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- RAY WALKER: one disk can store and index 10 twenty-volume encyclonedias.

_ Hi-tech Skeena brary
rivals anything in B.C.
_ for ease in research

‘TERRACE — In terms of the
latest in library hi-tech, even
Vancouver is no match for the
system at one of our local
schools.

Skeena Junior Secondary
recently received some new

equipment in its library, com-.

pleting a new. information
retrieval and processing system

_which rivals that of any in the
Province,

by Philip Musselman

The system includes three Ap-
ple Ile computers, one IBM PSII
computer, three printers, a CD-
Rom reading device, a modem,
two micro fiche projectors, soft-

-ware and other accessories

allowing the resource center to
boast one of the most sophis-
ticated information systems in
B. C..

The highlight of the system is -

an electronic encyclopedia which
is contained ona single CD-Rom
disk. The 22-volume American
Academic Encyclopedia is an ex-
pansive database containing

30,000 entries and approximate-

ly nine million words. Along
with a complex indexing system,
which is as large as the encyclo-
pedia’s articles itself, the entire
electronic encyclopedia requires
some 110 megabytes of space.
This is only about a fifth of the
entire disk’s storage capacity,
which is said to be about that of
800 floppy disks. In. fact, ac-
cording to Skeena librarian Ray

_ Walker, one laser-read compact -

disk could probably store 10_
twenty-volume sets of encyclo-.
pedias.

The electronic encyclopedia is
capable of great information
retrieval properties, finding all
articles pertaining to a certain
topics and listing them on the
screen in seconds. The IBM is
currently the only computer with
the capability of utilizing the

’ disks and their reading devices.
‘According to Walker the system

enables fast, efficient retrieval
which can cut down research
time considerably and allow
more writing time for essays and
other projects.

The use of this machine by

Increased operating costs may drive up passenger fares for Terrace tran-
sit users this year. Higher maintenance rates and fuel costs are sald to be

responsible.

students is . currently being

carefully scheduled by the
school staff. The advantage of
the encyclopedia is that it cross-
references all articles related to
the topic, For instance, if a stu-
dent were searching for informa-
tion concerning birds, he or she
could type ‘birds’ into the com-

puter and all articles related to

that topic would be found by the

computer by accessing the CD-.

Rom disk. A list of the articles

would then be printed on the

screen, and the student could
choose those specific articles
which deal with the species her
or she might be studying. The
most amazing part is that all this
can be done in a matter of
seconds. Using the printer,
students are able to print out
what they have found and then
can set about writing.

Other equipment in the library
which can help students locate
information on certain topics
are as follows: three Apple Ile
word processing systems are also
capable of accessing data disks
in the form of floppy disks,
which contain periodicals; two
projectors can be used to ex-
amine entire magazines from 3
by 5 inch plastic celluloids called
micro fiche; and finally there is a
modem which can be accessed
by instructors in order to consult

other information facilities such

as the University of B.C. library
computer,
The equipment is the result of

a district pilot project which has.

been set up in order to in-
vestigate the advantages of such
technology. ‘‘Other schools such
as Caledonia Senior Secondary
are sure to begin installing this

-kind of equipment, when they

see how much of an advantage it

is already presenting here,” said

Walker.

The Skeena library is also con-
sidering computerizing its
resources, much like the public
library, through the use of bar
codes. A proposal has already
been submitted to the schoool
district. According to Walker
the library is not just a place for
books any longer, it is a place
where information may be
found easily and efficiently, put-
ting the school into the forefront
of twentieth century technology.

‘Terrace Review _ Wealnescay January 13, 1988 19

BB. C. Youth

Parliament

rejects free trade,
pans Meech Lake.

Caledonia Senior Secondary
School was well represented in
parliament last month. The 59th
session of B.C. Youth Parlia-
ment (BCYP) was held in the
Parliament Buildings in Victoria
from Dec. 27 to 31 under the
leadership of its youngest
premier ever, 1985 Caledonia
graduate Bruce Hallsor, who
will be succeeded by the 1988
premier elect, Sean Vanderfluit
of Williams Lake, also a
member of the 1985 Caledonia
graduating class.

Another Caledonia represen-
tative, grade 12 student Michael
Wong, was also elected as the
1988 B.C. Youth Parliament
(BCYP) representative for
Skeena Riding. Wong returned
from his first session of BCYP
with what he called a better
understanding of B.C.
parliamentary procedure and a
clear appreciation of the long,
hard hours worked by our pro-
vincial leaders.

“It’s a lot of work and it’s
long hours,’’ said Wong. ‘But I
got a better understanding of
our parliamentary system and
the confidence to get up and
speak in front of strangers.”’

BCYP is an organization that
has developed a rich and im-
pressive history in the province
since its beginning as the Older
Boys in 1923. The name was
changed to British Columbia
Youth Parliament in 1974 and
continues its tradition of
“Youth Serving Youth’’, with
each of its 85 parliamentarians
doing valuable community ser-
vice work during their term in
office to help achieve the BCYP
goal, ‘‘To promote the mental,
physical, spiritual, and social
well-being of the youth of
British Columbia’’.

BCYP is run according to
parliamentary tradition with an
elected Premier appointing a
cabinet while an elected Leader
of the Opposition appoints a
“Shadow Cabinet'’. According
to Hallsor, ‘‘Debate is always in-
tense as the opposition strives to
improve government legislation
and, although members sit on
either side of the House, the

British Columbia Youth Parlia-:

ment is non-partisan and
members are encouraged to
speak freely and vote according
to conscience.”

During his speech from the
throne, Hallsor reminded BCYP
members, ‘‘In this House you
should speak your mind with
conviction and thoughtfulness,
not with partisan difference or
regional allegiance: You are,
here, primarily British Colum-
bians and foremostly youth; you
are not primarily Members for
certain areas, but you are
Members of Parliament, and in

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signing the Oath of Allegiance
you have committed yourselves
to Parliament and to a common
goal to serve the youth of all of
British Columbia.”’

Wong said the session of

_parliament got underway within

minutes of his arriving in Vic-
toria, and after the opening of
parliament with all its pomp-and
ceremony, debate began im-
mediately with the defeat of the
first topic on the agenda, free
trade. Although BCYP has no
real power, provincial politi-
cians do hear and respect BCYP
debate and collective opinion.

According to Wong, the
debate continued for ‘‘hours’’
and in the end, the idea of free
trade as it had been put forward
by the Mulroney government
was defeated.

“We denounced it,’’ said

MICHAEL WONG: We liked the idea
... but the agraement we have now is
not satisfactory.

Wong. ‘‘We didn’t like it.’’
“We liked the idea of free
trade between America and
Canada but the agreement we
have right now is not satisfac-
tory, It was put together too
quickly, they should have taken
their time to think it out.’’
“Everybody thought Canada
would lose out too much,’’ he
‘Some of the
arguments were that America
-would buy up Canada but it was
a two-way street, Canada could
buy them out too, but there is
more money in America,’’
Wong said other issues
debated during the parliamen-
tary session included Camp
Phoenix, a summer camp
operated by BCYP for disabled
and underprivileged children,
which was passed; a Military
Service Resolution suggesting
that all Canadian youth should -
spend two years in military ser-
vice following graduation,
which was defeated; and man-
datory professional driver train-—
ing for all teens which was
unanimously favored.
The idea of privatization was
passed with a 60/40 split follow-
continued an page 23