Page 12. Sect. L. The Oakville Journal, Tuesday, May 30, 1995 O a k v ille L ib rary 100th A n n iv e rs a ry L ibraries in cyberspace T ec h n o -te rm s a re ta k in g u s in to th e f u tu r e - - - n a v i g a t e th e I n f o r m a t i o n Highway, su rf the Internet, take a trip into cyberspace! W ith so m any n ew te c h n o logical w ays to d iscover the w orld, keep ing up has becom e a challenge for infor m ation seekers. "Libraries m ust becom e leaders in the inform ation revolution" , noted B rian Bell, M a n a g e r o f S u p p o r t S e r v ic e s a t th e O akville Public Library. "In O akville, the Library is the cham pion o f equitable pub lic access to inform ation using the latest in technological advances." A t the O akville Public L ibrary au to m a tion has enhanced the L ib rary 's ability to put users in touch w ith the answ ers they are looking for. Since the im plem entation o f com puterized cataloguing in 1980, the library has continued to develop its tech nological resources to w iden the sphere o f inform ation options available to the pub lic. O ne o f the first connections the library initiated was spearheading the form ation o f H A L I N E T ( H a lto n I n f o r m a tio n N etw ork). T h is reg io n w ide c o n so rtiu m c o n n e c ts s e v e n p a r t n e r s th r o u g h a te le c o m m u n i c a t i o n s n e tw o r k h u b at Sheridan C ollege. H A L IN E T h a s g iv e n th e O a k v ille P ublic L ibrary access to the B urlington, M ilton and H alton H ills Public Libraries, th e H a lto n B o a rd o f E d u c a t io n , th e H alton R om an C atholic School B oard and Sheridan C ollege. L ibrary users can visit their local branch and use public co m p u t e r te rm in a ls to k e y in to th e re s o u rc e s Technology Takes Library Into the Future Canadian and World Wide Internet Resources Provincial Resources HALINET Resources Oakville Public Library The Oakville Public L ibrary's technology connects local users to a world o f inform a tion. The sketch above shows the links between the library, local H A L IN E T , provincial, national a n d world-wide resources. the H alton C om m unity N etw ork provides offered at these institutions. H A L IN E T also connects the public to a link to local area resources. the C om m unity Inform ation database and Paired with its H A L IN E T partners, the the H alton C om m unity N etw ork (H C N ) O akville Public Library has just com plet serv ice, a one stop sho p p in g source for ed a m a jo r a g re e m e n t w ith A m e rite c h e le c tr o n ic in f o r m a tio n in H a lto n and L ib rary S e rv ic e s V ista d e p a rtm e n t and U n iv e r s ity M ic r o f ilm s I n te r n a tio n a l around the w orld. In the library or from y our hom e com puter (m odem 845-0057) (U M I), to be the first in C anada to pro- vide trial access to the U M I general peri odical abstracts and full text database ser vice, av ailab le to m u ltip le w orkstations thro u g h o u t the seven p artn er sites. T his service m akes available on-line indexes to hundreds o f popular m agazines and actual full text displays o f a grow ing num ber of the articles them selves. O nce again this service is provided through the L ibrary's on-line catalogue w orkstation. L ater this year, and with the assistance o f a $14,400 g rant from the M inistry of C u ltu re , T o u rism an d R e c re a tio n , the O akville Public Library system will con nect its b ran ch es up to the LA N (Local A rea N etw ork) system installed in 1994, to m a k e its o w n W ide A re a N e tw o rk (W A N ). A m o n g o th e r th in g s th is w ill allow better staff and patron access to CD R O M p ro d u c ts and In te rn e t re so u rc e s. The potential o f the Internet to library ser v ic e is b e in g a s s e s s e d th ro u g h an all departm ent Internet Task Force. " U s in g te c h n o lo g y to m a n a g e and facilitate access to inform ation and cultur a l r e s o u r c e s is th e f u tu r e o f P u b lic L ibraries," added Bell. If autom ation is the w ay to the future, the O ak v ille P ublic L ib rary is certainly d o in g its p a rt to k e e p m o v in g on th e in fo rm a tio n h ig h w a y . A c o m p u te riz e d c o l l e c t i o n , H A L IN E T , th e H a lto n C o m m u n ity n e tw o rk , d ia l- u p - a c c e s s , VISTA, and the W AN, com bine with inhouse electronic resources (including CD R O M S and on-line reference service) to keep O ak v ille's inform ation seekers con nected to a world o f inform ation.