In the library context, they depend on sophisticated business applications specifically designed to support their work. This infrastructure consists of such components as integrated library systems, their associated online catalogs or discovery services, and self-check equipment, as well as a Web site and the various online tools and services…

Driven by new digital technologies, the future of learning is increasingly interactive, individualized, and full of real-world experiences and information. Unfortunately, the average school has about the same connectivity as the average American home, but serves 200 times as many users, and fewer than 20 percent of educators say their school's…

Customer service is at the core of everything librarians do in libraries. They strive to create positive customer relationships and to provide added value to the library services offered to their patrons. Emerging technologies offer opportunities for creative integration with library services. Staff should be encouraged to explore, learn, and…

Presents a history of library cooperation and technological advancement in North Carolina libraries from the Depression years to the early 1990s. Discusses early library cooperation and development of the North Carolina Information Network (NCIN). Describes the seven task forces on: Bibliographic Database, Document Delivery, Funding, Public…

Rapidly developing online information technologies provide dramatically new capabilities and opportunities, and place new responsibilities on all involved to recreate networks for scholarly communication. Collaborations between all segments of the information network are made possible and necessary as we attempt to find a balanced and mutually…

This report describes the impact of Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding in California for 1997-2002 on Californians of all ages as served by their libraries of all types. The first section summarizes the results in achieving the following goals and their related objectives: (1) free and convenient access to learning and information…

A simplified account of an extensive library automation and networking project that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation initiated and funded in the Czech and Slovak republics is provided in this paper. The proposal to establish "The Czech and Slovak Library Information Network" (CASLIN) commenced in January 1993. Storage, document…

Library media staff at Western High School (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) established a library media center without walls and an information hub without limits. This article describes the planning, funding, wiring, equipping, programming, managing, and benefits of the $624,500 network. (PEN)

Describes the creation of the Knowledge Navigation Center (KNC) in the Graduate Library at University of Michigan. The planning group identified five main specialty areas: GIS; imaging and multimedia; text; distance learning/interactive technologies; and Internet tools. (Author/AEF)

Reviews developments related to standards in electronic and networked information. Discusses traditional library and Internet communities, and notes the importance of having a supporting infrastructure in place. Topics include: Z39.50; Z39.56 Serial Item/Contribution Identifier (SICI); Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Protocol; character set standards;…

Academic libraries in China are transforming traditionally isolated and separated operations by initiating an integral library system to connect all academic libraries nationwide with each other and with other information networks abroad. The current academic library environment in China, the concept of the integral library system, and major goals…

Adapting today's libraries to better serve tomorrow's needs challenges even the most forward-thinking library staff. This book offers practical, workable solutions from several authorities in the industry. Fifty-five conference papers are included and divided into the following subject areas: "Technology and the Network: Daimons or Demons?";…

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…

This plan sets forth approaches for state-level assistance for Oklahoma libraries to exchange information and to share or acquire machine-readable information from public and private sources through telecommunications, as well as for access to these libraries for existing and future state informational databases. Objectives and requirements are…

In July 1996, the Library Director of Cornell University's Mann Library formed a working committee to explore the technology solutions to providing a library presence with remote users. The committee began its explorations by brainstorming possible services that would utilize technology to bring the library closer to the remote user. After…