March 1996 1

patible, with 12mb of RAM, Windows 3.1 or above, and 8mb of free

disk space. The software is a selfextracting executable.

 Inquiries and comments on the

beta test version of the RECONplus

GUI can be sent to the NASA CASI

Help Desk via e-mail at

help@sti.nasa.gov and by fax to

(301) 621-0134.

A new, free, electronic service is available for users of STI program publications. The STI Bulletin listserv will announce new issues of STI publications available on the STI homepage.

Aeronautical Engineering, Aerospace Medicine and Biology, NASA Patent

Abstracts, AGARD Reports: a quarterly listing the flagship abstract journal,

STAR, and the NASA STI program’s newsletter, the STI Bulletin are all

in portable document format (PDF) for viewing, downloading, or local

printing. Access these documents through the NASA STI homepage at

http://www.sti.nasa.gov, selecting STI Publications.

The listserv will function like the STI program’s notify capability on the

SCAN listserv. We expect one or two short announcements each week.

The listserv will operate as other listservs with subscribe and unsubscribe

commands. To subscribe send an e-mail message to listproc@sti.nasa.gov

and include in the message subscribe sti-bulletin your name. To

unsubscribe, send a note to listproc@sti.nasa.gov and include in the

message unsubscribe sti-bulletin.

If you have questions or suggestions, please call the NASA Access Help

Desk at (301) 621-0390 or send a note to help@sti.nasa.gov.

STI A publication for users of the NASA scientific and technical information program

BULLETIN

March 1996 Issue

Continued on page 2

RECONplus Training

NASDA Visits CASI

New Shipping and Handling

Charges

In This Issue

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Scientific and Technical 


Information Office


Tips and Shortcuts

in Adobe PDF for

STI Documents

Electronic documents from the

STI program are now being delivered via the NASA STI homepage

in Adobe’s Portable Document

Format (PDF). Bi-weekly issues of

STAR and monthly issues of Aerospace Medicine and Biology and

Aeronautical Engineering, as well as

this STI Bulletin can be viewed or

downloaded and printed.

As reported in the November STI

Bulletin, Adobe PDF files not only

Announcements of STI Publications on the

World Wide Web

RECONplus Graphical

User Interface Beta

Test Begins

The beta test version of the

RECONplus Graphical User Interface (GUI) is available for downloading. Boolean searching of

approximately 2 million records in

the Main STI Database, the Older

STI Database, and the Current

NACA Database is included, as

well as local print and display

capabilities. The client software is

available via anonymous FTP at

ftp.sti.nasa.gov.

The documentation for the system

is available from the NASA STI

program homepage at http://

www.sti.nasa.gov. Both postscript

and PDF formats are available

under NASA RECONplus, User

Documentation and Support. The

PDF version is recommended for

viewing. The PDF reader is available from the Adobe homepage at

http://www.adobe.com/Acrobat/

readset.html.

The RECONplus GUI software

requires Internet access. The recommended, minimum hardware

configuration is a 486 PC or com-
2 STI Bulletin

the double left arrow button on

the toolbar) to select and review

another subject division.

Third, if you wish to find a particular subject term simply select the

Find command from the Tools

menu and type in the term. Adobe

Acrobat allows you to review each

instance of the term throughout

that particular file.

If you require a truly portable

publication, you may choose to

retrieve and print each section, including the two indexes that have

been added for your convenience.

The Subject Term Index and the

Personal Author Index can be used

to find citations in the hard copy

publication with relative ease.

Future columns will discuss other

shortcuts and tips on using Adobe

PDF documents. If you have a

question that you’d like answered,

send an e-mail to

help@sti.nasa.gov.

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

The STI Bulletin, published every other

month, informs NASA STI users about the

products, services, and news of the NASA

Scientific and Technical Information Office.

Mark Jeschke, Editor

John Jones, Graphics

For additional information, contact

Roland Ridgeway

NASA Headquarters, Code JT

Washington, DC 20546-0001,

e-mail rridgeway@sti.nasa.gov.

offer you an exact electronic representation of the original paper

document but allow for quick delivery, significant file compression

and full text searching. PDF also

allows the document maker to put

in special features and shortcuts for

the user. The STI program has

made use of some of the enhancements for your benefit.

First, shortcut notes have been

added to each section of the larger

documents. These notes look like

little “sticky notes.” Using your

mouse, double-click on the note to

open it. Some of the shortcuts explain the use of the various buttons

on the toolbar, some offer information about navigating through

the document. Second, large publications, like STAR, have been divided into smaller files for easy retrieval. When you choose an issue

of STAR for viewing, you retrieve

just the first file containing that

issue’s table of contents. A look at

the table of contents shows the

subject divisions highlighted in

blue, indicating links to the corresponding citation file. The subject

divisions are broken down into

separate files, thus if your interest

lies in Physics, you have the ability

to retrieve just the Physics subject

division for downloading to your

personal computer. Each subject

division has its own table of contents, that in turn links to the

division’s subject categories. Be

patient! Downloading subject division files may take 1-2 minutes.

