John Metcalfe was a leader of the Free Library Movement in Australia in the 1930s, becoming a well-known educator, writer, and state librarian. His involvement in national and international library cooperation from the 1940s to the 1960s widened his earlier New South Wales focus. There is a strong democratic focus in Metcalfe's writings on…

Examines the Amazon.com online bookstore as a blueprint for designing the world's largest library. Topics include selection; accessibility and convenience; quality of Web sites and search tools; personalized service; library collection development, including interlibrary loan; library catalogs and catalog records; a circulation system; costs;…

Libraries are moving into an era that incorporates improvements of a library's existing databases, embraces the research results of the information-seeking process, and makes fundamental improvements by adding new databases such as WordFocus. These new systems should convert the frustrated user of today's online public access catalog (OPAC) into…

Recent penetration of the Internet in every aspect of society is remarkable. Along with various types of access methods being developed, information contents and services provided through them have also become available in a broad variety. The mobile phone systems capable of accessing the Internet have become very popular in Japan in the past…

Describes the Electronic Resources Directory of Monash University (Melbourne, Australia), designed for locating electronic resources of the library. It both provides information about these resources as well as direct links to them where appropriate. Use of the World Wide Web for the directory has obvious advantages for a university where global…

Discusses cataloging in light of continuing needs and developments in access to government information. Recommends ways the library community, government information providers, and automation specialists can cooperatively reexamine bibliographic standards; expand tape loading to non-U.S. depository collections; link bibliographic databases with…

Examines the role of the online catalog in school libraries. Addresses the evolution of the online catalog, discussing connectivity, integration of technical and public services, networked hardware and software, user interface, and searching the catalog. Discusses the dual role of the library media specialist, of managing the catalog and offering…

Discusses early developments in the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) interlibrary loan, including use of OCLC for verification and request transmittal, improved service to patrons, internal cost control, affect on work flow and borrowing patterns. Describes advances in OCLC, including internationalization, electronic information access,…

The librarian is presented with a foundation for decision making as it relates to the physical processing of nonprint materials, and with a demonstration of how these decisions move from theoretical to practical physical processing issues. Such issues include packaging and repackaging; treating accompanying materials; labeling; preparing…

The author argues that traditional library cataloging (MARC) and the online public access catalog (OPAC) are in collision with the world of the Internet because items in electronic formats undergo MARC cataloging only on a very selective basis. Also the library profession initially isolated itself from World Wide Web development by predicting no…

Discusses the development of electronic libraries at Cornell University's (New York) Mann Library and elsewhere and presents an overview of changes in services and staff responsibilities needed to address user needs. Sidebar articles discuss Internet access to government information; changing staff roles; geographic information systems; the Mann…

Defines and describes three roles of library collections: archival, dispensing, and bibliographic. It is argued that the rise of remotely accessible materials makes possession less important relative to access, has implications for all three roles, and indicates a shift in emphasis away from collection development and conventional catalogs and…

Discusses collections of standards by ANSI (American National Standards Institute) and the problems they create for technical libraries. Describes a custom-designed Web database at Oregon State University that is linked to online catalog records, thus enhancing access to the standards collection. (LRW)

Electronic journals are both a blessing and a curse for libraries. To be meaningful in the current information environment--to meet users' ever-increasing demands--libraries must acquire as many appropriate full text resources as possible, as quickly as possible, and make them easy to use. This Digest provides tips for acquiring and providing…

Describes Haverford College's attempts to integrate scientific electronic journals with previously held formats to enhance accessibility and to reduce costs. Highlights include material formats; faculty and department cultures; consortial arrangements; users' habits; implications for online catalogs; financial issues; and communication between…