Provides a brief history of the Universal Serials and Book Exchange, describes the services available from USBE, and discusses its plans for the future. (CHC)

Results of a survey of 20 networks distributing OCLC reveal patterns of service beyond OCLC and a commitment by the networks to automated library support systems, as well as brokerage of other automated services, revenue sources, staff size and growth, and future network planning. The questionnaire and four references are included. (Author/RAA)

Stresses the importance of individual library autonomy in the growth of networks and resource sharing. Because network environment is expanding to meet the demands of interlibrary loans, fees are viewed as necessary. Also emphasized are the dangers of giving government a controlling role in building a resource network. (SW)

Analyzes the half-life of book use through analysis of over 10,000 regional and statewide interlibrary loan requests. Correcting for the growth of the literature, this study indicated that the half-lives of monographs may increase from lower to higher levels of the hierarchy in a library network. (CWM)

Describes the Indonesian Digital Library Network that is designed to develop Indonesia as a knowledge-based society. Highlights include the digital divide; problems in a developing country, including Internet accessibility, bandwidth capacity, and network delays; gathering information about national assets; information infrastructure; data…

Discusses the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the digital divide in India. Considers the impact of information technologies, including the Internet and the Web, on the life and work of people; digital determinism; library and information infrastructure and superstructure; digital library initiatives; and the need…

This paper provides an overview of a University of California (UC) study of the issues involved in creating an online directory of electronic information resources available to the university community. For the purposes of the study, electronic information resources include bibliographic and other databases available at or through UC libraries and…

Completed in accordance with the provisions of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), this agreement outlines the criteria to be used in Michigan for determining adequacy of public library services and assessing programs and projects to be funded by LSCA Title I grants. Members of the Michigan Legislative Council, administrative…

The 15 papers in this issue report on important aspects of work done by the Statewide Automation Committee (SAC) in preparing the current strategic plan for the use of new technologies by the libraries of New York State, and on some of the innovative uses of technology that the plan seeks to foster and facilitate. The range of the papers reflects…

Prepared for consideration by the Network Technical Architecture Group (NTAG), a subcommittee of the Library of Congress (LC) Network Advisory Group, this document describes the study and development of text formats for the message delivery system of a nationwide library bibliographic network. Following a discussion of network considerations of…

The Michigan Library Consortium (MLC) is studying the problems and possibilities of networking, with the Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) as a model and possible data base for the MLC. Standards on an international scale must be developed, and the need for constantly improving technology, particularly computers, must be recognized. Since the…

Rural communities face a dilemma in their efforts to keep pace with knowledge developments. Their remoteness makes access to knowledge of the outside world difficult, time-consuming, and costly. At the same time, the fact that there is access of a sort can mean that local knowledge becomes lost or discarded as somehow inferior. The pervasiveness…

Discusses current trends that are predicted to intensify and to change library operations and the way society uses information technology. Trends discussed include focus on user needs; direct user access of electronic information; the obsolescence of first and second generation systems; a contention between optical products and online access; and…

Discusses the provision of HIV-AIDS information by public libraries in rural communities through collaboration and networking with social services agencies as well as standard library-based methods of information delivery. Suggests useful materials and provides models and examples for successful program implementation. (JKP)

In the fall of 2005, the Orange County Library System (OCLS), located in the Orlando metropolitan area of Florida, launched a mission to explore podcasting. This article, written in the form of a "captain's log," prepares the reader for their own journey into the universe of successfully launching podcasts and a vodcast (video podcast).…