ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 582 / C &RL News NEW TECHNOLOGY • Apogee Robotics has produced an optically guided robot vehicle, The Orbitor, that can deliver books and other library materials from return areas to the circulation desk for discharge and reshelv­ ing. The O rbitor follows a retro-reflective tape that attaches to the floor. Bar codes on the floor provide the vehicles with location information and operating instructions, while the rest of its func­ tions are controlled by an on-board H ew lett- Packard 71B computer. Safety devices include three forward scanning ultrasonic sensors, front and side impact bumpers, flashing lights, audible chimes, and a speech module. It can hold 300 pounds of books. Contact Apogee Robotics, 2290 E . Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80525; (303) 221- 1122. •Aries Systems Corporation has developed soft­ ware that simplifies searching a subset of the Na­ tional Library of Medicine’s M E D LIN E database. The Orbitor, a robot book-fetcher. Knowledge Finder, which runs on the Apple M ac­ intosh computer, contains full citations drawn from all journals in the N LM ’s Abridged Index Me- dicus, and in the Brandon/Hill journal lists recom­ mended for small medical libraries, nursing, and the allied health sciences. The database, which covers January 1983 through the present, is distrib­ uted on C D -RO M optical disk. Field testing will be completed by the end of this year and Knowledge Finder should be available by January 1988. For further information, contact Aries Systems Corpo­ ration, 79 Boxford Street, Andover, MA 01845­ 3219; (617) 689-9334. •Bell & Howell is now marketing a microcard/ microprint adapter that can be used in conjunction with their 5100 Bond Paper Reader/Printer to view and print materials in those formats as well as mi­ crofiche. Contact Mala N. Garg, Bell & Howell Company, Document Management Products D ivi­ sion, 6800 McCormick Road, Chicago, IL 60645­ 2797; (312) 675-7600. • C LSI, In c ., is offering a compact and cost- effective automation package for small libraries with 100,000 or fewer titles in their collection. The M icroLIBS System is a full-function incorporation of C L S I’s L IB S 100 System architecture that uses microcomputer components. Options are available for systems with either one or two 120-megabyte disks. The system is smaller than a two-drawer file cabinet, but it has the potential for enhancements into a larger network. Contact C L S I, 320 Nevada Street, Newtonville, MA 02160; (617) 965-6310. •Demco has designed a compact videotape dis­ play unit, the Video Browser Sleeve System, that dis­ plays up to 240 tape cartons in a 13” x 2 5 ” space. The cartons are flattened and placed into clear plas­ tic sleeves that can be labeled and arranged in browsable bins that attach to wall or countertop. For more details, contact Demco, In c., P.O . Box 7488, Madison, W I 53707; (800) 356-1200. •General Research Corporation has developed LaserGuide, a C D -RO M patron catalog with two unusual search capabilities in addition to the usual keyword and Boolean methods. LaserGuide’s map feature displays a map of the library showing the location of a selected book. Maps can be modified at any time or expanded to a set of maps showing different floors or branches, and different colors October 1987 / 583 can be used to differentiate areas. The system’s browse feature allows patrons to use cursor control keys to see titles to the left or right of specific books, even in such “ u n b ro w sa b le ” sections as closed stacks, storage, or acquisitions. C ontact General Research C orporation, 5383 Hollister Ave., P.O . Box 6770, Santa B arbara, CA 93160-6770; (805) 964-7724. • The L ibrary of Congress has produced a com- pressed audio disk w ith 33 hours of sound on one side. The disk contains nearly every spoken word recording m a n u fa ctu red before 1910 in th e L i­ brary’s collections. The disk contains 668 selections and is believed to be th e first of its kind in the world. Its production coincides w ith the centennial of the invention of the first audio disk in 1887 by Washington inventor Em ile Berliner. The L ibrary has produced the disk only for use at the L ibrary and is not offering it for sale. Interested audiophiles may listen to it in the Recorded Sound Reference Center of L C ’s Perform ing Arts Reading Room, LM 113, James Madison M emorial Building, 101 