Digital Commons Network^™

Hot Topic: Drug Testing Deadline Looms For Employees With Commercial Drivers' Licenses, Mtas

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

Reminder of the January 1, 1995 deadline for all cities with 50 or more employees required to have a commercial drivers' licenses (CDLs) to institute drug and alcohol testing programs for those employees. For cities with fewer than 50 employees with CDLs, the deadline for having their programs in place was January 1, 1996.

Changes And Choices In The Online Year, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

The influence of the Internet and the introduction of alternative search engines, alternative interfaces and new pricing methods were major changes in the online database industry in 1994. Other trends included the development of integrated information systems.

Utility Manual: Ideas And Alternatives For Addressing Water And Sewer Fund Issues (1994), W. Ken Joines

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

This manual's purpose is to provide management with ideas, options, and methods to address financial difficulties.

Hot Topic: First Nfpa Fire Inspector Training Scheduled, Mtas

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

Notification of a free NFPA Fire Inspector 1 training class, presented by the Tennessee State Fire Marshall's office, held on December 12-15, 1994.

A Second Look At Firstsearch, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

OCLC's FirstSearch end user online system is used by almost 2,000 libraries worldwide. The OCLC FirstSearch database offerings, including full text, document delivery, prices, easy searching and pilot projects, are discussed.

Hot Topic: City Clerks And Recorders Certification Regulations Summarized, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

Chapter 648 of the Public Acts of 1994 adds a new law requiring municipal clerks and recorders to become certified by completing 100 hours of education.

Connect Time Variations, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Thee is little standardization in online rates, and database vendors continue to change pricing to balance concerns of users, producers and vendors. Some services have replaced connect-time pricing with information-based pricing.

Stimulus, Vol. 18, No. 1, Ut College Of Social Work

Stimulus Alumni Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Emotions Of Searching, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Discusses research by the author and Diane Nahl (University of Hawaii) on how novice end users interact with CD-ROM, online public access catalogs (OPAC) and online systems. Measuring affective responses; Affective questions; How the librarian provides reassurance through answering the questions; Additional reading.

Online Law, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Mead Corp is selling Mead Data Central, the owner of the full-text legal resource database LEXIS. The major competitor of LEXIS is WESTLAW, which is introducing a voice-activated system using LawTalk and expanding natural language searching.

The 1994 Mtas Publications Catalog, Municipal Technical Advisory Service

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

No abstract provided.

Public Works Standards & Specifications, Edward C. Archer

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

The goal and intention of this publication is for cities to have guidelines of some of the standards and specifications on construction projects. Readers should be careful in their adoption and use as these guidelines are not all-inclusive of the standards and specifications which may be necessary in a specific local community situation. It is recommended that all public works projects be developed, designed and constructed under the direction of a registered professional engineer.

Overcoming The Black Box Syndrome, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Discusses the `black box' approach favored by developers to make online or CD-ROM search software friendlier. The view that good online searching requires an understanding of how the computer processes information; Questions the searcher should ask; Boolean or statistical searching; How does it treat a blank; What does it search by default; How much should end users know.

Hot Topic: 1994-95 State Revenue Estimates, Ken Joines, Jim Leuty

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The Tennessee General Assembly adopted the state budget for fiscal year 1995 in late April.

Standardization Across Databases, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Online data bases provide some facilities for multifile searching, but more standardization among separate data bases is necessary. Options for standardizing fields are discussed, and standardization efforts by Dialog and other data base distributors are reviewed.

Dialog And Mead Join The Relevance Ranks, Carol Tenopir, Pam Cahn

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

New, non-Boolean, natural language search techniques - Westlaw's WIN, DIALOG's TARGET, and Mead Data Central's FREESTYLE - are based on the assumption that the standard command-driven online systems coupled with Boolean logic searching are not only difficult to learn, but may sometimes miss relevant documents. Although each new product works somewhat differently, all 3 offer an alternative to searching with command interfaces and Boolean/proximity operators. They offer natural language input, with no need for commands or logical operators. This input method is coupled with so-called associative or statistical retrieval techniques that provide relevance ranking of search results. The question of …

Technical Bulletins: Public Chapter 509 Slaps Cuffs On Utility Revenues, Al Major

MTAS Publications: Technical Bulletins

This Technical Bulletin provides information about Public Chapter 509, which phased out the practice of transferring surplus revenues from utility sales to a city's general fund. The comprehensive law, which went into effect July 1, 1993, amended Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) § 9-21-308 and T.C.A. § 7-34-105, also known as the Revenue Bond Law.

