Libraries are critical learning spaces and may play a significant role in intercultural education initiatives, particularly in Sweden where the national curriculum ascribes central functions to libraries for learning activities. Unfortunately, the ways in which teachers and librarians may collaborate to leverage mutual resources is not fully…

This paper examines the need for accurate, reliable data on energy, flowing upward to the national government from various energy-intensive information systems. Part I explores the need for a national policy coordinating this flow within both the United States and, for comparative purposes, Great Britain. Part II presents in outline form the…

Explains the National Issues Forums (NIF), a nonpartisan program of public-issue discussions designed to enable citizens to have a more effective voice in U.S. politics. The role of libraries in the NIF is discussed; resources the NIF provides are described; and public relations benefits to libraries that participate are considered. (LRW)

An objective description of the programs and outline of the problems of the Lenin State Library are presented by I.P. Osipova of the Lenin State Library of the USSR, and a comparison between that library and the Library of Congress (LC) is presented by Frank M. McGowan. The Lenin Library serves as national library of the USSR, state repository of…

Presents the full text of the Task Force report on networking, adopted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science to delineate the position of the school library media program within the total framework of national networking. The role of the school library media program is clarified. (Author/CMV)

Examines the involvement of public and village libraries in literacy and postliteracy programs in Africa south of the Sahara during the last two decades. Issues discussed include the extent of illiteracy in Black Africa, populations served by village libraries, African rural strategies of development, and the implications for library services. (44…

This paper describes the situation of the information user in the developing countries of Africa; discusses the role of information resources in national development; delineates the most important functions of national libraries with respect to information dissemination and information utilization; explores the relationship between financial…

This document begins with an overview of the authority, functions, and responsibilities of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS/BPH), an agency of the Library of Congress that is responsible for administering the national program to provide reading materials for the nation's blind and physically handicapped…

Using the UNESCO Public Library Manifesto as a basis for discussion, this paper examines the role of the public library within developing countries and reviews the major developments in public library services in Africa subsequent to the two UNESCO seminars on Public Library Development held in Nigeria in 1962. A number of key statements from the…

Formed by a merger of two existing UNESCO programs--NATIS and UNISIST--a Division of the General Information Program (PGI) was created in 1977 to respond to problems involved in the development and promotion of scientific and technological information systems and services, as well as the development of national information infrastructures. This…

This paper provides an overview of the forces shaping the future of the knowledge economy and society, including: the speed and type of change that is occurring; the technologies that are propelling it; the technology and information choices that competitors are making; which organizations are in the lead; who has the most to gain and to lose; the…

Noting that one of the three major themes for the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services is the role of the library in literacy education, this digest begins by describing how national awareness of the problem has led to legislation, both at the state and federal level, to fund new literacy programs and expand existing…

Papers presented at the 1981 Allerton Park Institute include: (1) "Conservation: What We should Do Until the Conservator and the Twenty-first Century Arrive," by Robert H. Patterson; (2) "Expanding Preservation Resources: The Corps of Practitioners and the Core of Knowledge," by Pamela W. Darling; (3) "National…

Discusses the role of university libraries in creating a national library and information service and concludes with an 11-point plan to help maximize the use of university library resources by scientists and scholars throughout Australia. Highlights include the role of national libraries and future patterns for teaching and research. (Author/LRW)

By 1999, Maryland residents will have electronic access to a statewide system of information and resources to enable them to work, study, and enrich their lives. This system has its base in the library community, with connections to state and national resources. The Seymour Plan explains how this access will come about. The first stage will…