Access to information in Europe The use of online information systems can materially assist technological progress. Philip Williams describes the range of services and databases available in Europe.

Developments in telecommunications, together with the availability o f large collections of bibliographic references in computer-readable form, have produced a great change in access to scientific and technical information. Although the major information systems are in the USA, there is rapid development in Europe under the stimulus of the Commis- sion of the European Communities' action plans in this area. Progress in the provision of information systems in Europe is described, and the problems that are still under considera- tion are discussed.

The idea of storing the world's information on a computer for rapid information retrieval has been a research objective for many years. In the early 1960s, the work by Salton I at Cornell University and by C W Cleverdon at Cranfield Insti- tute of Technology laid the foundations for a development that was many years in the future. The technology and know- ledge were available but further developments were neces- sary before computerized information retrieval could become a reality.

About 1970, two developments emerged that made uni- versal access to information sources a real possibility. The first was the increasing use of telecommunications for re- mote access to computers, and the second was the increasing cost of producing journals and periodicals to store the rapidly increasing quantity of human knowledge.

The development of communications created an enor- mous increase in the number of potential users for each in- formation source. Previously, for the same investment in building up the database, the use was restricted to a single university or government establishment. At the same time as this viable market for information arose, a change took place in publishing methods. It became possible and econo- mically advantageous to store the text of journal articles and abstracts on a computer tape that could be checked and edited and then used directly on a phototypesetting machine to produce a printed version. The choice of format, spacing, typeface etc. was effected by means of a computer program.

As a byproduct of the computer typesetting of abstract journals, the information that had previously been searched for on library shelves became available in computer-readable form. It was a relatively small step to take the information and make it available to a mass market through the growing telecommunications network in the USA. The Lockheed Information Service and the Systems Development Corpora- tion information service were developed in the early 1970s, and a dozen or so different collections of references in various subjects became available for searching. This develop- ment was paralleled by an online service on medical infor- mation from the National Library of Medicine at Bethesda, USA. These services were first used in the UK under the

Computation Department, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD, UK

stimulus of a grant programme mounted by the British Lib- rary that gave several centres, including the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, the oppor- tunity to experiment with the information sources and learn the pattern of user demand.

The growth pattern has been dram atic. There are now about 100 databases available on the major international systems with one or two more being added each month. Most of the abstracting journals in science and technology are covered, including journals on chemistry, physics, en- gineering, metallurgy, agriculture, US Government reports, energy, pollution, the environment, biology, computing, electrotechnology, geology and marine research. There are also some files on psychology, social sciences, history, man- agement and other areas closer to the humanities, but this area is weakly served at present (1978). The collections of information are, in general, limited to that material which has been stored as it has been generated from 1970 onwards. The much longer time span required for research in the humanities is one reason why the area is not well represented.

The largest information collection service is offered by the Lockheed Information Service in Palo Alto, CA, USA, which uses an information retrieval system known as the Dialog system. It has a particularly simple set of commands, and is relatively easy to use for the novice. The rival service is provided by the Orbit system used by the Systems Develop- ment Corporation of Santa Monica, CA, USA. This system is more flexible, which makes it more powerful, but, at the same time, more complex. By the standards of most com- puter languages or operating systems, it is still very simple for the new user. The facilities for the same collection of in- formation mounted on different systems do vary, and so it is necessary to select the appropriate service to suit each query. The Lockheed service can provide more databases, but the SDC service is often substantially faster, thus reducing the cost to the customer. Another information service was de- veloped in the USA when a group of customers came to- gether to look for a service that would answer their particu- lar requirements. Bibliographic Retrieval Services was formed in response to this demand, and, as a result, the tariff struc- tures of the other companies were revised to meet the challenge.

A service of a rather different character is provided by the New York Times information retrieval service. This ser- vice takes news items from the New York Times, and is aug- mented by material from 60 other major newspapers and business journals including the Financial Times. Great em- phasis is placed on currency, and the system is useful for current awareness in finance, business, politics and inter- national affairs. As the files are built up, it is also a useful reference source of retrospective material. In this case, a detailed abastract is available, so that the information required can often be obtained without consulting the original source. With some of the bibliographic fi~es, the

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abstracts are not available, so that the references given must then be consulted to obtain the full details. In science and technology, this is not often a major barrier, as reading the original literature is usually necessary to answer a research query. Business information is also provided by the Predi- casts files on the Lockheed Information System. There are a number of files giving statistical information, forecasts, news items, and data on manufacturing plants. There is a preponderance of US material, but a European office has now been opened and European coverage is developing rapidly.

