Computer processing of the bibliographic records of a small library

A project has been conducted to automate the processing of the records associated with a small, restricted-access collection of undergraduate reading material in the Library of the University of Durham. The functions of a suite of programs written by the author for an IBM 360/67 computer, and now in regular use by the Library are described. Through a simple command language, the (non-programmer) user may specify a wide variety of processes on files of bibliographic data as combinations of basic operations. He also has fine control over the layout of catalogues and other lists printed oh the line-printer. An account is given in this thesis of some of the problems which face those working on the automation of the maintenance of large library catalogues: conversion of old records to machine-readable form, filing catalogue entries and the role of computers in producing book catalogues. There is a discussion of programming and programming language in this context and a selection of new or improved features are suggested for incorporation in any future version of the Durham system. Full technical program documentation is supplementary to the thesis

Choosing Glass: Color and Impressions

In the last issue of Glass Craftsman, I said that, for me, the choice of glass is probably the most important factor contributing to artistry in stained glass. Tiffany’s company made glass for specific purposes, and raised the medium to a new level of expressive power. Now, we have a huge selection of stained glass available for our creative purposes. We just have to make the effort to familiarize ourselves to what is out there

Line Relationships: More to Lines than Meets the Eye

Lines in stained glass artwork are important design features. With copper foil and lead came techniques, they are often prominent and black with the light source behind them. Carefully designed and implemented lines can enhance the sense of depth in a picture and have a rather paradoxical nature in our work. I find that I have a rather complicated relationship with my lines

Discourse-level Analysis of Abstracts for Information Retrieval: A Probabilistic Approach

The objective of this research is to contribute to our knowledge of how people seek information, and how computer systems can be designed to help in this process. Most information retrieval research since the field emerged in the 1950\u27s has reduced these questions to that of trying to determine how documents relevant to a user\u27s query might be selected from a large collection of texts---a question that has proved remarkably difficult to answer. The present work takes the stance that this particular reduction increasingly limits progress towards the objective stated above. It is directed instead towards the development of a framework for IR based on the notions of discourse and human communication

The Lead Line Effect: Shape without the came

In a previous article, I have mentioned my view that stained glass work is akin to impressionism. We use the features of the glass to suggest detail in our subject matter. However, I often find that for some details, this approach is not adequate. For an example, see the scales in Koi, figure 1. It is also not always practical to implement this fine detail by joining large numbers of very small pieces of glass. In this article, I will talk about methods that produce effects compatible with the ‘lead’ lines of traditional stained glass, namely the use of copper foil overlays and wire

Plating in Stained Glass: Experience the beauty

“Plating” is a piece of stained glass jargon. It refers to the practice of using more than one layer of glass in the construction of a panel. The layers are not fused together. They are simply stacked up, one on top of another and joined by soldering foil or came. I would like to spend a little time on the reasons for using this plating technique. In a future article I may say more about the techniques themselves, but the why’s are more important than the how’s

The fall and rise of Owl

This article is an account of the work of restoring Owl back to good health. Although the task was initially daunting–and I put it off for a while favoring new creations—it turned out to be interesting. I was able to relive the experience of building one of my early windows, going back to an early stage in my career as a stained glass artist. I hope you will find this account good reading. One of the features that makes the Owl repair interesting is that many parts of the window are plated. In other words, they are made with more than one layer of glass. Plating is a technique that can be used to produce many interesting artistic effects in stained glass, but it comes with a price. If a plated window ever needs repair, the job will be difficult, time-consuming, therefore expensive

The illusion of Depth in Stained Glass: Exposed to the light

Stained glass artwork often looks flat. Of course, most stained glass panels are flat. What I mean is that the objects depicted look flat. In my own work, I have given a lot of attention to creating the illusion of depth. What is depth? It refers to the spacial dimension that recedes directly away from our eyes into the distance. If a picture has depth, we see some of its elements as solid objects; some appear closer than others; we are aware of foreground, middle distance and background