This essay lists elements of a public service microcomputer project--needs, clientele or population, skill level, type of service, type of equipment, site or location--and identifies a number of options under each heading. Examples illustrating how librarians can use the model in planning a service are noted. (EJS)

This thesis investigates the impact of computer Braille on blind professionals in terms of their need for, the availability of, and the cost of production of Braille transcriptions of serials. Related problems of an economic, legal, and educational nature are discussed as they impinge on the area of investigation. The thesis is in three parts:…

Computer-based reference search services were provided to users on a fee-for-service basis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the first, and experimental, note in the development of the Northeast Academic Science Information Center (NASIC). Development of a training program for information specialists and training materials is…

The investigation of the performance, economics, and acceptability to users of the selective dissemination of information (SDI) computer system that supported the International Information Service in Physics, Electrotechnology, Computers, and Control (INSPEC) during its initial testing phase is described. The initial design of the study, involving…

In compiling the final report of Wisconsin's ERIC on-line Information Retrieval Demonstration and Research Project, an extensive review of research on information science, user needs and perceptions, and information use and saturation was seen as a vital first step. Such knowledge might help explain the successes and failures of the Project, which…

Presents the digital age challenge of tailoring information technologies to support activities of individual communities of users, while creating a globally distributed information infrastructure enabling systems and services to interoperate. Examines: "What is a digital collection?""What is a library?""What is a…

The National Library Service (NLS) is developing a digital talking book and Braille book system for use by the blind and physically handicapped community. The following elements drive the design of the program: NLS offers a free library service; NLS is consumer-driven; NLS pays no royalties to copyright holders; the program is accessible to a wide…