NEWSLETTER
THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
LIBRARIES
hI
CALENDAR
Information on all workshops,
conferences, etc. are posted on the
bulletin board by the second floor
Staff Lounge in Library West.
IMPORTANT DATES
March 7,1990
Spring Book Sale, 9:00 a.m.-4:00
p.m., Library West Colonnade. Tell
your friends!
March 14,1990
Lunch and bake sale in Staff Lounge
on second floor of Library West to
raise funds for staff to attend
Paralibrarian Caucus during FLA.
See page 8 for details.
March 14,1990
"Management Overview" session on
ACCESS, UF computerized employ-
ment system, 10:00 a.m., 420 Library
West. Limited to Directors,
Department Chairs and Office
Heads; certified interviewers will be
introduced to new system later.
March 16,1990
Steering Committee Meeting for the
upcoming Florida Paralibarian Cau-
cus to be held in May, Santa Fe
Community College, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
See page 8 for more details.
March 27,1990
CMS E-mail training, 10:00 a.m., 420
Library West. Contact Suzy Shaw
of Systems (2-0796) to sign up.
March 30,1990
Systems Forum, 11:00 a.m.-noon,
420 Library West. See page 7 for
details.
VOLUME 6, NUMBER 3
March 1,1990
JAN SWANBECK'S EFFORTS EARN DOCUMENTS AWARD
J an Swanbeck, Chair of the Documents Department, has been selected as
the 1989 recipient of the CIS/GODORT/ALA "Documents to the
People" Award. This tribute is made annually to the individual and/or
group that most effectively encouraged the use of federal documents in
support of library services.
Jan, along with Smittie Bolner of LSU, Laura Tull of Texas A&M, and Barbara
Kile of Rice, were recognized for their landmark achievement in editing the
U.S. Government Printing Office MARC cataloging tape. While the produc-
tion of this revised tape represents a new and superior bibliographic product
for accessing federal documents, the ALA/GODORT Awards Committee also
cited Jan's flexibility and willingness to take on new labors throughout the
project as major factors in her selection.
For her efforts, Jan will be awarded a certificate at the CIS Breakfast during
the American Library Association annual convention in Chicago. In addition,
she will also receive a $2,000.00 stipend to be assigned to the project of her
choice. The Documents Department would like to invite anyone attending
ALA this summer to come to the CIS Breakfast and help salute Jan for a job
well done!!
For a close-up view of Jan's work, simply search the LUIS database for one of
the more than 200,000 records for government documents recently added to
UFs database. The majority of these records will appear in the UD process-
ing unit with the Main Library, Documents as the holding library. However,
these records were loaded to also reflect the document holdings of the
Marston Science Library and the Map Collection.
Gary Cornwell
LIBRARY ORGANIZATIONS
In this issue we continue our series on library organizations.
THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC DATA USERS (APDU)
to create linkages and interactions among statistical or numeric data
users, the producers of these computer files, and their distributors.
The organization is strongly committed to increasing the knowledge
of new sources of numeric data and to increasing the awareness of
major federal agencies about the requirements of statistical data for policy
continued on next page 1
OTHER DATES OF INTEREST
March 8,1990
OCLC Reference Update, 8:30 a.m.-
4:30 p.m., Arlington. Free; preregister
with OCLC.
March 8,1990
"Custom Item Conversion," Tampa Bay
Library Consortium workshop, 8:30
a.m.-4:00 p.m., $50.
March 9,1990
"SEFLIN Spring Workshop and Mem-
bership Meeting, featuring "Issues con-
fronting Libraries in the 1990's" by
Anne Beaubien, and "Alternate Sources
for Library Funding" by R. Weinstein
and J. Bragginton, Ft. Lauderdale, $15
for members, $20 for non-members (in-
cludes lunch).
March 9,1990
"Desktop Design: Fundamentals of De-
sign for Desktop Publishing,"
Promotional@ Perspectives Seminar,
Tampa, $295.
March 9,1990
EPIC workshop, 10 a.m.-noon, Rich-
mond. Free; preregister with SOLINET.
March 11-14,1990
"Issues for the New Decade: Preserva-
tion, The Serials Dilemma, The Role and
Effectiveness of the Public Library, and
The Legislative Agenda," Florida State
University, Tallahassee, $200.
March 12,1990
"The One Minute Manager," Career-
Track@ Seminar, Gainesville, $95.
