Media Works Column. Putting Internet Gopher to Work for You! by Carl Snow.

MEDIA WORKS COLUMN

Putting Internet Gopher to Work for You!

by Carl Snow
MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v.2 no.2, Fall 1994:127-133.

Media centers are taking advantage of the instant communications provided by modern computers and networks to communicate policies, collection contents, campus TV schedules, equipment operation instructions, and a great variety of other information to their patrons. Increasingly, electronic mail (e-mail), electronic bulletin boards, and other programs are being used in everyday operations. One popular system for communicating with users is called Internet Gopher. Developed by the University of Minnesota initially as a document delivery system, Internet Gopher now performs many other functions. This article will focus on using Internet Gopher as a catalog publishing mechanism.

Particularly, the process of manipulating data from a common database system and formatting it for publishing on the Internet Gopher system.

PURDUE'S STARTING POINT

Purdue has had its media database in machine readable form since 1968. Having had the database on a CDC mainframe, an IBM mainframe, then a UNIX super micro, and presently on a Macintosh, one can see that the power of computers has expanded dramatically over the past 25 years. Except for the first move, each time the database has moved to a smaller machine without compromising any accessibility. Today, Purdue's system uses off-the-shelf software, namely Filemaker Pro from Claris and Word for the Macintosh from Microsoft. With both of these products available at an attractive price for Windows and Macintosh systems, readers will be able to replicate much of the system at their own locations. Many educational institutions are able to purchase each for less than $100.00 per application.

At the Purdue IMC, our approach is to create a single entry for each title. In addition to all of the standard information, we assign each entry to a subject specific catalog. While we

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believe that all of our entries must be in the Libraries on-line catalog, we also know many patrons wish to browse a catalog of media that applies to a specific topic. The mainframe based catalog gives the Media Center a presence right along side of the Libraries print oriented material, reminding patrons that other media resources are useful in securing information. The information comes from the single Filemaker database and is uploaded to the Libraries NOTIS system, and then made available as a subject catalog (in print and on-line). What I will focus on in this document is the production and delivery of the subject oriented media catalogs via Internet Gopher.

Let's review the process of cataloging. The media cataloger reviews the item to be cataloged noting, in particular, the exact title as it appears on the item's opening frame. The Media cataloger enters data into a data entry form.

Cataloging Input Form THOR (Updt / New) Title ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, PROGRAM 4: MATERIAL RECOVERY
Sort Title ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS PROGRAM 4 MATERIAL RECOVERY
Physical Notes (VHS format) (1 guide)
Format VIDEOCASSETTE
Sound SOUND
Color COLOR
Length 30 Min.
Producer SWANWES
Production Year 1990
Audience Level C G
Rent $3.75
Circulation
Restriction FOR RENT
Location INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA CENTER
Description Presents Jerry Powell, editor, discussing what we should be doing to improve recycling efforts. Senator Vern Ehlers, of Michigan voices his concerns over the lack of care

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about too much environmental waste and stresses the need for more recycling programs. Donna Engstrom focuses on managing household toxic waste and educating the public on buying smarter and using proper disposal methods.

Series
Subject WASTE PRODUCTS; POLLUTION; RECYCLING (WASTE, ETC.); HAZARDOUS WASTES
Catalog Number 121219
Acquisition Method DEPOSITED
Date Acquired 2/18/92
Contract Expiration
Vendor CES
Shelf Number VC2800
Cost
Cooperating Dept. Contribution Catalog
FILM LIB Ecology &
Conservation
----------------------------------------------------------------- This program has many advantages. It is possible to set up the form using "plain English" prompts rather than special codes. The input forms are very flexible and can be changed by departmental staff as needed, rather than calling upon a centralized data processing center for programming assistance. Many fields use pre-defined lists of variables that are available, making data entry very consistent. Once the data is entered it is exported for loading into the Libraries NOTIS system.

Periodically a staff member will update our subject oriented catalogs. This person performs a "find" for a catalog name. All of the entries that have matched the search are returned with the results then "sorted" and "exported" in Microsoft Word merge format to a text file. Filemaker Pro exits and starts up Microsoft Word with a pre-defined template. Using the Microsoft "merge" feature, the staff member then prints a file that is suitable for publishing via Internet Gopher. This is the overview, now we will focus on the exact steps on how to do this; first looking at the Filemaker Pro procedures, and then the Microsoft Word data formatting steps.

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Having nearly 80% of the Macintosh database market, Filemaker Pro offers a well developed support system for users, including tutorials and other instructional aids. Since it is a flat file database, novice computer users can easily design their own database files. Filemaker Pro also possesses an essential feature for locating unstructured information, key word indexing.

With this feature, a user can type in one or two words from an annotation, title, or other field and find one or more matching records. These searches are performed with sufficient speed to meet the demands of most users. Filemaker Pro is designed for a limited number of simultaneous users though, not a large campus information retrieval system. It is however an excellent device for producing our subject catalogs. We can exploit its scripting capabilities to record the many steps in the catalog production process, thus reducing the training that the librarian needs to produce the catalogs. Often, one script will run 6 to 12 successive commands without the knowledge of the operator.

