Considers benefits and problems of electronic journals, including price increases in printed journals; time savings with electronic publishing; the increased number of potential readers; peer review and the acceptance of electronic journals for academic publishing requirements; the need for standards; access problems; and librarians' concerns,…

Provides an overview of research conducted at Victoria University of Wellington regarding differing perceptions and expectations of user communities and librarians related to the usability of digital services. Considers access to services, currency of information on the Web site, the online public access catalog, databases, electronic journals,…

Describes academic libraries in Germany and how they have been influenced by restructuring and reforming the higher education system, changes in information technology and information industry, and effects of the German reunification process. Discusses library resources, including staff, buildings, and collections; catalogs; preservation; user…

Discusses issues of identifying, storing, handling, and providing access to rare books and materials in institutions without special collections departments. Suggests that although many community colleges do not collect rare materials, they may nonetheless be in possession of books that are rare and that should receive special care. (ontains four…

To relieve reference staff meeting with 30 sections of undergraduates per year, the library at Western Michigan University designed a multimedia self-instructional tutorial to introduce library services and teach basic skills. Although considerable time and effort was expended creating the tutorial, little updating has been required. Included are…

A pilot program at Rutgers University (New Jersey) investigated how graduate students in education approached research and whether electronic resources had affected their research. Students were then invited to participate in a librarian outreach program, including seminars and individual consultations on materials access, navigating the campus…

Discusses collection management in academic libraries in light of computer-mediated access to remote electronic databases and online resources. Topics include the library collection, ownership of versus access to information, the selection process, collection evaluation, collection development policies, materials budget, serials, and user liaison.…

Provides an overview of the current state of libraries and information services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Topics include academic, national, public, special, and school libraries; factors dictating the need for information services, including socioeconomic changes; problems; and the need for library education for staffing. (LRW)

Discussion of CORE (Chemistry Online Retrieval Experiment), a five-year research and development project at Cornell University (New York) that tried to make scholarly journal articles available in electronic form, focuses on the user response to the system. Highlights include interfaces, article viewing, printing, searching, conversion issues,…

This special issue contains eight papers from a conference on library collection development and networking issues. Discusses the library's role and the need for new policies; serial costs and recommendations for resource sharing; evaluation of academic periodicals; partnerships and the relationship of vendors and libraries; and models and trends…

Information and Library Services at the University of Maryland University College conducted a needs assessment survey to examine trends in student use of library resources, services, and instruction in order to understand how student usage patterns, needs, and preferences have changed as well as stayed the same. Findings followed national trends…

Examines librarian's initiatives to incorporate access to external databases into local online catalogs; describes OCLC's new online reference system, EPIC, that provides subject access to databases; and discusses OCLC's plans to expand access to monographs by including tables of contents or book indexes in monograph records. (LRW)

Discusses the impact of societal and technological changes on various types of libraries, and considers the implications of these changes for the education and training of information professionals. Problems facing libraries are described, and preservice and inservice educational needs are addressed. (25 references) (LRW)

Describes the effects of economic factors on information services in Mexico. Topics discussed include librarians' salaries; inadequate library budgets; acquisitions in academic libraries; the development of public libraries; library networks; national databases; microcomputers and library automation; library research; effects of devaluation; and…

Describes the acquisition of scientific literature by academic libraries in Malaysia. The discussion covers the impact of government policies, library acquisition policies, the selection process, acquisition of special materials, the role of gifts and exchanges, and problems with customs clearance and censorship. Progress in cooperative…