Deciding whether to go with a particular open source product is an exercise in risk management: understanding the risks of one's possible actions and choices, calculating when a certain level of risk is appropriate to reach a desired outcome, and planning for how to handle negative outcomes. To be sure, opting to go with a particular proprietary…

The previous head of the Central Library of Riverside City and County Public Library (RCCPL) (California) examines the economic failure of the system and the effects of the move to total outsourcing to a private commercial firm, Library Systems & Services (LSSI). Concludes that RCCPL had problems long before it was outsourced to LSSI. (AEF)

As question answering services in the commercial sector proliferate, libraries are innovating with new forms of electronic reference (e-reference). The Library of Congress' Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) extends worldwide. Discussion includes reference service developments; "reclaiming" users; growth of library interest…

Discusses how librarians in the new role of "informationist" can help doctors and researches of medical information. Describes existing models of the informationist; potential benefits of working across professional boundaries outside the library; professional requirements; and unresolved issues for the new role, including potential…

In addition to building a new facility and providing innovative services to its students/faculty/administration, the Valley Library of Oregon State University, winner of the Gale Group/Library Journal Library of the Year Award, has created partnerships with public libraries, the business community, school districts, and other academic…

Focuses on possibilities for providing reference service to remote users of digital collections. Discusses international digital reference networks; factors that limit global electronic reference service; and drawbacks of e-mail and use of real-time interactive technologies for the reference encounter. Highlights some pioneering projects. (AEF)

Suggests that digital resources and telecommunications give librarians the best chance in decades to reexamine and achieve many of their fundamental goals. Discusses the goals of providing the right information in appropriate formats, keeping the intellectual record, providing personalized information services, and serving as educators, and cites…

Discusses the impact of home use of electronic information sources, such as the Internet, on traditional library services. Suggests that librarians should devote themselves to how people seek, organize, and consume information. Describes 21st century strategies to help libraries use traditional information services combined with computer…

Assesses the changes in interlibrary loan (ILL) practices, and points the way to an ideal future. Discusses patron-initiated document request systems; library-mediated ordering systems; document delivery suppliers; accessing electronic resources; ILL management software; paying ILL invoices; new electronic delivery options; and results of a…

Argues that, in spite of the financial burden on local, state, and federal justice systems, prison libraries must be transformed from access-to-the-courts programs and emerge as community information and cultural centers that provide both electronic and book formats. (AEF)

Description of VALNet (Valley Library Consortium), a consortium of public, academic, and school libraries in Idaho, highlights proposed online public access union catalog which would include nonbibliographic and referral files and circulation and serials control modules. The political climate, marketing, needs assessment, support and consultation,…