.." .... --"'i'!!ca:':n~also be purchased with a 20 megabyte hard disk, Please
contact BCR for further information.
Update "-
by Gretchen Redfield
UMI Article Clearinghouse
BCR has a group deposit account with University Micro~
films International. The opportunities for ordering materials
by using this account have recently been expanded. In the
past only journal articles could be ordered. BCR participants
can now request dissertations from UMI and have them
automatically deducted from BCR's deposit account. While
there isn't a reduction in cost, this will simplify the hilling
process. Dissertation orders can be placed online using any
of the methods currently available.
The pricing for journal articles ordered through UMI
using BCR's deposit account has also been changed some~
what, effective February I, 1987. There will no longer be a
differentiation in cost between pre-1978 and post-1978 arti­cles.
The overall cost per article will increase $.50. It is quite
likely that many libraries will not see the effect of the
increase, since it is countered with a reduction in the cost of
articles published before 1978.
M300XT
OCLC's M300XT workstations are now available. The
order forms were sent from OCLC to the networks at the end
of December. The forms were delivered immediately to
those libraries who were on a waiting list to purchase the
workstation. They are being returned to oeLC on the same
day that we receive them at the BCR offices, providing that
we have received a tax exempt status form for your institu,
tion. If you are unsure as to whether or not there is one on
file, please contact Sue Kady or Rosario Garza at BCR.
There are several tasks that OCLC must complete before
the installation of the M300XTs can begin. These include
order processing, field tests for terminals and· Terminal
Software version 4.0, NCR training, and FCC testing of
M300XTwith a hard disk drive. These appear to be progress­ing
according to schedule. As a result, libraries are receiving
installations dates oflate February.
Reference Systems & Services
Update
by Julie Clark
Testing Your Modem with Smartcom II
Have you ever noticed the Test Set located at item X of the
directory of Communication Sets on your Smartcom II disk,
and wondered what purpose it serves? Have you ever
installed an uncooperative modem, or had one mysteriously
crash on you during a database search?
To resolve both mysteries, you might want to take advan,
tage of an undocumented feature of the Smartcom II soft,
ware package--the Test Set. The Test Set is actually a macro,
created and factory set by Hayes Microcomputer Products;'"
Inc., to serve as a self,test for your modem, and it can be very
handy in those situations where you are tempted to dissect
your modem with a meat cleaver.
To activate the self,test, press 1 at the t'Enter Selection:"
prompt from the Smartcom II main Menu, for Begin Com,
munications. At the next prompt, press a carriage return to
uOriginate" a call. When prompted for a Communications
Set at the ttEnter Label:" prompt, select X. N~xt, you will be
prompted for a nPhone Number:". Rather than type a
number, press Fl twice, which will take you to a blank screen
(the Online screen). PressF5, to send a macro then press A,
the label for the modem self-test macro. You should then be
able to follow the directions as they appear on your screen.
After completing the test, press FI, to get back to the Main
Menu.
BRSNews
Due to an over~ight in calculation, the information pre,
(continued next page)
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