Discussion of the future of library collection development and the need for planning focuses on the technique of scenario planning and discusses the results of scenario planning at the University of NebraskaLincoln that examined collection development and digital information. (LRW)

Discussion of the World Wide Web and the role of academic librarians as online system developers and designers focuses on usability testing. Usability evaluation at OCLC and at the University of Arizona is described, and the integration of the results into their Web and online product designs is discussed. (Author/LRW)

Examines the changes that are affecting academic library collection development. Highlights include computer technology; digital information; networking; virtual reality; hypertext; fair use and copyrights; technological infrastructure; digital libraries; information policy; academic and scholarly publishing; and experiences at the Johns Hopkins…

Considers the role of interlibrary loan and document delivery services in support of research collections and digital information. Highlights include current practices; licensing as it relates to interlibrary loan in the digital environment; distance education; the role of consortia; technical infrastructure; and archival retention versus…

Discusses new ways of selecting information for digital libraries. Topics include increasing the quantity of information acquired versus item by item selection that is more costly than the value it adds; library-publisher relationships; netLibrary; electronic journals; and the SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition)…

Presents the Brown University Library experiences in purchasing electronic services to serve as a model for issues of budgeting for electronic materials in academic libraries. Topics include politics of budgeting; education of users; availability issues; access issues; consortia issues; ownership issues; tracking electronic product prices; and…

Considers probable societal changes in the United States between now and the year 2000, including cultural pluralism, an increasingly older population, increased variety in the configuration of households, changes in the workforce, globalization, and shifts in education. Changes in libraries and in library and information science education are…

The University System of Georgia and the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) built the innovative electronic library GALILEO (GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online system). This article describes the cooperation, leadership, and technology that made GALILEO possible; the proposal; planning and implementation; governance; current status; and future…

Discusses the need to develop new models for collection development in academic libraries, based on experiences at the University of Arizona. Highlights include changes in the organizational chart; focusing on users' information goals and needs; integrative services; shared resources; interlibrary loans; digital technology; and funding. (LRW)

Explores the cases of two states, Louisiana and Ohio, which found budget problems to be the occasion for concerted statewide efforts to improve academic library services. Both states ultimately established statewide multipurpose resource-sharing academic library consortia, supported by electronic library networks, as the solutions to their very…

Provides guidance to academic librarians for making cost-effective and appropriate purchase and networking decisions for electronic bibliographic database products. Topics include user needs, user and program demographics, academic computing and network support, delivery options, and considerations for the future. (Author/LRW)