French libraries online — electronic Hachette?
| Date | 01 February 1994 |
| Published date | 01 February 1994 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045277 |
| Pages | 79-88 |
| Author | Jack Kessler |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Article
French libraries online —
electronic Hachette?
Jack Kessler
PO Box
460668,
San
Francisco,
CA
94146,
USA
kessler@well.sf.ca.us
Abstract: The French, and increasingly French libraries,
are online on the networks.
French
print publishing is in
trouble. Online full text is
one
of the promising
developments in the forefront of network development.
Despite some small but stubborn problems such as
copyright and
pricing,
online full text may represent a way
out of their problems for the publishers. One new Minitel
service and
the
general
direction
of the largest French
publisher may indicate an impending marriage of the two
sets of problems, and of their possibilities.
1.
Introduction
The book is in trouble in France. Not its readers, necessarily,
not the text which it contains, but the book as a thing. Or at
least the people who produce it.
At the same time, networking, particularly of libraries, is
booming. Nearly 30 French library services are now available
online and the national Minitel network — over 7 million
ter-
minals and 17 000 online services strong — is the world's
leader in getting networked information to the general public.
(The general public, not just BITNET's and the Internet's
academics and professionals.)
France is the land of cohabitation. Lots of things cohabit
here:
French politicians, McDonald's and haute cuisine. One
wonders whether —
no,
when — it might occur
to
those who
publish French books to look into cohabitation with those
who are building French networking? When it does ...
2.
French libraries on Minitel: networking Le Grand
Public
The French are
online.
They have pursued different directions
from those pursued by BITNET and the Internet: they are
slaves to different telecommunications norms from those
which enslave the other networks. But all this doesn't mean
that French online networked information cannot be found,
somewhere. There even are a lot of online French libraries.
2.1.
French library resources list
As of end March, 1993, all the following French library re-
sources could be found online, accessible via the following
online techniques: (Thanks to several French friends for what
follows — additions, deletions, corrections will be gratefully
received from friends anywhere. In what follows, 'OPAC
means Online Public Access Catalog — the library catalog
and, increasingly as with those on the Internet, more.)
2.1.1.
Minitel
'kiosk'
Libraries. The following may be
reached from anywhere via Minitel:
3614 TOLBIAC
3614 BMLYON
3614 BIB
3615
ABCDOC
3615 BPI
3615 DASTUM
3615 MIRADOC
3615 VDP15
3615 VILLETTE
3617 CCN
3617 PANCA
Bibliotheque de France
(info.—no
OPAC,
yet)
Bib.Municipale de Lyon
(info.+ OPAC)
Bib.Municipale de Grenoble
(info.+ OPAC)
Archives, Bibliotheques, Centres de
Documentation (directory)
Bibliotheque Publique
d'Information
(Centre Pompidou, Paris)
(info.+ OPAC)
Phototeque Dastum (info.+ OPAC)
Bibliotheque Universite de Metz
(info.+ OPAC)
Videotheque de Paris (info.+ OPAC)
Mediatheque, Cite des Sciences et
de
l'Industrie
(info.+ OPAC)
Catalogue Collectif National des
Publications en Serie (national union
catalog project, serials)
Pancatalogue (national union catalog
project, books)
2.1.2. Minitel 'V23' Direct-Dial Libraries. The following
French library services may be reached by a direct-dial tele-
phone call, either from a Minitel which can do so (European
terminals can, but US Minitel service distributed per the
above cannot), or using a
V23
modem (available in European
computer stores):
22.97.11.11
90.49.38.88
31.86.14.14
50.53.28.70
Amiens, Bibliothèque d'
(info.+ OPAC)
Aries,
Bibliothèque Municipale d'
(info.+ OPAC)
Caen, Bibliothèque Municipale de
(info.+ OPAC)
Chamonix, Bibliothèque
Municipale de (OPAC)
The Electronic Library, Vol. 12, No. 2, April 1994 79
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