Dartmouth College Information System
Copyright © 1990-1999 Trustees of Dartmouth College
The purpose of the Dartmouth College Information System (DCIS) is to provide information access to the entire spectrum of campus users, including faculty, students, librarians, non-technical staff, and senior administrators. The information available ranges from the library catalog and many academic sources to administrative and daily living information. This client-server system is widely and heavily used at Dartmouth. It simplifies access through common interfaces to a wide variety of database systems and by automating many of the necessary details. Portions of DCIS have also been installed at a number of other educational institutions. This page describes the DCIS system, and offers pointers to other information and resources, including the DCIS software itself.
System Features
The Dartmouth College Information System (DCIS) is a client-server based campus wide information retrieval system. DCIS consists of several client applications that provide access to a number of different commercially available database management systems and some locally developed ones. There is also a WWW interface available. The databases at Dartmouth College are distributed across several central server computers. A common network protocol is used to connect clients and servers. A distributed authentication server, implementing Dartmouth College's Interdomain Access Protocol (IDAP), controls access to licensed databases. IDAP permits multiple institutions to cooperatively license information resources.
DCIS allows users to ignore the details of access and to concentrate on working with the databases. The DCIS application helps users browse or search the DCIS database directory and connect to a particular resource. When the resource is a local database, the DCIS application is also used to search the database and display and print the results. A graphical user interface, complex searches, local data manipulation, and graphical display of results are among DCIS' features.
- Simplifies Access
- The DCIS system eliminates as many manual steps as possible from the process of locating and using electronic information resources. For example, DCIS makes connecting to a database as simple as pointing and clicking a mouse. Each step in lowering the barrier to entry has brought more members of the Dartmouth community into daily use of these resources.
- Harnesses Power of Personal Computers
- DCIS effectively leverages the power of available personal computers, using them as more than terminals to host systems. Local processing power has been harnessed in a client-server design that provides more functionality with less tedium. More sophisticated presentation is available than was previously possible. Faster response to requests is provided with fewer server resources.
- Leverages Existing Knowledge
- DCIS capitalizes on individuals' existing knowledge of the Macintosh's standard software interface. The system complements other Macintosh productivity applications. Skills learned in one application generally apply to others. Data interchange is greatly enhanced.
- Common User Interface
- DCIS can handle many resources through the same user interface. The Online Library application is able to gain access to functionally different servers with similar content in a manner almost transparent to the user. The effort invested in learning to use this application benefits the user many times on many different databases.
- Helps Users Locate Information Sources
- The system-wide directory assembles pointers to resources from a great many sources in one place. Users can search descriptions of the resources as well as browse through the resource collection.
- Helps Users Maintain Software
- DCIS also helps users locate, acquire, and maintain the client software on their workstations. The system provides a mechanism to update its components as they are developed. Users learn about updates to the software as they use it, with the system delivering the new version of a component automatically. Software distribution and user support is greatly simplified.
- Accommodates Modular Growth
- DCIS is modular yet provides an integrated presentation and operation. Many standard Macintosh applications (including web browsers) can be used as viewers. In this way, DCIS has been able to incorporate previously existing systems which is as essential as providing new ones. This design provides a minimally disruptive upgrade path as various information resources are moved to other systems.
Components
DCIS is a single client application for Macintosh and Windows that provides access to a number of different commercially available database management systems and some locally developed ones. A common network protocol is used to connect clients and servers.
Client Software
DCIS is a database directory browser and database search and retrieval client.
- Download DCIS for Macintosh
Download DCIS for Windows
(NOTE: This URL will retrieve a self-extracting installer. Run this file, then run the Setup.EXE file it creates to install DCIS. If you have previous versions of DCIS you should delete them before running the installer.)
Download DCIS Image View 1.0
- DCIS Image View displays GIF, multipage TIFF, JPEG and PICT image files. Images can be scrolled, zoomed and selectively copied. It can be used as a WWW helper application. DCIS Image View is only available for Macintosh.
Server Software
The DCIS project has developed database servers for three commercial database managers (BRS, PAT, ORACLE), and DII a locally developed inverted index search engine. An interface process adapts the commercial database managers to client-server functionality. The servers share a common search and retrieval protocol. Common components are reused in several ways, allowing the number of available resources to expand easily.
Hundreds of other sources of information are reachable by DCIS over the Internet. These sources are reached through the use of server "gateways" which interconnect with other popular information systems (WAIS, Z39.50) to some of the DCIS client applications and by integrating other Macintosh client applications (eg. InterNews, NCSA Telnet, TN3270, TurboGopher, Internet Explorer, NetScape) into the system.
DCIS servers have been ported to a variety of operating systems. We currently have servers running on DEC/UNIX and VAX/VMS. Past ports included most versions of UNIX (Ultrix, HP-UX, AIX, SunOS, A/UX). Creating versions for other database managers or other operating systems has been straight-forward.
