Cite & Byte

[text only version]

Enhanced Access to Our Microform Collections

Did you know that the Cornell University Library owns more individual pieces of microform than volumes of printed books? -- over 6.9 million pieces of microfiche, microfilm, and microprint compared to just over 6 million books. Perhaps even more surprising in our electronic age, the rate of growth for microforms in CUL has outpaced the printed collection: Between 1989-1995, the print collection grew by 11%, while the microfilm and microfiche collections grew by 16% and 32% respectively. While a great deal of our microform collections are individual newspaper, magazine, or book titles, as much as half are actually collected in microform "sets" ranging in size from a few to over one million titles per set.

Until recently, access to the individual titles within these sets, or collections, was difficult at best, with a few sets completely uncataloged -- even lacking an entry in the catalog for the title of the set, much less the individual contents! Access has been mediated through the reference staff and the availability of printed guides to specific collections.

One alternative to improve access has always been title-by-title cataloging by the library, but this has never been financially viable. Thankfully, several commercial vendors offer electronic tapes containing the catalog records for the individual titles of many microform sets -- so-called "microform analytics." These tapes can be loaded into the library's local catalog, and thus become searchable by the usual access points (author, title and subject).

A project is now underway to provide analytics for as many microform sets as possible. Of the over 700 microform sets in the Cornell Library, approximately fifteen -- including some of the most heavily used collections -- have commerically available analytics. We have completed the first phase of this project, having successfully loaded the analytics for units 49-57 of Early English Books, 1475-1640 (Pollard & Redgrave, Olin microfilm 470) and Wright American Fiction, 1774-1900 (Olin microfilm 2600). Following is a list of sets for which analytics have been ordered, but are not yet loaded into the online catalog:

Black Biographical Dictionaries, 1750-1950 (Africana microfiche 6)

British and Continental Rhetoric and Elocution (Olin microfilm 468)

CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings, parts I-V, 1833-1952 (Olin microfiche 600, House and Olin microfiche 601, Senate)

Early American Imprints, First Series, 1639-1800 [Evans] (Olin microprint 22)

Early American Imprints, Second Series, 1801-1819 [Shaw-Shoemaker] (Olin microprint 23)

Early English Books, 1475-1640, Unit 58 [Pollard and Redgrave] (Olin microfilm 470)

Early English Books, 1641-1700, units 1-64 [Wing] (Olin microfilm 1297)

Early English Newspapers, 1622-1820 (Olin microfilm 5053)

Flugschriften des Fruhen 16. Jahrhunderts (Olin microfiche 726)

Human Relations Area Files (Olin microfiche 887)

Official Publications of the State of New York, 1989 (Olin microfiche 932)

Papers of the NAACP [selections from, 1910-1955] (Africana microfilm 6)

Spanish Civil War Collection (Olin microfilm 6112)

Spanish Drama of the Golden Age (Olin microfilm 5846)

Underground Newspaper Microfilm Collection, 1965-1977 (Olin microfilm 3055)

Suzy Szasz Palmer,
Reference Collections Coordinator and Uris Bibliographer
sms5@cornell.edu

Web Corner
AccessUN: United Nations Documents on the Web

The Cornell University Library has been a United Nations Depository Library since the inception of the United Nations in 1946. Since that time Cornell has received and archived hundreds of thousands of United Nations documents and publications. While many of these materials are cataloged and show up in the Cornell Library online and card catalogs, others need to be identified and retrieved through the use of various paper and CD-ROM indexes.

AccessUN, which is on the Cornell Library Gateway, indexes documents from six main bodies of the United Nations -- the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, the Secretariat, and the International Court of Justice -- from 1990-1998. This indexing covers Official Records, masthead documents (formerly referred to as mimeographed documents), sales publications, limited and restricted documents, and documents emanating from sessional and standing committees, functional commissions, conferences and regional bodies. AccessUN also supplies the full text of all UN resolutions for this time period and the full text of a growing number of documents.

To find documents issued prior to 1990, you will need to use the Index to United Nations Documents and Publications on CD-ROM loaded on the International Affairs Workstation in Olin Library Room 104 (behind the reference and information desks) or paper indexes in the Olin Library Reference Collection.

Other United Nations materials and information can be obtained from an elaborate array of Web pages created by the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, e.g. UNESCO. Researchers new to United Nations documentation should start at the United Nations Documentation: Research Guide web site. These pages provide an overview of the various types of documents and publications issued by the United Nations and give guidance as to where to find them in either electronic or paper format and how to work with them. And the Official Web Site Locator for the United Nations System of Organizations contains both an alphabetical and an official classification list of the United Nations System of Organizations.

Lance Heidig,
Reference Librarian
ljh5@cornell.edu

Obtaining Federal and State Tax Forms

Reproducible Tax Forms: New York State and Federal tax forms may be copied from collections of masters kept in three-ring binders near both the Olin and Uris reference desks and at the Mann and Law libraries. Some seldom-used forms are not available in these sets.

Available in Olin and Uris, near the reproducible form sets, you'll find additional tax publications, including Package X, Reference Copies of Federal Tax Forms and Instructions and Publication 1194, Taxpayer Information Publications .

Tax forms on the Internet: The IRS and state tax agencies make their tax forms available on the Internet. Both federal and state forms are available as electronic files that are formatted using PDF (Portable Document Format). PDF files are readily displayed and printed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. To view and print forms using Netscape, Acrobat Reader 3.0 must be added as a helper application. Acrobat Reader is available on the PowerMac public terminals in Olin Library. To add PDF capability to your own computer, download the reader software. Once you have the Acrobat Reader software downloaded use the browse button of Netscape 3.X to locate and install it. Netscape 3 is available for downloading under the "Updates and Extras" button in Bear Access. Clicking on "Update to Netscape 3.0" will download the latest revision of Netscape 3. You will need at least 16 MB of RAM memory to use Netscape and Acrobat Reader.

Tax forms print best on laser printers. Many of the newer ink-jet printers also produce very sharp copies of tax forms. There are four laser printer/PowerMac workstations in the Olin reference area that take Vendacards, and one in the Uris reference area. These public workstations are useful for printing tax forms and instructions. You may need to use the Page Setup menu under the File menu to reduce the form to 96%; this will ensure that the entire form will print.

Other ways of obtaining tax forms: The Ithaca main post office on Warren Road has a selection of tax forms. You may also request that tax forms be mailed to you at the following telephone numbers: IRS -- 1-800-829-1040 and New York State -- 1-800-462-8100.

Michael Engle,
Reference Librarian
moe1@cornell.edu