Presents a model of some of the typical important layers in the design of information systems, and shows how those layers interact in operation. Suggests that these layers are in the way of a cascade of each layer affecting the next. Presents a model of this cascade of interactions in information systems. Provides examples from networked…

Reports on part of an ethnographic study of one facility associated with the New Media Centers' Consortium, focusing on the viewpoint of university administration. Suggests the facility was used as a tool for change. Argues for evaluating the role of technology in higher education and for developing an understanding of how its role is legitimized.…

Examines how libraries and librarians can compare full-text general periodical indices, using ProQuest Direct, Periodical Abstracts (via Ovid), and EBSCOhost as examples. Explores breadth and depth of coverage; manipulation of results (email/download/print); ease of use (searching); and indexing quirks. (AEF)

Presents an annotated bibliography of selected reference books published between 1998 and 1999 under subject headings for biography, journalism, mythology, languages and literature, architecture and city planning, political science, economics, history, and new editions and supplements. (LRW)

This sidebar points out that the field of library and information science is highly centrifugal and greatly in need of high-quality synthesis. Suggests that encouragement should be given to writers to handle existing claims, rather than gather new data, and that books should be written that organize whole segments of the field through some single…

Describes different conceptual foundations and orientations of the two major approaches to metadata: bibliographic-control approach (origins and major proponents in library science); and data-management approach (origins and major proponents in computer science). Examination of efforts to establish metadata standards and comparison of different…

Describes the four priorities of Ernest Boyer's "Basic School": the school as community; climate for learning; a curriculum with coherence; and a commitment to character. Suggests that the Basic School framework and the principles of "Information Power" are mutually supportive in developing a learning community characterized by…

Examines the effect of a 10- to 20-minute pre-session given in the classroom prior to a regularly scheduled library instruction session in the library upon the affective experience of freshmen composition students. Results demonstrated that students felt better about the library, the librarians, and the research in general when exposed to a…

Two reports discuss 1998 bills affecting education programs, libraries and publishing. Acts include: Digital Millennium Copyright, Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension; Trademark Law Treaty Implementation; Children's Online Protection/Privacy Protection; Internet Tax Freedom; Next Generation Internet Research; Year 2000 Information/Readiness…

Presents an overview of the major contemporary reference sources (print, online, and electronic) for scholarly information about psychological/educational tests. Stresses books and compendia that will assist reference librarians, and includes a compilation of texts that provide actual test items. Contains 53 references. (Author/LRW)

Explores several issues involving provisions of the Australian copyright law that allow for "fair dealing for the purpose of research and study" in the use of copyrighted materials. Discusses liability of libraries for improper oversight of illegal photocopying of books and other copyrighted materials. Reviews recent efforts to improve…

Describes the Resource-Enriched Learning Model (RELM), a process which dovetails the individual efforts and interests of college librarians, instructional technologists, and faculty, requiring their collaboration at the micro level to succeed in meeting their separate but overlapping goals. The process results in a technological and information…

Describes a research project designed to provide baseline data on the relationship between people's use of the public library and use of the Internet. A national survey was conducted to estimate the number of people using the library, the Internet, both, or neither, and to describe behaviors of people in each segment related to use or nonuse of…

Examines the status and scope of informetrics. Research in the field is selectively reviewed, drawing mainly from journal articles in English that have been published since the "ARIST" review of bibliometrics by H.D White & McCain (1989). Greater prominence is given to the informetric laws than to other topics. Finally, some very…

The present study investigated the validity of LibQUAL+[TM] scores, and specifically how total and subscale LibQUAL+[TM] scores are associated with self-reported, library-related satisfaction and outcomes scores. Participants included 88,664 students and faculty who completed the American English (n[AE] = 69,494) or the British English (n[BE] =…