ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries chives and manuscripts from 1969 to 1978. Long active in the Historical Society of North Carolina, she was its president in 1974-1975. M a r j o r i e W h e e l e r , head of the Reference De­ partment at Lam ar University, Beaumont, Texas, retired January 31 after 15 years of service. Deaths Z i n a i d a C a r r , formerly at Lane Medical L i­ brary, Stanford University, died on March 10. M a r v i n W i l k s M c F a r l a n d , retired chief of the Science and Technology Division at the Library of Congress, died on February 25. He had come to LC in 1948 as an aeronautical historian after serving during World W ar II as chief archivist with the U.S. Strategic Air Forces and staff archivist to the commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. He was named assistant chief of the Division in 1963 and chief in 1966. J u l i a W a l d e n P l u m m e r , library director at L a ­ mar University from 1936 to 1967, died on April 6. C a t h a r i n e R e y n o l d s , former head of govern­ ment documents at the University of Colorado’s Norlin Library, died on April 18. She had retired in June 1984 after serving in that position since 1966. For 16 years before that she had been head of the Government Documents Library at the University of Iowa. ■ ■ NEW TECHNOLOGY •At the American Qptometric Association Sym­ osium on Vision in the High Tech Society in ashington on March 20, optometrist Vince King poke on the hazards associated with video display erminals (V D Ts). Common eye complaints of D T operators include headaches, blurred vision t near and far seeing distances, itching and burn­ ing eyes, eye fatigue, flickering sensations, and ouble vision. King said that routine data entry asks create the most complaints about vision, and hat bifocal wearers may be the most susceptible because the traditional bifocal is positioned too low and is probably too strong a power for looking at a V D T . King said that eyestrain can be reduced by restructuring mundane tasks, and he cited one study in which productivity improved and com­ plaints decreased when data entry was divided into 40-minute batches. Breaks were spent looking into the distance or doing tasks requiring minimum vis­ ual effort. •The Biblio-Techniques Library and Inform a­ tion System (BLIS) has been acquired by Indiana University for its circulation and technical process­ ing. W hen fully operational, the software will serve all Indiana University campuses. • Micrographic Systems of Connecticut, New Haven, has contracted with the Women’s History Research Center in Berkeley, California, to pro­ duce the Center’s publications on silver film. The Center distributes materials on women and his­ tory, law, health, and mental health. For more in­ formation, contact the Women’s History Research p W s t V a d t t Center, 2325 Oak St., Berkeley, CA 94708; (415) 548-1770. •The New York Library-Line (NYLINE) began operating on May 1 when over 50 libraries and li­ brary systems in the state launched a subset of the American Library Association’s electronic infor­ mation service, ALANET. NYLINE members can use ALANET for electronic mail service and obtain the New York State Library’s electronic newsletter, NYLINE News. The costs for the network are be­ ing supported by Title III Library Services and Construction Act funds. NYLINE members cur­ rently include 22 public library systems, 9 research library systems, and 12 school library systems. • The Pine Cone is marketing a light-weight vacuum cleaner called Mini-Vac that is designed for cleaning the hard-to-reach areas of microcom­ puters, typewriters, and other office equipment. Mini-Vac runs on a 9-volt alkaline battery, has two d iffe re n t in te rc h a n g e a b le w ands and b ristle brushes, and is only 5 inches long. The machine costs $29.95 (plus $2 handling) and may be ordered from the Pine Cone, Blake Building, Dept. CRN- 85, Box 1378, Gilroy, CA 95021. •The University of Michigan Library, Ann Ar­ bor, has acquired seventy Zenith-150 microcom­ puters for staff use from Zenith D ata Systems. Each 320K, dual-disc machine includes an internal modem, printer, and integrated software package. The selection of Zenith equipment was based on a review of available hardware by library staff and available pricing agreements for computer equip- 308 / C&RL News 310 / C& RL News m ent m ade w ith the University. Zenith has do­ n a te d an a d d itio n a l fifty Z enith-150 m achines w hich will