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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 14, 1984)
T Wednesday, November 14, 1984/The Battalion/Page 7 ibrary (continued from page 1) swered before the library proceeds with its automation plans. First, is the software capable of doing the things the Library says it will? “When they bought the electronic system it was supposed to have a key word search,” Busby says. “If you could have this, it could save a whole lot of research time. It’s not there yet. Maybe we shouldn’t go into this until we’re sure that this software is ready.” Second, how much will the new system cost? | “No one seems to know how much [this transfer from the card catalog to the electronic system will cost,” he [says. “Maybe we ought to spend money elsewhere, namely on books and periodicals and other areas where the collection is weak.” Third, what type of program has been set up to educate people on how to use the new system? "The library should have done more to educate the community about the benefits,” he says. “It’s a concern many faculty and stall members have that no one has tried to educate them. This move de manded more than some announce ment. It demanded some large ef fort at communication.” Fourth, why wasn’t the faculty more involved in the decision to au tomate the card catalog? “I’m pleased the Library Council has decided to ask for f aculty, staff and student response,” he says. “But, I’m concerned that the change was almost in place before the deci sion to solicit outside response was made.” Hoadley says the main objection she has heard to automation is based on fear of computers. "When you make the change to an electronic card catalog, you’re re placing something that’s very famil iar to use,” Hoadley says. “You’re putting faculty members on a level they’re not used to being on — the learning level. “It’s just a lot easier-to continue doing things the way you're used to doing them. We all tend to resist these changes in professional life and personal life.” The change must be more grad ual, Busby says. “The optimal stance to take, if it’s economically feasible, would be to maintain both systems,” Busby says. At the least it should be a gradual change, he says, with both systems kept going for at least a year. Busby says some faculty members see the library as a repository of clas sical ideas, a bastion of the old. “They’ll resist automation at every step,” he says. Faculty members who insist the li brary needs to maintain both sys tems forever are old fashioned, Hoadley says. “That’s like saying I need to keep my horse because one morning my car might not start,” Hoadley says. “It’s cheaper to call a cab one day.” Hoadley would rather not lose the battle of automation to a fear of change, but says it is a possibility. “If there’s a strong sentiment to not close the card catalog, we may have to do away with the electronic system,” Hoadley says. “I’d hate to see that happen. Though we have not yet finished cost figures on run ning both card catalogs, my sense is that it would be too expensive to maintain both. That’s money that we could spend elsewhere.” Busby says he will be supportive of automating the library once he’s convinced the library is automating to provide better service to the li brary’s users, rather than getting ad vanced technology just for the point of getting advanced technology. New technology, though some of it may be well off in the future, will help increase the availability of in formation, Hoadley says. Laser disk technology, the same type of optical storage medium now being used for home-play movies, can store 10,000 to 15,000 pages of text on a 12-inch disk. The text of rare or expensive books may some day become available at a fraction of the current cost in this medium. The ability to condense roughly 1 million pages of text into 15 square feet of space — that’s storing about 3,300 volumes of material in the shelf space that would normally house less than 500 hardback vol umes, about 150,000 pages — would solve other problems too. “We could put lesser used materi als in that format, thus getting li braries out of the big warehouse type-situation they’re falling into now,” Hoadley says. “I’d like to think this technology would be available in 2 to 5 years, but knowing how things work, I’d think it’s at least 5 to 10 years off.” The University’s long-range plan ning committee would like to see the library upgraded to a point where it could adequately support a wide range of graduate and post-grad uate research as well as maintaining its current adequacy for undergrad uate use. All the changes that are re quired to bring the A&M library up to snuff with the long-range plan ning committee’s goals are depen dent on money. In an attempt to increase the li brary’s budget, Hoadley says she will soon present a plan outlining the budgetary requirements to achieve excellence for the Texas A&M li brary. The plan will request an annual increase in funding for collection de velopment, i.e. book buying, of $2 million, from $2.6 million to $4.6 million. It will also ask for 55 new staff positions at the cost of $700,000, raising the library payroll from $3.3 million to $4 million. Other requests will include money for remodeling, equipment upkeep, and free access for patrons to data base services. It all adds up to a request to in crease the library’s annual budget, which was about $6.5 million in 1983-84, to almost $10 million by 1985-86. The University of Texas- Austin spent $13.9 million on its li brary system in 1981-82. Harvard University spent $21.1 million that same year. “I have stacks of ideas that could be done,” Hoadley says, “if we only had the people ... and the money.” COLUMBIA PICTURES PRESENTS A MICHAEL DOUGLAS - LARRY J. FRANCO PRODUCTION JEFF BRIDGES KAREN ALLEN JOHN CARPENTER’S STARMAN CHARLES MARTIN SMITH RICHARD JAECKEL "“byJACK NITZSCHE KSMICHAEL DOUGLAS BRUCE A. EVANS & RAYN0LD GIDEON copromice b? BARRY BERNARDI ““TS LARRY J. FRANCO “ ECTE B ?J0HN CARPENTER (i jPG.I PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED O C-J j SOME "HURlAi MAT N0» HI SUttABU * OH CHilQRI N l „ mi DOLBY STEREO 1'* 4 COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES INC Columbia ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Picture* OPENS DECEMBER 14 AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU. WIN A MUSTANG COBRA USED IN THE FILM "STARMAN" SIGNATURE i "STARMAN'' Sweepstakes P.O. Box 3115 Evanston, IL 60204 RULES AND REGULATIONS No Purchase Necessary 1. Entrant must be a licensed driver. 2. Fill out name and address and mail to STARMAN Sweepstakes P.O. Box 311 5. 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Eighth annual smokeout to begin United Press International NEW YORK — The 1984 edition of the Great American Smokeout be gins midnight tonight, challenging millions of cigarette puffers to a 24- hour nicotine fast. Some of them, as well as people cheering them on, will be wearing stickers and emblems declaring — “Kiss Me, I don’t smoke.” The American Cancer Society, sponsor of the eighth annual mass attempt at quitting the weed, says nearly 20 million people joined the last time around. Some two million reached their goal of giving up smoking. Volunteers calling themselves “smokebusters” are expected to pa trol streets, shopping malls and pub lic areas of cities and towns in search of smokers to “bust” by squirting them with water pistols. Tips to help smokers include urging them to munch, suck, chew or gobble edibles in place of lighting up. The list of “oral substitutes” in cludes sugarless gum, lemon drops, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, apple slices, carrot sticks and popcorn. At midnight tonight, smokers na tionwide can take the first step to ward kicking the habit, the ACS said, by dialing the KWH’ line, 900-210- KWIT. They will hear inspirational messages from former smokers pass ing on encouragement. I he number will be in service for 72 hours. Schools, companies, hospitals and community organizations will stage happenings to amuse smokers and get their minds oil nicotine cravings. During last year’s Smokeout, one company scrubbed all its ashtrays and floated a fresh flower in each. The ACS said it proved a powerful deterrent to anyone wishing to de posit ashes or butts. The ACS said in less than a de cade the idea of taking a day off from smoking has caught on in Aus tralia, South Africa, Norway and Sweden. _ MSC Cafeteria Now Better Than Ever. You Will Be Pleased With These Carefully Prepared and Taste Tempting Foods. Each Daily Special Only $2.59 Plus Tax. “Open Daily” Dining: 11 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.—4:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. 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