Dan Kiely, LIBR244-02, Exercise 2
1. Someone tells you there’s an article entitled “A Mouse With a Purse
Clubs the Cats: Little Seven-Up Has Shaken Up Giant Coca-Cola and
PepsiCo” but knows nothing else about it. Find a full-text record for the
article. [2 points]
I started my search in DIALINDEX and searched ALLBUSINESS.
? b 411
09mar08 13:05:50 User704414 Session D1741.1
$0.00
0.238 DialUnits File415
$0.00 Estimated cost File415
$0.05 INTERNET
$0.05 Estimated cost this search
$0.05 Estimated total session cost
0.238 DialUnits
File 411:DIALINDEX(R)
DIALINDEX(R)
(c) 2008 Dialog
*** DIALINDEX search results display in an abbreviated ***
*** format unless you enter the SET DETAIL ON command. ***
? sf allbusiness
You have 287 files in your file list.
(To see banners, use SHOW FILES command)
I used proximity operators to search for the three most unusual words in
the title.
? s (mouse(3w)purse(3w)cats)/ti
Processing
Processing
Your SELECT statement is:
S (MOUSE(3W)PURSE(3W)CATS)/TI
Items
----1
1
File
---15: ABI/Inform(R)_1971-2008/Mar 08
47: Gale Group Magazine DB(TM)_1959-2008/Feb
28
2
148: Gale Group Trade & Industry DB_19762008/Feb 21
Examined 50 files
Examined 100 files
1
553: Wilson Bus. Abs._1982-2008/Feb
Examined 150 files
Examined 200 files
Examined 250 files
4 files have one or more items; file list includes 287 files.
One or more terms were invalid in 98 files.
I used the command RANK FILES just to experiment.
? rank files
Your last SELECT statement was:
S (MOUSE(3W)PURSE(3W)CATS)/TI
Ref
Items
File
---------N1
2
148: Gale Group Trade & Industry DB_19762008/Feb 21
N2
1
15: ABI/Inform(R)_1971-2008/Mar 08
N3
1
47: Gale Group Magazine DB(TM)_1959-2008/Feb
28
N4
1
553: Wilson Bus. Abs._1982-2008/Feb
N5
0
7: Social SciSearch(R)_1972-2008/Mar W2
N6
0
9: Business & Industry(R)_Jul/1994-2008/Mar
05
N7
0
13: BAMP_2008/May W4
N8
0
16: Gale Group PROMT(R)_1990-2008/Mar 05
N9
0
18: Gale Group F&S Index(R)_1988-2008/Mar 04
N10
0
20: Dialog Global Reporter_1997-2008/Mar 09
4 files have one or more items; file list includes 287 files.
- Enter P or PAGE for more -
I searched file 148 using the same search terms and found article titles that
were close but not exact, so I continued on to the next databases.
? b 148
09mar08 13:17:34 User704414 Session D1741.2
$4.77
3.183 DialUnits File411
$4.77 Estimated cost File411
$3.20 INTERNET
$7.97 Estimated cost this search
$8.02 Estimated total session cost
3.421 DialUnits
File 148:Gale Group Trade & Industry DB 1976-2008/Feb 21
(c)2008 The Gale Group
*File 148: The CURRENT feature is not working in File 148.
See HELP NEWS148.
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
? s (mouse(3w)purse(3w)cats)/ti
4424
MOUSE/TI
S1
1035
2123
2
PURSE/TI
CATS/TI
(MOUSE(3W)PURSE(3W)CATS)/TI
? rd s1
S2
2
RD S1
(unique items)
? t s2/3/1-2
2/3/1
DIALOG(R)File 148: Gale Group Trade & Industry DB
(c)2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
01747913
Supplier Number: 02817385 (USE FORMAT 7 OR 9 FOR
FULL TEXT )
A mouse with a purse clubs the cats. (7-Up's market share
increase)
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week , v217 , p89(3)
June 27 , 1983
CODEN: IWEEA
ISSN: 0039-0895
Language: ENGLISH
Record Type: FULLTEXT
Word Count: 1065
Line Count: 00079
2/3/2
DIALOG(R)File 148: Gale Group Trade & Industry DB
(c)2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
01735638
Supplier Number: 02818895
A Mouse with a Purse Clubs the Cats.
Nelson-Horchler, J.
Industry Week , v217 , p89
June 27 , 1983
Language: ENGLISH
Record Type: CITATION
Going back to my DIALINDEX search, I searched the remaining files with
the same search terms. I found a good match, and then realized that the
other titles – the ones that were close but not exact – were the same.
? b 15,47,553
09mar08 13:22:02 User704414 Session D1741.3
$0.73
0.487 DialUnits File148
$0.00 2 Type(s) in Format 3
$0.00 2 Types
$0.73 Estimated cost File148
$1.33 INTERNET
$2.06 Estimated cost this search
$10.08 Estimated total session cost
3.908 DialUnits
SYSTEM:OS - DIALOG OneSearch
File 15:ABI/Inform(R) 1971-2008/Mar 08
(c) 2008 ProQuest Info&Learning
File 47:Gale Group Magazine DB(TM) 1959-2008/Feb 28
(c) 2008 The Gale group
File 553:Wilson Bus. Abs. 1982-2008/Feb
(c) 2008 The HW Wilson Co
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
? s (mouse(3w)purse(3w)cats)/ti
S1
4775
766
2622
3
MOUSE/TI
PURSE/TI
CATS/TI
(MOUSE(3W)PURSE(3W)CATS)/TI
? t s1/3/1-3
1/3/1 (Item 1 from file: 15)
DIALOG(R)File 15: ABI/Inform(R)
(c) 2008 ProQuest Info&Learning. All rights reserved.
00207439
83-19000
A Mouse with a Purse Clubs the Cats: Little Seven-Up Has Shaken
Up Giant Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week
v217n7 pp: 89-94
Jun 27, 1983
ISSN: 0039-0895 Journal Code: IW
1/3/2 (Item 1 from file: 47)
DIALOG(R)File 47: Gale Group Magazine DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale group. All rights reserved.
02364832
Supplier Number: 02817385 (USE FORMAT 7 OR 9 FOR
FULL TEXT )
A mouse with a purse clubs the cats. (7-Up's market share
increase)
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week , v217 , p89(3)
June 27 , 1983
CODEN: IWEEA
ISSN: 0039-0895
Language: ENGLISH
Record Type: FULLTEXT
Word Count: 1065
Line Count: 00079
1/3/3 (Item 1 from file: 553)
DIALOG(R)File 553: Wilson Bus. Abs.
(c) 2008 The HW Wilson Co. All rights reserved.
00066426
H.W. Wilson Record Number: BWBA83066426
A mouse with a purse clubs the cats.
Augmented Title: Seven-Up has shaken up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week ( Ind Week ) v. 217 (June 27 '83) p. 89+
Language: English
Before reading the bluesheet, I attempted to get fulltext from this database.
It is not available.
? t s1/9/1
1/9/1 (Item 1 from file: 15)
DIALOG(R)File 15: ABI/Inform(R)
(c) 2008 ProQuest Info&Learning. All rights reserved.