Review the section at your leisure,

print it out if needed, or return to

the main table of contents (using

Free RECONplus

Training Now Available

at NASA CASI

The NASA Center for AeroSpace

Information (NASA CASI) is

proud to announce free one-day

intensive training in the new character-based search engine for the

NASA Scientific and Technical

Information Database, known as

RECONplus. Using standard

telnet software, this interface provides unprecedented flexibility in

searching and data presentation.

Three searching modes are available, suiting the needs of the beginner through the sophisticated

searcher.

Training is provided in NASA

CASI’s training room, which can

accommodate 12 persons per session. Users will learn about the

three modes of searching: Quick

Search, for fast identification of

documents, Full Search, for

guided searching of specialized

indexes, and Command Search, for

direct input of search strategies

without obscuring menus.

Training includes a demonstration and orientation, familiarization with the documentation,

some guided, hands-on experience, an exercise to encourage

exploration and experimentation

within the RECONplus environment. Frequent breaks allow for

personal attention and plenty of

opportunities for questions. The

classes run from 9:00 a.m. to

4:00 p.m. with an hour break

for lunch.

Registrants should include preferred training date and include a

telephone number for confirmation. Reservations must be made

at least one week in advance of the

desired session date.

NASA CASI is conveniently

located between Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC, a

short cab ride from the BaltimoreWashington International Airport

Tips and Shortcuts for STI

Documents in Adobe PDF

Continued from page 1
March 1996 3

New Shipping and

Handling Charges

Effective April 1, 1996

Last January the United States

Postal Service increased postal

rates for domestic mail, and in

March increased prices for priority

mail. Starting on April 1, 1996

new domestic shipping and handling charges will be applied to

document orders to cover the

postal increase. Basic shipping service charges will increase to $1.50

per document or video.

International orders will remain at

$9.00 per document or video for

basic shipping service. Expedited

service via UPS or Federal Express

is available for $27.00 for one to

three documents or videos with

and additional $9.00 charge for

each additional document or

video.

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678 1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

8

1234567890123456789012345678901212345678

You can contact the NASA Access

Help Desk at (301) 621-0390, fax

(301) 621-0134, e-mail at

help@sti.nasa.gov, or write NASA

Access Help Desk, NASA Center

for AeroSpace Information, 800

Elkridge Landing Road, Linthicum

Heights, MD 21090-2934.

and Amtrack rail service. Hotel information and maps to NASA CASI

will be sent with registration confirmation.

The NASA CASI welcomes registrants from the RECONplus user

community, who may send registration requests to:

User Services

NASA Center for AeroSpace Information

800 Elkridge Landing Rd., Linthicum Heights, MD 21090-2934 or

telephone: (301) 621-0390 or fax (301) 621-0134.

NASDA Representatives

Visit CASI

A delegation from the National

Space Development Agency of

Japan (NASDA), Technical

Information Division visited the

Center for AeroSpace Information

(CASI) on Tuesday, March 5.

The delegation consisted of

Mamoru Ishikawa, NASDA

manager, Ms. Kumiko Tanabe,

coordinator for the NASA-NASDA

technical information exchange

and Mr. Sakae Shioda, a NASDA

computer systems specialist. Mr.

Hiroshi Mitsui, Deputy Director,

NASDA Washington, D.C. Office,

accompanied the group.

RECONplus Training Schedule

(All classes run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

MONTH DAY

April 8 (Monday)

April 19 (Friday)

May 10 (Friday)

May 20 (Monday)

June 10 (Monday)

June 28 (Friday)

The delegation was treated to a

tour of CASI with demonstrations

of the many new systems being

brought online. The NASDA delegation, which was in Washington

for meetings with the NASA STI

program, were shown a demonstration of CASI’s new Electronic

Document Management System

(EDMS). This system is central to

the transformation taking place

at CASI, a movement away from

paper documents to electronic

documents transforming hardcopy,

microfiche, and machine-readable

documents into electronic objects

that can be distributed worldwide

through NASA networks and

the Internet.

They also attended a training session that introduced them to the

new RECONplus retrieval system.

A question and answer period

ended the day.

NASDA is one of six national

level organizations that participate

in NASA’s international information exchange program, and is a

major contributor to the NASA

STI Database.
4 STI Bulletin

FIRST-CLASS PRESORT

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

NASA

Permit No. G-27

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Code JT

Washington, DC 20546-0001

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

Penalty for Private Use, $300

STAR Moves to Online Access Only

Budget constraints have forced the NASA STI Office to find alternative methods of delivering

STAR. The 1996 issues of STAR will only be available in electronic form. The advent of the

World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet mean that the announcement of new citations can

be made faster and more economically using these tools. Starting January 1, 1996 new STAR

issues became available on the WWW every other Monday. The NASA STI Office has a

number of other publications which can be reviewed online. Current issues of Aerospace

Medicine and Biology and Aeronautical Engineering are loaded on the STI homepage for your

review. Access is available via the NASA STI homepage at http://www.sti.nasa.gov. Once there

select STI Program Publications for a complete listing.

Please examine the offerings and send any comments to the NASA Access Help Desk via e-mail

to help@sti.nasa.gov, or call (301) 621-0390, or use the comments link to the Help Desk that

is located near the top of the STI homepage.