University Times

University Library System (ULS) databases are a lot more user-friendly today than they were just a few months ago.

Thanks to a new access system that ULS technicians installed during the summer, searching and retrieving information from the library's 90-some databases is simpler and faster.

And that goes for people who come to Hillman Library as well as users who access ULS resources from computers in their homes and offices.

Amy Knapp, ULS coordinator of bibliographic instruction, said: "For people who have been away for the summer, the first big change they'll see when they come into Hillman is that there's a central physical space now where most of the computers are — the ground floor. And people can access all of our databases from any one of our computers. Until now, you had often had to jump from one machine to another to find the book or article or document you were looking for.

"We haven't added databases, but we've brought them together and networked them in a more orderly way so you can access them from any one of those machines on the ground floor." The Hillman computers feature a new, point-and-click menu. (See reproduction below.) The left half of the screen lists "Electronic Resources" such as on-line encyclopedias and dictionaries, World Wide Web resources and the Pitt library system's PITTCAT catalogue. The menu's right side lists "Electronic Resources by Subject" such as "arts and humanities resources" and "government document resources." Users who aren't sure what they need can click the line, "Which do I choose?" at the bottom of the menu. According to Knapp, the "Which do I choose?" line is aimed at inexperienced users such as freshmen assigned to write research papers, who might feel overwhelmed by all of the information available. "When they click on that line they can call up basic, on-line advice about the research process," Knapp said.

Currently, ULS's new database system and its easy-to-use menu are available only at Hillman. But ULS plans to phase them in this fall at the other Pittsburgh campus libraries and the regional campus libraries.

Besides improving database access at the libraries, ULS has upgraded its technology so that access from home and office computers is greatly improved. Many databases previously accessible only from libraries or labs can now be searched through ULS's World Wide Web homepage at the following address: http://www.library.pitt.edu "You'll still have to come to the library for access to all of our databases, but you can now access a lot of ULS resources that you couldn't get before this fall," Knapp said. "For years, remote users could call up the PITTCAT catalogue, and for the last year or so they could get the on-line Encyclopedia Britannica and Books in Print. But there were some highly popular databases like MLA Bibliography and Medline that you couldn't access from your home or office computer. Now you can." Remote users won't see ULS's new split-screen menu, but those with the capability to point and click can do so on the ULS homepage. "Even if your computer can't do graphics, there will always be character-based access," Knapp said. "You won't get all the cool icons and graphics of the ULS homepage, but you will get the same information in text form." ULS will offer daily training sessions on its new database access system at Hillman Library during September and October. (Regional campus personnel should check with their campus libraries for information on training sessions.) For information on the Hillman sessions, call 648-3330 or check the schedule posted daily on the Hillman Library entrance doors. Knapp said ULS can schedule special training sessions for Pitt faculty, staff and students who can't attend sessions during the University's 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. office hours.

ULS Director Rush Miller said the database access improvement represents the first step toward overhauling the library system's information technology systems. "With the improvements that we made last summer and will continue to make through the fall, we're buying ourselves a few years in which we can create a more graphical, better integrated and more user-friendly library environment," he said.

"Where we're going down the road, however, is to replace our underlying system — NOTIS — which is an obsolete library management system that still relies on a mainframe computer. We think that in three years, we can purchase a state-of-the-art UNIX-based system that will be a tremendous improvement in our library technology." — Bruce Steele