The technology of the 21st century has had no shortage of challenges for libraries, but it has also brought opportunities. Operating systems, databases, and application environments that can use cheap off-the-shelf hardware to scale and handle hundreds of millions of transactions were not developed for libraries. However, libraries have taken…

It seems, at times, that a frantic race persists to ensure that a child, in the crucial learning stages of early elementary education, acquires the appropriate reading level before he or she "gets behind." Though there are obvious issues with branding a book "Grade Level One" or "Reading Level 2.2," it is nevertheless…

This fourth annual report of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) documents its disaffiliation from the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB); the increased strength and solidity of the whole organization as evidenced by the addition of 44 new member institutions and 48 new terminals in member libraries; the increased ability to meet the…

Presents an overview of the developments and dilemmas related to the cataloging and classification of maps, addressing the areas of online library systems, cooperative cataloging, descriptive cataloging, subject access, and the improvement of network capabilities. Seventeen references are cited. (FM)

Describes the Bibliographic Service Development Program begun in 1978 by the Council on Library Resources. The program's goals include (1) providing effective bibliographic services for all who need them, (2) improving the nature and quality of bibliographic products, and (3) stabilizing the costs of many bibliographic processes in individual…

Announces a project for national bibliographic control under the sponsorship of the Council on Library Resources. Areas explored will be the possibility of linking various bibliographic utilities and networks, cooperative planning, review of the Library of Congress' Network Development Office project as a potential nationwide database, and the…

Describes Linked Systems Project (LSP), which is designed to connect three large bibliographic networks in an "open" manner without changing the systems. "Open systems," standards, advantages of linking systems, interchange of authority data, Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Project, record transfer and…

Describes history, operating procedures, and current activities of group of users of the University of Toronto Library Automation System (UTLAS) who cooperated with each other, the bibliographic utility, and the National Library of Canada to produce an automated authority control system, termed Shared Authority File (SHARAF). Five references are…

Describes the benefits and drawbacks of the use of OCLC in the one-person library at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. Cataloging functions, interlibrary loan, retrospective catalog conversion, dial access to online databases, and training problems are discussed. (JL)

Eight articles describe the development, content, and structure of databases outside of the United States. Features discussed include library involvement, authority control, shared cataloging services, union catalogs, thesauri, abstracts, and distribution methods. Countries and areas represented are Latin America, Australia, the United Kingdom,…

The second annual report of the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET) documents the initiation of shared cataloging service to member libraries. Reports from several libraries recount their experiences in using the services of the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) through SOLINET. Then the training program used to instruct staff members of 86…

Major goals and tasks for the next three years are listed in this draft concept and guide for fostering development of library resource sharing in the Western United States and Canada. Major concepts, such as bibliographic utility and service center, are defined and 24 underlying assumptions regarding the environment for networking are set forth.…

Describes an archive tape processing system which processes tapes received through OCLC-MARC subscription services to construct and maintain a master database of bibliographic records for libraries of each participating institution of the Triangle Research Libraries Network: Duke University; North Carolina State University, Raleigh; and University…

Describes the "Rutgers Inventory of Machine-Readable Texts in the Humanities" that provides bibliographic information through RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network) for electronic texts in the humanities. Highlights include adaptation of MARC format; access points; search strategies; and unresolved issues in the bibliographic…

This working paper provides an initial discussion point for the construction of a national location service as a component of a national library and information service network. The study described had a dual purpose: (1) expansion of the Register of Additional Locations (RAL) data base by cooperative means, which involved identifying…