Describes the University of Washington Digital Libraries Initiative that provides the context for effective collaboration among faculty, engineers, students, and librarians for the creation, use, and investigation of electronic information services, resources, and systems developed from a users' perspective. Also explains an image-archiving…

Reviews the literature on changes in academic library organizations and describes the results of a survey of library directors that investigated concepts of a virtual library, both as digital technology and as a new organizational concept. Discusses models of virtual libraries and library networking, and includes a copy of the questionnaire.…

In addition to building a new facility and providing innovative services to its students/faculty/administration, the Valley Library of Oregon State University, winner of the Gale Group/Library Journal Library of the Year Award, has created partnerships with public libraries, the business community, school districts, and other academic…

This study evaluated changes in college students' expectations following library instruction and how they were related to overall, long-term satisfaction with the library. Satisfaction appeared to be related to student perceptions of information accessibility, staff competence and helpfulness, computer usefulness and ease of use, and skill level…

Discussion of fund-raising in academic libraries addresses issues of major gifts, capital campaigns, organization, staffing, constituency, and the role of the library development program within the academic community. Highlights include library administrator roles, goals, centralized versus decentralized development, and creating a major-gifts…

Focuses the issue of outsourcing cataloging in academic and special libraries. Examines the goal of outsourcing to increase production at reduced costs; a case of outsourcing at Wright State University of Ohio; confidentiality issues of outsourcing by law firms and other corporations; contracts; debates on "whether" and "what"…

This study conducted at the State University of New York at Albany compares methods of providing access to diverse points of view as represented by journals indexed in "Alternative Press Index." Examines local subscriptions, resource-sharing consortia that include expedited interlibrary loan systems, and four electronic full-text…

Describes how libraries can use statistics to make useful comparisons with similar types of libraries. Discusses public libraries, academic libraries, and school library media centers; considers print and electronic sources; and lists acronyms and applicable Web sites where statistics can be found. (LRW)

Discusses scholarly communication and economic factors that are affecting it. Highlights include a history of the scholarly community beginning with Francis Bacon; price increases that affected library budgets; relationships between faculty and universities; expansion of higher education; and use of the World Wide Web for scholarly communication.…

Examines implications of undergraduate students' patronage of Barnes & Noble bookstores instead of libraries. Students' reasons for preferring Barnes & Noble included the atmosphere; more materials and easier access; more convenient hours; and organization of materials that is easy to understand. (AEF)

Describes the information environment at the University of Minnesota at the beginning of the Integrated Information Center (IIC) project, including the academic units served by the IIC, the proposed design of the IIC, organizational structure of the IIC, the IIC staff, and project organization. (JAK)

Reports findings from a survey that examined job preparedness of library directors at four-year colleges in twelve midwestern states. Examines qualifications possessed at the time each position was obtained and skills and abilities directors felt were essential to surviving and doing well in their positions. (Author/AEF)

Presents a summary of the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) New England Chapter Serials Interest Group's Fall 1996 program on electronic serials. The program's four principal speakers each dealt with a major aspect of electronic serial management: collection development, public services, cataloging, and systems. This report…

Examines how library managers can work with staff to make change initiatives more successful, based on cooperative planning experiences at Duke University Library. Focuses on (1) what the worker wants; (2) barriers to workers getting what they want; (3) technology's liberating influence; and (4) recommendations/predictions. (AEF)

Examines Axel Lodewycks' role at the University of Melbourne (Australia) during the period 1959 to 1973. Lodewycks made a significant contribution to the construction of the Baillieu Library building in this period, but was never able to raise his own standing within the university beyond that established by his predecessors. (Author/AEF)