Morris Library is updating the LINKS(Library Information Networks System) computers in an effort to provide easier access to a broader range of library resources.

The library will refine the LINKS computer menus so that access to the World Wide Web is available, said James Fox, director of Reference Services and Collection Management.

The World Wide Web is an Internet based program with excellent graphics, Fox said. The capabilities are limitlessthe Web connects users all over the world.

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Fox said the Web can also be used to access information about the city of Carbondale and the University and to view the list of new books in Morris Library.

Fox said that the current LINKS menu will be revised so that items are expanded and a new periodical index menu is made available. The new menu will combine InfoTrac, First Search, CD-ROM, CARL, and IBIS(Illinois Bibliographic Information Service) databases under one heading. A new periodical index, Silver Platter Databases, contains ERL(Electronic Reference Library) software.

There are two advantages to ERL, Fox said. First, users are able to search multiple databases all at once. Using the CD-ROM method, users have to search databases one at a time, in

ERL allows users to search databases simultaneously.

Also, the software allows access to students and faculty with computers outside the library, Fox said.

Fox said he expects the new changes to take effect sometime this week.

Four computers in the undergraduate library have been formatted, Fox said. I expect the other computers to be changed by the end of the week.

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Jay Starratt, director of Technical and Automation Services,said he is enthusiastic about the new changes.

It’s wonderful. What we are doing moves us closer to delivering computer access to people, no matter where they are. That has always been our goal, Starratt said.