Newsgroups: soc.roots
Date:         Wed, 29 Jul 1992 11:37:48 PDT
Reply-To:     Tom Lincoln <lincoln@IRIS.RAND.ORG>
From:         Tom Lincoln <lincoln@IRIS.RAND.ORG>
Subject:      How to Use MELVYL (by semi-popular request)...
Comments: To: Roots-L@vm1.nodak.edu

>I have seen several of your posts and I was wondering
>just what Melvyl is and what does it search?  Can you
>search for surnames?

>Please forgive my silly question (I'm still pretty new)
>but what does MELVYL stand for? I'm assuming it's a
>database or link of some kind. But I'm curious. Is it
>U.S. only or are there European ties?

>A while back, you not only presented Melvyl info, but
>showed your own inquiry commands as well.  At the time,
>I had no need to give much thought to the process you
>used in getting at the Melvyl info.  Now I do.  Could
>you please, if there is a next time, include the
>commands so that I can learn the PROCESS involved in
>using Melvyl?

>I got a good response on Armstrongs; now I would like
>to know if anyone has any information on Davis's or
>Sensabaugh's.

... and so... by semi-popular request....

MELVYL is the on-line catalog of the University of
California which covers all individual libraries. I
have used many different catalogs, but MELVYL has
some unique advantages...

1) It is robust and doesn't bomb you off
2) It is simple to use and does not set up
   cutsie highlights or use control characters that
   do wierd things to your interface.
3) The search techniques do NOT assume or require
   that you know what UC library the book is in
4) They do NOT assume that you know Library of
   Congress key words or other librarianship
5) The entries are extensive and cover all aspects
   of their collections
6) It accepts multiple word definitions easily
7) It has a long and a short display
8) There is a simple logoff that doesn't require
   that you hang up your modem!
9) It doesn't throw up blank pages. (I harvest my
   results from a scroll up screen on the MAC)

There are things that it won't do.. or I havn't figured
out how to do them: If you ask for a long display
i.e. "d long #" in the middle of a list, it will not
resume where the list left off..

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DESIGNERS! Other libraries
could learn a lot from Melvyl! (UCLA has its own local
system beginning with "O" -- I always associate it with ORWELL {:-))

ONLY THE BOOK CATALOG is available to non UC users.
YOUR MUST HAVE telnet access.
Here is how it works:

rand.org%       telnet melvyl.ucop.edu
Trying 31.1.0.1 ...
Connected to melvyl.ucop.edu.
Escape character is '^]'.

Please Enter Your Terminal Type Code or Type ? for a List of Codes.

TERMINAL? vt100

-> start cat com

Welcome to Command mode in the CATALOG database.

CAT-> f su davis family

Search request: F SU DAVIS FAMILY
Search result:  59 records at all libraries

when you're hot... you're hot... here's an example..

27. Davis, Harry Alexander, 1875-
The Davis family (Davies and David) in Wales and
America : genealogy of Morgan David of Pennsylvania /
by Harry Alexander Davis.Washington, D.C. : H.A. Davis,
1927 (Lancaster, Pa. : Lancaster Press).
Series title:   Genealogy & local history ; G3818.
CSL     Sutro   MICRO- FICHE G3 G3818

now let's try the McGranes.... due to recent query..

CAT-> f su McGrane family

Search request: F SU MCGRANE FAMILY
Search result:  0 records at all libraries

(subject sometimes turns up quite different
material from f tw -- title with -- which turns out to
be find text with)


Search request: F TW MCGRANE
Search result:  1 record at all libraries

Type HELP for other display options.

1. Some pathways in twentieth-century history; essays
in honor of Reginald Charles McGrane. Edited by Daniel
R. Beaver.    Detroit, Published for the University of
Cincinnati by Wayne State University Press, 1969.
UCD     Main LibD414 .S57
UCI     Main LibD414 .S57
UCLA    URL     D 414 S693
..... and more

CAT-> d long 1

Search request: F TW MCGRANE
Search result:  1 record at all libraries

Type HELP for other display options.

1.
Title: Some pathways in twentieth-century history; essays in honor of
Reginald Charles McGrane. Edited by Daniel R. Beaver.
Detroit, Published for the University of Cincinnati
by Wayne State University Press, 1969.
Description:    313 p. port. 24 cm.

Notes: Contents:Introduction, by W. C. Langsam.
--Editor's preface, by D. R. Beaver.
--Reginald Charles McGrane, by H. R. Stevens.
--"A fair field and no favor": The structure of
  informal empire, by T. McCormick.
--William Howard Taft and the Ohio endorsement
 issue, 1906-1908, by A. D. Sumberg.
--George W. Goethals and
  the problem of military supply, by D. R. Beaver.
--The British Labour Party and the Paris settlement,
   by H. R. Winkler.
--Leopold Amery: Man against the stars in their
 courses, by C. W. Vogel.
--An illusion that shaped history: New
(Record 1 continues on the next screen.)
Press RETURN to see the next screen.
CAT->

Search request: F TW MCGRANE
Search result:  1 record at all libraries

Type HELP for other display options.

