Introduction

The purpose of this template is to systematically compare technical and functional specifications of "WebCats" i.e. library catalogues made accessible via the World Wide Web. We would like to get feedback from both software producers and users. The template is not only intended for commercial products but also for public domain software. Public domain software (e.g. Glimpse, WAIS(varieties) etc.) and general purpose index/search/retrieval software (e.g. Topic) often lack library administrative and management tools. If this is the case please indicate how this may be solved with additional software (see 2.3.7).

interBasis Template


1. General
1.1. Supplier Information
     Name Of The System: "interBasis WWW"
     Latest Release + Release Date: "2.1.15 May 18 1997"
     Brief Description: "Multi-platform multi-protocol information mangagement system"
     Producer/Vendor: "Basis Systeme netzwerk/Munich"
     Contact Person: "Edward C. Zimmermann"
     Address: "Brecherspitzstr. 8, D-81541 Munich, Germany"
     Phone: "+49 (89) 692 8120"
     Fax: "+49 (89) 692 8150"
     E-Mail: "staff@bsn.com"
     Internet Site: "http://www.bsn.com"
     European Supplier: "BSn/Munich"
     Contact Person: ""
     Address: ""
     Phone: ""
     Fax: ""
     E-Mail: ""
     Internet Address: ""
     Url's Of Libraries Implementing The System: "http://www.bsn.com/Z39.50/Gateways.html"

2. Technical Specifications
2.1. (Server) Software Is Available For The Following
     Operating Systems:
     X UNIX            0 WINDOWS NT        0 WINDOWS95
       0 AIX           0 WINDOWS3.1.       0 MS-DOS
       0 Dec UNIX      0 VMS               0 OS/2
       0 Linux         0 Mac OS            0 Novell Netware
       0 HP-UX
       0 SCO Xenix
       X Solaris 2
       X sunos-4
       0 Unixware
2.2. Networking
2.2.1. Gateways Available:
       X Web Server     0 Telnet Server     0 News Server
       X CGI Interface  0 FTP Server        X Mail Server
       0 ODBC Interface 0 SQL Gateway       X Z39.50
       0 X500           0 Silverplatter ERL
2.2.2. Network Connectivity
       X TCP/IP         0 Decnet            0 IPX

