[net.usoft] Library applications

ecn-pa:scott (10/25/82)

Several months ago (I think it was the beginning of July),
I posted a query about library applications on UNIX.  I
received several responses and have since learned about
other applications.  This article is a summary of the efforts
that I'm aware of.  There are three classes of library
automation efforts.

	1) Building something on top of a DBMS or other
	   set of tools.
	2) Relatively small text handling tools that can
	   handle bibliographic records, but which don't
	   handle things like circulation, acquisitions, etc.
	3) Full blown library automation systems (the
	   buzzword is "bibliographic control system").

People in the first category mentioned things built using
INGRES, MRS, and refer.

There were a handful of people in the second category.  I
haven't been able to get much information about most of these,
and will submit a second article summarizing them if and when
I do.

As far as "real" library systems (as in "real men..."), there
were basically three.

1) ILS (Integrated Library System) was written at the
   National Library of Medicine.  It was written in MIIS/MUMPS.
   It is public domain and relatively complete.  If there is
   sufficient interest, I'll post more on it separately.

2) BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Systems?) developed a system
   for the Dartmouth College library.  It does full text
   retrieval with reasonable response time.  The user inter-
   face isn't one of their strong points.  It has limited
   relational capability.  Another company, Emanuel Data
   Systems, developed a hand-holding user interface to sit
   on top of BRS's system.  They were at Usenix in Boston.
   It was written to run on an 11/70, but they are reported
   to be in the process of porting it to a Vax.  It also
   runs on an Onyx machine and other UNIXish micros.

3) Bell's library system.  Bell has an online catalog which
   is Dialog-like and a circulation system.  I don't know
   a whole lot about it, but they are reported to be
   considering marketing it.

Last, and I hope not least, Purdue is at the front end of
a project designed to bring the Purdue Libraries out of the
dark ages.  If all goes well (and we have absolutely no
reason to believe that it will) we will have a reasonable
integrated library system in something on the order of
five years.  We also plan to spend some time evaluating
some of the other systems just mentioned.

	Scott Deerwester
	Purdue University Libraries