LIBRARY NOTES
Steven Baumholtz
Electronic Doings in the Library
Friday, January 1, 1999
The Library quietly unveiled its catalog this past June. Use has been steadily growing. Two more catalog terminals have been added in the Reference Room for a grand total of six throughout the Library - three in the Reference Room and the others on the Fifth Floor (where The New York Times Index now resides), the Children's Room, and Stack One.
If you haven't done so, we invite you to try the catalog the next time you need to locate something in the Library. Cataloging really does have advantages, particularly when a searcher is unsure of what he or she wants. It is easy to input one or more subject keywords and have the online system provide a short list of works that match the specifications. It is also possible to search by more than one index simultaneously - an author's name and a subject term, for example. With the advent of the online circulation system, the catalog invariably provides more accurate information than the card catalog. The online system also improves our ability to provide catalog information via the telephone, and books can be renewed without requiring call numbers.
An additional new computer in the Children's Room is dedicated to the use of CD-ROMs. The CD-ROMs are kept at the circulation desk. We have interactive titles of interest to children and adults. Headphones are provided so that the enjoyment of a particular disk doesn't infringe upon the quiet of the Library. Ask at the Circulation Desk for a list of available titles, or search the card or catalogs under the subject heading "CD-ROMs"
The Library is also preparing an Internet website in the very near future, which will include general information about the Library, notification about special programs and events, the monthly list of newly acquired titles, and Library Notes Looking ahead, we envision providing members with Internet access in the Library, as well as making our catalog accessible to anyone on the Internet. These electronic doings are just part of the Library's mission to bring together books and people.
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