Independence Ave., S.E. Access to the title, p er­ former, genre, and subject of each selection is con­ trolled by the user through a m enu-driven m icro­ computer. The disk includes 19th-century actors and actresses, m instrel shows, vaudeville, Presi­ dential candidates, jokes, music, and sound effects. The system was developed for LC by Interactive Production Associates of Santa Monica, C alifor­ nia. • Midwest L ibrary Service is now offering an autom ated technical services system, MATSS, th a t interfaces w ith O C L C , RLIN, W LN , the Bibliofile System, and Bowker’s Books in P rint Plus on CD- ROM. The system combines directly w ith biblio­ graphic utilities, produces vendor-ready orders, tracks encum brances and receipts of library p u r­ chases by account, allows for autom atic claims and cancellations, monitors vendor perform ance, p ro ­ duces catalog cards, and prints spine and pocket la ­ bels. Orders can be checked for duplication in the LCCN and ISBN fields, and then produced in BI- SAC form at for electronic transmission to vendors or printed for mailing. M ultiple fiscal years are supported w ith the allowance for encum brance figures to be adjusted into the new year. Received items are balanced against the invoice am ount and corresponding funds are unencum bered and ex­ pended autom atically. For more inform ation on MATSS, contact Corey Hudson, Midwest Library- Service, 11443 St. Charles Rock Road, Bridgeton, MO 63044; (800) 325-8833, in Missouri (800) 392- 5024. • Paradigm Press is offering a free sample copy of discSCOPE, a floppy disk containing selections from SCOPE: H um anities C om puting Software. Every four m onths, SCOPE lists courseware, soft­ ware, and reviews relating to hum anities research and instruction. The disk may be freely copied for distribution to interested users and uploaded to cam pus networks. Requests should be sent to P a ra ­ digm Press, P.O . Box 45069, Sarasota, FL 34277- 4069. • The University of M innesota’s Bio-Medical Li- brary, in partnership w ith H ealth Sciences Com ­ puter Services (HSCS), recently installed Minne- M E D L IN E (M in n e so ta M E D L IN E ). M in n e- M ED LIN E runs on the NOS/VE operating system of a Cyber 180/830 and utilizes IM /DM , a Control D ata software product developed by Battelle Soft­ w a re P roducts C en ter. T he M inneM E D L IN E database includes the full bibliographic record, w ith abstracts for the entire database from 1985 to the present. Special features include: a search la n ­ guage closely p a tte rn e d a fte r N O T IS, a user- friendly interface, a linked locations database th a t perm its sorting of retrieved citations by lib rary stack location, and online Medical Subject H ead­ ing Tree Structures (including “explode” capabili­ ties) . Additional databases are currently being con­ sidered for loading on the HCSC system as the University continues w ith its IAIMS development. C ontact Sherrilynne Fuller, D irector, Bio-Medical Library, 505 Essex Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455. • Visual Horizons has developed an attachm ent for slide tray projectors th a t allows users to preview a full page of 20 slides. PAGE-VU attaches to the front of the projector and is designed so th a t the slides are enlarged and can be moved up, down, or sideways to check for photo details or positioning in the projector. C ontact Visual Horizons, 180 Metro Park, Rochester, NY 14623; (716) 424-5300. • Jay Ziolko, director of the Mississippi County L ibrary and College L ibrary in Blytheville, A rkan­ sas, has developed an electronic device, the Laser C ounter, th a t uses a light beam to count people en­ terin g th e library. The device has an effective range for entrances up to 30 feet wide. Ziolko said he developed the Laser C ounter because he found ACRL New England Chapter T he ACRL New E n g la n d C h a p te r’s F all Conference will be held at the College of the Holy Cross, W orcester, Massachusetts, on No- vem ber 16. The them e will be “Economic and Dem ographic Changes in Academe: Effects on L ib ra ry S erv ice s.” R e g istra tio n (in c lu d in g lunch served in the Hogan Center) will be $22 for ACRL members and $28 for non-members. The keynote speaker will be Shirley Echelm an, executive director of th e Association of Re­ search Libraries. P art of the m orning session will be devoted to small group discussions, w ith several topics to choose from. For more infor­ m ation, contact Karin Begg, Assistant Univer- sity L ib ra ria n for T echnicial Services, 410 O ’Neill L ib ra ry , Boston C ollege, C h estn u t Hill, MA 02167; (617) 552-8709. 