METHOD OF ACCESS

Equipment required

Perhaps the most important aspect to emphasize is the ease with which these systems can be used. The equipment re- quired is readily available and not expensive. A teletype- compatible terminal and a communication device to connect to the telephone are the only requirements. A 30 character/s terminal would normally be used in preference to a 10 char- acter/s terminal, so that the connection time, and hence the cost will be minimized. It is now becoming possible to oper- ate at 120 character/s, but this is still not standard. The ap- parent savings do not always materialize, because of the charging structure for telecommunications, and because the manner of use often changes with the higher speed. A print- ing terminal would be employed for general use, because a permanent record of the search and any online output is necessary. The communications device may be integrated with the terminal, or, alternatively, a portable acoustic coup- ler or a standard modem may be used. A standard modem gives more reliable operation, but, for 30 character/s use, the other methods are quite satisfactory. It is often advisable to arrange for a direct telephone line, as many switchboard operators check calls from time to time, and the interruption will break the contact with the computer. The equipment can easily be bought for $2 000-3 000, which is insignificant to a large organization.

The other costs that are incurred initially are relatively small. Most information system operators do not charge a subscription to join the service, so that charges are only in- curred by using the service. There are usually manuals or training aids that must be purchased for a total cost of up to ~;100. In the case of the British Post Office, there is also a charge of about ~40 a year for each system accessed by each user.

The significant costs are those for training and use. The commands used in the information systems are deceptively simple, and a user can soon formulate and carry out a search. To make that search effective and cost-effective takes many hours of search experience. Training courses are available from the system operators for ~50-100, or, in some cases, substantially more, but these must be followed by consider- able searching experience at the terminal, which is a signifi- cant cost.

Cost for use

The costs for use are derived from the telephone charge to the nearest node of the network, the communications charge

from there to the computer used by the system operator, the charge for the time connected to the information system, and the charge for any remote printing that is sent by mail.

The telephone charges are a contentious issue at present, as remote call access costs twelve times as much as local access to the London nodes. Thus, instead of the local rate of about ~;1.8/h, the rate for remote access is $22/h. The communications charge made by the BPO for access from the London node to the USA comprises two parts: a fixed rate of about ~13.5, and a charge for the number of charac- ters transmitted at a rate of $0.60 per 1 000 character. For an experienced searcher, this means an additional charge per hour of ~;14--18. Thus the total charge for connection is ~50-55/h, which is of the same order of magnitude as the costs of the database. The costs for local access are about ~20 less than this.

The cost.of access to the various databases varies between ~25 and ~;150 per hour, with the average being about $60/h. For some files, special arrangements must be made with the database suppliers who do not allow casual access to their files. In some cases, a certain minimum amount of use is required, or, in other cases, the printed version of a database must be purchased before the online service is used. To these costs for online connection must be added the costs of any printouts that are ordered by post. These arrive in the UK in 5 -7 days, and are often the most cost-effective way of obtaining the information. Their cost varies from ~;0.08 to $0.30, and a search may well. produce a few dozen relevant references.

Factors affecting search cost

An important factor in the cost of a search is the connection time required, which varies greatly. Statements about the length of time necessary for a search should be treated very cautiously, particularly if the originator has a vested interest in promoting the cheapness of online searching. Factors to consider that will affect the search time include the amount of preparation necessary, the experience and skill of the searcher, the purpose of the search, the number of databases that must be scanned, and the complexity of the search profile 2.

Different types of search include a simple query, such as a bibliographic check, a sample search and an exhaustive search. A simple query, such as finding the correct details of an arti- cle, where perhaps the author and journal name are all that is known, can be completed in 2 or 3 min. However, these are often the queries that can be answered much more cheaply by reference to printed sources, i f these are readily available.

It is important to distinguish between the need for a sample search and the need for an exhaustive search, be- cause the difference in cost is often substantial. If a reques- ter requires a number of references to start a study in a new area, it may be quite sufficient to take a narrow des- cription of the topic and search in one database to produce ten or a few dozen references. These are often sufficient to initiate a programme of familiarization with the literature. However, if a researcher is attempting to complete a piece of work, or wishes to be sure he has not overlooked perti- nent references, he may often wish to obtain every reference on his topic. This demands a search of all relevant data- bases with a very carefully defined search profile using several synonyms and alternative definitions. A sample search might take 10 min on the terminal, whereas an ex- haustive search can easily take 30-40 min.

