This essay discusses SciELO, a scientific journal database operating in 14 countries. It covers over 1000 journals providing open access to full text and table sets of scientometrics data. In Brazil it is responsible for a collection of nearly 300 journals, selected along 15 years as the best Brazilian periodicals in natural and social sciences.…

The advent of large-scale digital repositories, along with the need for sharing useful data world-wide, demands change to the current information structure. The merging of digital scientific data with scholarly literature has the potential to fulfill the Semantic Web design principles. This paper will identify factors leading to integration of…

This guide is designed to provide aid and support to library staff in finding government scientific and technical reports. Following an introduction to bibliographic sources for the technical report literature, the guide outlines a general search strategy for the retrieval of technical reports and presents an overview of the following five major…

The three papers in this collection were presented during the meeting of the Section on Research and Theory. In the first paper, "BIEF: A North-South Knowledge Transfer Tool," Suzanne Richer examines the vital importance of scientific and technical information (STI) for developing countries, and notes that BIEF (Banque internationale…

Spokesmen for libraries and scientific organizations condemned efforts by the Department of Defense to restrict access to unclassified information in electronic databases. The plan would limit access to a new category of "sensitive but unclassified" information. (MLW)

Describes a study by the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) that identified strengths and weaknesses of current access methods to peer-reviewed electronic journals in the fields of science and technology, focusing on perceptions of public service librarians. Topics include cataloging, links on Web sites, aggregator databases, and…

Analyzes access behavior of Algerian users of information and documentation, focusing on the imbalance between user demand and quality of library access. Topics include Internet connectivity problems; national bibliographic catalogs and databases; creating digital collections to improve access, especially scientific information; and advantages of…

Describes a user-based automated service developed at the California Institute of Technology that combines access to journal article databases with an in-house document delivery system. TOC/DOC (Tables of Contents/Document Delivery) has undergone a conceptual change from a catalog of locally-held journal articles to a broader, more retrospective…

Presents and analyzes data from the 1992 AIDSLINE database on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome and compares it with data from the 1989 AIDSLINE database regarding the shift in productivity of various journals and the changing frequencies with which Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used to provide subject access and control.…

In this response to the issues and alternatives for the proposed privatization of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) as presented in the "Federal Register" of April 28, 1986, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) rejects outright the proposal to privatize all of its functions, and expresses its preference for keeping…

Discusses the role of libraries in providing access to data in electronic form. Types of data are described, including social data, scientific data, and humanities data; the definition of libraries and library services is considered; and acquisition of the skills needed to provide effective access is discussed. (20 references) (LRW)

Discusses information agencies and issues that affect the dissemination and accessibility of Canadian government information, including the Canada Communication Group, depository libraries, the National Library, bibliographic control of government information, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Statistics Canada,…

Reviews the research on the role, importance, and impact of the federal technical report literature, and summarizes some ambiguities and gaps in the research. Different approaches to conceptual and methodological issues are discussed, and a typology of technical reports is provided. (38 notes with references) (Author/CLB)

Discusses how librarians in scientific and technical libraries can contribute to an accessible electronic library environment for users with disabilities to ensure independent access to information. Topics include relevant assistive technologies; creating accessible Web pages; monitoring accessibility of electronic databases; preparing accessible…

Discusses the networking of image-based libraries of scientific and technical documents and the role of information professionals in the future of libraries and information access. Topics include commercial databanks, projects involving cooperation between technical publishers and universities, and the Internet and World Wide Web. (LRW)