Electronic Publishing, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Discusses electronic publishing. What it is; Its two stages; The two `choices' of publication types; ASCII; Fulltext databases; Use of CD-ROM; The choice each library must make; Electronic publications that are original publications; Whether electronic journals will ever replace print.

Hot Topic: The 1993 Mt As Salary And Fringe Benefit Survey, Richard Stokes

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The MT AS annual salary and fringe benefit survey for 1993 is complete and shows salary increases for city employees grew at a rate higher than 1992. Hot off the laser printer, here's a summary of the findings.

Hot Topic: Laws Governing City Budgets Changed, Jim Leuty

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

A city's ability to choose which budget law it follows was removed when the General Assembly passed Chapter 448, Public Acts of 1993, applying the general budget law to several additional cities. The general budget law, formally known as the Municipal Budget Law of 1982, is detailed in Tennessee Code Annotated §6-56-201 et seq.

Target, Freestyle, Win: Searching Takes On A New Look, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Compares three new search techniques available on major online systems: DIALOG's Target, Mead's Freestyle and West's WIN. Their advantages over their Boolean precursors; Details of what they each offer.

Local Government Documents: A Checklist For Tennessee Public Libraries, Carol C. Hewlett, Barbara Groves

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

One of the major services a public library provides for Its communities Is access to Information generated by local government. This service benefits local governments as well as the community they both serve. Each public library In Tennessee should contain copies of Important city and/or county documents of use and Interest to the residents of the community.

Hot Topic: Attention Cities--Heads Up On Solid Waste!, Sharon Rollins, Leslie Shechter

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

Time is running out to finalize regional solid waste plans. Make sure your city's interests are represented!

Hot Topic: Annexation Always A Hot Topic In Tennessee Cities And Towns, Sid Hemsley

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

This is a compilation of recent annexation events in Tennessee. It includes information sent in by various municipalities -- complaints, briefs, cases, etc.-- supplemented by material already in the MTAS annexation files.

Quality In Distribution Channels, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Discusses how quality relates to the information distribution channels of databases, with emphasis on the links between the database content or producer and the users. Choices for access; Assuring quality; Tendencies and prospects; Progress.

Special Censuses: Ruminating About Enumerating?, Rebecca G. Crowder, Mary Beatty

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

Information about how and why a city should conduct a special census.

Technical Bulletins: Irs Regulations On Personal Use Of City-Owned Vehicles: Complying With The Final 1989 Rules, Mark Pullen

MTAS Publications: Technical Bulletins

On July 6, 1989, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published final regulations on the Taxation of Fringe Benefits, including taxation on personal use of a city-owned vehicle. This Technical Bulletin summarize the rules and advises cities on how to follow them.

Hot Topic: Irs Rules Change Regarding Diesel Fuel Purchases, Mtas

MTAS Publications: Hot Topics

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (P.L. 103-66), enacted in August 1993, changed the collection point for the excise taxes on diesel fuel to the same as gasoline.

Full-Text Retrieval: Systems And Files, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Much of the development in the first 30 years of library automation has been in solving the problem of identifying relevant sources. Automation of the library's card catalog provides a finding tool for the library's collections. The books, journals, films, and other materials located through the catalog still mostly reside in their original form, with no direct connection to the automated finding tool.

Most of the early development in electronic publishing was also aimed solely at identifying information sources. Secondary publishers, notably publishers of indexing/abstracting serials, were the first to provide their resources in electronic form. Throughout the 1970s and …

State Street Aid Fund Expenditures: On The Road To Understanding, W. Ken Jones

MTAS Publications: Full Publications

No abstract provided.