Marion in the satellite age
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb044614 |
| Published date | 01 February 1984 |
| Date | 01 February 1984 |
| Pages | 81-85 |
| Author | Mary Diebler |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
THE ELECTRONIC LIBRARY
Marion in the satellite age
Mary Diebler
It is 9 am as Marion the Librarian opens the door of the public library for another
day at the hub of local interactive communications, information and education.
She walks past the electronic book security system and into the darkened circu-
lation area. Marion sees the blinking dials and hears the steady whirrs of the main
computer that organizes, processes and communicates so much information each
day. She checks the entire system: the OCLC terminals, the public access catalog
terminal,
the automated circulation system and
its
cable tv interface,
the
database
access terminals and finally the terminal on her director's
desk.
Marion collects
the printouts which were delivered via satellite last night—Mr. Clark's database
search on nuclear
power;
a magazine article for Johnny's report
on
the Olympics;
an updated index of new print and non-print materials available for sharing from
the state library; and the schedule for today's satellite video feeds. "Mr. Clark's
boss will be pleased to get a twenty-four hour turnaround on his information re-
quest,"
she thinks to
herself,
"while I'm happy to have so much work accomp-
lished
overnight."
Marion walks over
to
the AV area
to
survey the preparations for
a busy day: the studio is set to broadcast children's story hour to the local ele-
mentary schools via
LTFS;
the videotapes for today's cable access programming
on the library channel are ready to be transmitted
to
the cable headend for cable-
casting;
the conference room is ready for the dietitians coming to this afternoon's
continuing education satellite video-teleconference; and
the
videotape recorder is
set with a blank tape to record today's subscription satellite video feeds from the
National Satellite Library
network.
Does this scenario sound too futuristic? All those technologies are available
today, and libraries are beginning to investigate seriously how they might work to-
gether to provide information services. This article will describe briefly the
various types of telecommunication technologies and explore library applications.
Cable communications
The use of local cable tv systems by libraries is drawing some of the most active
interest among library and information professionals. When cable companies vie
for a local franchise, the library can often be the benefactor of cable tv access
studios, equipment, channels, training and even personnel. US libraries are
experimenting with both video and non-video uses of cable:
The author is Research and Development Manager at Public Service Satellite Consortium,
1660
L
StreetN.W.,
Suite 907, Washington DC
20036,
USA.
Vol. 2, No. 2, April 1984 81
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