The thesis of this paper is that the growth of the field of medical informatics, while seemingly a potential threat to medical librarianship, is in fact an opportunity for librarianship to both extend its reach and also to further define its unique characteristics in contrast to those of medical informatics. Furthermore, because medical…

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…

This paper describes the academic library environment in Finland, discussing increases in research funding that have not been directly evident in library budgets. It then describes the FinELib program, the National Electronic Library, which has a centralized approach to joint acquisition of electronic information resources. The key issues have…

The "Mapping the Human Genome" project demonstrated that librarians can help whomever they serve in accessing information resources in the areas of biological and health information, whether it is the scientists who are developing the information or a member of the public who is using the information. Public libraries can guide library…

In using conventional print, CD-ROM and online resources, librarians are still middlepersons between publishers and users. By exploiting Internet and World Wide Web online technology and developing local databases, libraries can tap new information sources and make them available to local audiences and others dispersed around the world in an…

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?"…

Reports on a study that examined the impact of national information networks, particularly the Internet and the emerging NREN (National Research and Education Network) on academic libraries. Topics addressed include academic computer services; costs; and academic library services, including electronic journals, electronic collection development,…

Discusses library collection evaluation and its relationship to the acquisitions budget. Topics addressed include the publishing industry; library services that are more user centered; acquisition of versus access to sources of information and knowledge; the concept of value; library accountability; objectives and setting priorities; and levels of…

Traditional information services provision relies on the planned and logical building of a collection to meet current and future user information needs. This is achieved through the acquisition and discarding of material, which might ideally be based on a regularly reviewed collection development policy statement. The evolution of collection…