March 13,1990
"Powerful Business Writing Skills," Na-
tional Seminars Group, Gainesville, $98.
March 14-16,1990
EDUCOM's "The National Research
and Education Network: A Strategic Al-
liance," Washington, D.C. Fee is $295
before and $345 after February 16.
March 19,1990
EPIC workshop, 24 p.m., Lexington.
Free; preregister with SOLINET.
March 19, April 3, April 25,1990
"How to Write, Design & Edit Newslet-
ters," sponsored by Clemson
and research. Currently APDU members number over 200. Membership in-
cludes academic institutions, private corporations, planning agencies, research
institutes, local, state, and federal agencies, and individuals. The University of
Florida Libraries has been a member since the Association was organized. The
computerized 1970 Census of Population and Housing created a revolution in
the use of statistics and their usage in both the areas of policy and research. For
the first time data for very small areas could be stored and retrieved. Time-
series data for many complex variables could be analyzed for research
purposes and policy-making. Federal agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics, the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Energy soon began
to produce numeric data in computerized format.
The Association of Public Data Users was originally formed by members of the
Census Bureau, the Princeton University Computer Center, and several private
consulting firms. The computerized data that the federal agencies have created
and distributed also changed the concepts of marketing in business. Today the
membership of APDU has groups of many kinds all of which are dependent
upon government statistical data in computerized format for their missions.
Within the last few years more libraries have participated. Numeric and statis-
tical data collections are now being accessed through libraries, especially re-
search libraries. These include university libraries such as the University of
Florida Libraries, Stanford Libraries, Vassar Library, and the University of
Michigan Library. APDU members include all the major federal agencies in-
cluding the Library of Congress, and major industries, such as Martin-Marietta,
Bell Laboratories, and Dun and Bradstreet, as well as the major Social Sciences
Research Centers at Columbia and the University of North Carolina. Of
course, all the major demographic firms, such as CACCI, Woods and Poole
Economics Inc., are members. A list of members reads like a combination of
every major group requiring data in the United States.
The Association of Public Data Users also functions as a very powerful lobby
for data users in every area with major federal agencies. The APDU office is at
the Princeton Computer Center. Major committees have been formed to work
with the Census Bureau for the 1990 Census. During the 1980's the administra-
tion cut many of the statistical services and decided that the government did
not have a responsibility to distribute major data files, without cost, to citizens
or interested groups. APDU worked diligently with the Office of Management
and Budget and the U. S. Congress to create a more democratic concept of the
responsibilities of government with regard to the creation and dissemination of
statistical data.
There is a meeting of the Association of Public Data Users every October.
APDU also publishes a membership Directory which lists all of the members
and the data services they provide. The Directory provides information about
the particular organization, its address, telephone number, the products and
services it provides, the scope/subject matter of these data services, publica-
tions, and clientele. The Census and other data services of the University of
Florida Libraries are listed in an entry.
The APDU Newsletter, which is published monthly, has very current informa-
tion on new statistical services, datasets, and information about their distribu-
tion. Listings of statistical sources in print, microfiche, computer tape, floppy
disks, and CD-ROM are given. The people who belong to APDU are really
professional data users and massagers of data. Computer network addresses,
electronic bulletin board information, etc. are also listed. The Newsletter is espe-
cially helpful for new developments with the 1990 Census.
Currently it is the 1990 Census in computerized format that all groups must
deal with. The new developments for the Census of Population and Housing
continued on next page L;
as well as the economic censuses in CD-ROM format are especially impor-
tant. The Census Bureau has made a major commitment to publishing in
CD-ROM format. At the October meetings there are always representatives
from the various units within the Census Bureau who discuss the new de-
velopments and their impact. The Census Bureau has decided that CD-
ROM is a great technological advance in the information world and will be-
come a major publisher of its data utilizing this format.
The writer feels he has been especially fortunate to attend the meetings and
to have electronic mail contact with the major members in federal and
states agencies. All the major members of APDU have access to an electron-
ic conference system. The majority also have access to BITNET, INTER-
NET, and NSFNET. The communication systems enable members to keep
in touch with the newest developments in computerized data. In the area of
collection management, advanced reference services in statistical areas, and
development of new MRDF formats it has been of invaluable help. The
University of Florida Libraries was one of the first institutions to join
APDU and certainly one of the very first library systems to support this dy-
namic and innovative group.
