It's been well documented in a number of articles regarding the contemporary library patron that with the rise in mobile computing and smart phone technology, patrons are looking for fast and easy service from whichever technological avenue they are using to access library services. Libraries are responding with increasing numbers of online…

The last time this author wrote about open source (OS) software was in last September's 2004 issue of Computers in Libraries, which was devoted to making the most of what you have and do-it-yourself solutions. After the column appeared, she received an e-mail from David Dorman of Index Data, who believed that she had done OS products a disservice…

Those who work in libraries focus much of their energies on providing access to information, and major changes seen in the last decade have shown the need to be flexible in the ways that librarians approach content delivery. Library users span all the generations of information distribution mechanisms. Some prefer to receive information in their…

With the advent of CD-ROMs, libraries began to limit online searching via DIALOG. To increase DIALOG's market share, Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries (CARL) Corporation is developing graphical user interfaces using World Wide Web and Windows technology and has reached agreements with Knight Ridder Information and with most of their database…

In 1996, the Colorado Library Resource Sharing and Information Access Board initiated a project to explore a patron-initiated interlibrary loan (ILL) system utilizing the ACLIN (Access Colorado Library Information Network) infrastructure and interfacing with local catalogs, remote databases, and bibliographic utilities. This report summarizes the…

Describes the University of Exeter (UK), Mondex, and NatWest UK smartcard-based campus card system project. Smartcards, wallet-sized plastic cards with microprocessors, interface with network terminal devices and are programmable as data, identity, and finance cards. International standard multiple operating system (MULTOS) increases current…

An overview of the development of CD-ROMs is presented. Aspects covered include changes in coverage, the use of CD-ROMs in libraries and information units, changes in search interfaces and growth in end-user searching, changes in CD-ROM publishers, and hardware and networking developments. (Author)

Discusses the St. Philip's College (SPC) Learning Resource Center laptop loaning program. States that SPC is a Historically Black College and Hispanic Serving Institution that is now rewarding honors students by lending them laptops for a semester at a time. Discusses the development of the loaning program. Provides a list of Web sites for anyone…

Since its humble beginning, Digital Past, a centralized local history digitization initiative at the North Suburban Library System (NSLS), a multitype consortium in Wheeling, Illinois, has now grown into a large centralized collaboration that consists of 32 libraries and a museum as its primary contributors. With Digital Past, there are various…

A follow-up interview with librarians from Hong Kong, Mexico, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand about library automation systems in their libraries and their plans for the future. Discusses system performance, upgrades, services, resources, intranets, trends in automation, Web interfaces, full-text image/document systems, document delivery, OPACs…

This book presents 19 case studies in library web site creation and implementation. The book begins with an introduction--"Introduction: Step into My Parlor" (Julie M. Still)--and is divided into three sections. The first section, Academic Library Web Sites, contains six case studies: "U-SEARCH: The University of Saskatchewan…