Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Grainger Engineering Library [PAGE 12]

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Some materials already can he accessed without even visiting the (?rainger Center. Coursework materials on "special reserve*' for students are digitized, so that hooks and articles can he read on the computer screen or printed out at personal computers at home, office, or residence hall. Eventually many more materials will become available on-line to campus users and beyond through electronic: access. But the resources offered by the Grainger are not restricted to those housed in the Center. Through remote and local on-line databases, the Grainger can locate and deliver scientific and engineering literature from major university and public libraries across the country and around the world. And the computerized search process through which library users access these databases is as "forgiving" as any traditional librarian. For example, the computer will respond to a misspelled title with a screen thesaurus of similarly spelled words, offering hints to get the user back on track. And in subject searches, the computer will propose keywords or synonyms in addition to the user's subject keywords. But today's electronic wonders may well be supplanted by tomorrows technology. Recognizing the inevitability of rapid advances, the Grainger's spaces and infrastructure are amenable to changes in library and information services in the next century. The computer system, for example, can already accommodate voice recognition, which allows computers to recognize the voices of regular users—even though the technology itself is still largely experimental.

William R. Dean College of

Schowaiier

Engineering

The Research Library in the Information Age

Electronic

The research functions of the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center focus on technological information access and retrieval and the growing interface between traditional library functions and those characterizing the electronic information age. It serves as the laboratory for all of the University's libraries and will shape how they can be used in the electronic age. The Center's research facilities and hardware are available to all students, staff, faculty, and visiting scholars and experts. The Computer and Multimedia Laboratory houses 50 comprehensive advanced computing workstations, each incorporating multiple networks and digital text facilities for learning and research. The equipment provides access to electronic, visual, audiovisual, and multimedia resources, as well as to database and file servers and network printers for research and instruction purposes. It is the largest of five networked computer workstation labs in the College of Engineering.