During the cataloging process, the Librarian selects from a scrolling list of the available catalogs to assign each new entry to one or more Mini Catalogs. Using a selection list can reduce the occurrence of typographical errors and increase retrieval reliability.

As mentioned previously, script files greatly simplify the production of the catalogs. I have stored the necessary commands such as find and export in the Filemaker Pro database so the operator can simply select the Mini Catalog production script and execute it. Filemaker Pro brings up a "find" screen, and the operator fills in the search string and clicks on "continue". Filemaker Pro does the search, sorts the results and prompts the operator for a file name. The file name is entered and the operator waits for the data to be exported in a Microsoft Word merge file format. Filemaker Pro starts up Word with the proper template and stops its own execution, leaving the operator with a familiar word processor screen.

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Here is an example of my script. All of the numbered steps have been stored as a menu item that an operator can select. The script name is Mini Catalog Production. The script elements are:
1)Enter Browse Mode
2)Go to data input layout
3)Enter find mode (The scrip pauses and the operator enters the search criteria.)
4)Perform find is executed
5)Go to redirect layout (This formats each entry for catalog display)
6)The script executes the sort command to put the entries in alphabetical order based on title.
7)Data is exported (copied from Filemaker Pro to a MS Word merge file)
8)MS Word is now started and the operator switches to that program to complete the task.

Within the Word program, the operator selects "print merge", choosing "merge" and saving to a new file. The print merge template places the data in a traditional catalog entry arrangement and sets the required font and margins.

Below is a sample print merge template.
1) <>
2) <> [<<producer>> - <<production_year>> 3) <<IF physical_notes>> <<physical_notes>> 4) <<ENDIF>> <<disp_shelf>> <<aud_level>> <<col>> <<sou>> <<len>> 5) <<description>> 6) <<IF series>> <<series>> 7) <<ENDIF>> <<subject>> 8) ***************************************************************** 9) The template file, commonly known as stationary in the Macintosh world, is preset to print using 12 point Courier font and uses margins to force the maximum line length to 72 characters. Courier is a mono spaced font allowing the user to predict the number of characters per line, a necessity when preparing text *Page 131* files for display on a variety of computers. The above set of print merge commands is used to place the data in the output file. Each print merge command or data element is surrounded by international quote marks "<< >>" Line 1 tells Microsoft Word where to find the data that is to be merged. In this case, the data comes from a file called "gopher cat", located in the "catalog proc." folder that is stored on the disk named "Disney". If we used this exact line, it would leave a blank line at the start of the output file. To prevent this, you can format the line as hidden text or place it on the same line as number 2. Line 2 takes the title data producer code and production year and places them together on the same line. Additionally, the producer code is separated from the production year with a "-", and the resulting combination is surrounded with square brackets. Line 3 looks at the physical notes field and checks to make sure that there is data before it prints that particular field. This technique assures the user that the entry does not contain any blank lines. Line #185# ends the physical notes command and the miscellaneous information line. The remainder of the entry is self explanatory. After running the print merge, the operator inserts the ordering instructions stored in the Microsoft Word glossary. Finally the operator performs some global editing to remove any accidentally entered characters. The operator inserts his/her name as the responsible party for the product and inserts the date of publication. Finally the operator saves the file in "text only with line breaks" format. The final step is to transfer the file to the Internet Gopher server. Our method uses file transfer protocol (ftp) to transfer the file. Other methods include disks, and e-mail. Whatever method is used depends on your local hardware configuration. Catalogs prepared in this manner usually require a minimum of time to be completed, sometimes in as little as 10 minutes. As *Page 132* soon as they are installed on the server they are available to the entire campus and world. Some items can be in publication in as little time as one week from the date of receipt. On the downside to this process, there is very little that can be done regarding typographical emphasis. Typically, the only font used is a mono space font similar to Courier and there are simply no graphics available. Some products are available to allow for the cross platform publication of documents including special fonts and graphical elements. Several come to mind very quickly: Farallon's Replica, Adobe's Acrobat and NoHands' Common Ground as well as postscript files. Each one lets a user on a specific brand of machine see a document that was published on another machine, with all of the original fonts and graphics. Such programs are typically very easy to operate and work in conjunction with a person's word processor. The program simply redirects the word processor's output to a file rather than a printer. <a name="carl">Carl E. Snow is Media Librarian, Purdue University Instructional Media Center. His e-mail address is Carl@Smart.Lib.Purdue.Edu</a> MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship V2#2 Fall 1994 ISSN 1069-6792 October 1994 This article is copyright (C) 1994 by Carl Snow. All Rights Reserved. MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship is copyright (C) 1994 by Lori Widzinski. All commercial use requires permission. *Page 133* Back to <a href="http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v2n2/">v2n2 Table of Contents</a> Back to <a href="http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/">MC Journal</a> Homepage </body></html>