U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008-2009 "Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study" ("PLFTAS") illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband…

Briefly summarizes topics discussed within the theme of global information access at the annual conference of the Special Libraries Association, including information policy in foreign countries, copyright laws, the impact of library automation on access to information, and findings of a task force on the value of the information professional.…

Describes Vannevar Bush's vision of memex, a mechanized private file and library, and suggests that the ability of users to download library online catalogs and manage the information on personal computers will realize Bush's vision. Current software packages are described, and the possible implications for libraries are explored. (CLB)

This paper provides an overview of a University of California (UC) study of the issues involved in creating an online directory of electronic information resources available to the university community. For the purposes of the study, electronic information resources include bibliographic and other databases available at or through UC libraries and…

Academic library computing systems, which are among the most complex found in academic environments, now include external systems, such as online commercial search services and nationwide networks, and local systems that control and support internal operations. As librarians have realized the benefit of using computer systems to perform…

This document describes an investigation designed to examine the possibilities for using both existing and new technologies to increase and enhance public service capabilities at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library, and to recommend an ongoing mechanism for assessing priorities for the application of technology in the…

This report describes a self-assessment study undertaken by the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library which was designed to describe current UCSB Library public services, investigate options and opportunities to enhance these services in anticipation of change, and make recommendations to ensure that the library continues to…

Discusses ways in which new information technologies are creating change in the academic environment and in the roles of traditional knowledge centers, and describes a program in which three academic support services--the library, computer center, and media center--have integrated planning and services to provide access to information. (CLB)

Describes an exchange program between academic libraries in Sichuan Province and Washington State University, and discusses the Chinese approach to academic librarianship in the areas of management and personnel, access and circulation, automation, reference services, collection development and censorship, and library facilities. (CLB)

The Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs appointed a task force, to be chaired by the State Librarian of Iowa, to evaluate technologies available for libraries and potential uses for the technologies deemed valuable; discuss problems from the viewpoint of the library user in the establishment of cooperative programs; and develop a…

This report of the task force charged with defining and researching the issues related to access and ownership of materials at the University of Arizona library presents 23 short-and long-term recommendations in the following areas: (1) organization, including the establishment of separate staff units for access services and collection management…