00207439
83-19000
A Mouse with a Purse Clubs the Cats: Little Seven-Up Has Shaken
Up Giant Coca-Cola and PepsiCo
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week
v217n7 pp: 89-94
Jun 27, 1983
CODEN: IWEEA4
ISSN: 0039-0895 Journal Code: IW
Document Type: Journal article Language: English
Pages
Length: 3
Abstract:
Seven-Up Co.'s most recent sales strategy has focused on the soft
drink's
caffeine-free aspect. That approach helped the St. Louis-based
company to
increase its unit sales 12.2% last year. Seven-Up's market share
rose from
6.3% to 6.9%, while Coca-Cola's stayed flat at 34.5% and
PepsiCo's fell
from 25.1% to 25%. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have recently
introduced
caffeine-free soft drinks, which they say are a result of
consumer demand
and are not in response to the 7Up campaign. Industry analysts
disagree,
saying that the 2 market leaders were forced to respond. Some
analysts
think, however, that Seven-Up's most recent strategy emphasizing
no
artificial flavoring and no artificial coloring may be a mistake,
since it
is opening wider the issue of how healthy soft drinks are. Even
if this
new campaign is a continuation of the previous success, Seven-Up
still
faces problems; its no-caffeine LIKE and Sugar-Free LIKE colas
have a lot
of selling to do to become strong contenders in the marketplace,
and about
50% of the 7Up in the US is sold through Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and
Royal Crown
bottlers. Seven-Up may have to become a full-line soft-drink
manufacturer.
Descriptors: Case studies; Soft drink industry; Market shares;
Product introduction; Advertising campaigns; Competition; Food
additives
Classification Codes: 9110 (CN=Company specific); 8610 (CN=Food
processing industry); 7200 (CN=Advertising); 7500 (CN=Product
planning & development)
After reading the bluesheets, file 47 includes full text articles. I displayed
the full text of the article using the following TYPE command.
? t s1/9/2
1/9/2 (Item 1 from file: 47)
DIALOG(R)File 47: Gale Group Magazine DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale group. All rights reserved.
02364832
Supplier Number: 02817385 (THIS IS THE FULL TEXT )
A mouse with a purse clubs the cats. (7-Up's market share
increase)
Nelson-Horchler, Joani
Industry Week , v217 , p89(3)
June 27 , 1983
CODEN: IWEEA
ISSN: 0039-0895
Language: ENGLISH
Record Type: FULLTEXT
Word Count: 1065
Line Count: 00079
Text:
With less than a 7% share of the softdrink market, Seven-Up Co.
can be
considered one of the mice of the industry. The tabbies, CocaCola Co. and
PepsiCo Inc., with lions' shares (about 60% together), have been
able to
bask in the sun, relying on their "life-style" advertising to
pull in the
fishes.
But last year, after losing unit sales for six consecutive
years, little
Seven-Up scurried out of its hole to begin nipping at the cats'
tails by
introducing a no-caffeine cola--LIKE--and a now-familiar new
slogan for its
brand-drink 7Up: "No caffeine. Never had it. Never will."
After initially howling that Seven-Up unfairly implied that
caffeine
posed health dangers, Pepsi Co licked its wounds and pounced back
with
Pepsi Free and Sugar Free Pepsi. The bigger of the beasts, CocaCola, also
went on the prowl. After lashing back with Diet Coke last year,
it flooded
the market this spring with caffeine-free versions of Coke, Diet
Coke and
Tab.
Still, the "never had it, never will" strategy boosted the
unit sales
of the St. Louis firm 12.2% last year. And 7Up's 8% jump in unit
sales was
the largest gain among the ten leading soft drinks. The company's
soft-drink market share jumped from 6.3% to 6.9% in 1982.
Meanwhile,
Coca-Cola's share remained flat at 34.5% and PepsiCo dropped to
25% from
25.1%.
Both the Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo and the Atlanta-based
Coca-Cola
say their moves into the caffeine-free market were because of
consumer
pressure, not in response to Seven-Up's campaign. But soft-drink
analysts
disagree.
"They had to respond," says Emanuel Goldman, partner with
Montgomery
Securities in San Francisco, if "they didn't want that market
area to be
the nearly exclusive province of Seven-Up." Adds Martin Romm of
First
Boston Corp. in New York: "Seven-Up [simply] did a good job in
getting [at]
the weakness, if there was a weakness, in the strategy of the
major cola
companies."
A straw horse. But Mr. Romm is not entirely conveinced that
Seven-Up's newest campaign is wise. Building on the caffeine-free
theme of
last year, Seven-Up (a subsidiary of corporate giant Philip
Morris Inc.)
last month caused shock waves with its no-artificial-ingredients
compaign
for 7Up. The new ads, which compare 7Up with 20 competitive
brands, stress:
"No caffeine. No artificial colors. No artivicial flavors."
"The caffeine-free aspect was a very smart tactic of SevenUp, but
this new issue of artificial coloring and flavoring is really
sort of a
straw horse," observes Mr. Romm. And he doesn't think Coca-Cola
or Pepsi
will respond to it. "I don't think the consumer has a sense that
these
products are anything but artificially colored and flavored. It
hasn't
bothered them up to now, and I don't think it will."
Blacklash? It's widely felt that seven-Up may be shooting
itself--along with everyone else--in th foot by delving deeper
into a topic
that had, until Seven-Up made a big issue of it last year, been
considered
taboo in softdrink advertising--the whole issue of hew healthy
soft drinks
are. As Jesse Meyers, publisher of Beverage Digest, Greenwich,
Conn.,
points out, "the decline of the coffee industry can be traced to
the
coffee-nerves campaigns of the 1960s."
But Seven-Up's Edward W. Frantel, president and CEO,
contends that,
if anything, Seven-Up's advertising has helped the industry's
immage by
demonstrating corporate concern that "softdrink consumers be
fully
informed...." In introducing its latest campaign late last month,
Mr.
Frantel stated, "Our research clearly indicates that consumers
prefer food
products without these artificial ingredients and caffeine, [and]
definite
confusion exists ... about which soft drinks contain [them]." As
part of
its campaign, Seven-Up will send to consumers a 90-page "sampling
of media
coverage dealing with food additives."
But Coca-Cola questions Seven-Up's methods. "We don't feel
that that
kind of advertising is the most desirable mechanism for trying to
communicate very serious issues ... to the consumer," says Rob
Martin,
assistant manager for public reltions, Coca-Cola USA, without
saying what
vehicles might be better.
A first step. But even if the new compaign is as successful
as last
year's, Seven-Up still faces struggles on many other fronts. Its
LIKE and
Sugar-Free LIKE colas still have a long way to go before they
become firmly
entrenched in the marketplace.
And it still must contend with the reality that half of the
7Up in
the U.S. is sold through Coke, Pepsi, and Royal Crown bottlers.
And those
bottlers can't take on Seven-Up's LIKE without giving up their
Coke, Pepsi,
or RC franchises. That means Seven-Up will "out of necessity get
more into
bottling itself," observes Montgomery Securities' Mr. Goldman.
It'll also
have to become a full-line soft-drink producer.
But don't sell the company short, warns Mr. Goldman. Though
Seven-Up
must be prepared to sacrifice short-term earnings in order to
establish a
long-term position, "it can afford to do that," says Mr. Goldman,
because
of its Philip Morris tie-in. "Philip Morris is in soft drinks to
stay," he
asserts.
