This theme issue discusses the Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET). Topics addressed include network components, the interlibrary loan code, the resource sharing union catalog, the OCLC users' group, OCLC's EPIC service, access to indexing services, SILO (Serials of Illinois Libraries Online) members, and excerpts from the…

Describes contents and format of effective quick reference guides for users of CD-ROM databases. The different needs of beginning and more sophisticated users are detailed; guidelines for organizing information and laying out the text are provided; and two formats for user aids are pictured. (KRN)

Reviews the mandate and mission of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) and describes its successful initiatives supporting library issues and community library programs. Excerpts from a letter written by Marilyn L. Miller, president of the American Library Association, in support of NCLIS are included. (EA)

Advocates the use of the Total Quality Management (TQM) model for libraries to survive financially and to retain their customers. An award for library quality based on the Malcolm Baldridge Award is proposed to enable institutions to use an evaluation procedure that rewards a commitment to continuous improvement. (Contains five references.) (EAM)

Describes the incongruence between the service priorities of the public library community and the public. The results of a public poll on library roles (e.g., educational support, independent learning, preschool programs, community information, reference, and popular materials) and an analysis of public library data for 1992 are compared and…

Examines one academic library's experience with CD-ROMs distributed through the depository library program. Technical, financial, and psychological barriers that were overcome through library administration and staff efforts are described. Recommendations for improving GPO (Government Printing Office) services are offered. (Contains five…

Discusses the lack of library services in California, which has the lowest librarian to student ratio of any state in the nation. The need for standards for library accreditation, strategies for publicizing the conditions in California, and the effort to pass new legislation to generate support for California's school libraries are described. (KRN)

Describes the qualities of a good children's reference librarian and discusses training that involves both on cognitive and affective training methods. Evaluation to measure the effectiveness of the trainee is discussed, and a model training workshop is presented that includes a sample assignment as well as basic reference sources for children's…

Describes results of a survey of heads of interlibrary loan at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic libraries that was conducted in 1988. Highlights include location; personnel organization; staffing patterns, including librarians, nonprofessionals, and student assistants; and services offered, including document delivery and the use…

Discusses issues that managers of academic library electronic reference services are facing. Topics discussed include the quantity of mediated searches; organizational changes, i.e., who electronic services staff report to; management by committee; administrative options; changing job responsibilities of searchers and other staff members, both…

Discussion of information services at Clemson University libraries focuses on managerial, cost, and behavioral issues that arose during the process of developing online access to information. Extending the online catalog with commercial databases and locally generated files is described, cost and benefit tradeoffs are considered, and student and…

Describes the use of LINKWAY, an IBM hypermedia software product, to provide extended access to library collections and services in the Indiana State University Library Automation Network (SULAN). Implications of providing extended easy access for library services, user instruction, collection development, and resource sharing are considered.…

Offers definitions, statistics, and suggestions for public librarians working with homeschoolers. Library concerns are addressed, including censorship, negative staff attitudes, technology demands, and administrative limits; and ways to make homeschoolers more welcome are suggested, including compiling homeschooling resource materials, library…

Describes the conceptual differences between information, instruction, and learning and relates them to hypermedia-based information systems. Locus of control is discussed; information searches in libraries are considered; and issues related to learning with hypermedia-based information systems are explained, including navigational issues,…

Reports results of a 1990 survey of teaching faculty at Memphis State University (Tennessee) that examined faculty attitudes toward academic librarians and evaluated the collection and services at the university libraries. Findings are compared with several earlier studies of faculty perceptions of librarians that were performed on other college…