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If the overheads of search preparation, training, purchase of manuals, staffing, equipment etc. are included, the range of costs in the UK is from $10 for a simple query and ~40- 50 for a sample search to perhaps ~70-200 for an exhaus- tive search. The high cost of telecommunications is one of the factors in these costings that will be alleviated by future developments.

SYSTEMS AVAILABLE IN UK

Until recently, the Lockheed Dialog system or the Systems Development Corporation Orbit system were the most likely solutions for those seeking information from the international networks. There has been the Dialtech Infor- mation Service set up by the UK Department of Industry Technology Reports Centre to access information at the European Space Agency. However, in the early years, the number of files was very limited, there were restrictions on the method of use that were irksome, and the processing speed was slower than some of the competitors. With the increasing interest in information in Europe, the situation at the European Space Agency in Frascati, Italy, has been improving rapidly. There are now many more databases and several of the restrictions have been removed.

In April 1977, the first internationally available British information system, the British Library Blaise service, became available. This has two components: a set of biblio- graphic files on medical and associated information, and files of book information on the holdings of the British Library and the US National Library of Congress. The medical files include the US National Library of Medicine Medlars file, a register of toxic chemicals, Toxline, and information on cancer, Cancerline. The bibliographic files are unusual in being available either for information re- trieval or for cataloguing by remote libraries. Selected in- formation can be extracted for use on local computers or processing can be effected on the central machine.

Another British system that will be available by the end of 1978 will make a further substantial contribution to satisfying British needs from British sources. The Infoline company has five bodies cooperating to mount an infor- mation service with several databases. The partners are the British Library, the Chemical Society, the UK Depart- ment of Industry, Derwent Publications and the Institution of Electrical Engineers. The central databases that will be available early in the development programme are the Chemical Abstracts files, the Derwent Patent files and the Inspec files in physics, control engineering, computing and electrotechnology. Infoline intend to develop a suiteof databases supporting these subject areas that will include databanks of numerical data, some of which will be exclu- sive to Infoline.

The presence of British companies will boost consider- ably the use of diallable information systems, because the communications costs will be reduced, the time lapse for offline printout will be substantially reduced, and infor- rnation on system difficulties or changes in operation will be readily available.

EUROPEAN INFORMATION NETWORK

In 1971, the Council of Ministers of the Commission of the European Communities passed a resolution on European

policies for developing information flow in science and technology. A Committee for Information and Documen- tation in Science and Technology (CIDST) composed of government representatives was set up, and the first three- year action plan for 1975-1977 was agreed. The CEC then signed a contract in 1975 with a consortium of PTTs to set up a communications network in Europe to be known as Euronet 3.

The network was to be designed to carry information traffic between the countries in the EEC and also to be available for use by other parties as a data communications network. The initial target date for operation was revised to 1 January 1979, and this has subsequently been revised to one not before the summer of 1979. The network will use packet-switching technology based on the French Transpac network, and have nodes in Frankfurt, London, Paris and Rome and concentrators in Amsterdam, Brussels , Copenhagen, Dublin and Luxembourg. The delay in the introduction of the service has been ascribed to problems with the network technology.

The CEC and the operators of the host machines have now agreed a Memorandum of Understanding stating the terms for connection to the network, and there are now about 22 organizations seeking connection to Euronet, including Blaise and Infoline. Only a few of these systems will be connected to Euronet in the initial phase of opera- tion, the others seeking connection when appropriate. The number of databases and databanks available from the 22 hosts will be about 100. These will be almost entirely in the field of science and technology, with a wide area of subject coverage. There will be a considerable amount of duplication, with files such as Chemical Abstracts, the Inspec and engineering files being available from more than two host systems.

There will undoubtedly be teething troubles as the Euro- pean information system is developed, but the initative of the CEC has produced some notable achievements. As a re- sult of the cooperation of the PTTs, the X.25 protocol for networking has been agreed.

The CEC and the user community in Europe have also been very conscious of the problems involved in giving users access to a wide variety of hosts and computer systems. A E Negus of Inspec carried out a study for the CEC 4 that pro- duced a definition for a common command language, which it is to be hoped will be provided by the host operators. The CEC are providing funds to assist in the development of this user aid on IBM machines, through a contract with the Euro- pean Space Agency, on Siemens machines through a con- tract with the German medical database host organization DIMDI, and on Univac machines through work at the Uni- versity of Rome; other contracts are under discussion.

