This report provides a step-by-step look at defining, planning, implementing, operating, and supporting Internet services for library patrons. Experts from the Cambridge (Massachusetts) Public Library share their experiences pioneering a high-speed, graphical Internet service that supports the full range of multimedia materials available across…

Examines how to determine the best model of reference service. Highlights include: libraries and community; components of reference service; inherent values of reference service; conflicting values and models of service; technology and change; new models and old values; and the "right" model of reference service. (AEF)

This document presents a "bibliographic timeline" spanning 25 years of the American Library Association (ALA), Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS). For each year (1968-1996), one or more major activities, resolutions/ALA proceedings, and/or publications involving library service to the disadvantaged are identified.…

Suggests that work with the labor movement presents an opportunity for libraries to reach deeper into their community of users. Provides examples of library services, both in-house programs and materials and outreach efforts, for the labor community. Notes that the need for library-labor partnerships is as strong as ever. (AEF)

The "Mapping the Human Genome" project demonstrated that librarians can help whomever they serve in accessing information resources in the areas of biological and health information, whether it is the scientists who are developing the information or a member of the public who is using the information. Public libraries can guide library…

This report summarizes the American Memory User Evaluation conducted during 1991-1993 in over 40 locations around the United States. The findings are based on 1800 user questionnaires, 120 user interviews, and more than 40 site visits by Library staff. American Memory describes the concept of providing electronic versions of selected Library of…

Arguing that library and information needs should be met at the national, rather than at the local level, this report analyzes ways to meet these needs with special reference to the role of national libraries. The first two chapters highlight such library and information concerns as: (1) collection and preservation of documents of national…

This paper describes the network of Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs), a collaborative partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for disseminating patent and trademark information in every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Typical information sources and services provided at PTDLs are…

Traditional reference service at the Creighton University Health Sciences Library/Learning Resources Center has been transformed into a vibrant, information dissemination system. Maintaining routine reference skills and developing new ones is standard practice. The furious pace of demand for information, and the growing "technicalness"…

This paper investigates the need for electronic provision of information, and advises that the purpose and motivation for providing electronic resources be explored before embarking on a project to provide them. Many projects at universities and other institutes have been begun arbitrarily just because there happened to be financial resources…

Examines challenges in providing a cost-effective means of information access for students at geographically dispersed DeVry Institute campuses. Describes several changes in library strategy and ongoing efforts to improve access to students in DeVry's dynamic and technically focused programs. (YKH)