584 / C&RL News th at state legislators and college administrators were more impressed with patron counts than cir­ culation statistics. The device is four inches square, costs $199, and m ay be o rd ered from Laser Counter, 1420 W. W alnut, Blytheville, AR 72315; (501) 762-2251. ■ ■ • Archival and Manuscript Repositories in the United States: A Directory (109 pages, 1987) has been compiled by the Society of North Carolina Ar­ chivists. The directory describes 125 repositories in the state with archival or manuscript holdings. En­ tries are arranged by city and provide information on holdings, services, copying facilities, equipment allowed, and staffing. Indexes by institution, county, repository type, and subjects are included. Copies are $10 for SNCA members and $12 for non-members (plus $2 postage). Write the Society of North Carolina Archivists, P.O. Box 20448, Ra­ leigh, NC 27619. • The Delorme Mapping Company’s Atlas and Gazetteer series of state atlases is, quite simply, the best thing to happen in American cartography for many years. Each atlas is roughly the size and thickness of current U.S. road atlases, w ith a wealth of cartographic detail on rural and subur­ ban areas that cannot be found in other sources. Nearly every geographic feature and dirt road has been identified, making it hard for hikers or other rough-country travelers to get lost. The Delorme Company’s goal is to supply the outdoor aficionado with the most comprehensive, detailed, accurate, and easy-to-use map available. The gazetteer sec­ C E course writers/presenters needed ACRL is requesting proposals from anyone interested in preparing or teaching one of three new continuing education courses. The courses to be developed are: Marketing for Academic Libraries; Liability in the Information Age; Effects of Technology on Academic L i­ braries. Unsolicited proposals for other courses are al­ ways welcome. Individuals who wish to submit a proposal are asked to contact: Sandy Don­ nelly, ACRL Continuing Education, 50 E. Hu­ ron Street, Chicago, IL 60611, for proposal guidelines. PUBLICA tion of each atlas includes parks, hiking, canoeing, campgrounds, fishing and wildlife areas, muse­ ums, historic sites, bicycling, unique natural fea­ tures, and golf courses. Road names in major urban areas are not comprehensive, but these can be found in easily obtainable city maps; urban points of interest and tourist spots are identified, how­ ever. So far atlases have been issued for the follow­ ing states: Maine, V erm ont, New Ham pshire, Florida, Michigan, Northern California, Southern California, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio. Washington State is scheduled for publication in December. Prices are either $10.95 or $12.95, de­ pending on the state. Contact the DeLorme Map­ ping Co., P.O. Box 298-87, Freeport, ME 04032; (800) 227-1656. • Collection Development: Cooperation at the Local and National Levels, edited by Barbara G. Valk (146 pages, July 1987), contains the papers of the 29th Annual Meeting of the Seminar on the Ac­ quisition of Latin American Library Materials, held at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, June 3-7, 1984. The papers are divided into five major sections: cooperative collection develop­ ment, Latin American legal resources, collection of prim ary resource materials, foreign acquisition field trips, and bibliographies and reference aids. Copies may be ordered for $35 (plus $1.50 postage) from the SALALM Secretariat, 728 State Street, Madison, WI 53706. ISBN 0-917617-10-X. • The Courts and American Education Law, by Tyll van Geel (502 pages, October 1987), reviews and analyzes many trends in American education law of interest not only to primary and secondary school educators, but to higher education institu­ tions as well. Relevant sections include aid to pri­ vate schools, governance by the state legislature, collective bargaining, race and gender segregation, religion and the schools, free speech rights of teach­ ers and students, the rights of handicapped and mi­ nority language students, and the law of teacher rights. A final chapter covers the legal and admin­ istrative implications of the recent Supreme Court appointments of Chief Justice William Rehnquist TIONS