It is also intended that a virtual terminal definition will be agreed and implemented on the network node so that those terminals and hosts that can be configured to meet this specification will be able to communicate through the network. It is expected that this will enable a wide variety of VDUs to be used. It is perhaps sobering to realize that the cost of the two three-year plans between 1975 and 1980 is about 16M of which about $6.5M is concerned with the network.

One of the advantages of Euronet will be the attractive tariffs that have now been announced. Whereas the present service from the UK to the USA charges £6.60/h, plus a charge of £0.30 per 1 000 characters, giving a rate of about £14.00/h overall, the Euronet charges are £1.35/h for con- nection plus £1.15 per 1 000 segments of 64 byte. The

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latter charge is not quite as attractive as it may seem at first sight, as the interactive part of information retrieval work uses a substantial number of short commands and responses that will leave a great deal of empty space in the segments. As the charge is the same whether the segment is full or nearly empty, the character charge is higher than might be assumed. Even so, the charges are about 20% of the present charges for access to the USA.

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

In most European countries, the use of online information is developing very rapidly. In the UK, a User Group for On- line Information Systems was formed at the beginning of 1978 to press for more provision for online users and to seek cooperation and contact, both at the local level between users and at the national level between organizations. A number of developments have emerged. There are now half a dozen user groups round the country, there is to be a UK national user group initiated by the Institute of Information Scientists but open to all users and it is likely that there will be a national online information centre jointly funded by the British Library and the UK Department of Industry. The User Group is now asking the various national organiza- tions to come together in a national coordinating committee so that educational and training activities can be harmonized and so that the user voice can be heard effectively when neces- sary. Aslib, the British Computer Society Information Re- trieval Group, the Institute of Information Scientists and the Library Association all have active programs of meetings in the area of online information systems, and a closer co- operation will assist the users considerably.

Similar moves are also taking place at a European level. A European federation of user groups has been formed, and the author took part in meetings in London in December 1977 and Munich in April 1978 where arrangements for international cooperation were discussed. Eusidic, the or- ganization for European Centres for Information and Docu- mentation, has offered to provide a framework within which a European group could develop, with communication through the newsletter Newsidic. Such a group would be useful for communication with the CEC, the Euronet opera- tors, and the various host organizations on the network.

1979 should see substantial developments. Euronet was to have started on the 1 January 1979, and, although the date has been postponed for at least six months, there should be the beginnings of a European service by 1980. The im- pact of Euronet may initially be small. Although the tariffs will be attractive, there may be a strong reluctance to use the new services until they have been proved reliable and effective. With the stimulus of Euronet, several of the Euro- pean countries are developing their provision of information services. It is planned to move the British Library Blaise service onto an ICL 2980 using the Merlin software. The Infoline service will be commencing pilot operation and possibly a limited customer service before the end of 1978. The FDR is rapidly developing a program of information centres in each subject area. Considerable development is taking place at the European Space Agency in Italy.

There are one or two noticeable trends in the characters of the new databases that are becoming available. The ma- jority of the files provide bibliographic references to the scientific literature, but there are some files giving business and commercial information taken from newspapers, finan-

cial sources and trade journals. There is considerable inter- est in this area, so that the number and coverage of these files is growing rapidly.

The other growth area is the provision of databanks con- taining numerical information s. These contain data such as metallurgical properties, chemical bond lengths, spectroscopic data etc. The provision of access to databanks will generate different problems from those encountered in retrospective searching of bibliographic files. The number of retrospec- tive searches by a user in a year is typically very small, where- as a scientist using a databank may refer to the information several times a week, or more. It may be more economical to store a databank on a local computer rather than fre- quently to pay high access charges to a remote databank.

PROBLEMS TO BE FACED

There are several administrative technical and management problems that must be overcome before people naturally turn to online searching as an easy effective means of infor- mation gathering. The most serious one in Europe is the multiplicity caused by the overlapping of several schemes for national provision. The duplication of databases in the most popular subject areas will certainly reduce the income to each service, and make it much more difficult to finance the smaller less popular databases until their use develops. Further, the multiplicity of services will create very large accounting and clerical costs. To keep in touch with accounts from the BPO Database Service, the Euronet network, me local telephone service and 20 different host operators will create an overhead many times larger than the search cosL The most useful solution would be a clearing house for ac- counts so that users could check the details and then send one cheque to the central organization to cover all the separ- ate bills. A similar mechanism is already in effect for book purchases in the UK.

