Library management systems

We omit their discussion here because it has already been developed elsewhere in this book.

Gateway programs for assisted connection and querying of large commercial databases:
Over the past five years there has been an impressive expansion of database distributors offering scientific, technical, economic, and business information to microcomputer users. Two of these distributors, DIALOG (through its Knowledge Index) and BRS (through BRS/SEARCH), provide access to their databases using simplified query languages and reduced-rate billing.

As a result of these services, or in parallel with them, the distributors themselves and several U.S. companies have developed “gateway” software packages—powerful communication programs that incorporate query functions. These programs, like many other communication tools, can exchange data with large remote computers, but what distinguishes them is the presence of elaborate interfaces that allow commercial databases to be consulted by users unfamiliar with their sometimes complex query languages. Gateway software packages simplify this task to the extreme, reducing it to entering a single word or phrase at the terminal.

The use of gateway programs does not spare the user from learning the fundamentals of online search strategy (identification of appropriate search terms, construction of the search equation, analysis of its elements, etc.).

These programs are designed to maximize the processing and communication capabilities of the PC and to simplify connection and query procedures, thus reducing service use costs (telephone or data-transmission network charges and distributor connection-time fees).

The advantages offered by systems combining a PC with a gateway software package are such that they are progressively replacing standard terminals. Some of these advantages include:

a) Simplified procedures for establishing a connection with the host computer (logging on): one way of simplifying the connection is permanently storing passwords and the user’s network and host identifiers, so that establishing a connection is reduced to a few keystrokes.

b) Offline preparation of the search equation: preparing the search equation before connecting to the database saves the additional connection time required to build it online. After drafting and checking the equation, it is sent to the host computer by pressing a function key that has been set to establish the connection and select the database. Frequently used search equations can be stored to save typing time and to create search profiles that allow selective dissemination of information.

c) Downloading (capturing data from a host computer for storage in machine-readable form): the search results can be transferred and stored on the microcomputer’s disk drives, making it possible to:

Edit results, removing irrelevant references, duplicating others, or preparing a well-formatted report using a word-processing program.

Transfer the results to the user’s local information system, using a reformatting program that adapts the recovered data to the format used by the system.

Some gateway packages can be integrated with document-management programs that simplify this process and allow the creation of local databases, enabling refined searches, the addition of user-generated information, and other enhancements.

d) Storage of help information (details on commands used in query languages), which can be consulted during searches.