Consumers win. Whatever the effect on its own future,
Seven-Up has
succeeded in uncapping a fierce soft-drink battle that has only
started to
carbonate. "There will be radical changes in the makeup of the
industry in
the next two years," asserts Beverage Digest's Mr. Meyers. The
two
battlegrounds: caffeine-free colas and sugar-free drinks. He
predicts that
the caffeine-free-cola segment, which was 3.5% of total volume at
the end
of 1982 and is 7% today, will shoot up to 20% of total volume in
just the
next two years. The sugar-fre business, now 17% of volume, will
skyrocket
to 30% in the same period. Mr. Meyers projects. And that'll
shrink the
share of regular soft drinks from 75% to about 50%.
"The consumer's going to be the big winner because prices
are going
to be inordinately discounted," Mr. Meyers assets.
COPYRIGHT 1983 Penton Publishing Inc.
Special Features: illustration; portrait
Company Names: Seven-Up Co.--Marketing
Descriptors: Decaffeinated beverages--Marketing; Soft drink
industry--Marketing
SIC Codes: 2086 Bottled and canned soft drinks
File Segment: MI File 47
2. Locate a full-text record for an article with a title having to do with the
human body being the perfect architecture for the Internet. [2 points]
I began in DIALINDEX and searched under COMPSCI because of
combination of technology and science concepts.
? sf compsci
>>>
>>>
>>>
56 is unauthorized
60 is unauthorized
647 is unauthorized
>>>3 of the specified files are not available
You have 16 files in your file list.
(To see banners, use SHOW FILES command)
I searched broadly because of more specific searches that previously
yielded zero results. This was because I used a proximity operator between
internet and architecture. I should have searched for both of the terms in
the title. I felt that “human body” and internet would have to be in the
article title.
? s (human()body and internet)/ti
Your SELECT statement is:
S (HUMAN()BODY AND INTERNET)/TI
Items
----1
File
---275: Gale Group Computer DB(TM)_1983-2008/Mar
04
1 file has one or more items; file list includes 16 files.
The search yielded on record, so I searched file 275 using the same terms.
? b 275
09mar08 18:02:06 User704414 Session D1742.5
Sub account: STRATEGY
$1.09
0.730 DialUnits File411
$1.09 Estimated cost File411
$1.06 INTERNET
$2.15 Estimated cost this search
$21.48 Estimated total session cost 10.059 DialUnits
File 275:Gale Group Computer DB(TM) 1983-2008/Mar 04
(c) 2008 The Gale Group
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
? s (human()body and internet)/ti
S1
2746
991
34
60379
1
HUMAN/TI
BODY/TI
HUMAN/TI(W)BODY/TI
INTERNET/TI
(HUMAN()BODY AND INTERNET)/TI
? t s1/5/1
1/5/1
DIALOG(R)File 275: Gale Group Computer DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
02527251
Supplier Number: 77014389 (Use Format 7 Or 9 For
FULL TEXT )
The Perfect Architecture - It's no accident that the design of
computers, software, and even the Internet reflects the most
efficient machine ever made-- the human body.(Alan Kay invents
object-oriented programming)
Metz, Cade
PC Magazine , 187
Sept 4 , 2001
ISSN: 0888-8507
Language: English
Word Count: 1812
Record Type: Fulltext; Abstract
Line Count: 00145
Abstract: Alan Kay, cofounder of Xerox's Palo Alto Research
Center (PARC), invented an elemental version of object-oriented
programming in 1961, when stationed at Denver's Randolph Air
Force Base.
Geographic Codes/Names: 1USA United States
Descriptors: Industry event; Object-oriented programming
Named Persons: Kay, Alan--Innovations
Event Codes/Names: 331 Product development;290 Public affairs
Product/Industry Names: 7372510 (Software Development Tools)
SIC Codes: 7372 Prepackaged software
NAICS Codes: 51121 Software Publishers
File Segment: CD File 275
Here is the full text of the article.
? t s1/9/1
1/9/1
DIALOG(R)File 275: Gale Group Computer DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
02527251
Supplier Number: 77014389 (This Is The FULL TEXT )
The Perfect Architecture - It's no accident that the design of
computers, software, and even the Internet reflects the most
efficient machine ever made-- the human body.(Alan Kay invents
object-oriented programming)
Metz, Cade
PC Magazine , 187
Sept 4 , 2001
ISSN: 0888-8507
Language: English
Word Count: 1812
Record Type: Fulltext; Abstract
Line Count: 00145
Abstract: Alan Kay, cofounder of Xerox's Palo Alto Research
Center (PARC), invented an elemental version of object-oriented
programming in 1961, when stationed at Denver's Randolph Air
Force Base.
Text:
He inspired the most important innovation in the history of
software, and
no one knows his name. He was a programmer stationed at Denver's
Randolph
Air Force Base sometime in the late 1950s, writing assembly
language code
and feeding it on spools of magnetic tape to a Burroughs 220
vacuum tube
computer.
That worked well enough. What was virtually impossible, though,
was to
move data from the Burroughs machine at the base to computers at
other air
training command installations. No operating systems or standard
file
formats existed, so a person couldn't e-mail a Microsoft Word
document or
hand an Excel file on a disk to a colleague and expect it to be
readable by
any machine. Raw data could be copied from the Burroughs onto
tape, but
other computers wouldn't be able to make sense of the jumble of
ones and
zeros.
The anonymous programmer came up with an ingenious
solution. He
transformed the Burroughs data files into mini programs, little
selfsufficient modules of code. Inside each of these, he included
both the data
and the procedures needed to manipulate that data. He then hid
data and
code behind a simple interface, which let a computer understand
the module
without knowing anything about how the inside was formatted. In
this way, a
module could supply not only data to disparate machines but also
a means of
decoding it; all the computer needed to know was how to decipher
the simple
outer interface.
When ALAN Kay first used this file system as a new recruit
at
Randolph in 1961, he knew it was clever, but he didn't completely
appreciate its importance until several years had passed, well
after the
programmer's name had been lost to history. "I didn't get the big
grok
until '66," says Kay, now well known in computing circles as a
cofounder of
Xerox's seminal Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where the
overlapping-windows interface, Ethernet, laser printing, and the
laptop
were invented. Kay caught on, though, when he realized that this
innovative
file system could not only open up the lines of communication
between
machines but also improve the way entire software applications
were
designed.
Within six years, in Kay's hands at Xerox PARC, this idea
evolved
into object-oriented programming, the revolutionary computing
concept that
is the foundation for most of today's high-level software
development
languages, including C++ and Java. Mimicking the Randolph system,
this new
approach involved dividing a program into a series of modules,
which Kay
called objects, each one a little nugget of data and instructions
that
performs a specific task, and each fronted by a simple interface.
Lots of objects plugged together formed complete
applications. One
object never knew what went on inside another, but through the
interfaces,
objects collectively completed tasks they couldn't on their own.
Thanks to
object-oriented programming, a friend can send you an Excel
spreadsheet as
an e-mail attachment and your computer knows what to do with it.
The Biological Imperative
Kay's favorite metaphor for his programming language, which
eventually was named Smalltalk, is a biological system. The most
obvious
parallel is the human body, which is divided into trillions of
cells, each
performing its own specialized task. Like objects in software
produced with
object-oriented programming, human cells don't know what goes on
inside one
another, but they can communicate nevertheless, working together
to perform
more complex tasks. "This is an almost foolproof way of
operating," Kay
says.
