17th Annual National Online Meeting/IOLS '96 - Satellite Events
Satellite Events - Monday, May 13



CD-ROM: Accessing via LAN, WAN, & Internet
by Howard McQueen, McQueen & Associates, Inc.
Monday, May 13, 1996 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

Cost: $275 (includes lunch and coffee services)

Throughout the course, Howard will use case studies of existing CD-ROM network projects to illustrate many of the points and design options he will present.

Part I: Local-Area Networking

To introduce the basics of networking CD-ROMs, we will focus on Novell, Vines and Microsoft NT LANs and DOS/Windows workstations. The course will begin with a brief discussion of workstation and CD-ROM standards.

Servers

CD-ROM drives can be placed on networks by creating dedicated CD-ROM servers and/or attaching drives directly to a file server. Performance, cost and maintenance issues will be explored for each approach.

Application Management Issues

Menuing, metering, usage tracking and application time-out functionality should be part of any CD-ROM network design. Products which provide these management features will be identified. A Windows user's ability to open several CD-ROM databases at a time can defeat your attempts to manage a limited number of network licenses. Howard will present options for managing multi-tasking clients.

Budgeting and Licensing

Howard will present a small LAN configuration, detailing all components and costs. He will also show you how to increase the usage of this investment by offering limited "off-hours" access to your CD-ROM collection. Suggested strategies for negotiating with CD-ROM publishers will be presented.

Large Collections and Jukeboxes

Many organizations have hundreds of CD-ROMs that need to be placed on their networks. Jukeboxes do not provide online (immediate) access--they are near-line storage devices. Howard will discuss when and how to use jukeboxes and will provide system designs which will support large collections.

Part II: Wide Area Networking

Remote Dial-In

Users at home or in branch offices, executives on the road and an increasing number of professionals share one thing in common--they are not always directly connected to the network when they need information. With the use of Remote Control Communications Software (RCCS) and high-speed modems, dial-in technologies can provide access to CD-ROM databases. Various methods for implementing host communication servers for access by a variety of clients (DOS, Windows, Mac, etc.) will be presented and demonstrated.

Howard will also present designs for linking remote users and entire remote LANs directly to the central CD-ROM site. WAN links are generally 56K or less and cannot handle the volume of data created by CD-ROM searches. Bandwidth-efficient Client/Server options will be addressed as a means to share resources over WAN links.

Heterogeneous Network Environments

Networks have become heterogeneous computing highways. One of the most important requirements for providing information to the network users is to make sure access is available to all users, regardless of the type of workstation/client/terminal they are sitting in front of. Since most CD-ROM applications are still married to a proprietary DOS and/or Windows search/retrieval engine, how do Macintosh and Unix workstations access this data? Howard will present solutions that allow non-DOS/Windows clients to access this data. Solutions include application gateways; remote mounting of CD-ROMs under NFS with the client running DOS/Windows emulation; and X-Windows interface.

Multi-Protocol Environments

Many organizations have installed CD-ROMs on individual subnets of NetWare, Microsoft NT, LAN Manager, Vines, Appletalk and other LAN operating systems. How does a user on one subnet access a CD-ROM collection on a different subnet? Howard will present designs that include CD-ROM servers running multiple protocols and TCP/IP options.

Migrating to Magnetic

After all these years, CD-ROM drives are still relatively slow devices that can only support a very limited number (6-8) of simultaneous users to guarantee good response times. Howard will present a model that significantly improves performance to accommodate up to 30-40 simultaneous users.

Internet

In most organizations, the Internet is playing a role in information discovery and delivery. Howard will present options for launching DOS and Windows CD-ROM databases from WWW Home Pages.

Who Should Attend

Why Attend?

You will leave the workshop better prepared to:

Quote from Attendee

"I came with the expectation of leaving with a recipe, which I did not get. What I did get, however, was much more valuable. Howard presented a variety of solutions for a wide range of platforms and options that I would not have considered myself."

Suggested

A fundamental understanding of "networking" and related terminology will be very helpful.

About the Instructor

Howard McQueen is President of McQueen & Associates, Inc. (formerly CD Consultants). McQ is an independent consulting and training firm, with no ties to any vendor, and has been assisting organizations in implementing network access to CD-ROMs since 1986. Howard has gained an international reputation as an engaging, insightful speaker with a special talent for deciphering and communicating complex technical subject matter.



Emerging Internet Technologies

by Susan Hallam, The Nottingham Trent University
Monday, May 13, 1996 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

Cost: $275 (includes lunch and coffee services)

This seminar is designed to give information professionals an overview of emerging technologies on the Internet. Internet applications to be reviewed include multimedia, second generation Web authoring tools, virtual reality, and audio and video technologies. Throughout the workshop participants will be provided with a conceptual introduction to these new technologies, a practical demonstration of existing and prototype applications, and an examination of the implications surrounding their implementation.

Seminar Agenda

Morning Session

An examination of emerging techniques for delivering documents over the World Wide Web. Participants will learn the fundamentals of these technologies, together with demonstrations.

Afternoon Session

Merging technologies: Netscape and proprietary standards Opportunities offered by these new technologies Wrap Up: emerging technologies, evolving requirements, difficult decisions.

Participants will leave this workshop with a good understanding of emerging technologies on the Internet and a critical understanding of their implications within an organization.

Who Should Attend

Information professionals interested in the fast moving developments on the Internet will want to attend this workshop. The workshop will provide valuable information to those using the Internet as an information retrieval and discovery tool, as well as to those involved in making information and services available across the network. Some experience of the Internet will be assumed of those attending the workshop.

