New Technologies: Computerizing the Future

Robert W. Butler, leader, Training and Education, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD.

The National Agricultural Library N (NAL) is both the library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Nation's ultimate research library for agriculture. With its collection of 1.8 million volumes of books, journals, and reports, and with specialized information centers on a variety of subjects such as aquaculture, biotechnology, food irradiation, and critical agricultural materials, NAL provides both broad and selective, indepth service to researchers, educators, and practitioners.

The Library has intensified its efforts to enhance and expand its information-providing capabilities by testing the exciting possibilities of the new technology, including computer-based and video technology, both often coupled with recently developed and developing laser technology, and artificial intelligence software.

Electronic Database

Computer technology has been in use for some years at NAL. Computer terminals are in frequent daily use, particularly in the reference area of the Library, for searching computerized, online databases, usually the AGRICOLA database, prepared by NAL in computer-readable form since 1970. AGRICOLA consists of citations to books, periodicals, and technical reports and of articles in journals, proceedings, and books in the field of agriculture and related subjects. Over 2 million citations are in the database, with about 100,000 citations added each year.

Two commercial systems acquire the AGRICOLA database and make it available to their online customers. One is the DIALOG Information Retrieval Service, Inc., in Palo Alto, Cali. forma, now providing access to more than 220 databases in all subjects, and the other is BRS Information Technologies, Latham, New York, with more than 90 databases. These databases can be searched using a computer or terminal communicating through telephone lines from anywhere in the country and, indeed, the world.

Besides AGRICOLA, two other major agricultural databases available online are the CAB database, prepared by the Commonwealth Agriculture Bureaux, United Kingdom; and the AGRIS database of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, which contains records prepared in various countries throughout the world. NAL provides the largest portion of the AGRIS database.

Computer Technology

Microcomputers or terminals and associated monitors and printers are used by the Library's reference staff to perform searches as requested through mail delivered not only by the post office but also over electronic mail systems, such as DIALCOM, to these same computers. Interlibrary loan requests are sometimes received in the same manner. The computers are used by both the librarians and technical-clerical staff to prepare letters or reports with word processing software, such as Wordstar; to prepare budget cost statements using spreadsheet software, such as Lotus; or to prepare listings such as that of the Library's exchange partners with database management software, such as dBase III.

To support and expand effective use of computers, NAL's Food and Nutrition Information Center recently established a demonstration center for food and nutrition microcomputer software. Over 120 microcomputer programs offered include packages on diet analysis, food service management, and nutrition education. Patrons are provided the opportunity to spend "hands-on" time with the programs on the Center's microcomputers in its subject area.

An instructional videodisc system helps orient users to the National Agricultural Library.

Building on its initial success in the nutrition field, the Library plans to broaden this concept to create a national demonstration center for agricultural microcomputer software. There, its many users scientists, researchers, farmers, Extension Service Personnel, teachers, economists, administrators, and others interested in agriculture can evaluate software for application to their work and be aided in making purchasing decisions.

Laser Technology

NAL has been evaluating and is expanding its use of the recent and rapidly developing laser optical disc technology. Two systems on hand illustrate two different applications of laser disc technology, using Pioneer LDV-1000 laser optical disc players and the IBM-PC microcomputers.

Laser Optical Discs. One system is the NAL orientation laser disc used to view an NAL orientation course, prepared in a relatively early phase of this technology. It includes a floppy disc with menus, text, videodisc frame numbers, and programming; and a laser videodisc with about 200 still pictures of NAL, as well as motion video taken from an earlier NAL orientation videotape.

An experimental course prepared by NAL staff uses this same NAL orientation disc to instruct in the makeup and use of the AGRICOLA database. The course adds questions and scores the student.

A videodisc contains about 54,000 frames, each of which can contain one still picture or graphic; one-half hour of motion will occupy the entire disc. The images (or text, as described later) are recorded on a thin, metallic surface as pits burned in by a laser beam. A thick plastic coating covers the foil-like recording surface, making the disc very durable. The player reads light reflected from the pits as the disc spins at 1,800 revolutions a minute. The contents of the videodisc must be indexed and recorded so you know what is on the disc and where it is (i.e. frame number for a still and beginning and end frames for motion).

The NAL collecting policy is extending to commercial videodisc materials such as Control Data Corporation's Feeder Pig Production and Management Course with nine videodiscs. As an example of the material on the discs, one titled "Baby Pig Management" shows farmers giving shots, docking tails, notching ears, and so forth of pigs within 7 days of birth. The discs support textual materials, primarily the Pork Industry Handbook (PIH). Three floppy discs provide games and questions to assure that the material has been learned. A guidebook leads users through the course.

NAL Full Text Laser Discs.

The second computer-laser disc system deals with text, in digitized form. The system includes a microcomputer with PCIX operating system, a 20 megabyte hard disc, a laser disc player, a black box serving as the interconnecting device, a computer monitor, and a video monitor. The 12-inch laser disc contains approximately 2 million characters of text plus pictures, drawings, and graphs from the Pork Industry Handbook (PIH). It contains 200,000 AGRICOLA records.

This type of disc is capable of holding 800 million characters (around 150,000 single-spaced typed pages, or 500 books of 300 pages each on one side of a disc). The user is guided by menus in using the system. Search software stored on the hard disc makes possible retrieval of all the paragraphs containing any word, or combination of words, in the text.

When a search is done, the first occurrence of the text matching the search words appears on the computer monitor and may be printed out on an attached printer, or the next occurrence may be requested. Pictures or graphs accompanying the text appear on the attached video monitor.

Because of the large capacity of the 12-inch laser disc, NAL is continuing its investigation and use of these systems for storing and accessing full text of publications. NAL is preparing a second disc that will contain the full text and pictures or graphics of 13 USDA and State Extension Service publications. Land-grant university libraries and State Extension Service directors have been asked to participate in the project, providing feedback on the use and effectiveness of laser discs for disseminating agricultural information. Hardware required for this full text disc system and software for system operation and for searching the text are: a microcomputer with 512 kbytes of memory with monitor and mono-adapter card; a laser videodisc player; a controller with interface card; monochrome display monitor; parallel printer; and search software.

The system will work like the earlier system described, providing menus to guide users through the process of searching for any word or combination of words in the entire text of any publication on the disc to find information in the form of text or pictures, drawings, or graphs contained there.