Presents a background on the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) partnership with the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and notes its achievements. Discusses the CIC Center for Library Initiatives; leveraging investments in libraries; maximizing use of information resources; improving delivery of information/library services; the…

Discusses developments under three relatively new directors in the New York, Brooklyn, and Queens Borough Public Libraries. Highlights include budgets and fundraising, technology, mission statements, personnel, ethnicity, services, and renovations. (AEF)

An academic librarian at the University of South Carolina, faced with providing online resources for distant and distributed learners, examines whether there is any difference between distant and distributed learners. Illustrates changes brought on by implementation of information technologies. Discusses seeking a new definition, meeting…

Reviews the literature on academic library reference service, and examines changes in the traditional reference desk model. Based on the review from the perspectives of managers, librarians, and users, new research directions are proposed in which users' information-search processes and librarians' intervention in reference service are integrated.…

Presents a dramatization of a high school library in 1968, a place with wooden bookcases, card catalog, wooden furniture and tiptoeing librarian through 30 years of changes to a library media center with banks of computers, librarian-teacher cooperation, emphasis on authentic assessment, and the satisfaction of librarian, teachers, and students…

This article provides an introduction to the major information resources in the field of economics. The essay evaluates the major selection tools in the area of business and economics, as well as selected core reference titles. The article also includes suggestions for developing and evaluating economics collections, as well as a listing of online…

This construct for collection development as it relates to Native American resources utilizes Thomas Mann's "Library Research Methods" (1993) concepts of the Traditional Model, the Actual-Practice Model, and the Principle of Least Effort to organize recommendations for both strategies and resources. The three-pronged hierarchical approach to…

The "Victorian Free Library Service Board Act" of 1946 was the culmination of a long campaign to replace the mechanics' institute model of library provision with free libraries funded by state and local government. Given that library reform required legislation by the state government, this paper is mainly concerned with the political…

This study examines the holdings of ARL libraries for core reference titles to see if there is a trend towards canceling the print in favor of electronic, and discusses the implications of duplication of titles in both formats. It also looks at the issue within the context of several areas of study including general reference, arts and humanities,…

This document provides the 5-year (1997-2001) library plan for public libraries in Louisiana. It seeks to identify specific inadequacies in public library services, resources, facilities, and personnel. It also identifies the people who are to be served, and reveals geographical, sociological, economic, and educational barriers to the expanded use…

This 1996 National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) survey gathered data from a national sample of public libraries concerning the current level of public library involvement with the Internet. The purpose of this study was to: (1) provide policymakers, researchers, and library professionals with longitudinal data that…

The purposes of this five-year Oregon State Library plan are: (1) to establish goals, priorities, objectives, and strategies for the development of library services within the state of Oregon; (2) to set forth methodologies to evaluate the success of the strategies in meeting the goals, priorities, and objectives; (3) to set policies and…

This document consists of 12 consecutive issues of the monthly "Centennial State Libraries" newsletter, of the Colorado Department of Education, State Library and Adult Education Office. The issues cover the year 1998. Each issue of the newsletter--except the August issue which is an Annual Report--includes some or all of the following…

Case studies of six public libraries that have adopted the concept of long range, community-based planning were conducted to explore what actually happens in natural settings as public libraries implement long range planning, and to document the differences that exist among these settings in process, goals, implementation, participant perceptions,…

This manual is intended as a guide and a resource for staff and volunteers in small public libraries in Alaska. It is for libraries managed by local residents that have not had training in operating and managing a library. Some of the chapters may be useful to other types of libraries, such as a small school library or a church library. The guide…