Provides a brief review of events in the history of the American Society for Information Science (ASIS) that have contributed to its evolution as a significant source of continuing professional education. Discusses the role of conferences, publications and workshops in terms of their contribution to the formation of a professional identity.…

Traces the development of CHEMLINE from the use of the STIMS/RECON software system through TOXLINE, and the ELHILL2 software system through the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to its present use of ELHILL3 at NLM. Current hardware configurations are also discussed. (Author/MBR)

Describes the utility and applications of information retrieval thesauri and the development of the thesaurus for the DISCLOSURE data base. (PF)

Explores how the "Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS)" has developed and what it might become. Topics covered include JASIS versus other American Society for Information Science publications; types of papers in JASIS; authors; competing journals; content scope; electronic enhancements; and how information…

A new approach to information science, activity theory emphasizes the centrality of practice as doing and activity and foregrounds setting and context as essential orienting concepts. It can provide information science with a rich, unifying, and heuristically valuable vocabulary and conceptual framework that will facilitate the continual…

Discusses the origins of library networks and traces their development in America from the late 1960s through the present, focusing on interlibrary loan programs and the cooperative acquisition and storage of materials. (FM)

USENET newsgroup topics are created, and they evolve, mutate, and become extinct in ways fundamentally different from spoken dialog. These differences can be explained partially by the asynchronous nature of electronic communication, as well as by other factors unique to such wide-scale multi-user media. (Author)

Presents results of a survey of five volumes of the "Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS)," one for each decade of JASIS's existence. Discusses findings related to growth of JASIS and authorship, national versus international authorship, coauthoring of papers, author productivity, author gender, author…

Looks briefly at the history of World Wide Web search engine development and considers the current state of affairs. Reflects on future directions in terms of personalization, summarization, query expansion, coverage, and metadata. (Author/AEF)

Presents issues relating to the future direction of information science. Investigates the history and scientific basis of information science. Discusses the change from its genesis as an academic discipline in the 1950s to its practitioner base in the 1990s. Concludes that information science will make a significant contribution to other…

Predicts that in the 21st century, scholars will abandon print in favor of more immediate and multidimensional venues. Suggests that JASISWeb, a Web-based version of the "Journal of the American Society for Information Science" should become the more appropriate postmodern information science "journal." (AEF)