Ray Jones
FROM THE DEPARTMENTS
ACQUISITIONS
Committee Appointment
Doina Farkas, chair of the Department, has recently been appointed as liai-
son to ALA's Disaster Relief Committee. Doina and Opritsa Popa, Business
Reference Librarian at the University of California at Davis will have spe-
cial responsibility as the co-chairs for the ALA Romanian Relief effort.
AFA LIBRARY
Indian Art Display
On display at the AFA Library are Indian miniature paintings, on loan from
the Ham Museum of Art, for examination by students of Roy Craven, Art
Department.
New Books List
AFA Library has published for the past two years a monthly list of New
Books Received. If you would like to receive this list regularly, contact Ed
Teague, AFA Library.
Election to Office in National Organization
Ed Teague, Head of the AFA Library, has been elected Secretary of the As-
sociation of Architecture School Librarians, a group affiliated with the As-
sociation of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, the professional body of ar-
chitectural educators.
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES REFERENCE
The Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Department welcomes Razia
Nanji, who joined the staff in December. Razia, formerly of St. Joseph's
University, Philadelphia, is working primarily in reference services as well
as assisting Peter Malanchuk, African Bibliographer, in collection manage-
ment for the African Studies Program. Razia received her Bachelor's of Ed-
ucation from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and her Master's in
Education from McGill University in geography education. In addition to a
continued on next page 0
University. Jacksonville, Tampa, and Or-
lando, respectively, $250.
March 22,1990
"Service Management" or "Copyright,"
Tampa Bay Library Consortium work-
shops, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., $50 ($40 if regis-
tration is postmarked by March 8).
March 22,1990
American Business Women's Association,
"Power Communication Skills for Women,"
Gainesville, $48.
March 22,1990
"Leadership & Supervisory Skills for
Women," National Businesswomen's Lead-
ership Workshop, Gainesville, $59.
March 23,1990
"E-Mail/Bulletin Boards" or "Managing Ex-
cellent Service," Tampa Bay Library Con-
sortium workshops, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., $50
($40 if registration is postmarked by
March 9).
March 26-27,1990
"Running Your Library Like a Business,"
sponsored by Special Libraries Association,
Tampa, including Florida Chapter meeting
on 3/27. $95 for SLA members.
April 9,1990
'The Leadership Breakfast" for managers,
sponsored by CareerTrack Seminars, 8:00 -
10:30 a.m. (breakfast buffet from 7:00-8:00
a.m.), $39.
April 15, 1990
Deadline for 1990-91 Library/Book Fellow
program. See February issue for details.
April 18,1990
National Seminars, "Conflict Management
& Negotiation Skills," Gainesville, $89.
April 26,1990
"Successful Communication Skills," Fred
Pryor Seminars, Gainesville, $99.
May 2,1990
"How to Work with People," National Ca-
reer Workshop, Jacksonville, $59.
May 2,1990
"Finance & Accounting for Nonfinancial
Managers & Supervisors," Fred Pryor Semi-
nars, Gainesville, $195.
May 2-18,1990
Library Administrators Development Pro-
gram, sponsored by University of Maryland,
$2,195. Application deadline is April 1.
May 7 and 9,1990
'Newsletter Editing, Design and Production,"
Promotional Perspectives Seminar, Orlando
and Tallahassee respectively, $270.
May 7-11,1990
Florida Library Association Conference, Dayto-
na Beach. Pre-registration is $35 for FLA mem-
bers, and $80 for non-members; one-day regis-
tration is $25 for FLA members, and $40 for
non-members.
May 8,1990
Florida Paralibrarian Caucus meeting, 2-5
p.m., during FLA (see above). See page 8 for
details. Contact Judy Harrell or Jim Leavy in
Catalog (392-0351) to sign up for rides.
May 13-19,1990
"Microcomputing in the 1990's: Unlocking the
Power," 1990 Mid-Year Meeting of the Ameri-
can Society for Information Science, Fort Lau-
derdale.
May 16-17,1990
First National Conference on Acquisitions,
Budgets, Collections. St. Louis. See page 6 for
more information.
July 23-27,1990
Institute for Applied Management, "Employee
Relations Law Program," Orlando.
PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Robert Singerman, Judaica Americana: A Bibli-
ography of Publications to 1900. Westport, Ct.:
Greenwood Press, 1990. 2 vol. (1,335 p.)
Linda Sparks, Institutions of Higher Education:
An International Bibliography. Westport, Ct.:
Greenwood Press, 1990. 1 vol. (478 p.)
