In a year when a difficult economy presented fewer opportunities for immediate gains, the major industry players have defined their business strategies with fundamentally different concepts of library automation. This is no longer an industry where companies compete on the basis of the best or the most features in similar products but one where…

An online survey was sent to academic libraries and consortia with an integrated library system (ILS) migration project, based on review of press releases from major U.S. ILS vendors. This study takes a systematic approach to provide a snapshot of the academic ILS market and key factors affecting the outcome of an ILS migration project. It reveals…

Explores some of the applications of the electronic book (e-book) in the modern library. Discusses computing advances that have made electronic book technology viable for publishers and libraries; making products usable in a library environment; and library networks and consortia that share e-book subscriptions. (Author/LRW)

Describes how library networks develop technology cooperatively and assesses future network roles in the light of new developments. (Author/LLS)

Covers some general developments in circulation technology, vendor and network approaches to circulation, problem areas, and some hints on system procurement. (Author)

Discusses the information explosion as it relates to the emergence of the information handling capability explosion, or the use of computer technology, citing library network online databases as evidences of information control. (EJS)

Describes the perceived obstacles to library networks use reported by respondents to a survey of special librarians. The discussion covers the need for special librarians to be actively involved in network planning and governance, and for the Special Libraries Association to take a more active role in networking issues. (nine references) (CLB)

A commentary on the need for the library profession to remain flexible when planning future library services and programs. Because of rapid technological, economic, and social changes, it is suggested that earlier decisions regarding national programs should be reassessed and different directions taken. (JPF)

As the use of information and the means to find it change due to computer and communication network technology and the advancement of online computer searching, abstracting and indexing services must decide which information services they intend to supply. (CWM)

This paper describes playback equipment provided by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped's Talking Books program. The history of these machines is reviewed from 1933 to the present and includes activities during World War II, the introduction of flexible discs and cassettes, descriptions of a variety of machines…

Explores the possible effects on library services of cable television, cassette television, and computer based activity. (PF)

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…

This annotated bibliography of readings on technical standards for libraries emphasizes U.S. publications and U.S. and international activities. The bibliography is divided into six sections: general, current activity, micrographics, serials, and other standards or needs. (CLB)

Discusses present and future changes in library organization and management resulting from increasingly smaller library units, use of electronics to support decentralized services, new management style, and interlibrary cooperatives. Three strategies for change--to accept change, to change change, to recognize that some things cannot be…

This paper traces the expansion of the Internet into Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) libraries from basic access to the development of World Wide Web (WWW) servers. An analysis of the most representative groups of library WWW-servers arranged by projects, by corporate library network, or by geographical characteristics is…