By mimicking biology in this way, we can minimize many of
the
problems inherent to the construction of a complex computing
system. A
developer can focus on one simple module at a time, making sure
it works
properly, and move on to the next. Not only is building a system
this way
easier, but the system will be much more reliable. And when it
does break
down, it's simpler to fix, because problems are typically
contained within
individual modules, which can be repaired or replaced quickly.
By contrast, a monolithic system is like a massive
mechanical clock
containing innumerable turning gears, none of which has its own
internal
logic or communicates information. Each gear functions
unintelligently and
only in relation to other gears. That design is hopelessly
flawed. "When
you're building gear clocks, eventually you reach a certain level
of
complexity and it falls in on itself," says Kay.
That he would view his programming language in terms of
molecular
sciences and not electronic engineering is apt, because that
comparison in
many ways sums up the remarkable development of computing in the
past 60
years. Although it may not be immediately apparent, from the days
of the
first computer to now, developers have made greater and greater
use of
biological concepts.
Whether the first room-filling machines, minicomputers,
personal
computers, PDAs, Microsoft Word, or the Internet, each generation
has
created ever more complex systems by piecing together ever
simpler subsets.
A 30-ton experiment
Well before the unnamed programmer designed his file
system, the same
basic division-of-labor idea was used to create the 30-ton ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), arguably the
world's first
computer. Completed in 1945 at the University of Pennsylvania
with funding
from the Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory, the ENIAC included
20
different "accumulators" that handled addition and subtraction,
with a
separate module for multiplication and yet another for division
and square
roots.
These modules worked independently but could also be strung
together,
transforming output from one into input for another. "Using the
ENIAC was
like operating the old telephone systems," says Kay Antonelli,
the widow of
ENIAC designer John Mauchly, and herself a mathematician who
worked on the
ENIAC project. "All these units were connected using cables and a
plug
board."
It worked magnificently. In an era when most computers
rarely ran for
more than an hour at a time, the ENIAC, thanks to its modular
design, could
compute for hours on end. Originally designed to determine
missile
trajectories, the ENIAC was soon handling wholly unrelated
calculations for
mathematicians and physicists around the globe. In late 1945,
Edward Teller
and his Los Alamos team arrived at the university, putting the
ENIAC to
work on the H-bomb project.
Modular Inventions
The biological parallel made its biggest impact in 1958,
when
scientists at Texas Instruments and Fairchild Semiconductor Corp.
invented
the integrated circuit, a self-contained electronic device
capable of
housing dozens, hundreds, and eventually millions of electronic
components.
The silicon chip, which is the ultimate integrated circuit, is
the basis of
nearly every computer made since the late 1960s. Building a
computer has
become a matter of piecing chips together.
Just as software programmers can use the same software
objects
repeatedly and even share them with other programmers,
manufacturers can
easily mass-produce integrated circuits and sell them to other
hardware
manufacturers.
The original IBM PC, completed in less than a year, was
built this
way. "We bought the programmed i/o, interrupt controllers, timer
chip, dma
controllers, and three different operating systems. Then we put
them all
together with an Intel microprocessor," says IBM's David Bradley,
who
designed the machine's bios, the microcode that allows for
communication
between hard ware and software.
After the rise of object-oriented programming, virtually
every major
new language adopted a modular architecture. Interaction among
LAN- guages
was eventually facilitated by Microsoft's ole (Object Linking and
Embedding) technology, now called com (Component Object Model),
and a
competing standard known as CORBA (Common Object Request Broker
Architecture). These are merely modern versions of the Randolph
file
system. They let disparate object-oriented systems talk to each
other and
transform data files into objects that can be easily passed from
one
machine to another.
The computer-as-a-biological-system metaphor reached a new
level with
the development of the network, where the concept was applied on
a much
larger scale. In full-scale networks, disparate hardware
components
performing disparate tasks are given common ways of talking to
one another.
To join a network, a system doesn't have to know how the others
work; it
just needs to know how to talk to them. Computers themselves
become
modules, strung together on local area networks, on wide area
networks, and
on the Internet.
The Internet is, at least by today's standards, the most
perfect
network and perhaps the most perfect parallel to a biological
system. It
has yet to match the 100 trillion cells that make up the human
body, but
the Internet now includes several hundred million computers that
have
gradually become more specialized: Some store data, some
broadcast
information, some download music and video, and some control the
quality of
pages, to name a few functions. And the Web is expanding
relentlessly to
encompass tvs, wireless phones, notebooks, and handhelds. "Put a
chip in a
radio or a tv and it becomes part of this growing network," says
Larry
Roberts, who in 1965 developed the arpanet, the Internet's
precursor. He is
now chairman of router maker Caspian Networks.
The next step in extending the biological system to new
technologies
is distributed computing, the modularization of software
applications
running across the Internet. With the original object-oriented
languages,
all objects used in a program have to reside initially on the
same machine
and be written in the same language. With distributed computing,
best
embodied by IBM and Microsoft's Web Services initiative, you can
build an
application by connecting objects from machines anyplace on the
Internet,
without knowing anything about how they were written.
Take, for example, a clothing business that wants to
develop an etailing site. In the future, such a company will use almost
nothing but
modules to piece its site together. To handle acquisition of raw
materials,
the company will tie into a module built by a cloth seller. To
handle
customer payments, it will tie into a module of a credit card
company. To
arrange for shipping, it will tie into a module of FedEx or UPS.
"It's just
about gathering pieces and putting them together," says Mani
Chandy, a
professor of computer science at the California Institute of
Technology and
cofounder of iSpheres, a company that develops software
components for
businesses. Sounds a lot like the work of that anonymous Air
Force
programmer.
COPYRIGHT 2001 ZDNet
Geographic Codes/Names: 1USA United States
Descriptors: Industry event; Object-oriented programming
Named Persons: Kay, Alan--Innovations
Event Codes/Names: 331 Product development;290 Public affairs
Product/Industry Names: 7372510 (Software Development Tools)
SIC Codes: 7372 Prepackaged software
NAICS Codes: 51121 Software Publishers
File Segment: CD File 275
3. A library patron wants to find the D&B-Dun’s Market Identifiers record for
a company in Illinois called something like Good Old Days Antiques. She’s
not sure of the exact name. Try the search two ways: first, using the suffix
for company name, second, using the prefix for company name. Explain
why it helps to have two different ways to search by company name.
[3 points]
I located the correct file by typing “b” and locating D&B – Duns Market
Identifiers.
? b 516
09mar08 18:22:46 User704414 Session D1742.6
Sub account: STRATEGY
$0.74
0.495 DialUnits File275
$0.00 1 Type(s) in Format 5
$0.00 1 Type(s) in Format 9
$0.00 2 Types
$0.74 Estimated cost File275
$4.53 INTERNET
$5.27 Estimated cost this search
$26.75 Estimated total session cost 10.555 DialUnits
File 516:D & B - DUNS MARKET IDENTIFIERS 2007/Feb
(c) 2008 D&B)
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
Since the business is in Illinois, I began the search using the state prefix to
find all businesses in the state of Illinois.
? s st=il
S1
703250
ST=IL
Next, I used the company suffix to search for the company. I used a
proximity operator (3n) and open truncation (?).
? s (good(n3)old and antique?)/co
S5
16204
20703
108
33360
18
GOOD/CO
OLD/CO
GOOD/CO(3N)OLD/CO
ANTIQUE?/CO
(GOOD(N3)OLD AND ANTIQUE?)/CO
After finding 18 records with me search, I combined S1 and S5, which
yielded just one record.
