Describes EasyNet, a gateway service that allows users access to over 900 databases. Use of EasyNet at the University of Richmond (Virginia) libraries is explained, search strategies are discussed, problems with the price structure are examined, and its use both as an end-user service and for mediated searching is described. (LRW)

Promotes the use of an automated item file by selective depository libraries for collection management and cooperative collection development. Ways to implement such a device and useful data that it can generate are described. A case study of the implementation of the GOVDOX software by three libraries in Richmond, Virginia, is presented. (Three…

Describes a project which created a database of faculty and academic professional research interests at Arizona State University. Uses for library subject specialists, reference librarians, and collection development staff are discussed. Methods to link the existing collection development policy statement and the database are examined. Sample…

This survey of 84 librarians from 42 ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries that confer faculty status examined whether library faculty are given release time to engage in research, whether libraries have written policies regarding research time, and whether there are differences in working conditions between technical and public…

Discusses a survey of 185 academic librarians in Oklahoma that was conducted to examine the relationships between institutional provision of release time and financial assistance and librarians' participation in various types of professional development activities. Results are reported that indicate a strong correlation between institutional…

Presents the annual review of library building projects that includes statistics for new buildings, additions, and renovations. Highlights include information for academic and public libraries, including costs, funding, and size; a six-year cost summary; and a listing of architects. (LRW)

Summarizes information that will be used to describe microform sets on the University of California, Irvine's World Wide Web site for microform resources, including title, publisher, price, contents, index/bibliography, reviewed in, location/holdings, and Webpac site. Discusses staff/network resources, HTML/UNIX editors, and indexing/search…

A survey of statements of philosophy on reference and bibliographic instruction from libraries in small, Chicago area liberal arts colleges and universities revealed a wide variety of relationships between the two services. The study concluded that most of the libraries surveyed compartmentalized reference and bibliographic instruction. (PEN)

A review of 19 university libraries in 12 African countries compared the benefits and drawbacks of information technology (IT), concluding that IT will not reduce the need for books and journals and that IT's biggest potential is in increasing intra-Africa communication and providing links to the outside world. (PEN)

Discusses information literacy and information-technology literacy, focusing on the responsibility of academic libraries to impart necessary skills. A sidebar by Kimberley M. Donnely "Learning from the Teaching Libraries" gives examples of four models of information-literacy development by colleges and universities. (AEF)

Outlines the results of a review of the cataloging operations at the library at Curtin University of Technology and the three other publicly funded universities in WAGUL (the Western Australian Group of University Librarians). Identifies cost savings to be achieved by re-engineering cataloging and related operations, and separates them from the…

Iowa State University's cost study proves academic librarians can keep cataloging in-house and save staff costs. Several factors play a role in the productivity surge at ISU: increasing use of shared cataloging; growth of online authoring files; expanding role of support staff; increasing automation of catalogers' work; and structural flattening…

Describes four library retreats held by the Bowling Green State University library staff from 1995 to 1998. The retreats reflect changes in library work and management theory that have occurred. The importance of technology to library work is recognized, but there is also a growing realization of the importance of developing a flexible staff…

Describes results of a survey of catalogers in academic libraries that investigated if and how their job functions have changed over the past 10 years. The 271 respondents discussed a change from print to electronic formats, involvement of nonprofessionals, outsourcing, and more cataloging of specialized items including Internet resources.…

Describes a strategy for selecting a delivery method for electronic resources based on experiences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Considers local conditions, pricing, feature options, hardware costs, and network availability and presents a model for evaluating the decision based on dollar requirements and local issues. (Author/LRW)