Issue 10

SCIS 3rd Edition Subject Headings Book

This publication is now finished and available from the publisher, D W Thorpe on (03) 245 7370. The publication is for sale at $58 not $55 as previously advertised.

Voyager Implementation

Curriculum Corporation will soon take delivery of the first module of the Voyager software, ASCII OPAC. This is the module that will be first offered to schools and the Voyager module that has been customised most to meet Curriculum Corporation's requirements. This module will not only give schools better searching options than the current system but also allow schools to order products, ie. cards and Machine Readable Records (MRR) at the point of searching, rather than within another module as is the current situation. For the Information Program staff, the arrival of the first part of the system will be the commencement of an extensive testing and trialing period to accept the software, and also the part fulfilment of a project that began nearly three years ago. In the next CONNECTIONS I hope to include some screen pictures of the new ASCII OP AC.

Communications

As I have reported in earlier editions of CONNECTIONS, aligned to the Voyager project has been an ongoing search to find the best and most cost effective network to carry the new software to schools.

Currently the full dial-up service is available by a local phone call in capital cities and STD from the country plus a limited (searching only) access via AUSTPAC. The Voyager project stipulated that at the minimum, AUSTPAC access had to be available for all schools and that the system had to provide full-functionality over this communications network or a similar service. An additional stipulation was to forecast the future information needs of schools with regard to dialling up to remote databases and to make this access as cost effective as possible.

Curriculum Corporation has investigated a number of communications options including: the current Dial up service (ie. Can we use it but improve it, and also make it cheaper?); AARnet (the network used by universities in Australia for communications within Australia and overseas); AUSTPAC; and a newer option called SprintNet. SprintNet is known as the carrier for the '13' phone members in Australia, but can be configured to be a private network carrying data and electronic mail.

Curriculum Corporation is investigating all these options at present and will have the answer by the next edition of CONNECTIONS.