There is a distinction to be made between knowledge and information. Knowledge is orderly and cumulative; information is random and miscellaneous and may be collected simply because it is there. The information industry is flourishing, but knowledge institutions--colleges, universities, and libraries--go begging. The knowledge industry is actually…

Unless a limited set of specific goals is pursued with diligence, the local library may find itself running off in all directions at once, trying to satisfy every library-related need of a very heterogeneous "community." (16 references) (Author)

There is opportunity for service and profit to imaginative libraries organizing to provide new forms of knowledge. Librarians as entrepreneurs must learn venture management and finance. Available assistance includes growing entrepreneural understanding in large institutions; family and friends; private wealth-seeking investment; new business…

Proposes three themes and issues to be considered by a 1989 White House Conference on Library and Information Services--library and information services for productivity, literacy, and democracy--that will enable the conference to identify unmet needs, examine issues, and develop recommendations as called for in pending legislation. (EJS)

The first librarian ever elected to US House of Representatives discusses personal impressions of Washington's war on libraries, federal Office of Management and Budget's Circular A-76, power for counterattack, modernizing the library mission, the primary censor, new terms of recognition needed for librarians, and eight elements in program for…

Describes current efforts to expand the scope and availability of personal computer services, with special reference to the British Post Office PRESTEL experiment in England. Author argues that the library profession should support similar efforts in the United States and study ways personal computers can serve the library community. (Author)

It is crucially important that libraries adopt a more active mode of operation and take on the characteristics or become part of information centers. (Author/AB)

Explores issues related to the role of libraries in the diffusion of knowledge and offers a critique of proposals for a national information policy. Twenty-seven references are cited. (FM)

This issue of "Illinois Libraries" is a report of the Illinois White House Conference on Library and Information Services, held in Springfield, November 12-14, 1978. After a brief introduction, the planning process for the conference is described, including committee work, timetables established, the efforts of state agencies, delegate…

Libraries must be aware of the needs of the users in their funding organization, and yet, there is growing concern among library funding organizations that libraries are not fully coping with the information explosion. In fact, libraries, by not adopting new techniques to become more productive, are actually helping to cause the problems of the…

Describes the characteristics and roles of traditional libraries and information services, and examines predictions about their future. Analyzes recent models of the electronic or digital library, and describes the concept of the hybrid library. On this basis, develops a generic model of the library, using that term in its broadest sense.…

Topics of importance to rural America in three general areas--rural community and individual information needs, available answers to these needs, and policies and strategies to meet these needs--were addressed in a joint congressional hearing held at the Fourth General Assembly of the World Future Society in July 1982. This transcript presents…

Discusses the role of libraries and productivity, one of the three main themes that will be addressed at the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services. Statewide coordinated efforts to serve business and government clientele are emphasized, and statewide databases in Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania are described.…

Compares three system models (closed, open, dissipative) with traditional models for adoption of new technology and library operations. Argues that information-provider organizations (libraries) must be able to adapt to radical changes in their environments in order to remain viable economic entities. (Author/AEF)

Formed by a merger of two existing UNESCO programs--NATIS and UNISIST--a Division of the General Information Program (PGI) was created in 1977 to respond to problems involved in the development and promotion of scientific and technological information systems and services, as well as the development of national information infrastructures. This…