4
Master's in Library Science, received from the University of Western
Ontario, London, Canada, Razia has completed post graduate studies
at both the University of Oklahoma and Drexel University.
Suzanne Brown has joined the department as Assistant Chair, a new
position. Suzanne, after more than eight years in the Education Li-
brary, will be assisting Chris Hanson, Chair, primarily with Reference
Services for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
David Shontz has been named Acting Head, Education Library and
Acting Education Bibliographer, for the interim. David will also con-
tinue as Psychology Selector for the Psychology Department.
Janet Belarski, formerly Clerk Specialist in Circulation West, Access
Services Department for three years, is joining the department as Li-
brary Technical Assistant I on March 2. Janet will be assisting with the
Reference Services and with serials maintenance.
LIBRARY FACILITIES PLANNING OFFICE
The Library has a new unit, the Library Facilities Planning Office and a
new officer, Steve Grube. Steve, who started February 26, will be re-
sponsible for developing and reviewing architectural programs for li-
brary buildings and serving as the Library's chief liaison with Universi-
ty Facilities Planning and Physical Plant. He will plan for and serve as
coordinator for library moves, and will oversee the Library's mail and
courier services, supplies and inventory, telecommunication, building
maintenance, and emergency and security planning. Mildred Carter,
Betty Jones, and Shirley Snyder will be working with Steve. Steve is
currently located in 304 Library West (2-9809). Eventually Steve,
Mildred, Betty and Shirley will be housed in the east end of the first
floor of Library West in part of the area currently used by Acquisi-
tions.
Steve received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Architecture from Cornell
University in 1976. He then spent 10 years with the U.S. Navy as a na-
val aviator, during which he earned a Master's in Management from
Troy State University. In 1989 he received his Master's in Architecture
from the University of Florida, with an emphasis in historic preserva-
tion. Steve's hobbies include renovating the historic house in which he
and his family live in Alachua, and golf. Please welcome Steve to the
Library.
NEWS FROM THE PRESERVATION OFFICE
"Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock, to the Preservation Office."
Things like this are supposed to happen late-night in the visual-static
after-glow of a horror video. To your bleary eyes and "wigged-out"
brain, the static specs become ants with wings. Millions of them infest-
ing the screen. So many of them they seem to take flight, invade the
room. Consume!
continued on next page f
Library Newsletter Staff: Editor Colleen Seale; Editorial Committee: Cecilia Botero, Mona Mosier, Carl Van Ness; Editorial Assistant, Barbara Jones;
Departmental Liaisons, Elizabeth Alexander, Stephanie Baldwin, Elaine Bryant, Suzanne Brown, Channie Christian, Mary Jane Daicoff, Melanie
Davis, Rick Donnelly, Peter Foust, Steve Fuquay, Sidney Ives, Erich Kesse, Barbara King, Chuck Lipsig, Tom Kinney, Rosa Mesa, Pam Pasak,
Wendy Scott, Bob Singerman, Shirley Snyder, Ed Teague, Carl Van Ness, Priscilla West, Carol Whitmer, Susan Woods
MARCH 1990
SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY
If 1 2 3
Book Sale,
9 a.m.-4 p.m..
4 5 6 Library West 7 8 9 10
Colonnade
Tickets on sale durinI March 5-9 for the Pi za Lunch on March 14 to raise money for tr ivel to Paralibrarian CaL cus
Pizza & Bake S .
Sale, lunch &
11 12 13 breaks, LIB W. 14 15 Florida Para- 16 17
Staff Lounge librarian Caucus -
SSteering Committee
pCCESS workshops r
ACCESS workshop Mtg., Santa Fe CC,
LMG, Office Heads,, -
10 a m., 420 LIB W SPRING BREAK
18 19 Deadline for 20 21 22 23 24
April Issue of the
Library Newsletter
SPRING BREAK--
Systems Forum
11 a.m., 420 LIB W
25 26 27 28 29 Tom Kinney will 30 31
CMS E-mail discuss use of not on-
Training, 10 a.m., wide "Internet" com-
420 LIB W puter network for
access to RLIN and
other databases
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES CALENDAR
KEEP FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
Many thanks to reshelvers in Library East who recently witnessed and
reported some underground gangsters, subterranean termites, swarm-
ing from a wooden bookshelf. The invasion was stopped (temporarily)
with Lysol. Pest Control will return to drill holes in the floor and
pump pesticides into the ground to effect a more permanent cure.
