This paper reviews the services provided by the ERIC system and suggests ways to broaden its scope through coordination with other existing education databases. The first of four major sections chronicles the evolution of ERIC and explains why it has not been able to exercise true bibliographic control over the literature of education. The second…

Developed from presentations given at a 3-day invitational meeting of 31 leading online catalog designers from both public and private sectors in North America, these papers provide information about online catalogs--their present form, their use, and the questions that need to be considered in their future refinement. All of the papers in this…

Identifies factors that reduce the effectiveness of computers as intermediaries and discusses possible negative effects on user satisfaction and the interaction between users and librarians. A set of guidelines for the improvement of online catalogs, based on user needs and abilities, is presented. (41 references) (CLB)

Contents: (1) Session on Acquisitions, "Acquisitions--Policies, Procedures, and Problems" by Louis Vagianos, with a supplement "Brown University Library Fund Accounting System" by Robert Wedgeworth, "Simon Fraser's Automated Acquisitions System" by T.C. Dobb, and "Automated Acquisition at University of Western…