Improvements needed for better subject access to library catalogs via the Internet

Online library catalogs (and other information retrieval databases on the Internet, we might add) present an obstacle course which Ed Krol (1992) in The Whole Internet: User's Guide 6- Catalog has aptly called "Stalking the Wild Resource." Krol thinks that "friends, network news and mailing lists, and the Archie, Gopher, WAIS, and World-Wide Web services . . . [will help you] find the resource of your dreams" (p. 279). We are not so optimistic. The rest of this paper documents why optimism is in short supply. We are not usually so pessimistic, but until the library and information professions confront these obstacles head on and become determined to correct them across the board, the Internet will be no more than direct access to the Library of Babel. We will end this paper with some messages to the systems designers of online library catalogs and Internet services like WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) and Gopher.published or submitted for publicatio

Problèmes financiers dans l'agriculture des Etats-Unis

Financial problems in U.S. agriculture U.S. agriculture is undergoing a period of great financial stress with deterioration in the credit quality ofmany farms. One-fifth of commercial farms were estimated to be under serious financial stress (both negative cash-flow and debt-asset ratios ofmore than 40 p.c.) at the beginning of 1985. Farm lenders (banks and Farm Credit System) are also affected by those problems. Agriculture's financial problems hâve their origin in the boom years ofthe 1970's. The economic situation then led to increased production capacity but, contrary to expectations, food demand grew slowly. The present years are a period ofdifficult adjustment, linked to declining farm incomes and farm asset values, on the one hand, and high debt carrying costs on the other. The complex and fundamental character of U.S. agriculture problems suggests that there seems to be no quick solution.L'agriculture des Etats-Unis connaît une grave crise qui se traduit par la dégradation de la situation financière d'un pourcentage élevé d'exploitations. On a estimé qu'en 1985, 20 % des exploitations commerciales avaient de grosses difficultés (cash-flow négatifs et taux d'endettement supérieur à 40 %). Cela se répercute sur les diverses composantes du système de financement de l'agriculture. L'origine des difficultés réside dans les évolutions des années 70. Le contexte économique poussait alors à accroître fortement la production. A rencontre des anticipations, la demande n'a connu qu'une faible progression. La période actuelle correspond donc à une phase d'ajustement particulièrement sévère : baisse des revenus et des valeurs d'actifs, alourdissement des charges d'emprunt. Son issue ne paraît pas prochaine compte tenu de la complexité et de l'importance des mécanismes en cause.Drabenstott M. Problèmes financiers dans l'agriculture des Etats-Unis. In: Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales, N°5, septembre 1987. Agriculteurs en difficulté. Les problèmes financiers des exploitations agricoles dans cinq pays occidentaux. pp. 65-73

Subject Access Systems (Book Review)

published or submitted for publicatio

Revisão analítica da biblioteca do futuro

Originalmente na forma de citações de consagrados autores norte-americanos, pontuando os mais significativos temas sobre a biblioteca do futuro, em um período de dez anos (1983-1994), este riquíssimo estado-da-arte é agora traduzido e condensado em língua portuguesa e devidamente autorizado pelo Council on Library Resources (CLR), de Washington, D.C., USA. Para maior alcance desta matéria emergente, adotou-se uma fala pessoal, didática e interpretativa, obedecendo, porém, à orgânica do original, na ordem a saber: introdução, visão do futuro, definições de bibliotecas digitais; publicação impressa versus digital, aplicações e instrumentos de acesso à informação tecnológica; editoração, papéis e motivação dos atores e projetos no sistema digital; projetos e bibliotecas do futuro, incluindo o perfil do bibliotecário de referência e o papel das escolas de biblioteconomia; para onde vão as bibliotecas na virada do século e um senso de urgência. Finda-se com uma bibliografia e um índice conjugado de autores e assuntos.Originally shaped under citations of selected Nort American authors, electing the most significant themes on library of the future, this finest state-of the-art is now translated and condensed into Portuguese, and properly authorized by the Council on Library Resources (CLR), Washington, DC, USA. For reaching this emergent subject, it is adopted a personal, didactic and interpretative speech, but complying with the original table of contents, that is: introduction, vision of the future, definitions of digital libraries; print documents vs digital artifacts, application and tools for accessing information technology; projects and libraries of the future, including the reference librarian profile and the role of library science schools; whither libraries and a sense of urgency. It is finished with a bibliography, and an author and subject index