Amazing! The things you learn working in library preservation. Pest
Control tells us that subterranean termites and dry-wood termites,
which we saw two years ago, do the same kind of damage. Both eat
wood, books and paper. But, subterranean termites are true under-
world figures: they must maintain some kind of contact with the good
earth. We also learned that whereas dry-wood termites are brown, sub-
terranean termites are black. Of course, this new knowledge pales to
that just received via e-mail from a SOLINET Pest Control Workshop:
"... did you know that fresh rat feces can glow in the dark!" (I'll never be
able to play with my glow-in-the-dark Pee Wee Herman yo-yo again.)
Now we'll know how to track rats should they ever invade.
"Alfred Hitchcock in the Waiting Room, OR, Internal Medicine."
Ever wonder where little embrittled books come from? Imagine a book
fresh from the publisher, wrapped in a swaddling book jacket and dis-
tributed like a baby Moses on the St John's River. You pick it up, buy it,
give it a good home; but no matter how well you treat it, chances are a
death acid is growing inside, making the book brittle. A book's early
death depends largely on the maker's design. The importance of the
book's prophesy can not save it in its present form. Factors which con-
tribute to the death of the written prophet are external and internal. To-
day's topic is "internal medicine." Indicators of internal health include:
alum rosin and ground wood contents, and pH or hydrogen-ion
concentrations.
Alum rosin is a substance used to prepare paper for writing. It makes
paper less porous, so ink will not bleed into the paper. Alum is also
commonly used to stop bleeding resultant from shaving accidents. It is
also "acidic."
There is nothing chemically wrong with ground wood paper, given the
correct chemical preparation. Properly prepared, gound wood paper
just has short fibers, and maybe a little acid. Paper with short fibers will
break easily when embrittled. Given the wrong or no chemical prepara-
tion, ground wood contains lignin which is highly acidic. Most ground
wood papers prepared before the 1980's contain lignin, a natural sub-
stance in wood.
Tests for pH tell us how much acid (i.e., hydrogen-ions) exists in the
paper, whether it results from alum rosin, the lignin in ground wood, or
from other causes. Acidic materials tend to become embrittled. pH tests,
therefore, become a good predictor of future problems and needs. Re-
member that only 1957% of the collections are currently brittle. Cur-
rently embrittled volumes tend to have pH measures of 3 or less. This is
very acidic; pH of 7 is neutral/non-acidic. Our studies tell us that we
can eventually expect 89.77% of today collections to become brittle.
That is 3.5 times larger than the current problem. 89.77% is between
2,250,000 and 2,400,000 volumes, and represents a replacement cost of
approximately $180 million. "Never," you say. "It will never happen." It
already has happened in the Baldwin Library, where 81% of the collec-
tion is brittle. Alfred Hitchcock, I tell you, is waiting in the wings.
Erich Kesse
PERSONNEL NEWS
LIBRARIAN
Retirement
Fleming Montgomery H&SS Reference Librari-
an
USPS
New Appointment
Angela Ehrenfried LTA II, Acquisitions
Steve Grube Library Facilities Planning Officer,
Library Support Services
Sandra Hardin Clerk Typist Specialist, H&SS
Reference
Departure
Beverly Hursh LTA I, MSL
Transfer
Lynn LaBauve LTA II, from AFA Library to
MSL
TRIP REPORTS
This report was recently added to those availa-
ble through the Library Personnel Office.
Louise Leonard, American Library Association
Mid-winter Meeting, Chicago, January 6-11,
1990.
SPORTS UPDATE
The UF Libraries intermural softball team
roared to a 2-0 record last Monday night when
only one member of the opposing team showed
up to play. UF Libraries won by forfeit. Word
has it that the Astronomy Department's "Killer
Squirrels" were too intimidated to face our
"Hocus FOCUS" sluggers after hearing about
the "Microbes," the last opponent we checked
out by a score of 11-2. That team won't be back
for a renewal! Jim Stevens described the team
as "primed and ready," as it anxiously awaits
the remaining games of its five-game season.
For times and locations of games, which are
held on Monday nights, contact Jim Stevens or
Bonnie Cowart at 2-0323 in Library East Circu-
lation. Reserve Monday nights to come out
and support the team!
Debbie Berard
RLG PUBLICATIONS
The following publications have been
received from the Research Libraries
Group. Copies may be obtained by
contacting one of the secretaries in the
administrative offices.