UNIX server software distributions are available in UNIX "tar" format . The distribution sets contain binary software compiled for specific machine architectures and are sometimes specific to a particular version of the UNIX operating system available for the hardware.
Documentation
Technical documentation is available for the installation, maintenance, and adaptation of DCIS components. End-user documentation is available for the DCIS Navigator and the DCIS viewer application Online Library. In addition, all DCIS applications contain extensive on-line help.
The DCIS Installation and System Administrator's Guide explains how to install and operate the servers and how to configure the client applications for other sites.
History and Statistics
The DCIS project has been in development since January 1990. The first DCIS applications were publicly available on the campus network in April 1991. The software has been distributed to all members of eight incoming classes ('95 thru '02) as their Macintoshes were delivered. Each year there has been a substantial growth in usage and demand for more information resources. Five central computers running about a dozen different servers currently provide information services for more than 150,000 monthly sessions. The DCIS servers record statistics of their usage and monthly summaries are generated.
Software Distribution
Dartmouth College is making the DCIS software freely available to educational and non-profit institutions via anonymous FTP. Dartmouth uses the software locally and intends to continue development of it. We however do not have the resources to provide support for it at sites outside of Dartmouth. Please read the License Terms below.
The client software is packaged as binhex files. Netscape and some other WWW browsers will decode these files after downloading them. The server software is packaged as gzip'd tar files. See the README files for detailed instructions. GZIP is available via FTP currently in the file "gzip-1.2.4a.shar".
License Terms
Dartmouth College Information System
Copyright © 1990-1999 Trustees of Dartmouth College
All Rights Reserved.
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE ALLOWS FREE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE BY EDUCATIONAL AND NON-PROFIT INSTITUTIONS IN ITS "AS IS" CONDITION. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE DISCLAIMS ANY LIABILITY OF ANY KIND FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
DCIS Software is copyrighted by the Trustees of Dartmouth College and is not in the public domain. Permission to use, copy, and distribute this software and its documentation is hereby granted, provided that it is not sold and that the copyright notices appear in all copies of the software and in supporting documentation.
For more information contact:
DCIS Project
c/o Robert Brentrup
Dartmouth College Computing Services
6028 Kiewit
Hanover, NH 03755-3523
electronic mail: robert.j.brentrup@dartmouth.edu
At Dartmouth we have made more than 250 local databases available. For example, the collection includes the Dartmouth College Library catalog, Arthur Bullen's Shakespeare, the Oxford English Dictionary, Books in Print and several of Chadwyck-Healey's full text poetry databases. While Dartmouth has some databases that we can share with the Internet community like our catalog, Shakespeare and Dante, many of our local databases are licensed from commercial vendors. These commercial databases cannot be shared with other Internet users without additional licensing arrangements. They are however examples of how any institution might provide their own locally licensed resources.
The production directory server at Dartmouth uses a few older programs (eg. DarTerminal) and resources that depend on features of the local network, ie. they are not usable off-campus.
At Dartmouth an electronic name directory (DND) of all faculty, students, and staff controls access to the licensed data sources. We have helped other institutions setup a similar name directory service.
Common Questions
Q: What do I need to use the DCIS clients?
A: You need a Macintosh computer and a connection to the Internet. The computer should be using at least version 7.0.1 of the Apple System file (7.1 or later are recommended). You will need about 4 megabytes of free memory to use DCIS comfortably. DCIS client software operates over the Internet using MacTCP or TCP/IP software available from Apple Computer.
Q: How do I install the DCIS clients?
A: FTP the DCIS application to your disk. Macintosh Users need to decode the binhex file. Windows users need to run the self-extracting installer.
Install and configure your TCP software if you haven't already. Once you have a network connection start the DCIS Navigator application. The Navigator will locate the directory server and present a list of the available databases. Double clicking a name will open the information resource you have selected. The Navigator will offer to download any other software you need. See the Help window for more information.
Q: What do I need to use the DCIS servers?
A: DCIS is modular in design and can be deployed in parts at other sites. Other sites considering implementation of DCIS would require at least the following:
- - a local computer network
- - Macintosh personal computers as clients
- - database servers and database management system "engines" (Commercial database engines such as BRS, PAT, etc., would need to be acquired or licensed if they are not already available at a site.)
- - server software
- - electronic data and information resources
- - the DCIS authentication server (in some sites), which provides authentication of multiple groups of geographically dispersed users
Q: How is DCIS different from Gopher and WWW?
A: DCIS hosts highly structured data that can be located and retrieved through sophisticated database managers and displayed with complex typography and illustrations. The information underlying DCIS is a collection of indexed databases quite different from the shared file repositories of "Gopher" spaces or the "World Wide Web". The database managers we use typically index the contents of the databases based on their structure in multiple ways which is different from the single full text indexing of the original WAIS system. The multiple indexes can be used to pose complex questions which are particularly important for users of large databases.
Q: Is there a Web version?
A: There is a WWW interface that can be accessed from most computers that can run a web browser that supports forms.
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Last edited 29 Sep 2000 by
Jennifer Merrill