The establishment of the first documentation center in a library school early in 1955 by Jesse Shera, Dean of the Library School at Western Reserve University, has been widely interpreted as his greatest contribution to librarianship. It may have been his greatest folly, however, because information science has subsequently flooded the library…

Within the U.S., information is a good in the "sphere" of basic welfare and security, and therefore (following Walzer's theory of justice), it should be distributed on the basis of the principle appropriate to the meaning of goods in that sphere-communal provision based on need and not on the basis of the distributive principle…

This compilation of papers presented at the sixteenth annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing presents 13 papers on the library within the context of technological developments in publishing and related facets of human communication. Instead of focusing on library automation per se, the contributors have chosen to look at various…

Review of the history of education for special librarianship within library education reveals that 70 years of progress in special librarianship has had little impact on the traditional methods and philosophy of library education. Information resources management as a tool for special librarians should be integrated into future library education.…

Examines the present position of libraries (academic, public, special, and school) and librarianship in Kenya, highlighting problems concerned with manpower, accommodations and equipment, books, finances, and cooperation. Proposals for action involving manpower, books, school library service, user education, standardization, and bibliographic…

The papers presented at the 18th Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing discuss current developments and applications of new technologies for processing, transmitting, and storing information, as well as some issues raised by these new technologies. Ten papers are included: (1) a keynote speech on the changing roles of the information…

This paper discusses the central role of effective communication in library leadership and how a leadership role in the library and information community can define and help establish an information infrastructure in our society. The opportunity for this leadership to exist in the convergence of libraries and computer centers is examined in a…

The future role, scope, and nature of bibliographic instruction (BI) and reference services at academic libraries is unresolved. Both have felt internal pressures and challenges during the past decade. It is suggested that BI and reference share tasks and become a single service. (92 references) (Author/DGM)

Librarians need to take the initiative and seize the opportunities presented by a changing environment and society's demands for greater access to information. New technologies such as laser disks, machine indexing, telefacsimile, microcomputer applications, and fiber optics are having an immense impact on the practice of librarianship, and the…

Argues that libraries have gone through a rising and falling pattern of influence, largely in response to changes in information technology. The library of the future is described as an information support center where librarians can fill two new roles: systems analysts and knowledge engineers. (EM)

This report, which considers the role of networking activities associated with the technical telecommunication links that bind libraries, services, and patrons together, begins with a historical review of libraries and automation-based systems over the last 19 years. The importance of the development and implementation of standards in interactive…

An Associate Head of Information Services and the Internet Gopher project leader discuss the future of Gopher with the arrival of the World Wide Web. Strengths and weaknesses of both systems are addressed. One expert sees a future with new versions of both; the other predicts a next generation of information systems combining their features. (PEN)