Volume 2. No 1 Information Technology News of the University of California, Davis October 1993

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Information Goes Beyond the Book

EDITOR'S NOTE: The ability to create and exchange text, graphics and audio information on computer networks literally is changing the way we do business. Examples of the impact information technology is making in our society appear below. These highlights were gleaned with permission from recent editions of EDUPAGE, a twice-weekly summary of news items on information technology. To subscribe to EDUPAGE, send e-mail to listserv@bitnic.educom.edu containing the text: SUB EDUPAGE <firstname> <lastname>.

PUBLIC LIBRARIES OFFER INTERNET ACCESS -- Anyone with a PC and a modem can now access major Internet databases through public libraries in Cleveland, Seattle, and Morris County, NJ. These library systems offer gateway access through local telephone numbers and vary in their information offerings and restrictions on use. Other librarians around the country are examining the pioneering efforts, looking for models their own libraries might use. (Investor's Business Daily 9/3/93 p.4)

DIGITAL PHOTO CATALOGS --Eastman Kodak is developing a computerized system that allows advertising agencies and publishers to browse through catalogs of low-resolution images via modem. Another system, by Picture Network International, will allow editors and art directors to negotiate a price and download high-resolution images off the same phone connection used to view them. (Investor's Business Daily 9/9/93 p.3)

UNIVERSITY PRESSES -- The Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) and the American Association of University Presses (AAUP) are seeking assistance in developing projects that demonstrate the roles and capacities of university presses in the networked information environment. For information send e-mail to: paul@cni.org.

ROUNDTABLE ESTABLISHES PRINCIPLES -- More than 50 members of the Washington-based Telecommunications Policy Roundtable met recently to discuss "Public Interest Principles" for the development of the nation's information infrastructure. The principles include universal access, civic involvement, and privacy, among others. The group is dedicated to making the public voice heard as long-range decisions are made on how communications and information services will be owned, managed and delivered in the next century.

FLOPPY COPY -- LA Times columnist Michael Schrage suggests that book publishers, for an extra buck or so, should package a floppy-disk version of the book with each hard copy sold. He argues that digital and printed versions of a book are complements to, rather than substitutes for, each other. (Washington Post 9/3/93 D2)

MORE NEWS FOR THE NET -- The purchase by publishing mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation of Delphi, the nation's fifth-largest online computer services, signals that many of the former company's newspapers and magazines will be made available over the Internet. Commercial networks have increased more than six-fold in the past two years. (New York Times 9/3/93 C1)

LAW ON A DISK -- Lawyer's Cooperative Publishing of Rochester NY is marketing the equivalent of 250,000 pages of case law on a single CD called LawDesk, which sells for $1,995. Yearly updates cost $795. For info: 800-828-6373. (Atlanta Constitution 8/19/93 E2)

E-MAIL'S NOT GOING TO THE SHREDDER -- A US Court of Appeals ruled that the government must preserve electronic messages and memoranda under the same standards used for paper communications. The decision was hailed by historians and journalists. (NY Times 8/14/93 A1)