UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 9, Page 15                       
October 29, 1992                                       
U-Discover! software links computers throughout campuses
                                                       
     Software developed at the University of Minnesota is being used
to bring unprecedented amounts of information to the fingertips of
faculty, staff and students who use the U-Discover! network. 
     Joy Lynam, a coordinator in Management Information Services
(MIS), said the University obtained in April a copy of Gopher-software
written in Minnesota and named for that university's mascot. Since
then, information about the University of Delaware has been  
continuously added to the software to produce U-Discover!, a 
campuswide information system that allows users to access data bases
on campus and around the world.                              
     Carl Jacobson, director of MIS, said U-Discover! contains many of
the same items as the University's former information system, UDInfo,
including the University policies and procedures manual and copies of
UpDate. However, the new system also gives users access to libraries
around the world, daily local weather reports and crime and arrest
statistics from Public Safety, among other resources.        
     Morris Library's catalog area has six carrels dedicated to
U-Discover!, said Mary McMahon, assistant director of libraries. The
terminals allow users to search listings of books and periodicals 
carried by hundreds of university libraries from Australia to England,
as well as the United States.                                
     U-Discover! also can be accessed from any computer on campus that
is linked to "composer series" systems, such as Brahms or Bach, Lynam
said. Users wishing to access U-Discover! from a composer system
simply type "gopher," she said.                              
     "We hope users find U-Discover! to be an intelligent front end to
library catalogs throughout the nation," said Susan Brynteson,
director of libraries.                                       
     In the future, U-Discover! may be used to view electronic
journals in libraries around the world, McMahon said. For now, the
system can be used to expedite the search for research materials, 
which sometimes can be borrowed through the University's interlibrary
loan office, she said.                                       
     Campus crimes are reported by Public Safety in an electronic
bulletin board in U-Discover!, said Donald Redmond, administrative
officer. The system allows interested parties to view daily statistics
on police activity from up to one year ago, as well as summaries of
crimes committed on campus between 1989 and 1991.            
     Students also may access U-Discover! through computer terminals
in the new Student Services Building, located on Lovett Avenue just
behind Newark Hall. Undergraduate course listings, housing information
and students' electronic mail addresses and campus phone numbers are
available, Lynam said.                                       
     Unlike UDInfo, U-Discover! operates on small computer processors,
known as servers, which reduce the University's computing costs by
about $38,500 per gigabyte of information stored, Jacobson said.
     The University's previous information system ran on a mainframe
computer, he said.                                           
     In addition, the Gopher software that controls U-Discover! was
free from the University of Minnesota, he said. New and improved
versions of the software also are regularly distributed at no cost by
that university.                                             
     Despite the cost benefits, Jacobson said financial considerations
are not the most important reason for using Gopher.          
     "The big push in computing is to deliver more information to a
wider audience," he said. "This system allows high school students and
people from other universities to get our information. It also allows
us to put servers into departments on campus to get more information
onto the system."                                            
     All in all, the new campus computing system is superior to the
old in reaching more users who want to give and access information, he
said.                                                        
                                        -Stephen Steenkamer  
                                                       
Editor's note: If you would like to place information on the 
U-Discover! network, or have questions about the system, send
electronic mail to GOPHER@MVS.UDEL.EDU.