using MELVYL for find out about SF or anyplace else

greenspun.com : LUSENET : San Francisco History : One Thread

A couple of questions back, I refered someone to MELVYL (the UC on-line catalog) and she e-mailed me that she couldn't find it on the web. I figured maybe some others of you don't know about this resource either, so I'm copying my answer to her for the general benefit of all: You can access MELVYL at the following URL: www.dla.ucop.edu

That will get you to the homepage. Then you have a choice of either going "Telnet" or "WWW." I personally prefer Telnet, but it takes a while to learn how to use it. (And you need some kind of a "Telnet" setting on your computer that I had to get someone else to tell me how to set--and I couldn't tell you now what it was to save my life.) If you do use telnet, at one point they will ask "what kind of terminal do you have?" and the right answer is "vt100." (Again, I don't know what this means, I just know it works!) Once you are into Melvyl, you then have access to the combined catalogs of the 9-campus University of California system, as well as the Calif. State Library. If you find something you want at either UC Berkeley or UC Davis, and you are not in the area, you can call the library and order a photocopy (or microfilm copy) of what you want and they will send it to you. (UC Berkeley requires prepayment, UC Davis will bill you.)The charge for this is minimal. It's really a great service.(Other libraries may offer this service, these are the only two I have experience with.) Good luck!

-- Dorothy (leland@dcn.davis.ca.us), March 02, 1998

Answers

MELVYL is now at: http://www.melvyl.ucop.edu/ There's a guide to using it at: http://www.cdlib.org/guides/melvyl/

-- Pearl Renaker (prenaker@yahoo.com), November 30, 2000.

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