In order to adequately assess the impact of power plant cooling water intake on an aquatic ecosystem, total ecosystem effects must be considered, rather than merely numbers of impinged or entrained organisms. (Author/RE)

A state-by-state cost comparison has been added to AS&U's annual analysis and indicates that school budgets may be in deep trouble. (Author/MLF)

Northwest Iowa Power Co-op, Northwest Iowa Telephone, and MCI formed Pioneer Holdings to bring the latest telecommunications services to residents, schools, and businesses in rural Iowa. A half-dozen towns and co-ops have joined Pioneer, which gives customers access to all telecom services offered by MCI, as well as technical, regulatory, and…

Argues that dissatisfaction with the organizational structure of library networks, combined with advances in electronic information formats and microcomputing, may drive libraries to decentralization and a return to local systems. Changes that networks might adopt to provide an effective network governance structure are discussed. (five…

Describes the development of CONSER, a cooperative effort by libraries to create, maintain, and distribute quality bibliographic and cataloging information that conforms to national standards for serial cataloging. Issues involved in each phase of the project are discussed. (16 references) (CLB)

Discusses results from a 1992 survey of various types and sizes of Canadian libraries that was conducted to establish a baseline profile of libraries contributing to shared databases, and to determine the nature and extent of AACR2R use for creating original records being contributed to bibliographic utilities or other networks. (LRW)

Presents the California plan for water demand management. Water conservation techniques are used to balance demand with supply. Discusses the implementation process: (1) water-use and service area analysis; (2) water-use forecasts; (3) benefit-cost analysis; (4) and development of a long-term water management plan. (17 references) (MCO)

These five articles are transcripts from a seminar sponsored by OCLC and the Research Libraries Group (RLG) that discussed returning bibliographic data from local systems to the bibliographic utilities. Highlights include problems facing academic research libraries; present and future methodologies of data exchange; workflow concerns; and policy…

Reports on a study that examined spelling errors of keywords in a university library online catalog. Data are presented on distribution of errors by machine-readable catalog (MARC) field location, part of speech, origin of the bibliographic record, and error type. Commonly misspelled word roots and specific mistakes are listed. (12 references)…

Four articles review the development of the MELVYL system, which began as the online catalog for the University of California campuses. Topics discussed include union catalogs; local library systems versus bibliographic utilities; retrospective conversion; MELVYL as a reference tool; and an online survey of remote use of MELVYL. (LRW)

This second article on standardization in the application of computerized automation to materials in special collections libraries focuses on map collections and archives. Highlights include the use of bibliographic utilities; MARC formats; the use of microcomputers; databases; and examples from North America and Western Europe. (Contains 18…

Discusses the growth of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) into a worldwide bibliographic utility. Topics include cataloging standards; subject access in languages appropriate to the users; local needs versus global usefulness; character sets; international name authority file; ISBD (International Standard Bibliographic Description) principles;…

The Romanization of Yiddish in Hebraica cataloging is problematic; inconsistencies are found in machine-readable catalog (MARC) records of various bibliographic utilities. The article describes insufficiencies in the Library of Congress's Romanization table and disparate systems used in transliterating Yiddish dictionaries. Solutions may include…

The American electric utility system has been massively transformed during the last three decades. Viewed previously as a staid, secure, and heavily regulated natural monopoly, the system has shed elements of government oversight and now appears to be increasingly susceptible to terrorist attacks and other disruptions. Overturning the conventional…

Three reports describe the standards and format to be used when contributing bibliographic records to MELVYL, the University of California (UC) online library catalog. The first report, which was revised and approved in May 1990, defines record format standards, record maintenance information standards, bibliographic fields, local data fields,…