In response to the rapid development of digital libraries over the past decade, researchers have focused on the use of metadata as an effective means to support resource discovery within online repositories. With the increasing involvement of libraries in digitization projects and the growing number of institutional repositories, it is anticipated…

This report explores the suitability of Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) as a framework for building, managing, and providing access to digital libraries, with special emphasis on preservation and access issues. SGML is an international standard (ISO 8879) designed to promote text interchange. It is used to define markup languages,…

Examines access problems that occur when the citations from indexes for articles in series differ from the way the items are cataloged. A search was conducted in the online catalogs of various libraries and a comparison made between the bibliographic entries found to citations both in electronic indexes and in authors' references. (AEF)

Describes a prototype for a shelf-browsing search system that can be tailored to meet the needs of marginalized user groups. Terms in an online thesaurus are linked to relevant classification numbers. Users can search the thesaurus, identify appropriate classification numbers, and use them as vocabularies appropriate to particular user…

Discusses the use of the Z39.50 standard for information retrieval in the British Library's efforts toward networked information retrieval and online public access catalogs in cooperation with the European Union and other countries. OSI (open systems interconnection) and project ONE (a collaborative project in the European Union) are explained.…

This paper describes how SDLIP and STARTS, two complementary protocols for searching over distributed document collections, were combined. The resulting protocol, called SDARTS, is simple yet expressible enough to enable building sophisticated metasearch engines. SDARTS can be viewed as an instantiation of SDLIP with metasearch-specific elements…

Discusses cataloging and indexing for the retrieval of digital items as part of the British Library's Initiatives for Access program. Highlights include standards, digital catalogs, Novel access software that includes fuzzy matching, software choice and development, and future possibilities. (LRW)

The IIa Internet Study addressed the problem of access/retrieval of relevant information for end users in the digital environment. Findings indicate the feasibility of building distributed digital collections of Web-based documents by applying evolving technologies for dynamic harvesting, processing, and maintenance of catalog content. (AEF)

This paper outlines the market developments, governmental promotion policies, and efforts by private industries for online database services in Japan since the late 1970s. The combination of these efforts over the years has resulted in an online database service market of US$20 billion annually, of which approximately one third is Western online…

Discussion of the use of computer networks in academic libraries focuses on a technical-services perspective in the United Kingdom. Topics include access to electronic resources; standards; change management; the changing nature of the library catalog; redefining the local catalog; cataloging versus indexing; the Z39.50 information retrieval…

The ever-increasing availability of electronic information resources online and on CD-ROM presents library media specialists, teachers, and students with a new set of challenges for accessing information. Electronic information resources enable access to nonlinear information, which allows searchers to explore relationships and make connections…