This paper discusses changes in services, technology, and organization as libraries prepare to enter the "network-centric library world." Part 1 addresses the transition from the analog era to the digital age, and the convergence of libraries and education, including opportunities for library leadership in Internet access, digital…

This paper provides a brief overview of planning and implementing a project to fund library automation. It is suggested that: (1) proposal budgets should include all costs of a project, such as furniture needed for computer terminals, costs for modifying library procedures, initial supplies, or ongoing maintenance; (2) automation does not save…

Three papers are compiled here for research library directors: (1) "Background: Open Systems Interconnection," in which David F. Bishop provides fundamental background information to explain the concept of the emerging technology of linked systems and open systems interconnection--i.e., an agreed upon standard set of conventions or rules…

This paper discusses GAELIC (Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium), a regional consortium of South African higher education libraries with the vision of creating a virtual library by linking together autonomous libraries via networks. Topics covered include: (1) GAELIC objectives; (2) selection of INNOPAC as the common library system for GAELIC…

The challenges and potential benefits of automating university libraries are reviewed, with special attention given to cooperative systems. Aspects discussed include database size, the role of the university computer center, storage modes, multi-institutional systems, resource sharing, cooperative system management, networking, and intelligent…

Describes telecommunications and networking developments in Australia that provide increased communication and cooperation opportunities for libraries, as well as linkages to international information sources. Staff attitudes, document access and supply, the current situation of Australian academic libraries, and the concept of a distributed…

Describes the development of centralized library networks and the current factors that make library sharing on a smaller scale feasible. The discussion covers the need to decide the level at which library cooperation should occur and the possibility of linking via the Open System Interface Reference Model. (37 references) (CLB)

This paper describes the interlending system in the Netherlands and examines the country's union catalogs, the main instrument in the interlending procedure. An overview of the integrated interlending system is provided; the union catalogs of the Royal Library in The Hague, the Technical University Library at Delft, and the library of the…

Four papers on information technology were presented at the 1986 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference. In the paper "Optical Disc Technology Used for Large-Scale Data Base," Naoto Nakayama (Japan) considers the rapid development of optical technology and the role of applications such as optical discs,…

The Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC), an organization charged with providing information services to the Department of Defense (DoD) scientific and technical community, actively seeks ways to promote resource sharing as a means for speeding access to information while reducing the costs of information processing throughout the technical…

Three decades of applications of information technology and library automation at Ohio University are chronicled in this paper. The first major development highlighted is the founding of OCLC (the Ohio College Library Center) as a cooperative cataloging device in the 1960s. OCLC's growth is traced from when it was a small organization of two staff…

Excerpts from testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding the proposed Technology for Education Act highlights the need for strong school library media collections and programs in addition to the latest technology. Highlights include funding, expenditures, media centers and student achievement, librarians'…

Issues concerning the confidentiality of library-patron records in the age of electronics are explored. Confidentiality of patron records is a relatively new concept for libraries and was first introduced in the 1938 Code of Ethics of the American Library Association (ALA). Librarians have worked on a state-by-state basis to protect library…

Presents summaries of 12 papers presented at the 1990 Computers in Libraries Conference. Topics discussed include online searching; microcomputer-based serials management; microcomputer-based workstations; online public access catalogs (OPACs); multitype library networking; CD-ROM searches; locally mounted online databases; collection evaluation;…