1. Three new brochures (RLG in 1989,.
About RLG, and RLG Membership)
Network Operations Statistics, Jan-
uary 1990
2. Minutes from the BIBTECH Com-
mittee Meeting held on November
9-10, 1989
3. Cluster Error Reports, January 1990
Memo RLG Standard for Use of
the AMC Format
4. RLIN Performance, January 1990
5. Minutes from the Preservation
Committee Meeting held on No-
vember 14, 1989, and the Agenda
for the Preservation Steering Com-
mittee Meeting held on February
12, 1990
CONFERENCE SEEKING PAPERS
Contributed papers are sought from all
types of libraries on any aspect of
acquisitions, budgeting, and collection
development for the First National
Conference on Acquisitions, Budgets,
and Collections.
Deadline for submitting, title, outline,
abstract, or text is March 15, 1990.
Conference is scheduled for May 16-17,
in St. Louis, Missouri. Presenters must
attend conference at own expense, but
will receive discount registration.
See the bulletin board outside the Staff
Lounge on the second floor of Library
West for details.
ATTENDANCE AWARD
In last month's issue, the name of
Mildred Carter, Business Services, was
inadvertently omitted from the list of
those who received an attendance
award at the Libraries' Awards
Ceremony. The error is deeply
regretted.
FLEMING MONTGOMERY RETIRES FROM HUMANITIES AND SO-
CIAL SCIENCES REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
E gad, the end to an era! It seems utterly inconceivable after a quarter of
'century the library's sweetheart (by acclamation in the Acquisitions De-
partment), the legend by which all others are measured, the heart, the
soul....heh, heh, heh...the grapevine by which all things were known, of-
ten light years before God or the Soviets had an inkling, that most mar-
velous Southern-fried gentleman we know as Hoyle Fleming Montgomery is,
alas, retiring, and we will be the poorer for it. Fleming is like Mt. Everest or
George Burns: He's always there, always going to be there, as close as any hu-
man has a right to dream of being immortal.
He is the delight of those who break bread (or cookies) in the staff lounge; the
wizard baker who has astonished herds of student assistants with his infamouss
rum cake and celebrated chocolate chip cookies (albeit lacking baking powder he
did protest, yet did those selfsame cookies vanish in the veriest twinkling into
those aforementioned students); the celebrated raconteur who puts Peter Ustino
in the shade, telling tales of fainting goats in central Tennessee, anecdotal hoots
of an enlisted man's view of WWII well after D-Day, and a lively few years as a
professional librarian.
Fleming has celebrated the arts as an accomplished needleperson, a fierce cinem
buff, and the oral historian for Designing Women, Dallas, Dynasty, and 20/20.
He has shared countless tons of knowledge with newly-landed library staff, and
the staff already in residence have always made it a point to introduce Fleming a
soon as possible to newcomers; he is the library's equivalent to Japan's Living
Treasures, someone so exceptional, "unique" does not begin to describe the man.
Fleming has such a zest for life, such an infectious humor, that it is truly a day
without sunshine when he is absent from our midst. Staff mope and complain o
the bitterness of fate that does deprive them of his "news" and "observations."
(Staff sounds like a bloody Greek chorus, if you must know.) However, they
have always rallied at the thought that within two to three weeks our golden lad
would return from one of his interminable peregrinations, whether Egypt, the
Hindu-Kush, la belle France, or naughty places sporting illuminations of a rosier
hue than was warranted (although he claims these were garden tours!!!!!), and re
gale the faithful with stories of tourists who seemed to have escaped from the
middle chapters of a Dostoevski novel and were hell-bent on baring their souls t
poor Fleming who-God knows-was sweetly polite, listening to all these-hoo
hoo-revelations. Well, we have it on good authority that Fleming has been kee
ing diaries, and we can but hope that he will put the recollections to good use: A
la recherche des bibliotheques perdues.
He is much loved and will be sorely missed. We hope he does not take retire-
ment too seriously and will come back often to darken our doors and light up ou
lives and provide the greatest gift of friendship that many of us have ever
known.
Dolores Jenkil
ATTACK OF THE KILLER SOFTWARE
0
ver the past two months, two databases of interest to the library com-
munity have been found to contain harmful software after being
widely distributed. This would not be of great interest or surprise
had the programs been public domain software or shareware games
downloaded.from a computer bulletin board; the perils of filling you
continued on next page 0
computer with software of unknown origin have been well documented. Both
of these incidents, however, occurred with software which normally would be
considered safe. In one case, the software was an AIDS database, ostensibly
from a commercial vendor. In the other, the software supplier was the U.S. gov-
ernment via the Census bureau.