? s s1 and s5
S6
703250
18
1
S1
S5
S1 AND S5
? t s6/3/1
6/3/1
DIALOG(R)File 516: D & B - DUNS MARKET IDENTIFIERS
(c) 2008 D&B). All rights reserved.
27002292
The Good Old Days Antique Shop
475 Walnut Ave
Elgin , IL
60123-7555
Telephone:
Business:
847-931-9413
Ret Used Merchandise Ret Gifts/Novelties
NAICS Codes:
453310 (Used Merchandise Stores)
Primary SIC:
5932 Used merchandise stores
59320200 Antiques, nec
Secondary SIC(s):
5947 Gift, novelty, and souvenir shop, nsk
59470100 Gifts and novelties
DUNS Number:
15-295-9909
OWNER: Jackson, Charles /Owner
Number of Executives:
1
Latest Update to Record:
06/24/07
After finding the correct record, I used a prefix to search for the business.
According to the bluesheet, the addition index CO field is phrased indexed,
so I searched using the full name of the business. I was able to locate the
record for the business easily.
? s co="the good old days antique shop"
S7
1
CO="THE GOOD OLD DAYS ANTIQUE SHOP"
? t s7/3/1
7/3/1
DIALOG(R)File 516: D & B - DUNS MARKET IDENTIFIERS
(c) 2008 D&B). All rights reserved.
27002292
The Good Old Days Antique Shop
475 Walnut Ave
Elgin , IL
60123-7555
Telephone:
Business:
847-931-9413
Ret Used Merchandise Ret Gifts/Novelties
NAICS Codes:
453310 (Used Merchandise Stores)
Primary SIC:
5932 Used merchandise stores
59320200 Antiques, nec
Secondary SIC(s):
5947 Gift, novelty, and souvenir shop, nsk
59470100 Gifts and novelties
DUNS Number:
15-295-9909
OWNER: Jackson, Charles /Owner
Number of Executives:
1
Latest Update to Record:
06/24/07
The benefit of being able to search with a prefix and suffix is that the suffix
allows you use individual terms, Boolean logic, etc. and the prefix allows
you to search for the company name as a phrase. This means that if you
don’t know the exact name of the company, you should use the suffix (as in
the example above) and if you do know the exact phrase, you should use
the prefix. The suffix allows you to narrow your search while the prefix
requires a phrase.
4. Find all records in MathSci mentioning fractals that were written by
authors at the University of California at Berkeley. Type two records in
bibliographic citation format. Hint: the assigned reading contains a similar
search. [2 points]
? b 239
09mar08 18:54:47 User704414 Session D1742.8
Sub account: STRATEGY
$0.35
0.232 DialUnits File411
$0.35 Estimated cost File411
$0.18 INTERNET
$0.53 Estimated cost this search
$36.96 Estimated total session cost 12.800 DialUnits
File 239:Mathsci 1940-2008/Mar
(c) 2008 American Mathematical Society
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
Using the example from the assigned readings, I followed the process by
starting with a search using the proximity operator 1W. Then I used the
proximity operator S to allow for different constructions of the name of Cal
Berkeley. This was a search of the additional index.
? s cs=(univ?(1w)calif?(1w)berkeley)
1182692
60700
13432
S2
1389
CS=UNIV?
CS=CALIF?
CS=BERKELEY
CS=(UNIV?(1W)CALIF?(1W)BERKELEY)
? s cs=(univ?(s)calif?(s)berkeley)
1182692
60700
13432
S3
11422
CS=UNIV?
CS=CALIF?
CS=BERKELEY
CS=(UNIV?(S)CALIF?(S)BERKELEY)
Next, I searched for “fractal? ?”, which means that I searched for fractal or
the root and up to one additional character. I wanted to search for “fractal”
or “fractals”. I played around with the results of other searches. This was a
search of the basic index.
? s fractal? ?
S4
10081
FRACTAL? ?
? s fractal
S5
6534
FRACTAL
? s fractals
S6
5913
FRACTALS
? s s3 and s4
S7
11422
10081
84
S3
S4
S3 AND S4
I combined sets 3 and 4 for 84 records that were authored from Cal
Berkeley and mentioned fractal or fractals. The following records are in
bibliographic citation format:
? t s7/3/1-2
7/3/1
DIALOG(R)File 239: Mathsci
(c) 2008 American Mathematical Society. All rights reserved.
03994274 MR 2007m#37053
Absolute continuity for random iterated function systems with
overlaps.
Peres, Yuval (Department of Statistics, University of California,
Berkeley, California, 94720)
Simon, Karoly (Institute of Mathematics, Budapest University of
Technology and Economics, 1111 Budapest, Hungary)
Solomyak, Boris (Department of Mathematics, University of
Washington, Seattle, Washington, 98195)
( Simon, Karoly 1 )
Corporate Source Codes: 1-CA-S; H-BUTE-IM; 1-WA
J. London Math. Soc. (2)
Journal of the London Mathematical Society. Second Series ,
2006 ,
74 ,
no. 3,
739--756. ISSN: 0024-6107
CODEN:
JLMSAK
Language: English
Summary Language: English
Subfile: MR (Mathematical Reviews) AMS
Abstract Length: MEDIUM (20 lines)
Reviewer: Jarvenpaa, Esa A. (FIN-JVS)
7/3/2
DIALOG(R)File 239: Mathsci
(c) 2008 American Mathematical Society. All rights reserved.
03985233 MR 2007k#65049
A fast ULV decomposition solver for hierarchically semiseparable
representations.
Chandrasekaran, S. (Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California,
93106)
Gu, M. (Department of Mathematics, University of California,
Berkeley, California, 94720)
Pals, T. (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of California, Santa Barbara, California, 93106)
( Gu, Ming 1 )
Corporate Source Codes: 1-UCSB-EE; 1-CA; 1-UCSB-EE
SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl.
SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications ,
2006 ,
28
,
no. 3,
603--622 (electronic). ISSN: 0895-4798
Language: English
Summary Language: English
Subfile: MR (Mathematical Reviews) AMS
Abstract Length: MEDIUM (16 lines)
Reviewer: Simoncini, Valeria (I-BOLO)
5. Use MEDLINE File 154 to find records on diet therapies for migraines.
[3 points]
a. Do a simple word search and then TYPE a few records to see the descriptors used;
choose an appropriate display format to view the descriptors.
? s (diet(2n)therap?) and migraine?
134165
1927835
21201
13263
S3
47
DIET
THERAP?
DIET(2N)THERAP?
MIGRAINE?
(DIET(2N)THERAP?) AND MIGRAINE?
