Eight articles describe the development, content, and structure of databases outside of the United States. Features discussed include library involvement, authority control, shared cataloging services, union catalogs, thesauri, abstracts, and distribution methods. Countries and areas represented are Latin America, Australia, the United Kingdom,…

Papers on interlibrary loan and document delivery presented at the 1986 IFLA general conference include: (1) "Preservation and/or Availability of Older Literature--an Approach to the Problems, Needs, and Solutions" (Klaus-Dieter Lehmann, West Germany); (2) "From Decentralization to Centralization--Document Delivery in France in…

Reports the methodology and results of a study which explored the potential of three approaches to sampling the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) database files for determining collection overlap among Australian libraries. (Author/CLB)

Discussion of library networking issues that may be relevant to Japanese and U.S. libraries as they increase their use of central databases and local systems includes the role of the traditional library, distributed systems, linked systems, and the emergence of commercial systems. (Author/CLB)

The first of two articles describes the development of a protocol for interlibrary loan communications by the National Library of Canada, and discusses the benefits derived from standards that allow libraries using different communications equipment to exchange messages. The second discusses the impact of the standardized protocol on…

Describes the history and current status of bibliographic control in Japanese libraries, including the necessity for standardizing the combination of Japanese phonetic script and Chinese characters. The results of a survey of bibliographic activities and library automation are presented, and a developing plan to establish Japanese bibliographic…

Four papers are compiled in the section on school libraries: (1) "Zentrale Dienstleistungen fur Schulbibliotheken in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland am Beispiel der Schulbibliothekarischen Arbeitsstelle der Stadtbucherei Frankfurt am Main = Centralized School Library Services in the Federal Republic of Germany, as Performed at the School Library…

Discussion of the need for an Australian national information policy focuses on the need to teach students information skills. Arguments for a policy are presented, including the higher life quality of an informed population and improved national productivity and competitiveness, and lobbying efforts to date are reviewed. (21 notes with…

This paper describes the interlending system in the Netherlands and examines the country's union catalogs, the main instrument in the interlending procedure. An overview of the integrated interlending system is provided; the union catalogs of the Royal Library in The Hague, the Technical University Library at Delft, and the library of the…

This outline for a graduate library school course at the State University of New York at Buffalo emphasizes trends and developments in North American librarianship with primary emphasis on Canada (especially Ontario). The participation of Canadian authorities as guest lecturers and field trips to Canadian libraries are important elements in the…

Describes a program of national collection building designed to provide universal availability of publications in the Federal Republic of Germany in the context of historical traditions, the development of a cooperative acquisition program, financial support, and methodological aspects of the system. (CLB)

Describes resource sharing among Japanese university libraries, including interlending policies, provision of services to external users, the government role, and the national Scientific Information System network. Statistics on library holdings, annual acquisition levels, and expenditures are provided. (15 references) (CLB)

The eight papers in this collection focus on library activities in various geographical regions, e.g., Asia, Oceania, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Western Australia: (1) "Future Approaches and Prospects of Computerised Information Network among the Countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)" (Abdullah…

Four papers on university libraries and other general research libraries were presented at the 1986 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference. "Activities of the National Centers for Overseas Periodicals" (Keinosuke Imamura, Japan) describes the functions of the eight Japanese university libraries designated as…

The 23 papers in this collection include papers on special libraries and miscellaneous contributed papers: (1) "Networking Potentialities and Limitations--Special Library Networks in Socialist Countries--An Overview, and the Main Ways of Perestroika in the Work of Scientific and Technical Libraries at the Present Stage" (D. Schmidmaier…