be placed in the U n d erg rad u ate L i­ b rary ’s M icrocom puter C enter jointly operated by the L ibrary and the C om puter Center. Michigan plans to use its m icrocom puter network for word processing, electronic m ail, and electronic confer­ ences for staff to discuss issues and assist each other in using the machines more effectively. T he L ib rary expects th a t th e enhanced com ­ m unication capability will help tie together its geo­ graphically distributed staff. The availability of w ord processing and editing capabilities will p ro ­ vide critical support for w riting and m aintaining files of w ritten m aterial. Branch libraries will be able to access the L ib rary ’s holdings. The Library hopes to evaluate the im pact of the deploym ent of microcom puters am ong staff. Such a study m ight identify specific characteristics of the changes ta k ­ ing place in the library environm ent. • The University of Missouri Libraries have in- stalled an online catalog on campuses in Colum bia, Kansas City, Rolla, and St. Louis. The catalog, called LUMIN (Libraries of the University of Mis­ souri Inform ation Network), is based on software developed by the W ashington L ibrary Network. The W LN software was modified to operate as a user-friendly public access catalog. Missouri is also planning to acquire a Biblio–Techniques circula­ tion system. ■ ■ • A dm inistration, Personnel, Buildings and Equipment: A Handbook for Library Management, by D avid F. Kohl (304 pages, January 1985), de­ scribes the central findings of 800 survey articles re­ lating to these topics th a t have been draw n from li­ b ra ry lite r a tu r e in th e years 1960– 1983. T h e findings are grouped into 164 topical categories and listed chronologically by type of lib ra ry — academ ic, public, special, and school. Copies may be ordered for $35 from ABC-Clio Inform ation Services, P .O . Box 4397, S a n ta B a rb a ra , CA 93103. ISBN 0-87436-431-0. • American Family, a m onthly new sletter on fam ily policy an d p ro g ram s pub lish ed by th e Youth Policy Institute, offers in-depth features on current trends in family studies, extensive coverage of federal legislation, annotated bibliographies of relevant books, articles, and reports, and up-to- date news on people, organizations, and meetings. In 1983 the newsletter won a National Council on Fam ily Relations com m endation for coverage. The annual subscription is $55. W rite American F a m ­ ily, Youth Policy Institute, St. John’s Hall, C ard i­ nal Station, W ashington, DC 20064. • Automation and Reorganization of Technical and Public Services, SPEC Kit #112 (95 pages, March 1985), contains the results of a survey to de­ term ine the extent to w hich research libraries have reorganized staff and the role played by autom a­ tion in planning organizational change. The 14 documents included are program descriptions, o r­ ganization charts, recom m endations, and job de­ PUBLICA scriptions. SPEC kits are available by subscription from SPEC, Office of M anagem ent Studies, ARL, 1527 New H am pshire Ave., N .W ., W ashington, DC 20036. Individual kits are $20 postpaid. • The Bancroft Library Guide to the Book Arti- facts Collection, by Flora Elizabeth Reynolds (48 pages, 1985), describes the L ib rary ’s collection th a t documents the developm ent of w riting and p rin t­ ing. The classification and organization scheme is outlined in the guide, which also features illustra­ tions of some of the printing artifacts and type or­ nam ents. Copies are $5 and may be ordered from Anthony Bliss, Rare Book L ibrarian, Bancroft L i­ b ra ry , U niversity of C a lifo rn ia , Berkeley, CA 94720. • The Barchas Collection: The Making o f Mod- ern Science (89 pages, 1985) describes the Stanford University L ibrary’s collection of scientific works in the history of science and ideas w hich includes 2,000 rare books and pam phlets dating from the 15th through the 20th century. The works featured were selected for an exhibition held early this year to dedicate the Samuel I. and Cecile M. Barchas Room and the acquisition of the Barchas collec­ tion. Copies are available for $14 from the Publica­ tion Sales Office, Green L ibrary, Stanford Univer­ sity, Stanford, CA 94305. ISBN 0-911221-03-4. • Black Studies: A Catalog o f Selected Doctoral Dissertation Research (34 pages, 1985) contains ci­ tations to 1,744 dissertations and theses published betw een 1979 and 1984 w hich are available from University Microfilms International in microform TIONS