Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site warwick.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!amd!vecpyr!lll-crg!seismo!mcvax!ukc!warwick!req From: req@warwick.UUCP (Russell Quin) Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: SF Poll Update. Question on Future. Top 20. PLEASE READ. Message-ID: <283@snow.warwick.UUCP> Date: Thu, 15-Aug-85 09:32:50 EDT Article-I.D.: snow.283 Posted: Thu Aug 15 09:32:50 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 06:22:55 EDT References: <7363@watdaisy.UUCP> Reply-To: req@warwick.UUCP (Russell Quin) Distribution: net Organization: Computer Science, Warwick University, UK Lines: 37 Socks: brown Xpath: warwick snow snow ubu In article <7363@watdaisy.UUCP> gjerawlins@watdaisy.UUCP (Gregory J.E. Rawlins) writes: >[...] >Then I started thinking >wouldn't it be nice to have online access to all this information? We'd no >longer have queries like "....what else has s/he written" and the subsequent >139 replies all saying the same thing. >[...] Perhaps we could have a [...] moderator who you mail with some keyword >in the header and request information. We might get really fancy and have it >all done automagically. Of course with Evelyn Leeper and Jerry Boyajian on the >net this may be sort of redundant..... > > What do you think? Since I'm on holiday as of tomorrow (far away from any >terminals alas) this will have to be opened to net discussion. 1) It would be interesting - if not useful - to have online access to a bibliographic database. Does anyone know if _Books_In_Print_ is available in ,achine readable format? I wouldn't be surprised, since it already is distributed as microfiche. 2) I have considered saving reviews & using a keyword look-up system, but a: the automatic review-detector isn't easy to write (even saving everything posted by a Leeper doesn't work when they *dare* to post anything other than a review :-) :-) :-)! If people agreed to mark reviews in some special way (eg. with a "Keywords: review" line), it would at least be feasible, although I can't imagine people ever doing so. 3) when we have 14 Mbytes of 'Hienlien is Great/Crap/Misspelt', how to glean a review? Perhaps one should enquire of net.ai? 4) Interactive use of a 'book information' expert system is one thing; netwide access to an annotated bibliographic db is another. I am unconvinced that it can be "automagicated", although there's no reason why a user of the former couldn't post/mail its output. Would this be useful in any way? possibly. - Russell -- ... mcvax!ukc!warwick!req (req@warwick.UUCP) "If no small boy smeared with honey can be found, it may be necessary to take an ordinary small boy and smear him, which should be a pleasure."