? t s3/4/7-9
3/4/7
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
FN- DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
CZ- (c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
AN- 16836651|
AA- 16412174|
TI- Can ketosis help migraine sufferers? A case report.|
AU- Strahlman R Scott|
JN- Headache;
46 (1) p182|
CP- United States|
PY- Jan 2006|
SN- 0017-8748--Print|
JC- 2985091R|
NT- Publishing Model Print|
DT- Case Reports; Letter|
LA- ENGLISH|
OA- NLM|
RT- MEDLINE; Completed|
SF- INDEX MEDICUS|
GS- Female|
DE- *Ketosis --physiopathology --PP; *Migraine Disorders
--
diet
therapy --DH|
DE- Adult; Caloric Restriction;
UP- 20060117|
RC- 20060531||
Fasting;
Humans;
Recurrence|
3/4/8
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
FN- DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
CZ- (c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
AN- 16823592|
AA- 16388771|
TI- Clinical inquiries. What dietary modifications are indicated
for
migraines?|
AU- Crawford Paul; Simmons Michael; Hoock Jennifer|
CS- Eglin Air Force Base Family Medicine Residency, Eglin Air
Force Base,
Eglin, FL, USA.|
JN- Journal of family practice;
55 (1) p62-3, 66|
CP- United States|
PY- Jan 2006|
SN- 0094-3509--Print|
JC- 7502590|
NT- Publishing Model Print|
DT- Journal Article|
LA- ENGLISH|
OA- NLM|
RT- MEDLINE; Completed|
SF- AIM; INDEX MEDICUS|
DE- *Dietary Fats --therapeutic use --TU; *Fatty Acids,
Omega-3 --therapeutic use --TU; *Magnesium --therapeutic use
--TU;
*Migraine Disorders --diet therapy --DH; *Riboflavin -therapeutic
use --TU|
DE- Adolescent; Adult; Child; Evidence-Based Medicine; Fatty
Acids,
Omega-3 --administration and dosage --AD; Humans;
Magnesium --administration and dosage --AD; Migraine
Disorders --etiology --ET; Randomized Controlled Trials as
Topic;
Riboflavin --administration and dosage --AD|
RN- 0
(Dietary Fats); 0
(Fatty Acids, Omega-3); 7439-95-4
(Magnesium)
; 83-88-5
(Riboflavin)|
UP- 20060103|
RC- 20060216||
3/4/9
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
FN- DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
CZ- (c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
AN- 16549240|
AA- 16113701|
TI- Migraine and tension headache--a complementary and
alternative medicine
approach.|
AU- Woolhouse Michelle|
CS- michellewoolhouse@hotmail.com|
JN- Australian family physician;
34 (8) p647-51|
CP- Australia|
PY- Aug 2005|
SN- 0300-8495--Print|
JC- 0326701|
NT- Publishing Model Print|
DT- Journal Article; Review|
LA- ENGLISH|
OA- NLM|
RT- MEDLINE; Completed|
SF- INDEX MEDICUS; Toxbib|
AB- BACKGROUND: Migraine and tension headache are common-affecting up to
10% and 40% of the Australian population respectively--and
result in
significant reduction in social activities and work capacity
for
sufferers. OBJECTIVE: This article considers the evidence for
the use
of a range of complementary therapies and treatment in the
prevention
and management of both migraine and tension headache.
DISCUSSION:
Migraine and tension headache can have many precipitating
factors.
Considering dietary and environmental factors complements a
migraine/headache consultation. There is evidence for the
role of
mind-body approaches, nutritional supplements such as
riboflavin and
magnesium, and acupuncture in the treatment of headache. By
using a
holistic approach we may be able to tailor a treatment
program that is
both effective and safe.|
RF- 20|
DE- *Complementary Therapies --methods --MT; *Migraine
Disorders --therapy --TH; *Tension-Type Headache --therapy -TH|
DE- Acupuncture Therapy; Diet --adverse effects --AE; Diet
Therapy --methods --MT; Dietary Supplements; Environmental
Exposure --adverse effects --AE; Humans; Magnesium -therapeutic
use --TU; Migraine Disorders --etiology --ET; Mind-Body and
Relaxation Techniques --methods --MT; Phytotherapy --methods
--MT;
Riboflavin --therapeutic use --TU; Risk Factors; Sleep
Disorders --complications --CO; Tanacetum parthenium;
Tension-Type
Headache --etiology --ET|
RN- 7439-95-4
(Magnesium); 83-88-5
(Riboflavin)|
UP- 20050822|
RC- 20051020||
c. Search on this descriptor heading and subheading using the (L)
operator.
? s ("migraine disorders"(l)"diet therapy")/de
S7
9114
18135
21
MIGRAINE DISORDERS/DE
DIET THERAPY/DE
("MIGRAINE DISORDERS"(L)"DIET THERAPY")/DE
d. Restrict the results to English-language articles using the most
efficient method.
? s s7/eng
S8
18
S7/ENG
e. TYPE three records.
? t s8/4/1-3
8/4/1
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
FN- DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
CZ- (c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
AN- 17040203|
AA- 16714736|
TI- Best practice: migraine.|
AU- Speight N|
JN- Archives of disease in childhood;
91 (6) p541|
CP- England|
PY- Jun 2006|
SN- 1468-2044--Electronic|
JC- 0372434|
NT- Publishing Model Print|
DT- Letter|
LA- ENGLISH|
OA- NLM|
RT- MEDLINE; Completed|
SF- AIM; INDEX MEDICUS|
DE- *Migraine Disorders --diet therapy --DH|
DE- Diet; Food Hypersensitivity --complications --CO; Humans;
Migraine
Disorders --etiology --ET|
UP- 20060522|
RC- 20060609||
8/4/2
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c)
FNCZANAATIAUJNCPPYSNJCNTDTLAOARTSFGSDE-
format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
16836651|
16412174|
Can ketosis help migraine sufferers? A case report.|
Strahlman R Scott|
Headache;
46 (1) p182|
United States|
Jan 2006|
0017-8748--Print|
2985091R|
Publishing Model Print|
Case Reports; Letter|
ENGLISH|
NLM|
MEDLINE; Completed|
INDEX MEDICUS|
Female|
*Ketosis --physiopathology --PP; *Migraine Disorders --diet
therapy --DH|
DE- Adult; Caloric Restriction; Fasting; Humans; Recurrence|
UP- 20060117|
RC- 20060531||
8/4/3
DIALOG(R)File 154: MEDLINE(R)
(c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.
FN- DIALOG(R) File 154:MEDLINE(R)|
CZ- (c) format only 2008 Dialog. All rights reserved.|
AN- 16823592|
AA- 16388771|
TI- Clinical inquiries. What dietary modifications are indicated
for
migraines?|
AU- Crawford Paul; Simmons Michael; Hoock Jennifer|
CS- Eglin Air Force Base Family Medicine Residency, Eglin Air
Force Base,
Eglin, FL, USA.|
JN- Journal of family practice;
55 (1) p62-3, 66|
CP- United States|
PY- Jan 2006|
SN- 0094-3509--Print|
JC- 7502590|
NT- Publishing Model Print|
DT- Journal Article|
LA- ENGLISH|
OA- NLM|
RT- MEDLINE; Completed|
SF- AIM; INDEX MEDICUS|
DE- *Dietary Fats --therapeutic use --TU; *Fatty Acids,
Omega-3 --therapeutic use --TU; *Magnesium --therapeutic use
--TU;
*Migraine Disorders --diet therapy --DH; *Riboflavin -therapeutic
use --TU|
DE- Adolescent; Adult; Child; Evidence-Based Medicine; Fatty
Acids,
Omega-3 --administration and dosage --AD; Humans;
Magnesium --administration and dosage --AD; Migraine
Disorders --etiology --ET; Randomized Controlled Trials as
Topic;
Riboflavin --administration and dosage --AD|
RN- 0
(Dietary Fats); 0
(Fatty Acids, Omega-3); 7439-95-4
(Magnesium)
; 83-88-5
(Riboflavin)|
UP- 20060103|
RC- 20060216||
6. You’re working at a public library reference desk and a library patron
asks about voice-activated video-cassette recorders (VCRs). For this
exercise, use DIALINDEX to locate databases that have records about the
topic. There are several parts to this search. [3 points]
a. Decide which DIALINDEX category(ies) you want to use. In order to
choose appropriate categories, you’ll need to determine the aspects
of the topic he/she is interested in. Briefly explain why you chose the
categories you did.
