Describes preparations involved in writing the 115-page "Request for Proposal for the Acquisition, Installation, and Maintenance of an On-Line Integrated Library System for the Genesee District Library" (Flint, Michigan). Preliminary investigations, American Library Association annual conference input, the Automation Task Force,…

Examines public library interlibrary loan statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as a measure of the effectiveness of efforts to equalize service throughout a state. Data from 1988-89 are compared with data from approximately 5 years earlier from 35 states. Data without earlier year comparisons are offered for other…

Guidelines for library automation include information on currently available microcomputer-based software products appropriate for small libraries and integrated systems for the larger libraries that can afford them. Costs, capabilities, functions, and vendor service are discussed, and a directory of vendors is included. (CDD)

Describes three ways in which libraries use computers to enhance reference services: "Answers," the community information and referral service at Memorial Hall Library, Andover, Massachusetts; the Hot Topics File at State University of New York/Oswego, Penfield Library; and features of RLIN and WLN databases which make them valuable…

Describes how the people of Redwood Falls, Minnesota worked together to build a new public library facility in their community. Library personnel and volunteers held various fundraising activities which matched donations from a department store owner and a local grant. Discusses the architecture of the new library which includes computer…

Describes the Centennial History Project, a local history project at the East Chicago Public Library that encourages its diverse populations to collect information about their social, economic, and political history to be added to the permanent archives. Materials in the collection are described, including letters, ethnic costumes, and oral…

The bookmobile of Lancaster County Library (Pennsylvania) provides library services to the home schooled children of isolated, rural communities. Home schooling and bookmobile usage have increased proportionally, and bookmobiles act as "library periods" for the home schooled, provide materials to support curricula, and supply…

Ameritech provides automated systems to academic and public libraries which in turn provide services to communities. It has identified library marketplace trends, including increases in use of electronic resources; interconnectivity of resources; number of remote users; and expectations regarding access to online catalogs, full-text documents, and…

Discusses the effects of technological change and demographic shifts on the future of public libraries. Topics include displacement through disintermediation (replacing professional librarians with automated systems), the voucher movement, impact of new media on publishing, new information aggregators, cheaper computing equipment and Internet…