Discusses problems (poverty, lack of national publishers, use of libraries as study halls, low professional status of librarians) affecting high school libraries in Latin America and suggests ways to improve library services, focusing on reference service (opening reference stacks, improved cataloging, library skills instruction), technical…

Although libraries offer equal information access, they need to be proactive to reach minority populations. This article describes efforts in Colorado to provide improved library services to African-American, Asian American, Latino, and Native American minorities and mentoring programs for minority library science students. Includes a model ethnic…

An external user and an academic business reference librarian collaborated to design a Web site for members of the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO). This article describes the Web site's development and organization (accounting, budgeting, and related areas; technology and information systems; health and human resources; and finding…

Discusses the outcomes of the United States Conference on Fair Use (CONFU) intended to bring together copyright owners and users to develop fair use guidelines. Describes efforts of the six CONFU working groups: digital images, distance learning, educational multimedia, library use of computer software, electronic reserve systems, and interlibrary…

Describes research on the impact of preschool storytimes on emergent literacy, with the intent of guiding the implementation of such needed research. Discusses the significance of this research to public librarians and describes the methodology, consisting of two phases and a pretest and posttest, and the scoring instruments and data analysis.…

Examines the degree and extent of bibliographic data of selected electronic journals in national bibliographic utilities and the means to provide access to them at individual libraries. Demonstrates the potential issues of accessibility, as well as the acceptance of this new format of information resources by end users. (AEF)

Describes the development of the Hagerstown (Indiana) public library's Web site. Highlights include writing successful grant proposals for funding; software from Microsoft; community support; free community access to the Internet from home computers as well as at the library; problems encountered; and future plans. (LRW)

The federal government's shift from physical to electronic formats presents advantages and disadvantages for small college and rural libraries. Provides an overview of the shift to electronic publishing and presents the experience of a small federal depository library at Shepherd College (WV). Includes an annotated bibliography of government…

The rural community of Libby, Montana and the Lincoln County Public Library established affordable Internet access that included upgrading telecommunications and installing an Internet node. Users are enthusiastic and the Internet has been used for home page creation, as a library collection supplement, and for global communication. Describes…

Proposes a reference-interview strategy that allows the reference librarian to assess the information need of the undergraduate doing social science research that requires the use of an electronic database; label the information need; and assign the most appropriate search strategy to satisfy this need. Questions for further study are offered.…

Offers a case study of the University of Alabama, Birmingham, library without depository status, which maintains a government documents collection through microfiche and subscriptions and compares it to depository libraries in terms of staff, shelving, binding, collection analysis, and quality of service. The future of electronic government…

Explores the use of MOO (multi-user object oriented) virtual environments in academic libraries to enhance reference services. Highlights include the development of multi-user database (MUD) technology from gaming to non-recreational settings; programming issues; collaborative MOOs; MOOs as distinguished from other types of virtual reality; audio…

Reports on a use of computer-aided instruction and multimedia technology in an outpatient library to meet the information needs of people who have severe and persistent mental illnesses. Topics include funding, special needs related to schizophrenia, computers in mental health rehabilitation, collection development, and library usage. (Author/LRW)

The Getty Information Institute conducted a two-year study of online searching by 27 humanities scholars using DIALOG. Discusses results and recommends that library services: provide interdisciplinary information for humanities scholars; recognize that online searching in humanities may be harder than in sciences; expect wide preferences for…

Discusses pertinent issues with an urban public library director, including recent financial, demographic, and technological changes; developing partnerships within the community; service philosophy; communication with staff; and fundraising concerns, including management skills. (LRW)