1. (continued)
 light on the history and historiography of American
peace efforts before Munich, by F. L. Loewenheim.
--The American arsenal policy in World War II:
A retrospective view, by R. M. Leighton.
--Yalta viewed from Tehran, by W. M. Franklin.
--Reginald Charles McGrane: A selected bibliography,
 compiled by H. R. Stevens (p. 263-266)--Notes (p.
267-301)

Subjects:       History, Modern -- 20th century --
Addresses, essays, lectures.

Other entries: McGrane, Reginald Charles, 1889-
Beaver, Daniel R. ed.

Call numbers:   UCD     Main LibD414 .S57
UCI     Main LibD414 .S57
UCLA    URL     D 414 S693


looks like there are McGrane authors

CAT-> f au McGrane

Your AUTHOR request is being searched as:
F PERSONAL AUTHOR MCGRANE

author searches can turn up good leads... if they are
alive, they often answer, and may be interested..
more likely than the phone book... {:-))

Search request: F PERSONAL AUTHOR MCGRANE
Search result:  22 records at all libraries

5. Boss, David.
The NFL experience / by David Boss and Bill McGrane.    New York : New
American Library, c1985.
UCLA    College GV 955.5 N35 B66 1985

7. Clark, Nancy.
Ventilation, a practical guide / Nancy Clark, Thomas
Cutter, Jean-Ann McGrane.New York : Nick Lyons Books,
[1987], c1984.
UCLA    AAUPL/Art TH 7678 C57 1987 Reference Stacks

9. McGrane, Bernard.
Beyond anthropology : society and the other / Bernard
McGrane.  New York : Columbia University Press, c1989.
UCLA    URL     GN 33 M34 1989

Search request: F PERSONAL AUTHOR MCGRANE
...

Break detected. Type RESUME to continue display, or type a new command.
CAT-> resume

a good feature if there is any noise on the line

10. McGrane, Franklin Joseph.
Neurological bases of learning disorders / by F. Joseph
McGrane.[1st ed.].   Washington : Jameson-Quigley
Publications, 1976. Series title:   The mind and brain
of man ; book 1. UCLA    Biomed  WL 340 M178n 1976

12. McGrane, George A., 1930-1968.
Korea's tragic hours; the closing years of the Yi
dynasty. Edited by Harold F. Cook and Alan M.
MacDougall.  Seoul, Taewon Pub. Co., 1973 [c1972].
UCSD    Central DS915 .M3


14. McGrane, Reginald Charles, 1889-
The Cincinnati doctors' forum.  [Cincinnati] Academy of
Medicine of Cincinnati [1957].


21. McGrane, Reginald Charles, 1889-
The University of Cincinnati: a success story in urban
higher education. [1st ed.] .     New York, Harper &
Row [1963].
UCB     Main    LD983 .M25
UCD     Main LibLD983 .M25
UCLA    URL     LD 983 M17u

22. Some pathways in twentieth-century history; essays
in honor of Reginald Charles McGrane. Edited by Daniel
R. Beaver.    Detroit, Published for the University of
Cincinnati by Wayne State University Press, 1969.
UCLA    URL     D 414 S693

History + prominence would indicate that there is
probably a genealogy out there, probably in Cincinnati,
locatable through the University or the Historical
Society...

CAT-> lo
or quit or some other...

Thanks for using the MELVYL Online Catalog.


Type LOGOFF and press RETURN to terminate your TELNET session.
Press RETURN for the MELVYL catalog.
-> logoff
ELAPSED TIME = 0:4:43
END OF SESSION

There ar other libraries, of course and here is
R Bettencourt's briefing on how to reach them..

One of the best gateways to library catalogs that I've
come across is the UNC BBS. You can access it by typing
at the $ prompt:
telnet bbs.oit.unc.edu
or
telnet 152.2.22.80

The bbs is very easy to use; it even tells you to login
as "bbs" and then asks if you wish to enter your name
and personal password for access to all of the menus.
Since the system is menu driven, it's very easy to find
your way around.  Once you get to the main menu, you
can select "9-Libraries" and narow your search to a
specific catalog.  The next menu offers you catalogs in
North America, South America, Europe, Asia, etc.  Once
you select your continent, the next menu breaks down
further by country or state; e.g. NA-North America
presents a menu listing all the U.S. states and
Canadian provinces plus others.  For the U.S., once you
select a state, it will present all available catalogs
for that state; for example, MA-Massachusetts lists
Boston University, Harvard, and MIT.  Once you have
selected the specific catalog, the bbs gives you any
necessary instructions for logging in or logging out
and then asks if you want to connect.  Once you're
connected, you're in the specific catalog. Instructions
and search types vary from system to system; some are
very easy to use, others take some getting used to.
Usually, you are allowed to perform author and title
searches; many catalogs also provide subject and
keyword access--a great feature if you're just browsing

Using this bbs, I've searched catalogs from California
to Oxford, England--all from my home in Massachusetts.
I hope this helps some of you who are asking about
specific books or information on specific locations.
At least you should be able to find out if a specific
book exists and who owns it.  It's possible that you
can borrow the book through interlibrary loan-- a
library service that is growing tremendously.

----------
Compare and weep....  but if you go to Melvyl first, learn what
you want to look for, find the best topic headings, etc.
then the other libraries are easier to use
----------

Good luck to all


     **    **  V__
    /  \__/  \/ ' \     carrying the load...
   /          \/~\/
 =/_____***____\        does your library system feel like
   W  Z    W  V         it was designed by a committee?
   L   b   7  /

Tom