After talking with the patron about his question, I determined that he is
interested in the original producers of the voice-activated VCR. He wants to
buy one, and he is having a hard time finding one because everyone uses
DVD players nowadays. After finding the makers of the product, he is going
do some more research on individual models. I searched two regular
categories – prodinfo and allnews. Prodinfo included press releases and
articles about new products and I thought allnews would include
business/technology section news articles.
b. Plan a simple SELECT command to enter in DIALINDEX and perform
the DIALINDEX search. If you include databases that have full-text
records, be sure to use strategies that restrict retrieval to certain
fields to help the results be relevant.
s (voice()activated and (video()cassette()recorder or vcr))/ti
c. BEGIN in the databases that appear to be best for the search based
on the DIALINDEX results.
From the above search, I ultimately decided on the following databases:
16: GALE GROUP PROMT(R) 1990-2008/MAR 05
636: GALE GROUP NEWSLETTER DB(TM) 1987-2008/MAR 06
583: GALE GROUP GLOBALBASE(TM) 1986-2002/DEC 13
d. Perform the search in the databases. If you want to use different
SELECT commands to modify the results, do so. Produce a set with
a reasonable number of records, deciding if you want to use
additional search words or to restrict to full-text records, by
language or document type, by publication year, etc.
s (voice()activated and (video()cassette()recorder or vcr))/ti
? b 16,636,583
11mar08 22:29:52 User704414 Session D1744.12
$3.58
2.387 DialUnits File411
$3.58 Estimated cost File411
$0.80 INTERNET
$4.38 Estimated cost this search
$37.31 Estimated total session cost 16.710 DialUnits
SYSTEM:OS - DIALOG OneSearch
File 16:Gale Group PROMT(R) 1990-2008/Mar 05
(c) 2008 The Gale Group
*File 16: Because of updating irregularities, the banner and the
update (UD=) may vary.
File 636:Gale Group Newsletter DB(TM) 1987-2008/Mar 06
(c) 2008 The Gale Group
File 583:Gale Group Globalbase(TM) 1986-2002/Dec 13
(c) 2002 The Gale Group
*File 583: This file is no longer updating as of 12-13-2002.
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
? s (voice()activated and (video()cassette()recorder or vcr))/ti
36137 VOICE/TI
2198 ACTIVATED/TI
515 VOICE/TI(W)ACTIVATED/TI
85367 VIDEO/TI
1084 CASSETTE/TI
3258 RECORDER/TI
16 VIDEO/TI(W)CASSETTE/TI(W)RECORDER/TI
2872 VCR/TI
S1
6 (VOICE()ACTIVATED AND
(VIDEO()CASSETTE()RECORDER OR
VCR))/TI
e. TYPE no more than three records in what you submit.
2/3/2 (Item 2 from file: 16)
DIALOG(R)File 16: Gale Group PROMT(R)
(c) 2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
02918740
Supplier Number: 43942703 (USE FORMAT 7 FOR FULLTEXT)
VOICE-ACTIVATED VCR INTRODUCED BY PHILIPS
Screen Digest , p N/A
July , 1993
Language: English
Record Type: Fulltext
Document Type: Newsletter ; Trade
Word Count: 75
2/3/3 (Item 1 from file: 636)
DIALOG(R)File 636: Gale Group Newsletter DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
04842942
Supplier Number: 67049615 (USE FORMAT 7 FOR FULLTEXT)
Clarity Introduces Voice-Activated TV, VCR Remote At Comdex.
Bartlett, Michael
Newsbytes , p NWSB00322009
Nov 16 , 2000
Language: English
Record Type: Fulltext
Document Type: Newswire ; Trade
Word Count: 367
2/3/4 (Item 1 from file: 583)
DIALOG(R)File 583: Gale Group Globalbase(TM)
(c) 2002 The Gale Group. All rights reserved.
06070914
Voice recognition to end VCR frustration
AUSTRALIA: VOICE ACTIVATED VCR
The Australian ( XAA )
1 Nov 1994
Language: ENGLISH
Computers P. 36
Extra credit:
[1 point] This is a two-part quest: (1) find out how many records are in File
47 by the writer Isaac Asimov;
? b47
11mar08 22:57:22 User704414 Session D1744.15
$0.06
0.040 DialUnits File16
$0.06 Estimated cost File16
$0.06
0.040 DialUnits File636
$0.06 Estimated cost File636
$0.06
0.040 DialUnits File583
$0.06 Estimated cost File583
OneSearch, 3 files, 0.121 DialUnits FileOS
$2.93 INTERNET
$3.11 Estimated cost this search
$45.47 Estimated total session cost 17.708 DialUnits
File
47:Gale Group Magazine DB(TM) 1959-2008/Feb 29
(c) 2008 The Gale group
Set
---
Items
-----
Description
-----------
? e au=asimov, i
Ref
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
E7
E8
E9
E10
E11
E12
E13
E14
E15
E16
E17
E18
E19
E20
E21
E22
E23
E24
E25
E26
E27
E28
E29
E30
E31
E32
E33
E34
E35
E36
E37
E38
E39
E40
E41
E42
E43
E44
E45
E46
E47
E48
E49
Items Index-term
2 AU=ASIMAKOPULOS, MARIKA
1 AU=ASIMOV, ERIC
0 *AU=ASIMOV, I
383 AU=ASIMOV, ISAAC
8 AU=ASIMOV, ISAAC (PAUL FRENCH, PSEUD)
87 AU=ASIMOV, ISAAC.
8 AU=ASIMOV, JANET
1 AU=ASIMOV, JANET J.
1 AU=ASIMOV, MUHAMED S.
1 AU=ASIMOW, MICHAEL
1 AU=ASIMOW, MORRIS
1 AU=ASIN, KAREN E.
3 AU=ASINGER, RICHARD W.
22 AU=ASINOF, ELIOT
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1 AU=ASKEW. WILLIAM CLARENCE
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AU='ASIMOV, ISAAC':AU='ASIMOV, ISAAC.'
(2) locate a full-text article in which he wrote about where gets all his ideas.
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DIALOG(R)File 47: Gale Group Magazine DB(TM)
(c) 2008 The Gale group. All rights reserved.
02594810
Supplier Number: 03499585 (THIS IS THE FULL TEXT )
'Where I get my ideas.'
Asimov, Isaac
UNESCO Courier , p8(2)
Nov , 1984
CODEN: UNECAX
ISSN: 0041-5278
Language: ENGLISH
Record Type: FULLTEXT
Word Count: 1778
Line Count: 00123
Text:
I suppose that the question most frequently asked of prolific
writers is
"Where do you get your ideas?" If one is a prolific science
fiction writer,
as I am, the question is likely to be rephrased into, "Where do
you get
your crazy ideas?".
The answer, in general, is a rather simple one. I think, and
think, and
think until something occurs to me. It's by no means an easy task
and if my
dear wife, Janet, comes upon me when I happen to be lost in
thought, her
first impression (even after years of experience with me) is that
I'm in
dreadful pain.
"What's wrong?" she cries out in alarm.
"I'm thinking", I growl.