About the Instructor

The workshop has been developed and is led by Susan Hallam, Senior Lecturer in Information Technology at The Nottingham Trent University. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Ms. Hallam is involved in providing consultancy and workshops for users and developers of commercial Internet applications as well as developing teaching and learning applications on the Internet. Formerly working in the area of library automation and networking, she now specializes in commercial activity on the Internet and speaks at information industry conferences around the world.



Comparative Online Searching: Searching Smart in '96

by Helen P. Burwell, The Information Professionals Institute
Monday, May 13, 1996 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

Cost: $275 (includes lunch and coffee services)

Here's how to search smarter in '96! Choosing the best source for the information to serve your clients is often more difficult than the actual search. To this objective one-day seminar, Ms. Burwell brings her years of searching experience using hundreds of databases and provides attendees with a perspective it could take years to acquire.

Learn how to compare and evaluate sources of information and how to decide which is best--using specific criteria. This seminar includes a feature-by-feature comparison of major online services for the professional searcher. The 100-page course manual includes a comparison overview for future reference.

This very popular course is offered through the Information Professionals Institute and is designed to cut across vendor and commercial lines. It combines the perspective of Ms. Burwell's experience with timely, state-of-the-art research information.

Course Outline

Comparing and Evaluating Online Services
Ten criteria for making the best choices
Comparing Sources for Online Information
Commercial vendors vs. direct dial to producers vs. government sources
Naming Names
Feature-by-feature comparisons of the major online systems; what's most timely, most cost-effective, most complete--applying the ten criteria.
Taking Advantage of Special Services
How do the special features like e-mail, automated current awareness, gateways, etc., add to the value of a service?
What About End-user Systems?
Reference sources and business information on America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, etc.
Specialized Online Services for Specific Professions
Are these a good value compared with the major systems?
Non-U.S. Online Sources
The Internet as a Searcher's Tool
Online vs. CD-ROM Searching
Licensing issues, costs, and other factors that drive the decision to go to CD-ROM
Getting Online Easily--Comparatively Speaking
Scripts, vendor products, software packages, telecommunications networks, etc.

Take-home Materials
Course materials, comparison charts, extensive handouts and vendor literature.

About the Instructor

Helen P. Burwell is founder and president of Burwell Enterprises, Inc. (Houston, TX), which has served both the information industry and the research needs of a worldwide clientele since 1984. The multi-faceted firm publishes the annual Burwell Directory of Information Brokers, the bimonthly Information Broker newsletter and most recently, Sawyer's Survival Guide for Information Brokers, among other publications for and about the brokering industry. As an online researcher, Ms. Burwell has special expertise in business and legal research. She was a founding member of the association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) and was elected the group's first president in 1987. She is also co-principal of The Information Professionals Institute, which was founded in 1992.



Using the Internet to Conduct Market Research

by Carol Galvin, Banyan Systems
and Barbie E. Keiser, The College of Insurance
Monday, May 13, 1996 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

Cost: $275 (includes lunch and coffee services)

This "how-to" seminar is a practical primer on using the Internet and the World Wide Web as a source for secondary market research and as a tool to conduct primary market research. Its objective: Acquaint attendees with the vast array of business and market information sources that reside on the Internet today, where and how to access them, and how to harness this medium to conduct surveys that will provide individuals and organizations with market information that is not otherwise available. The workshop is designed for information professionals and librarians who currently provide business research support.

The Day's Agenda

Attendees will receive copies of overhead transparencies used during the workshop and a sample Internet session illustrating the major sites mentioned during the day. A separate reference document developed for this conference, Directory of Marketing Information Sources on the Internet and World Wide Web, will be distributed.

About the Instructor

The workshop was developed by Carol K. Galvin, market research specialist for Banyan Systems, and Barbie E. Keiser, Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library of The College of Insurance. The combination of a market researcher and information professional yields a focus and perspective that enhances the subject material. Both are accomplished authors of articles in the information and business press, and speakers/presenters at information and business conferences around the world. The two collaborated once before as co-authors of Marketing Library Services: A Nuts-and-Bolts Approach, turning the text into a successful workshop. The book, in its second printing, was recently reissued by the Federation of Information and Documentation (FID).



The New Search Engines: From Boolean/Thesaurus to Non-Boolean/Free-Text Searching

by Ev Brenner, Consultant
Monday, May 13, 1996 (9:00 AM to 5:00 PM)

Cost: $275 (includes lunch and coffee services)

This full-day session will address the changes from Boolean/thesaurus searching to non-Boolean/free-text searching. As a special feature this important seminar will discuss the newest development in the "hot subject" area of relevance/feedback and other new commercial search engine capabilities being offered by leading vendors and hosts such as Lexis-Nexis (Freestyle), West Publishing Co. (WIN) and Dialog (Target). It will also cover software packages such as Personal Librarian, ConQuest, CLARIT, DR-LINK, and the TREC studies which have evaluated the various systems.

An Information Survey in Historical Perspective

This seminar offers a historical perspective of the information retrieval arena. Not many of today's players understand the events of the last few decades which have led to much of today's perplexity within the field. Particular emphasis will be placed on the interface problems between the databases and the users: what special consideration one needs to give to end-user searching and what the hopes and promises of machine-aided indexing and searching are.

The seminar will cover the following:

Who Should Attend

About the Instructor

Ev Brenner is well known in the U.S. and Europe as a leading information scientist. He has many years experience as a database producer for the petroleum industry, an information science professor, and designer of various seminars on indexing and retrieval. Mr. Brenner is a consultant and author of Information Insights: The Road to Knoware, a compilation of articles written for Learned Information Ltd.'s publication, MONITOR.

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