New library system linking Web-based catalogs set for stage two

The first stage of a new library management system is up and running, providing readers the ability to access the publications catalogs at the Mason Library of the School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. The next phase of the project, expected to be operating at the end of the month, will include implementation of the system at the Eisenhower Library on the Homewood campus, the Friedheim Library at Peabody and the libraries of the off-campus centers. Early next year, the Horizon system will be put in use at SAIS in Bologna, Italy, and the Welch Medical Library at the School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Under the new system, readers may access the catalogs from their own computers using their current browser software. Additional benefits include the ability to identify all the titles in the Hopkins system and to view more than 250 items of a search result.

Next summer, the Horizon system will be further enhanced to enable readers at one location to request materials from other Hopkins libraries or the Moravia Park shelving facility.

Horizon, which is replacing the character-based catalogs currently in use, offers library users a shared library system with a Web-based catalog (WebPAC). Milton S. Eisenhower Library director Jim Neal said he hopes coordinated services between the Hopkins libraries will improve working relationships between all academic divisions.

The new system, which may be accessed at http://catalog.library.jhu.edu, was developed through a partnership between Ameritech Library Systems, the University of Chicago and Indiana University.
--Christine Rowett

Looking up!

The planets are particularly accessible right now, so a special open house is planned at the Bloomberg Center Observatory on the Homewood campus from 5 to 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19.

The Morris W. Offit telescope will be available for viewing Jupiter and Saturn. Additionally, several members of the Baltimore Astronomical Society are expected to be on hand with portable telescopes. There will be plenty of people available to answer questions, Watko said.