This paper explores the idea of an information society from different perspectives, raises issues that are relevant to university libraries, and offers a way forward to some future developments. The first section provides a sketch of the information society in Australia and presents statistics on readiness, intensity, and impacts from reports…

This paper discusses the development of information technology (IT) literacy among library staff at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). The first section describes the networked environment in South Africa. The second section summarizes the IT background of library staff and perceptions of IT literacy among staff. The third section…

This book proposes the application of peer tutoring to library instruction, primarily in the academic library setting. Chapter 1 provides a brief historical view of library instruction and current trends that make peer tutoring a possible form of library service. Chapter 2 describes peer tutoring as currently practiced in higher education.…

An academic librarian who is a Vietnam War veteran was inspired by the exemplary collection of Vietnam War literature at the Colorado State University Library to begin his own personal collection of mass market paperbacks dealing with the Vietnam War. Although Vietnam War fiction was common on the mass market racks in the mid 1980s, it has been…

This document presents the annual report for Vermont's LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) programs for the 2001 fiscal year. Part A, "Numerical/Landscape Data," compiles numerical information on grants, applications, and awards for the fiscal year. Part B, "Promising Practices/Exemplary Programs," describes a…

This proceedings of the Brick and Click Libraries Symposium contains the following papers: (1) "Electronic Journals: Vendor Solutions to Access Issues" (Nona Barton); (2) "Tips on Funding" (Janice Borey); (3) "Why Are So Many Web Pages Still So Hard To Use?" (Jerry R. Brown); (4) "The Secrets of Full-Text Databases: The Overlap between a Same…

This SPEC Kit, published six times per year, examines how Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries have structured themselves to identify networked information resources in the market, to evaluate them for purchase, to make purchasing decisions, to publicize them, and to assess their continued utility. In the summer of 1999, the survey…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit reports results of a survey that examined how Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members currently provide printing services to their users and how the costs of those services are covered. Of the 122 members surveyed, 62 responded. Included in the responses was information on main, law,…

The purpose of this College Library Information Packet (CLIP) Note is to study the characteristics of library Web site policies and to provide small college and university libraries in need of such policies the tools to develop them. This study does not attempt to critique these policies but serves to document current practices smaller academic…

When a new library system, WestCat, was installed in the Western Michigan University Libraries (August 1998), an initiative was undertaken to announce its arrival, establish its identity, and train the university community in its use. To promote this initiative, two committees were broadly charged with the responsibilities of publicity and…

For a variety of reasons, collection care in Southeast Asia, especially in the northern regions, is fraught with many difficult challenges. Climates that are unfriendly to paper-based materials, poor economies, war, and civil unrest, are just a few of the reasons that librarians and archivists find it extremely difficult to ensure the survival of…

This paper first argues that the World Wide Web at its best, has been able only to imitate the resources and services of an exemplary research library. It then goes on to examine how academic research libraries can take advantage of their brand identity as market leaders in the information business. The basic concept of brands and branding…

This paper describes experiences of a reference librarian at California State University (Sacramento) who spent three weeks in Vladivostok (Russia) to assess the library and research needs of faculty and students at the Far Eastern State Technical University. After briefly describing the city of Vladivostok and its military role in the Soviet…

This paper discusses some of the lessons learned in the collaboration of the TriUniversity Group (TUG) of libraries; three universities in Ontario--the University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Waterloo--participate in TUG. Four critical areas of influence in creating a human climate for effective inter-institutional…

This paper presents a case for applying information competency (IC) standards to digital reference services at academic libraries. Practical reasons for applying standards or guidelines to e-mail and online chat reference services are given with some insight to the nature of digital reference interactions. The standards that arose from the…