uncses@med.unc.edu (Sue Stigleman) (01/18/90)
Feel free to respond to PACS-L as well as to the author of this message.
--Charles
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
We have just installed a hands-on microcomputer teaching lab, in
which we hope to be able to teach online searching to patrons and
library staff. The lab has 11 workstations, so we are of course
looking into ways of having 11 simultaneous telecommunications
sessions. We would be likely to be accessing BRS, NLM, Dialog,
and Wilsonline. There may also be interest in accessing other
services such as WestLaw.
There seem to be 4 solutions to this problem.
1. Have 11 modems, connected to 11 phone lines, and use
traditional dial-out telecommunications. Costs are incurred
for the modems and for the phone lines ($40/month/line).
The modems and phones lines could be located in the lab
attached to each workstation. Alternatively, it might be
possible to have them elsewhere on campus but accessible via
our campus broadband network. It is unclear however whether
programs with built-in communications modules, such as
Grateful Med, will be able to use remote modems. Also, it
may prove impossible to "reserve" the remote modems for use
at particular times for classes. If the pool is in heavy
use, we would be contending for those modems with other
people on campus.
2. Become a Telenet node, which would provide us with
simultaneous access in multiples of 8s. Telenet would be an
option on our campus network menu, and would be accessible
to anyone on campus connected to the network, including our
teaching lab. Costs are still very preliminary, but would
seem to be in the ballpark of $10,000 startup fees and
equipment, and ongoing charges of $500 a month. (This would
be costs to the campus; it is unclear if and how the costs
would be charged back to the departments using the service.)
This solution works well for services such as BRS and NLM,
but the same uncertaintly applies to programs like Grateful
Med that have built-in communications modules.
3. Use IBM Information Network (Infonet), which seems to be
very similar to becoming a Telenet node. I'm not sure what
the difference in cost would be between the two.
4. Convince the vendors to become Internet nodes, and use our
campus network to do remote logins to the services.
Someone told me (or perhaps I read it here) that someone at
BRS had expressed interest in this, but I was unable to find
anyone at BRS who seemed to have a clue about what the
Internet is.
I am somewhat of a novice about the Internet. What would be
involved for vendors to offer their services this way? Are
we talking about a major expense for them? It's easy to see
how their customers would benefit -- faster, more convenient
access for searching. How would the vendors benefit?
There was some discussion earlier about whether companies
could offer for-profit services across the Internet. I
don't recall seeing a definitive answer to the question.
Does anyone know?
Does anyone have any other facts or observations they could add
to this picture? I'll be glad to summarize and post again.
Sue Stigleman
Information Management Education Librarian
Health Sciences Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(919) 962-0700
uncses@med.unc.edu
or uncses@uncmed (try the other email id doesn't work)