3. Functionality Specifications
   Programming Language Used: "C++"
   Describe Software Structure: "Object Oriented"
   Client-Server Model: "YES"
   Developers Kit Available: "YES"
   Capable Of Integration With Existing Systems: "YES"
   Special CGI Facilities: "YES"
   Backup Facilities Integrated With Other Backup Procedures: ""
   Transactions Per Second Specify Hardware: "<29ms term/record on a SS10"
3.1. Definition Of Databases
     Number Of Databases That Can Be Created: "Unlimited (max_inodes)"
     Relational Database: "NO"
     SQL Database: "NO"
     Max. Number Of Records In Database: "> 2,000,000,000"
     Max  Number Of Fields In Record: "999 (Posix) else 65536 containers"
     Max  Number Of Characters In Field: "> 2 GB"
     Can Indexes Be Created For Every Field: "YES"
     Automatic Record Template Generator: "YES"
     Text Editing Correction Tools: "YES"
     Build-in Lists:
     0 Concepts List   0 Thesaurus         0 Dictionaries
     X Stop Word Lists X Soundex           X Other
     Access Restriction For User Groups: "YES"
     Access Restriction For Individual Users: "YES"
     Can User Start Up Other Programs From Within The Application: "YES"
3.2. Available Modules
     All Modules (Clients) As Graphical User Interface: "YES"
     For Which Operations Systems:
     0 UNIX            0 WINDOWS NT        0 WINDOWS95
       0 AIX           0 WINDOWS3.1.       0 MS-DOS
       0 Dec UNIX      0 VMS               0 OS/2
       0 Linux         0 Mac OS            0 Novell Netware
       0 HP-UX
       0 SCO Xenix
       X Solaris 2
       X sunos-4
       0 Unixware
     Price Per Module: ""
3.2.1. Database/Online Catalogue/OPAC Module:
3.2.1.1. Input
         Ready Made Input Facilities For Bibliographic
         Records:
         0 AACR Records  X IAFA Records      X MARC Records
         X User Defined  X Other formats,
         Includes Wordprocessing Facilities: "YES (Minimal)"
         Allows For Hierarchical Relations (E.G Relations
         Between Journal Title And Journal Article, Book And
         Bookchapter): "YES"
         Allows For Embedded Clickable Links To Electronic
         Documents: "YES"
         Bibliographical Data Input Controlled By Matching
         Against Authority Look-Up Indexes. Yes For:
         0 Author Names  0 Corporate Author Names    0 Keywords
         0 Series Titles 0 Publisher Names   0 Other
         Data Import Facilities For
         X (Tab Or Comma Delimited) ASCII Text   0 AACR Records
         X HTML          X MARC Records      X SGML
         X Records of Specific Databases,    X Other
3.2.1.2. Indexing
         Full Text Indexing Facilities For:
         X ASCII         X HTML              X SGML
         0 PDF           X Other
         Is Full Text Indexing Of Structured/Tagged Documents
         Possible (So That At A Later Stage Searches Can Be
         Limited To Certain Text Fragments): "YES"
         Size In Percentages Of Indexes As Compared To
         Original Size Of Text: "~33%-60% (33%-90%)"
3.2.1.3. Searching
         Are Boolean Operators Available?
         X And           X Not               X Or
         Are Proximity Operators Available?:
         X Near          X Same              X With
         X Adj
         Is Truncation Possible?
         0 Left          X Right
         Is Wildcard Searching Possible: "NO"
         Is Accrued Searching Possible: "NO"
         Is Concept Searching Possible: "YES, Field level Relevant Feedback"
         Soundex Matching Of Query Input: "YES"
         Are Search Keywords Automatically Matched Against
         System Lists Such As Soundex Lists, Concept Keyword
         Lists, Build-In Dictionaries Etc. (Stemming): ""
         Are Build-In Lists Available In Different Languages?
         If Yes, Which?
         0 Dutch         X English           X French
         X German        X Other, "US English"
         Is Query By Example Possible: "YES"
         Is Hypertext Navigation Possible: "YES"
         Is Field Searching Possible: "YES"
         Is Free Text Searching Possible: "YES"
         Search History/Search Sets Remembered: "YES"
         Is The Combining Of Sets Possible: "YES"
         Is The Storing Of Searches (To Execute Them At A
         Later Stage) Possible: "YES"
3.2.1.4. Displaying/Sorting/Saving Search Results
         Can The Format Of Hitlist Be Defined By System
         Administrator: "YES"
         Can The Search Be Displayed As HTML Output: "YES"
         Highlighting Of Searched Terms In Result Display: "YES"
         Results Ranked According To Relevance: "YES"
         Sorting Options For All Bibliographical Fields: ""
         Saving Options
         X Save To Disk  X E.Mail Results
         Is A Programmable Report Generator Available: "NO"
3.2.1.5. Extra Features
         "Listeners" For Information Gathering/-Filtering On:
         X Newsnet       X Web docs          X E-Mail Docs
         0 FTP Docs      0 Gopher Documents  X Other,
         Is It Possible To Define Which Sites/Lists To Be
         Monitored: "YES"
         Are SDI Profiles Possible: ""
         Can The Execution Of SDI Profiles Be Schedualed: ""
         Users Can Define Their Own Profile Or Has To Be Done
         By Sys Admin: ""
         Results From SDI Profiles Can Be:
         0 E.Mailed      0 Stored On Disk    0 viewed on screen
         Max. Number Of Profiles Which The System Can Handle: ""
         Are Statistics Kept Of Usage Of The System: ""
3.2.2. User Administration Module Available: "YES"
3.2.3. Lending Administration Module Available: "NO"
       Is A Barcode System Available: "NO"
       Configuration Of Lending Terms Per User (Category): "NO"
       Automatic Output Of Reminders: "NO"
       Statistics Kept Of Lending Activities: "NO"
       Other Functions: "NO"
3.2.4. Acquisitions/Ordering Module Available: "NO"
       Background Details Of Suppliers: "NO"
       Statistics Kept Of Orders/Acquisitions (According To
       User Groups, Subject Areas etc.): "NO"
3.2.5. Serials' Administration Module Available: "NO"
       Prediction Of Arrival Of Journal Issues: "NO"
       Reminders Automatically Generated: "NO"
       Serials Circulation Administration Available: "NO"
3.2.6. Thesaurus/Concepts Module Available: "NO"
       Reciprocal Relations Automatically created: "NO"
3.2.7. Other Available Modules (And Additional Software Used): ""

4. Customer Services And Support
   Helpdesk Available Via E.mail: "YES"
   FTP Site With Patches/Bug Fixes: "YES"
   FAQ Available On WWW: "YES"
   Active User Group Meetings And -Information Exchange: "YES"
   Assistance With Building Tailor-Made Applications: "YES"
   Installation Services: "YES"
   Assistance With Dataconversion: "YES"
   Assistance With Testing: "YES"
   Staff Training: "YES"
   Other Services And Support: "YES"




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