June 1999 Newsletter - LANL Research Library

Intellectual property one of an organization's most important resources, and at Los Alamos National Laboratory this is keenly represented in patents. LANL staff have been getting United States patents since 1947, and the Research Library has obtained copies of all of them and converted the paper copies to PDF files.

These Los Alamos patents are now available through the Research Library's online catalog. To find patents in the online catalog, search for Title word "patent" AND another word search of your choice, such as title, author, or abstract word. Catalog records such as the one below provide identifying information, abstract, and URL link to the PDF on the WWW.

example of
patent record in the online catalog (9968 bytes)

example of
patent record in the online catalog (9968 bytes)

"More than 80% of all the technical knowledge in the world can be found in patent literature." -- European Patent Office

On June 1st, all of the books in the Research Library will be begin moving to a new location within the library. With the shift, all of the Main books will be closer together, the Dewey books will no longer be separated, and the Reference books will be physically apart from the circulating items. During the summer months, we will try to keep the chaos to a minimum, but some is inevitable. If our moving the books is intimidating to you, feel free to place an online hold and we'll send you the books as soon as possible. If we haven't scared you away yet, and you're still willing to visit the library, signs will be posted on a daily basis to help you find what you need. We expect that these changes will advantageous for you in the long term, and hope that you are patient with us until the project is completed. If you have any questions, please contact Lynn or Marie at 667-3063.

The Cox report (officially known as U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China) was made available to the public the last week of May. With much effort and great cooperation from the government bookstore in Pueblo, Colorado, the Research Library has managed to get 4 printed copies of the report. The initial press run was one copy for each federal depository library, and 300 copies available for purchase. The Research Library has one 3-volume set for the Reference Collection, one for reference in the report vault, and two which will circulate.

In addition to the printed copy, the Library's online catalog also has a link to the official online version (http://www.house.gov/coxreport). If you want to be placed on the waiting list for one of the circulating copies, you can place a hold from the online catalog, or call 7-4175 to have your name placed on the list.

The creation of services linking related information entities is an area that is attracting an ever increasing interest in the ongoing development of the World Wide Web in general, and of research-related information systems in particular. Currently, both practice and theory point at linking services as being a major domain for innovation enabled by digital communication of content. Publishers, subscription agents, researchers and libraries are all looking into ways to create added value by linking related information entities, as such presenting the information within a broader context estimated to be relevant to the users of the information.

These issues are explored in a two-part article in the April 1999 issue of D-Lib Magazine by Herbert Van de Sompel, currently working on the Library Without Walls Project at LANL. The first part describes the current state-of-the-art and contrasts various approaches to the problem. It identifies static and dynamic linking solutions as well as open and closed linking frameworks. It also includes an extensive bibliography. The second part, SFX, a Generic Linking Solution describes a system developed for linking in a hybrid working environment.

Work is underway on a new version of the linking system described in this D-Lib article, in a collaborative effort among LANL's Library Without Walls, the University of Ghent, and scholarly publishers Wiley and the American Physical Society.

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There are currently 1175 Los Alamos patents in the Research Library online catalog. Patents have increased significantly in recent years. The breakdown by decade is as follows:

6/2	Research Library Tour	1:00-1:30
6/2	Introduction to Electronic Library Resources	1:30-2:00
6/8	Grants & Funding on the WWW	1:00-1:30
6/9	Research Library Tour	1:00-1:30
6/10	SciSearch�/Social SciSearch� at LANL	1:00-1:30
6/15	What the Report Collection Can Do for You	1:00-1:30
6/16	Research Library Tour	1:00-1:30
6/23	Research Library Tour	1:00-1:30
6/23	Introduction to Electronic Library Resources	1:30-2:00
6/24	InfoSurfing: Basic Web Searching Strategies	2:00-4:00
6/29	Earth & Environmental Resources on the WWW	1:00-1:30
6/30	Research Library Tour	1:00-1:30

Classes are free. Pre-registration is appreciated. Register by email to library@lanl.gov or by calling the Library Service Desk at 7-5809. Please include your name, Z#, and the date and title of the session in your message.

Special classes and orientations can also be arranged; call 7-5809 for more information.

The name and e-mail address of the Library member who contributed an article appears at the end of the article. If you have comments or further questions, please contact that person. If you have general questions or comments about the Newsletter itself, please contact the Newsletter Editor, Kathy Varjabedian.

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