And yet sometimes, I must admit, an idea is thrust upon me
by the
outside world. On January 24, 1971, I attended a science fiction
convention
and was in the audience while two famous science fiction writers
were
discussing writing techniques. One thought that human reactions
were more
important than technological details, even in science fiction
(and I agree
with him). "If you have your motivations straight," he said, "who
cares
about--uh--plutonium-186".
I laughed at this for the speaker's memory had betrayed
him. There is
no such thing as plutonium-186, and there can't be. It struck me,
though,
that I might write a story in which plutonium-186 did exist. It
would come
from another universe, of course, one in which the laws of nature
were
different. Once here, the substance would slowly absorb our laws
of nature
and become more and more unstable. If we could get an indefinite
amount of
such material from the other Universe, we could have a new and
enormous
source of no-cost energy. Of course, I would have to work out
some serious
drawback which would involve all Earth, perhaps all the Universe,
in a
dreadful danger. Would people then be willing to give up a source
of
cost-less energy? More and more things developed out of that one
expression
"plutonium-186". I ended with a novel called "The Gods
Themselves",
published by Doubleday in 1972.
Once I actually dreamed a book. On April 3, 1973, I awoke
from a
peculiar dream and at once told it to Janet who, as a
psychiatrist, is
professionally interested in dreams. I said, "I dreamed I was
preparing an
anthology of old science fiction stories I had read and loved
when I was a
teen-ager and I was re-reading them and loving them again. What a
shame to
have to wake up."
Janet said, "Well, why don't you prepare such an
anthology?".
So I did, and I got to reread all the old stories in real
life (some
of them didn't hold up). The book was entitled "Before the Golden
Age" and
was published by Doubleday on April 3, 1974, the first
anniversary of my
dream.
Last year I actually dreamed a mystery. I had followed
someone into a
restaurant and he disappeared before my eyes. There was a couch
in the
restaurant with its back to me, and I finally found him, lying
down on the
couch so that I could not see him from the doorway. In my dream I
said,
"What a wonderful idea for a Black Widower story!" (The Black
Widower
stories are a series of mysteries that I've been writing for over
ten
years.) When I woke up I thought up a story around that basic
notion,
called it "The Redhead", wrote it, And sold it. It appeared in
the October,
1984, issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.
Sometimes, an editor deliberately challenges me. On March
17, 1941,
John W. Campbell, editor of Astounding Science Fiction handed me
a
quotation from an essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "If the stars
should appear
one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore;
and
preserve for many generations the remembrance of the City of
God..."
"I want you to write a story about this", said Campbell.
"Explain why
the stars should only appear once in a long time, and what effect
the
appearance would have on an intelligent race."
I wrote the story, called it "Nightfall" and it appeared in
the
September 1941 issue of the magazine. It is still my most famous
single
short story, and I wrote it when I was only 21.
These are exceptional cases, however. In my hundreds of
stories of
all lengths, I almost never had the help of a chance comment, of
a dream,
of an editorial suggestion, or of anything else. As I said, it
then becomes
a matter of hard thought.
I might begin thinking of a scientific development and
wondering
"What if--?"
In 1956, computers were much in the news. The existing ones
were
crude indeed compared to what we have now, but already it was
possible to
speculate over how far they could improve. I began to speculate,
"How far?
How far? Would it eventually be able to do this? Do that? Surpass
human
beings, perchance?" In my mind, at last, I came to what seemed to
me to be
the only possible conclusion. I promptly wrote the story "The
Last
Question" which appeared in the November, 1956, issue of Science
Fiction
Quarterly. Of all the stories I have written, this one is my
favourite.
Or I might think of the human angle rather than the
technological
one. What if computers became so common and integral a part of
the human
scene that people forgot how to do arithmetic in their head or by
use of
pen and paper; forgot even that it was possible to do it without
a
computer? It didn't take long to think of a satirical treatment
of the
question and I wrote "The Feeling of Power", which appeared in
the
February, 1958, issue of If.
As you see, for me a story starts with a word, a phrase, a
statement,
a question. That acts like a seed out of which the rest of the
story grows;
or, if you prefer another metaphor, it acts as a piece of grit
about which
the pearl layers itself.
Very frequently, the seed I must somehow originate makes up
the end
of the story. Most of my stories are mysteries in one fashion or
another. A
good number of them, both novels and short stories, are actual
mysteries,
orthodox and old-fashioned "whodunits". Some of my science
fiction novels,
thought thoroughly science fiction, are also straightforward
mysteries.
Examples are "The Caves of Steel" (Doubleday, 1954); "The Naked
Sun"
(Doubleday, 1957); and the very recent, "The Robots of Dawn"
(Doubleday,
1983).
Even those science fiction stories that are not
straightforward
mysteries have mystery elements to them. There is very often
something to
be found or uncovered, a particular person or place or
motivation,
something.
In every case, I must think up the ending, the gimmick, the
surprise
that will fool the reader.
Once I have my ending I'm home and safe. The next step is
to think up
a place to begin. In this connexion I always remember something
that John
Campbell once told me. He said, "When you start a story and find
you are
having trouble, it is because you started too soon. Start later
in the
narrative." I therefore start as late as I conveniently can. That
does not
take long to work out.
Then, once I have my ending and my beginning, I start to
write. To be
sure, I don't have anything in between the beginning and ending
except,
possibly, some vague scraps of conversation in my head. That
doesn't
matter; I rely on making up the entire story--even a novel as
complicated
as "The Robots of Dawn"--as I go along. I stay always one scene
ahead of
myself until, as I approach the end, the last few scenes of the
book reveal
themselves and that is how I know I am approaching the end.
What happens if half-way through I'7 stuck? Well, that is
very
unlikely. As long as I know what the ending will be I have
something to aim
for, whether I am writing a short story or a novel, and as long
as there is
something to aim for, I can't get totally lost.
The actual writing (once I know where I'm going) always
turns out to
be incredibly simple. I write as fast as I can type and it is
never
necessary to make more than a few minor revisions.
I don't actually visualize my stories; I'm not very good at
visualization. I don't really picture my characters or my scenes
and I
rarely describe anything I don't absolutely have to. But I do
hear. The
entire story reels itself off in my head as I sit at the
typewriter or
word-processor and, I can hear it--especially the dialogue. It is
as though
something inside myself is dictating and I am merely typing down
what I
hear as fast as I can.
For that reason, my stories and novels tend to be more
conversation
than action, more dialogue than events. I am criticized for that
sometimes
by people who (I can only presume) know more about writing than I
do, and
who therefore feel entirely free to castigate me for the lack of
action,
description and characterization in my fiction.
But what can I do? I write as I write, and I urge no one
else to do
as I do.
That is why, by the way, I approach an article such as this
one with
a certain reluctance. I have never taken courses in writing,
never read
books on the subject. I majored in chemistry and not in English
literature.
I am, then, clearly not an authority in the subject. I
don't pretend
to know how to write and I don't hold myself up as a model to
beginners in
any way. In fact, I think I should be considered a horrible
example for I
feel that anyone who tries to do what I do is bound to make a
mess of it.
Once again--I do what I do simply because that is all I
know how to
do.
COPYRIGHT 1984 UNESCO (France)
Special Features: illustration; photograph; cartoon
Descriptors: science fiction--Authorship; Authors--Technique;
Authorship--Technique
SIC Codes: 8999 Services, not elsewhere classified
File Segment: MI File 47