The AIDS database software contained a time-bomb type program (see defini-
tions, below). It could be disarmed by using a password which the vendor sup-
plied on receipt of several hundred dollars payment. Left to its own devices, it
ate the hard disk after a few days' use. The person who perpetrated this one
was found in New England, and has been ordered held for psychiatric exami-
nation. He is also wanted for extradition to Britain on charges of extortion.
The Census problem was located on the floppies needed to drive a CD-ROM
database. Like most CD-ROMs, this database needed software loaded on the
computer from floppies before use. At some point in the distribution chain, the
floppies became infected with the BRAIN virus. BRAIN has been known for
quite some time, but this is the first recorded instance of its being widely dis-
tributed by a major legitimate software distributor. This strain usually changes
the volume name of the disks and files it infects to BRAIN, then does more seri-
ous damage a short time later. It is not currently known how the disks became
infected.
Computing lost its innocence a few years ago when secret panels and worms
first appeared, and using a computer will never be quite the same. The central
facts are that 1) the risk of damage from such programs can be reduced to a
miniscule level by practicing safe computing; 2) no software from any source is
completely safe; and 3) no matter what precautions you take, a patient terrorist
can overcome them. However, this situation is much the same as that faced in
the non-computer world, and few of us in this country need to expend serious
worry on thoughts of terrorist attack. Two practices will protect you in almost
all cases. First, a datafile which has several backup copies, made over a few
weeks' time, is almost immune to loss by attack software. Since this is also the
best way to protect data from the equipment malfunctions, power failures, bad
media, and other hazards, most prudent computer users already have their
anti-terrorist defenses in place.
The other key component to keeping your computing healthy is vigilance. If the
names of files or disks change, files disappear for no apparent reason, or the
hard disk suddenly seems much more full than it should be, call Systems at
once to examine the phenomenon. Be aware of what files properly should be in
your computer, and evict suspicious-looking strangers. Don't blithely load soft-
ware picked up at a convention or from a bulletin board without having Sys-
tems check it.
Following these precautions will eliminate almost all threat from attack soft-
ware.
Glossary
* Attack Software: Any software which is designed to do damage to a com-
puter system and/or evade attempts to remove it.
* Secret Panel: A deliberate "hole" left in the security system of a computer or
software system. Usually created so that future owners of the system cannot
prevent access by the original programmers.
* Time Bomb: An unauthorized program which activates itself on a certain
date, or after a certain period of time. The results range from display of a "fun-
ny" message to erasure of the hard disk.
continued on next page
SYSTEMS FORUM
The March Systems Forum will be held
on March 30 at 11:00 a.m.-noon, 420
Library West. Tom Kinney of Systems
will discuss the use of the nationwide
'Internet" computer network for access to
RLIN and other bibliographic databases.
All library staff are welcome to attend.
FULBRIGHT AWARD
The Fulbright Commission has an-
nounced the availability of an award for
a practicing librarian to pursue profes-
sional work in the United Kingdom at a
degree-awarding institution or major re-
search library. The award, sponsored by
the Council for International Exchange of
Scholars, is to promote the exchange of
ideas between library staff in the U.S. and
the U.K., and to enable participants to ac-
quire knowledge and experience of li-
brary work in a different setting.
Awards are for a minimum duration of
three months and candidates are expect-
ed to be on paid leave of absence from
their home institution. The grantee will
receive a fixed grant of approximately
2,500 British pounds to cover travel and
other expenses.
The deadline date for applications is Au-
gust 1, 1990. Additional information is
posted on the bulletin board outside the
Staff Lounge on the second floor of Li-
brary West.
SOLINET WORKSHOPS
The listing of SOLINET workshops for
Spring 1990 is posted on the bulletin
board outside the Staff Lounge on the
second floor of Library West.
UF EARTH DAY 1990 CELEBRA-
TION
The schedule of events this spring relat-
ing to the UFs celebration of Earth Day
1990 is posted on the bulletin board out-
side the Staff Lounge on the second floor
of Library West.
PARTIAL LISTING OF ACTIVE
LIBRARY COMMITTEES
This new feature of the newsletter is de-
signed to provide staff with current infor-
mation regarding active ad hoc committees.
Further information can be sought from
committee chairs. This listing will be ex-
panded in coming issues to include all
committees.
