Evidence for open access as an emergent, global state of mind is everywhere. The "New York Times" went "open" last September, and the "Wall Street Journal" is slated to follow. Increasingly, scholarly communities are breaking with tradition and calling for the open sharing of research, software, and data. Amongst these global initiatives is the…

This article is about the work of Nick Bogaty, executive director of the Open eBook Forum. Nick Bogaty is not a librarian, but he plays nicely with them, along with publishers, hardware manufacturers, software producers, database vendors, and disability rights advocates. All are groups that share an interest in making e-books work for their…

Reviews the database industry over the past year, including new companies and services, company closures, popular database formats, popular access methods, and changes in existing products and services. Lists 33 firms and their database services; 33 firms and their database products; and 61 company profiles. (LRW)

Presents an annotated list of the best reference materials published in 2001. Discusses activity in the reference publishing industry; costs; and lists print materials, Web sites, databases, and CD-ROMs. (LRW)

Like any well-run company deciding on what products and services to offer, a good library should pay attention to customer demand when it is building its business reference collection. What kind of information do business patrons want? Most are looking for company and industry details: a corporate address or name of an officer, financial data for…

Advocates an American Declaration for the information age to guide development of the information industry. The information revolution is discussed in terms of technological advancement, copyright issues, international policy, and telecommunications. Information is compared to money as a universal commodity. (SW)

Cites major U.S. encyclopedia publishers interested in developing machine-readable versions and suggests design possibilities for accessing encyclopedia databases. Full text searching, searching by fields, and sorting on fields are presented as techniques that provide online systems with significant advantages over print. There are five…

Discusses the growing trend in aggregated article databases and includes individual views from a panel discussion. Highlights include publisher's embargoes of current content; views of academic libraries and of vendors; full-text issues; the Tasini v. New York Times Supreme Court case; consortial buying; and future possibilities. (LRW)

Profiles 25 database distribution and production companies, all of which responded to a 1997 survey with information on 54 separate online, Web-based, or CD-ROM systems. Highlights increased competition, distribution formats, Web versions versus local area networks, full-text delivery, and pricing policies. Tables present a sampling of customers…