The proliferation of quantitative research assessment has been accompanied by an increasing growth and diversification of digital infrastructure for evaluative bibliometrics. Since the beginning of the 2000s, insights into academic performance provided by a variety of new databases and devices significantly exceed the capacities of the former…

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a quantitative analysis exploring the interaction and relationship between the online database and electronic journal collections at the J. N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University. A very strong relationship exists between the number of searches and the size of the online database…

Modern academic libraries have a great number of information resources available online in the form of electronic catalogs, books, journals, and subject subscription databases. To determine whether users can easily retrieve the information they are seeking, academic librarians conduct usability testing of their libraries' Web sites. There has been…

Discusses the use of optical character recognition (OCR) technology to produce an ASCII text database. A tutorial on digital scanning and OCR is provided, and a systems integration project which used the Calera CDP-3000XF scanner and text retrieval software to construct a database of dissertations at George Mason University is described. (four…

Addresses misconceptions concerning CD-ROM technology. Topics discussed include changes in CD-ROMs and possible obsolescence; high-speed wide area networks, frequency of updates, and pricing; CD-ROM databases in academic libraries; local area networks; interfaces between CD-ROM drives and computers; CD-ROM speed; uses of CD-ROM; and write-once CD…

This article examines the technical access barriers that inhibit the effective use of the information resources available on higher education networks; the emerging information server technology that promises to alleviate many access problems; and the growing popularity of the Z39.50 protocol, including questions about this information retrieval…

This examination of the impact of technology on the educational role of small academic libraries focuses on the information access aspect of technology. Librarians at 26 colleges in Illinois with enrollments of under 3,000 students responded to a survey which measured the libraries' access to databases through online searching and the use of…

Full-text databases allow Central Missouri State University's clients to access some of the serials that libraries have had to cancel due to escalating subscription costs; EbscoHost, the subject of this study, is one such database. The database is available free to all Missouri residents. A survey was designed consisting of 21 questions intended…

Discusses the impact of information technology and networking on higher education with particular reference to academic libraries, based on experiences in Australia and New Zealand. Highlights include technology and learning; open learning and the virtual campus; network infrastructure; database access; electronic publishing; information…

Four articles describe the usefulness of the Internet to reference librarians and discuss Internet search tools: "Getting Started on the Net" (Karen R. Diaz); "Gopher Searching Using VERONICA" (Lousie McGillis); "How to Use VERONICA To Find Information on the Internet" (Jackie Mardikian); and "The Internet…

The rapid expansion of online publications has raised some concerns about the use of online databases in comparison with using traditional print publications. To determine the opinions of end users about using Dialog online databases versus their corresponding print versions, three libraries in Atlanta, Georgia--Atlanta-Fulton Public Library,…

Discusses copyright issues for librarians that have arisen because of technological advances. Topics discussed include changes in the electronic information environment; legal aspects of copyright enforcement; research patterns and electronic use; multimedia; electronic information networks; local databases; license agreements; printing;…

Discusses the concept of electronic workstations and describes four different types: (1) the academic workstation; (2) the reference workstation (i.e., for end users); (3) the information specialist workstation; and (4) the workstation for management information. The creation of a new integrated information center (ICC) is also described. (11…

Presents results of a recent survey of over 100 public and academic libraries about pricing options from online companies. Most options fall into three categories: pay-as-you-go, fixed-rate, and user-based. Results are discussed separately for public and academic libraries and for consortial discounts. Trends in pricing options preferred by…

With the ever growing interest that libraries have in the Internet, the potentials of other computer resources may be overlooked or under-utilized. One such resource is the campus local area network (LAN). For libraries, a campus LAN presents possibilities ranging from simple library promotion to networked databases. The Internet provides…