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