This is the second in a series of reviews of library resources for Quaternary scientists. The last review (Naldrett, 1994) covered Canada and the USA, and this one Scandinavia and the UK. The next review will cover the Pacific rim- Australia, New Zealand, and some Asian countries.
On reviewing the available resources, two problems are apparent: volume (number of databases) and language (not English).
Using the HYTELNET facility, there are 10 sources for Sweden, 11 for Finland, and 1 for Norway which comprises about 25 connected institutions. There are 90-95 listings for the UK, making even a representative review nearly impossible. The reviews are just a sample of what is available. Thus, I have started with better known universities and omitted many. If your favorite institution was left out- maybe next time!
The language problem is more difficult. Since most of us have at best a rudimentary knowledge of Scandinavian languages, we must rely on their systems to give simple instructions for switching to English. Unfortunately, systems handle languages with varying degrees of success. The best way to find out is to experiment - there are no clear successes or failures, but many hybrids. At least one system (BIBSYS in Norway) completely stopped me from searching in English with HYTELNET. Switching to searches by Gopher, I found an excellent system in English.
The problem also arises when searching for subjects. Although most systems can convert the screen display to English, this does nothing to solve the problem of material written in other languages. Although you may be searching for something in English, if the title or keywords are, say, in Swedish, then you will not find them. You are limiting your searches to the English literature in a foreign library, which may not be a significant part of their holdings.
There are also some rather idiosyncratic ways of searching for topics. Although quite outdated, the term, "drift" still often produces better search results than the term "till". You should forget using "dia- micton"--it is too new to be used in the keyword classification. Particularly with Scandinavian languages, "till" is such a common word, and does not mean glacial debris, so it is nearly useless to search for it. Terms such as "tephra" are often not used in favor of "volcanic ash". Similarly, "beetle" (common in colloquial language) is rarely found, but "Coleoptera" gives many results.
AU CA EU KU LUI LUU NE OU SOU UW FN JU CH GU LU SU UU BI
Arctic 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 5 3 4 2 5 5 4 4
Antarctic 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 2 1 1 3 5 4 4
beetle/Coleoptera 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 2 0 3 3 5 4 4
diatom 2 2 3 2 1 3 2 3 2 2 3 3 0 1 4 4 4 4
fjord/fiord 2 2 1 3 1 2 0 2 2 2 2 1 2 3 5 2 3 5
foraminifera 3 4 4 3 4 5 5 4 4 4 3 1 2 2 5 4 3 5
glacier 4 3 4 4 2 2 4 5 3 3 4 2 1 2 3 3 4 4
glaci(o)marine/lacu 2 1 2 0 1 0 4 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 3
limnology 3 5 3 2 3 4 4 3 3 4 3 2 3 1 5 3 3 4
ostracod(a) 5 3 3 3 3 5 5 4 3 3 2 0 0 2 4 4 3 3
periglacial/permafr 4 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 4 2 4 5
pollen 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 3 4 4 4 5
radiocarbon 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 2 2 3 4 2 3 3
tephra 1 1 1 2 3 2 2 0 2 3 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 3
thermoluminescence 3 3 3 0 0 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 1 4 4 1 3 2
till 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 2 2
TOTAL: 54 54 48 42 41 51 56 49 43 50 46 25 23 32 59 47 53 60
Figure 1. Library search ratings. See test for abbreviations.
Short descriptions of places reviewed are given below, with instructions for logging in. Ranking of the resources found at each location are given in the table. Two-and 3-letter names for each location used in the table are given below. Countries of origin are indicated as follows: SCO=Scotland; ENG=England; WAL=Wales; SWE=Sweden; FIN=Finland; NOR=Norway.
AU = Aberdeen University (SCO);
CA = Cambridge University (ENG);
EU = Edinburgh University (SCO);
KU = Keele University (ENG);
LUI = London University, Imperial College (ENG);
LUU = London University, University Coll. (ENG);
NE = National Environmental Res. Council(ENG);
OU = Oxford University (ENG);
SOU = Southampton University (ENG);
UW = University of Wales (WAL);
FN = Finland National Library (HELKA) (FIN);
JU = Joensuu University (FIN);
CH = Chalmers University of Technology (SWE);
GU = University of Gothenburg (SWE);
LU = Lund University (SWE);
SU = Stockholm University (SWE);
UU = University of Uppsala (SWE);
BI = BIBSYS Database (NOR).
Telnet library.abdn.ac.uk or 139.133.220.1
To login, type "library" and choose 3 for VT100 emulation.
Cambridge University (ENG) - awkward searching, with too many keystrokes to request a search. Very good in the traditional areas, but weaker in newer, less traditional areas.
Telnet ipgate.cam.ac.uk or 131.111.12.21
To exit, type "end" at any command prompt.
Edinburgh University (SCO) - very easy searching and display using the GEAC system. Like Cambridge, good on the traditional subjects, but weaker on the newer or less traditional areas.
