Describes customer call centers that provide customer service and support in business and considers how their routines could be adapted to library operations. Topics include centralized staff; interactive voice response; automated call distribution; question analysis; sophisticated software; training and monitoring; telephone reference; and…

Discusses issues involved in the creation of the National Research and Education Network (NREN). Telecommunications technology is described; support from industry and libraries is discussed; and problems with NREN are raised, including equal access to computerized information, privacy issues, and protection of First Amendment rights. (LRW)

Describes the Z39.50 information protocol standard and how it will simplify the ability to acquire electronic information. The role of the Z39.50 standard in facilitating communication between computers, its significance to librarians, and the potential of the protocol are discussed. How the standard works is discussed in terms of client/server…

Describes the advantages of the development of open systems, i.e., a configuration which combines software and hardware from separate vendors into a single system, as a means of increasing the possible applications of library automation. (CLB)

Reports on the third national conference of the American Library Association's Library and Information Technology Association, which was held September 13-16, 1992, in Denver, Colorado. Program highlights are summarized, including virtual communities, virtual reality, the electronic library, artificial intelligence and expert-systems, navigating…

Describes the development of the WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) protocol, a system that allows users access to personal, corporate, and commercial electronic information from one interface. The availability of WAIS on the Internet and the reactions of users are addressed. Several problems are considered, including funding, hardware…

Discusses the potential for linking large metropolitan public libraries to international interlibrary loan networks. Issues involved in international networking, including funding, standards, network connectivity, and protectionism, are discussed. Examples of libraries capable of participating and brief descriptions of their collections are given.…

Argues that library skills and methods used for organization of information are needed to organize Internet information resources. Four aspects of information organization are discussed: recording existence and identity of information bearing entities; acquiring these entities; providing name, title, subject, and other access information; and…