This paper outlines the challenges and opportunities for the services of the Japanese National Diet Library (NDL), especially the Research and Legislative Reference Bureau by using a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. The introduction lists the major goals of the NDL's reform. The second section discusses the NDL's…

This paper discusses library development in the changing environment arising within the forthcoming Information/Knowledge Society. The role of the library as a social institution is examined in the context of the evolution of the whole literary and knowledge system. Ideas about conceptual changes to be introduced by the library in order to respond…

Globalization provides the contextual framework for cultural changes in the library user group. In order to be more effective, and realistically, more client-focused, the reference librarian is challenged to ask again "Who is my client?" in this changing context. This paper presents a positive and practical response to cultural change…

Reflects on issues raised at the Library of Congress Institute on "Reference Service in a Digital Age." Discusses technology-oriented changes at the Library of Congress; the changing reference service model; collaborative partnerships; staff training; and the role of the reference librarian in the digital environment. (AEF)

Compares three system models (closed, open, dissipative) with traditional models for adoption of new technology and library operations. Argues that information-provider organizations (libraries) must be able to adapt to radical changes in their environments in order to remain viable economic entities. (Author/AEF)

A simplified account of an extensive library automation and networking project that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation initiated and funded in the Czech and Slovak republics is provided in this paper. The proposal to establish "The Czech and Slovak Library Information Network" (CASLIN) commenced in January 1993. Storage, document…

This paper traces the roots of higher education from Ancient Greece to the first universities in European countries where the idea of upper education became centered on the interactive dialogue between a teacher and student. The report discusses the role of the university library today in an age of ever-developing technologies and ever-increasing…

To help understand the trends, strategies, structure, and new skills that will be required by the information professional in this changing global environment, this paper examines the future of the library and information profession and the impact that information technology is having on the discipline. The paper focuses on the online delivery of…

Discusses impacts of the Internet on reference services and changing roles for reference librarians. Describes a continuum of libraries (Sutton) from a paper-based (traditional) to a fully digital library. Examines K-12 uses and benefits of digital reference services (question-and-answer services sometimes referred to as AskA's). Describes K-12…

The National Library in Slovenia was fully authorized to develop on the national level the library network made up of all types of libraries. To fulfill the tasks, a special advisory center/service was founded to perform advising and developing tasks, as well as supervisory tasks. In the last decade, a significant change of its role has come…

Among information workers, the term "disintermediation" has been used to describe the diminishing role of the intermediary associated with the electronic information environment. IMPEL2 is a JISC-funded e-Lib Project investigating the social, organizational, and cultural impacts of the growing electronic library in United Kingdom higher…

Academic liaison--the two-way communication between a particular academic area and the library, focused through an individual or group of library staff--has received little attention in the debate about performance measurement. Changes have taken place in higher education libraries in both scale, with the growth of student numbers, and intent,…

Highlights major trends in information technology and speculates on their impact for library services in the future. Bibliographic accessibility and the role of the librarian in information management in tomorrow's libraries are discussed. (EM)

Four papers addressing the future of information and changes brought on due to the Internet include: "Internet and the Future of Collection Development: A Teacher Librarian's Perspective" (Jill Johnson); "The Provision of Information Services in Networked Schools" (Eric Wainwright); "When the Book? When the Net?"…

Increasingly, digital libraries are being defined as collection pointers to World Wide Web-based resources rather than collections that hold the resources themselves. Maintaining these collections is challenging due to distributed document ownership and high fluidity. Typically a collection's maintainer has to assess the relevance of changes with…