Telnet geac.ed.ac.uk or 129.215.128.40
To login, follow instructions that appear on screen.
Keele University (ENG) - very nice display, function keys work as they should, and searching is not case sensitive for fast browsing.
Telnet potter.cc.keele.ac.uk or 160.5.2.101
Login as opac, with password library. Then choose 1- opac searches.
To exit, follow instructions given at login.
London University, Imperial College (ENG) - nice search system, NOT case sensitive.
Telnet vaxa.lib.ic.ac.uk or 155.198.4.2
Type library for the user name.
London University, University College (ENG) -
Telnet lib.ucl.ac.uk or 128.40.20.220
Use user name of library, and choose terminal type 8 (other), NOT 1 (VT
100), because it will cause the screen to flash and display odd
characters. To exit, follow instructions.
National Environmental Research Council (ENG) - probably one of the best single sources of information in the UK.
Telnet sun.nsf.sc.uk or 128.86.8.7
Login as janet; for password hit [return]; for hostname use uk.ac.nkw.vf;
for user name, use library. Select 1 for VT100 emulation. To exit, type
exit.
Oxford University (ENG) - poor display, but good holdings. Probably one of the best general sources.
Telnet library.ox.ac.uk or 129.67.1.46
To login, type VT100 for the terminal type, and then choose 14 (Earth
Sciences Library).
Southampton University (ENG) - good searching mechanisms. Best search type is the keyword searching all categories (title, category, etc.)
Telnet lib.soton.ac.uk or 152.78.128.14
To login, type library.
University of Wales, College of Cardiff (WAL) - has an awkward display with too many keystrokes for searches.
Telnet liby.cf.ac.uk or 131.251.2.3
For user name, type science.
Telnet hyk.helsinki.fi or 128.214.4.130
At login: type "hello yourname.user.class02"
At terminal type screen menu, type 5 for
Scandinavian ASCII 7-bit terminal
At the location code prompt (Anna kokelma), enter 100
At the prompt for language change (Anna uusi...),
change the language of help screens and VTLS
messages to English by entering /lang 1
To exit, type /quit
Joensuu University (FIN) - average searching, but fairly typical for the Finland systems in general.
Telnet joyk.joensuu.fi or 128.214.14.103
At the HP3000/935 prompt, enter
"hello yourname,user.class01"
Select terminal type 4
At the Anna kokoelma prompt, enter 100
At the Anna uusi komento prompt, enter /lang 1 for English
To quit, type /quit
Chalmers University of Technology (SWE) - much better searching and viewing than Gothenburg (same city), but fewer earth science holdings.
Telnet cth.lib.chalmers.se or 129.16.86.70
Login with username "chans". At the alternative menu (the first), choose
3 to change languages.
At the language menu (next), choose 1 for English.
University of Gothenburg (SWE) - keyword search doesn't work well; best searching is by title. Other libraries are available from this service (for example Chalmers).
Telnet gunda.ub.gu.se or 130.241.30.253
To switch to English type "\lang 1"
Choose the central library (#4400)
Lund University (SWE) - one of the best Swedish sources. Keyword searches work much better than title or subject searches.
Telnet lolita.lu.se
Select terminal type 10, or if you have a terminal that supports the
Scandinavian 7-bit ASCII, select 4
Enter 100 as the location code
To select English, type \lang 1
To exit, type /quit, and to confirm, type y
Stockholm University (SWE) - another of the best Swedish sources. Title searches work best.
Telnet fog.tele.su.se or 130.237.162.5
For username, type sub
At Tryck nu prompt, enter 1 for English version
To exit, enter end
University of Uppsala (SWE) - keyword searches useless, subject searches OK, title searches sometimes best.
Telnet udac1.udac.uu.se or 130.238.4.130
At the "Enter address" prompt, type disa
At the terminal type prompt, select 10
At the "ANGE KOD F\R Biblioteksenset/AVD"
prompt, type 100
Type /lang 1 for English.
BIBSYS (NOR) - is a shared database for all Norwegian university libraries and research institutions. There are about 30 places on the list. Using HYTELNET, this database could not be searched or read in English. Using Gopher, an excellent system in English was used. It has a good display and is very fast. It is not clear what the default search type is, and changing to another search type is not obvious. While BIBSYS received the highest rating of the facilities tested, it should be remembered that the holdings represented by BIBSYS are the collective holdings of 11 different institutions. It is also awkward to find out where a particular holding is located.
Telnet castor.bibsys.no or 128.39.9.9 (this method
not recommended)
Press [enter] to accept terminal type VT100
At LOGG INN, type vm xx00bi01
Password is bibsys.
Gopher gopher.bibsys.no (highly recommended)
System comes up in English and has rapid searching with good holdings.
Every item has a unique "DOKID", which identifies the year of input (dig-
its 1 & 2), library code (digit 3 & in some cases 4) and a serial number,
e.g.:
78c000123
The a,b,c etc. refers to the institution holding the item, e.g.: