Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)

KÖNYVTÁR ÉS KORSZERŰSÉG – LIBRARY AND MODERNITY

Access to the literature of the social sciences them satisfactory for any but urgent items, but Group 4 machines, which will come into use when ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) is widely installed, should be at least as cheap as making photocopies and sending them by mail, and a great deal faster. Moreover, the copies are of much higher quality. Many have suggested that the ultimate ideal is the online journal, the text of which can be searched word by word and read on screen. Reading on screen without the ability to search is possible already for journals that have been digitally scanned, as is the case for quite a few in business and management. They can also be printed out at the receiving end; users will find on-screen scanning adequate for some articles, but most people will want to read some articles more intensively or will wish to have a copy to keep. Whether direct searching of text will prove very useful is difficult to say. My own guess is that, given the problems of terminology in the social sciences, it will not, so long as bibliographies give adequate subject access to the contents of journal articles. It seems then that we can look forward to significantly improved access to social science literature in the next few years: better bibliographic control through the new International Bibliography of the Social Sciences and the International Current Awareness Services, greater ability to locate books in libraries through online catalogues, and faster supply of journal articles through fax and online journals. What needs attention is, in ascending order of difficulty, the speed of supply of items requested on interlibrary loan, subject access to the contents of books, and the mail service. The former is wholly within the control of libraries; and the second would have more chance of happening if libraries pressed for it. As for the third, many bodies other than libraries have an interest in seeing better mail services, and one can only hope. References 1. Bath University Library. Towards the improvement of social science information systems: overview of research carried out 1971-1975. (Design of Information Systems in the Social Sciences, Research Reports, Series A, no. 1). Bath, University Library, 1980. 2. Line, Maurice B.: Secondary services in the social sciences: the need for improvement and the role of libraries. In: Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian, 1(4), Summer 1980, pp. 263-273. 3. These ideas are explored more fully in: Line, Maurice B.: Bibliographic records for users: from disordered superabundance to cost-effective satisfaction. In: Aslib Proceedings, 42(2), February 1990, pp. 41-49. Gondolatok a könyvtárban " 171