I tried out ACTIVATE MARC via telnet to Penn State's library
(LIAS.PSU.EDU).  It worked and it didn't work.  That is, I
was able to connect with LIAS, which worked fine (although
it does not seem as flexible as the libraries I habitually
use [MIRLYN at U-M, HOLLIS at Harvard, and MELVYL at U Cal])
and I could search it.  Then, I could switch to MARC and
found a) it supported only the most rudimentary search
strategies and b) it was incredibly incomplete (e.g., when
I asked it to search for works by an author named Hemingway, it
made only two hits).  Perhaps I've done something wrong,
or perhaps there was some network problem (though I can't
imagine what), but when I signed off and retried, the
results were identical--and still dismal.  Well, it was
worth a try!
 
Eric Rabkin                [log in to unmask]
Department of English      [log in to unmask]
University of Michigan     office: 313-764-2553
Ann Arbor MI 48109-1045    dept  : 313-764-6330