-ad hoc. Canelas. Due: pending. LMG
Subcommittee on Standarized Use of Per-
formance Evaluation Forms. Charge: to
develop library-wide standards for evalua-
tions. Chair: Lynn Badger; Members:
Rich Bennett, Dot Hope, Jim Stevens,
Wendy Scott, Jan Swanbeck.
- ad hoc. Canelas. Preliminary
recommendations due 3/30/90 to
Technical Services Management Group.
Committee on Preservation Microfilming:
Queueing and Cataloging Considerations.
Charge: Compile, document and review
policy and interdepartmental procedures
relating to queueing and cataloging of
preservation microforms, and to make
preliminary recommendations. Chair:
Peter Busnell; Members: Dot Hope, Tom
Kinney, Nelda Schwartz, Bob Singerman.
- ad hoc. Canelas. Preliminary
recommendations due 4/15/90 to
Technical Services Management Group.
Committee on Serials Holdings. Charge:
Compile, document and recommend
policy and interdepartmental procedures
relating to the MARC Format Holdings
record in LUIS. Chair: Nancy Williams;
Members: Gary Cornwell, Susan Duser,
Frank Orser, Jo Talbird.
FACULTY SABBATICAL PROGRAM
It's almost time to begin the faculty review
process for the 1991-92 Sabbatical
program. One- and two-semester awards
will be available.
Tenured and permanent status librarians
will soon elect one person to serve on a
special committee to evaluate applications
from the Library and several other units.
M Logic Bomb: Attack software keyed to a certain sequence of events. Some-
times used by programmers to blackmail former employers: a special pass-
word, required to keep the bomb from destroying the system, is ransomed
for money, continued employment, etc.
M Worm: A program which duplicates itself. Most modern worms have the
ability to reproduce beyond the system on which they originate, crawling
through networks to invade every connected compatible host. Some worms
also directly attack the host system. Even if otherwise harmless, a worm can
reproduce to such a level it consumes all system resources, inhibiting legiti-
mate work.
B Trojan Horse: A program which is harmless and/or useful itself, but
which contains attack software which invades a system. The Trojan Horse
provides the attraction for loading the attack software.
M Virus: A program which combines features of the worm and Trojan Horse
Viruses infect (replicate themselves within) legitimate software and data files
They attack the system from within the infected programs. A given virus
might be on different computers, hiding in a word processor on one and a
spreadsheet on another. These are especially difficult to trace, because a list
of infected files may look entirely normal.
Bill Cov'
PARALIBRARIAN GROUP RECEIVES ENTHUSIASTIC SUPPORT
Background
Many Library staff are interested in participating in the Florida Paralibrarian
Caucus and in attending the inaugural meeting on May 8 during the Florida
Library Association Conference (see last month's issue for description of the
group). Staff members who have not yet indicated an interest in attending
the Caucus should contact Barbara Jones at 2-0342 by March 14.
Libraries Provide Financial Assistance For Staff To Attend Caucus
Staff were very grateful to learn that $500 has been allocated by the Libraries
toward transportation and registration costs of staff members who want to
attend. At present, approximately $138 has been set aside for the rental fees
for a van and two station wagons from the University. The balance of $362
will be used to offset the one-day registration fee of $40 per person, and to re
imburse drivers who transport staff in their personal vehicles for mileage
costs. Administrative leave, with departmental approval, will be granted.
Fundraising Activity to Reduce Conference Fee
Several staff members have organized a fundraising lunch and bake sale for
all library staff in the Staff Lounge on Wednesday, March 14. Tickets for piz-
za and a drink, for a donation of $1.75, will be pre-sold only during the previ
ous week of March 5-9. Staff will be also contacted to donate baked goods
for sale. Tickets are not necessary for the bake sale. The intention is to foster
a sense of fellowship in a social setting, besides raising money! For further
information, contact Jim Leavy in Cataloging at 2-0351.
Steering Committee Meeting to Organize Paraprofessional Group
On March 16, a meeting to form a Steering Committee for the Paralibrarian
Caucus will be held at Santa Fe Community College from 1:00-5:00 p.m. At-
tendees include Virginia Gerster, the Caucus' organizer from Miami, and rep
resentatives from UF Libraries, Alachua County Public Library, and Santa Fe
Community College Library. Staff interested in attending should contact
Barbara Jones at 2-0342 by Tuesday, March 13.
Barbara Jones
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