Europeana: Think Culture (http://www.europeana.eu) is a wonderful cultural repository. It includes more than 15 million items (images, text, audio, and video) from 1,500 European institutions. Europeana provides access to an abundance of cultural and heritage information and knowledge. Because Europeana has partnered with and brought together so…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the state of development of Polish digital libraries. Design/methodology/approach: The paper describes the establishment of the first digital library in Poland, the creation of the Wielkopolska Digital Library and other regional digital libraries. The organisational and technological solutions used…

The rapidly evolving digital world inspires much use of nautical terminology: (1) navigation; (2) discovery; (3) the voyage; and (4) the new terrain at the end of the journey. Considering how quickly new technologies are arriving on smartphones, the nautical adventure is continuing at an increased pace. Innovations in basic library services follow…

In an age of experimentation, library users from Cerritos, California, to Salt Lake City to Seattle are experiencing public libraries the likes of which they have never before seen. While the 1990s may be remembered as the era of the anchor facility, when libraries were called upon to define and support a community's renaissance, this decade's…

This paper on public libraries in Thailand begins with a section that provides background on public libraries in the past, lists the functions of the public library, and describes three size classifications of public libraries. The second section outlines the tasks of the current public library in three areas: informal education; nonformal…

Presents results of a study undertaken for the state library of Maryland to develop a process for the development of a Maryland Digital Public Library. Highlights include planning; management; implementation requirements; networked environments; technical infrastructure issues; collection development; standards; information content; information…

Reports on an initiative by the Toronto Public Library to create the "Virtual Reference Library" (VRL). Describes the first service to be offered, a Dewey application called "Science Net." Discusses the VRL and its precursor, objectives, basis for its funding, technical aspects, progress to date and future direction. (AEF)

The development of the Internet and the online collections accessed by it has created major adjustments in all library functions, including collection management and budgeting. The authors share how two public libraries have come full circle in electronic collection management, beginning with early selection, followed by current weeding programs…

Controversy is the current state of opinion among librarians and others about the future of libraries. The proponents of the electronic library say that now that information is readily available from sources other than the library, the role of the library must be rethought. Some of the advocates of the electronic library see the elimination of the…

With the emergence of Web help services, libraries are no longer the lone providers of information. Today's researchers need to find quickly information that is usable, relevant, authoritative, and verifiable. To meet that need, libraries must adapt traditional strengths of acquiring, describing, and serving information to an environment that is…

Describes the ideas, decisions, and discussions behind the Internet Public Library (IPL), their impact, and implementation on the World Wide Web. The focus is on the work of the following development groups: technology; reference; online reference help; online collections; youth; services to librarians; education and outreach; and public…

The conscientious selection of music materials requires an understanding of the needs of the public being served at least as much as it requires subject competence on the part of the selector. Online and print resources are available to aid in the selection of music materials in all formats, the most important of which are books, scores, audio and…

Bibliotek.dk is a development project, resulting in a World Wide Web site, that gives the Danish citizen access via the Internet to search and order material in the collections of Danish public and research libraries. The citizen decides himself or herself which library he or she wants to collect the material from. Bibliotek.dk is developed in…

This digest discusses the development of World Wide Web-based services for libraries and provides examples from the Cleveland Public Library (CPL). The first section highlights the importance of developing such services, steps to be followed for a successful project, and the importance of having the goal of replicating and enhancing traditional…

This submission represents the views of a newly formed organisation known as Public Libraries Australia. Formed to aggregate the political, service and infrastructure capacity of Australia's 1510 (ABS June 2000) public libraries, Public Libraries Australia will support and represent public libraries on a national basis. Networked across Australia…