Another difficulty that has been identified by those using these information sources stems from the comprehensive nature of their coverage. Many of the journals quoted are not accessible in the local library, and, as many files do not contain abstracts, this can be a serious drawback. The possi- bility of linking the information retrieval system to a national library to provide automatic ordering of requested articles is being considered.

The problems of delay incurred when prints are made at an overseas site and then sent by mail should be overcome in Euronet when the remote printing system is implemented. It is intended that documents selected at one computer could be sent for printing at the host computer in the country where the search originated. The transfer could then take place when traffic on the system was low, and the output could then be dispatched by post within the country of the requester. This should mean the rapid delivery of search output.

There are also various policy matters about which action should be taken before the revolution in computer com- munications can be fully exploited by the information com- munity. One of the most important is the charging mecha- nism used. The CEC have very sensibly adopted a distance- independent tariff so that the free flow of information across the community will be encouraged. In some coun- tries, this uniform international charge is paralleled by a uni- form national charge for access, ensuring equal opportunity for different regions to obtain the information needed for

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technological growth and business success. Iri the UK, there is a difference of nearly ~;20 between the local and trunk call access, which is an unreasonable penalty for those search- ing outside London.

As easy acess to information is a strong stimulus to effec- tive development, it is essential to consider how the use of those information sources can be extended. Many govern- ment departments and large industrial organizations are al- ready heavy users of online information systems. The areas with the greatest potential for growth are the medium-sized business and the university community. There are good argu- ments for putting resources into developing the use in educa- tional establishments. Owing to their restricted financial circumstances, their use of online systems has developed rather slowly, particularly since there is no immediate finan- cial benefit. Online systems are an extra cost, but they save a substantial amount of time for research students and aca- demic staff. As this is a resource that is not costed, the extra cost is the more obvious feature. However, the growth of online use will be enhanced when there are scientists, tech- nologists and managers who have gained familiarity with these systems during their education and demand to have the same facilities when they are employed.

Once industrialists are aware of the potential of online systems, it is essential that the approach be as simple as pos- sible. The cost barrier to entry needs to be as low as possible, and there must be opportunities to gain acquaintance with the services gradually. A study has shown 6 that the inex- perienced user is 2.5 times slower, and therefore 2.5 times more expensive, than an experienced intermediary, so that an experienced searcher should be used. The initial training necessary to reach an effective standard takes several hours of online experience, and so this should only be undertaken if an organization is likely to carry out regular searchin& For small organizations carrying out a few searches each month, it is much more sensible to use an organization that offers search services, e.g. the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Aslib, London Univer- sity, Loughborough University and the Science Reference Library.

THE FUTURE

To the information worker the problems of online informa- tion do not lie primarily in the technical area. The present level of communications is adequate for the purpose, although too expensive in Europe, and facilities are improving and

seem likely to be cheaper in the future as Euronet and dis- tance-independent tariffs arrive. The key problems lie in the accessing mechanisms provided by present indexing stra- tegies and the mismatch between computer facilities and the real information needs. Indexing is mainly based on content indicators such as key words or controlled terms, and even simple descriptions, such as the level of complexity of the article, are rarely provided. It is sometimes possible to obtain details of the character of an article, i.e. review, theoretical, experimental etc., but there are very few of these noncon- tent indicators for retrieval documents.

Further, a requester usually has a need for actual infor- mation rather than details of where the information can be found. The move towards providing files of data from which the required information can be immediately extracted will help for some queries, but much of the information required specifies relationships between facts and semantic details. These will require developments in theory and technology before information systems are available to help with this type of query.

Access to information has improved greatly over 1974- 1978. A similar rate of progress over 1979-1983 should materially assist technological progress.

REFERENCES

1 Salton, G Automatic information organization and re- trieval McGraw-Hill, USA (1968)

Williams, P W 'The role and cost-effectiveness of the inter- mediary' Proc. Ist International Online Meeting, Learned Information (1977) pp 53-63

3 Anderla G 'Euronet - what for? Presented at Datafair, London (1977)

4 Negus, A E Euronet guideline: standard commands for retrievalsystems, Inspec, UK (1977)

Tomberg, A 'Databanks: a survey' Proc. Ist International Online Information Meeting, Learned Information (1977) pp 159-168

Williams, P W and Curtis, J M 'The use of online informa- tion retrieval services'Program Vol I 1 No 1 (1977) pp 1-9

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