By CARMEN DURLAN
After two years of evaluation and negotiation, the Brigham Young Libraries Information Network (BYLINE) computer system in the Harold B. Lee Library will be replaced with a different software program from Ameritech Library Services.
The new program, Horizon Automated Library Systems, is being implemented by 11 Utah colleges and universities, including BYU, as part of an inter-university contract.
The new program will result in better computer links and searching ability between schools within Utah and around the world, said Paul Jordan, assistant university librarian for technical services.
Horizon will not be in service until September 1997, but installation should begin late this summer or early fall, Jordan said.
Once installed and tested, Horizon will replace both BYLINE and the card catalog, he said.
One similarity of Horizon to BYLINE is the way a search is performed. However, Horizon will have better links between schools and will enable more complex searches from remote databases, such as the Library of Congress, Jordan said.
“With the new system, users will be able to access nearly 100 million titles through the on-line catalogs at other academic libraries in this country and around the world,” Jordan said.
Horizon will support the full-text retrieval of more publications and illustrations and the ability for Utah citizens to access Horizon on their personal computers using a modem.
Another benefit is that Horizon’s smaller hardware is more powerful, faster and will use less electricity. The software is more user-friendly, mostly because it runs in a Windows environment, Jordan said.
“(Horizon is an) open-system environment, which will allow mixing and matching of computer hardware and software in order to customize local systems to their library’s needs,” Jordan said.
All forms of media, including video, sound and photography, can be called up on computers using the Horizon system, Jordan said.
BYLINE, in contrast, is essentially a DOS-based program using traditional keyboard commands. With Horizon, users will be able to call up several applications or programs at once.
Using a point-and-click device, such as a mouse or track pad, users can click on icons or files and drag them to different parts of the screen. Some computers will have the ability to cut and paste information from one screen to another, Jordan said.
This means that a student writing a paper could call up the full text of a document and insert a quote and citation into his paper without having to retype the quote.
The HBLL will have full-service workstations which will be able to read CDs and access the Internet, World Wide Web, e-mail and students’ work from a floppy disk, Jordan said. Limited service workstations will facilitate only library searches.
Horizon will be running on a client/server hard drive architecture instead of the present mainframe computer. “With this hardware, more information can be passed from server to client,” Jordan said.
“The server is the background computer (containing) databases and indexes to access the data. The client refers to the actual (computer) that has software and will format search requests so that the user will recognize what he is getting back,” he said.
