Following are announcements of two new services available from the Research Libraries Group. Feel free to post here and elsewhere. Thanks. Jennifer Porro, RLG.
(For more information about either service, contact the RLIN Information Center, telephone 1-800-537-RLIN, electronic mail address BL.RIC@RLG.BITNET or BL.RIC@RLG.STANFORD.EDU.)
RLIN INTRODUCES ARABIC-SCRIPT CATALOGING; LC IS FIRST TO USE SYSTEM
September 23, 1991 -- The Research Libraries Group (RLG) has added Arabic-script capability to RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network), thus enabling its users to enter, search, display, and retrieve records written in Arabic script.
With this new capability, RLIN becomes the only online bibliographic network in the world to support Arabic script and the only one to support the entire JACKPHY menu of languages that use non-Roman scripts (defined by the Library of Congress as Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Hebraic, and Yiddish); RLIN also supports Cyrillic script.
First to use the RLIN Arabic enhancement is the Library of Congress, which encouraged RLG to develop it and beta-tested the system during August 1991.
SPECIAL FEATURES The RLIN Arabic enhancement features: * Ability to key in and read Arabic characters from right to left, the natural order of Arabic-script languages. * Cursive script and positional character forms. (Arabic characters vary in shape depending on their position in a word--beginning, middle, or end.) The user simply keys in the character, and the terminal software automatically supplies the proper positional form. * Proper placement of vowel points and marks of pronunciation (i.e., above or below consonants). * Lam-alif digraphs automatically provided. * Pan-Arabic character set. Includes characters necessary for Arabic and other Arabic-script languages such as Farsi, Urdu, and Ottoman Turkish. * Use of conventional Arabic typography (nashki).
Users will need special RLIN terminal-emulation software and 80286 or 80386 PC-based hardware.
A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOLARLY RESEARCH Arabic script on RLIN is a major contribution to the advancement of Middle East scholarship and research. Currently, most online Arabic bibliographic records are transliterated (romanized). But, because of the nature of Arabic-script languages (e.g., the absence of written vowels), transliteration is often imprecise and can render an online record irretrievable. The availability of Arabic script on RLIN :eliminates this problem and fosters the sharing of Arabic-language bibliographic data worldwide. It is anticipated that Arabic script will eventually be added to the considerable collection of romanized Arabic cataloging records already in RLIN.
The RLIN Arabic-script enhancement will be demonstrated at this year's Middle East Studies Association (MESA) conference being held November 23-26 at the Washington Hilton and Towers in Washington, D.C.
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RLG ENHANCES ITS OFFLINE RETROSPECTIVE CONVERSION PROGRAM
September 23, 1991 -- The Research Libraries Group, Inc., (RLG) announces the availability of BRCON 2, an enhanced version of its PC-based offline batch retrospective conversion program. The enhancements, which are a direct result of requests by current and prospective BRCON users, allow users to add more local bibliographic information to records, to select records containing non-Roman scripts, and to access more help features.
With BRCON 2 (like its predecessor, BRCON), users create files of brief search records on a DOS diskette. The files are then uploaded and matched against the RLIN database. When a match is found, the system automatically derives a new cataloging record for the user's library. Libraries do not have to be users of RLIN itself to take advantage of BRCON 2.
More specifically, the BRCON 2 new features include:
* Three user-selected fields for recording local bibliographic information in the MARC tag range of 015 to 899. This allows, for example, a system control number (035) to become part of the derived record.
* The ability to select records containing non-Roman script (e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, or Arabic). This is an important feature for libraries that want to include vernacular scripts in addition to romanized transliterations in their catalog records. BRCON 2 is the only offline retrospective conversion service that provides records containing vernacular scripts.
* New help features, including random access to records and online explanations of all fields and function keys.
UMI/DATA COURIER AND RLG ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT Will Offer Access to UMI/Data Courier Databases on RLIN with Article Delivery
UMI/Data Courier and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) announce an agreement to offer fixed-cost access to several of UMI/Data Courier's most popular databases. By spring of 1992, searchers on RLIN will be able to access ABI/INFORM, Newspaper Abstracts, Periodical Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts for a fixed annual fee.
As part of the agreement, RLG and UMI will offer users access to full-text article delivery of UMI's Article Clearinghouse collection of 12,500 titles. Delivery options include first-class mail, express courier, FAX, and Ariel, RLG's new proprietary document-delivery system that enables high-resolution image transmission over the Internet (a communications network connecting many higher-education and research institutions).
For more information, contact the RLIN Information Center, e-mail bl.ric@rlg.bitnet or bl.ric@rlg.stanford.edu.
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RETRO LINK ASSOCIATES TO OFFER FULL-SERVICE RECON BASED ON RLIN DATA
The Research Libraries Group (RLG) and Retro Link Associates (RLA) announce a cooperative agreement enabling RLA to use the RLIN database for retrospective conversion services for libraries.
RLA now offers libraries records from RLIN in addition to its own 6.5-million-record database, the Princeton Theological Database, and a database of over 14 foreign languages. RLIN provides an online catalog of more than 50 million items held by over 100 of the world's leading research institutions, including books, serials, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, photographs, and computer files. RLIN cataloging in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and Arabic characters can also be used in recon projects.
RLA customers can also have RLA create original entries, authority control, smart barcodes, and AACR2 upgrades as part of projects to turn their older cataloging into machine-readable form.
For more information, contact Christine L. Kirby at RLA,
e-mail rlai@byuvax.bitnet
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