Digitization benefits the users of special collections through increase in traditional use of materials, development of new avenues of research, and the appearance of new types of research using rare books and manuscripts. It challenges the relative value given to paper originals of rare materials as digital holdings increase. Special collections…

The Electronic Reserve Book Room Project (E-RBR) was a two-stage project with three major objectives: (1) to provide San Diego State University Library (California) with experience in applying imaging technology; (2) to provide a model for the resolution of the copyright problems inherent in the Library's application of these technologies; and (3)…

This book, emphasizing service to users, includes 10 chapters by different librarians who have had experience as practitioners. Chapters are: (1) "Avoiding the Seven Deadly Sins, or Technology and the Future of Library Service in Academic Libraries" (Michael Gorman); (2) "The Gateway Library: Rethinking Undergraduate Services" (Lizabeth A.…

Provides background and context for the issue of outsourcing. Illustrates the practice as it exists in libraries. Offers a model for analyzing outsourcing alternatives and a scenario for testing the model, and suggests alternate approaches for management. (Contains 52 references.) (AEF)

Discusses the growth, survival and future of library classification schemes. Concludes that to survive, a scheme must constantly update its policies, and readily adapt itself to accommodate growing disciplines and changing terminology. (AEF)

Examines the purpose of catalogs, how card catalogs first fulfilled that purpose, and how computers represented a superior and inevitable replacement for it. Describes some recent developments in cataloging and their implications for the future. (AEF)

For the last 58 years, automation has helped to enhance the library system; library operations such as circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, and serials have changed significantly due to technology. Circulation control is often the first activity a library considers automating. In addition to loan transactions, an automated circulation system can…

The Nigerian Institute of International Affairs Library began a small automation project when complete library automation was not possible. Despite limitations, the library has successfully integrated technology into its daily operations, including computer literacy programs for the staff, maintaining offline circulation records, and producing…

The Library of Congress asked the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Academies to conduct a study to provide strategic advice concerning the information technology path that the Library of Congress should traverse over the coming decade. The Committee on an Information Technology Strategy for the Library of…

Guidelines are given for automating a library. Issues arising in automation are illustrated through the experience of the Doherty Library of the University of St. Thomas, Houston (Texas). The first step is to decide what type of system is right for the needs of the library and its patrons. In considering vendors of systems, it is important to…

The librarian is presented with a foundation for decision making as it relates to the physical processing of nonprint materials, and with a demonstration of how these decisions move from theoretical to practical physical processing issues. Such issues include packaging and repackaging; treating accompanying materials; labeling; preparing…

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 1982 the New Hampshire Automation Task Force made recommendations for an online statewide union catalog, which first came into use in 1984. In 1991 a subcommittee of the Automation Planning and Review Committee of the New Hampshire State Library presented a report on elements that should be addressed in a long range plan. This strategic plan is…

One of the most significant decisions in a library administrator's career is the decision to automate one or more of a library's operations. This book describes the present state of local library automation; the planning, selection, and implementation process; and the library administrator's role in the process. The bulk of the text provides a…

This manual is written for any library planning to introduce a new or replacement automated system. It focuses on planning for an integrated system that computerizes a multiplicity of library functions using one common database. This second edition contains a new section on the preparation of a technology strategic plan, a section on developing…