Discusses user satisfaction with remote access to online catalogs, categorizes the types of assistance remote users require, and considers the library's responsibility to these invisible users. An outline of suggestions for improving service to remote users is provided. (CLB)

This description of the Extended Campus Program offered at the University of Alberta that allows remote students to meet residency requirements for a Master of Education degree emphasizes the use of electronic communication to provide access to library resources, staff services, and computerized databases. Evaluations of the program are provided.…

Describes the Electronic Journal Retrieval Project (EJRP) developed at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries, to provide full-text journal articles from online systems. Highlights include costs of various search strategies; implications for library services; collection development and interlibrary loan considerations; and suggestions…

Describes a HyperCard program developed at the University of Denver library to provide computer-assisted reference service for business information as well as instructions for using the online catalog and a database of journal articles. Examples of menu screens are included, and usage of the program is examined. (five references) (LRW)

Five articles describe specific Internet resources, including geoscience and science databases; economic and statistical information; the JANET (Joint Academic Network) Bulletin Board for Librarians; and White House communications. A sixth article describes how practical applications of Internet information create new roles for reference…

The need to develop new OPACs that meet the needs of users better is becoming well acknowledged. How libraries can transform their OPACs to modern web friendly formats is not yet clear. This paper describes the State Library of Tasmania's experience in developing a new OPAC by exporting bibliographic data to a software package outside the ILMS.…

This discussion of the availability of information sources and resources to students in higher education and continuing education argues that extension education and distance education will become increasingly prevalent because people change jobs more frequently and require additional skills and knowledge for those jobs. Many institutions assume…

The six papers in this collection address as many different topics. In "Circulation Desk Staff Amiability and Patron Satisfaction," Laureen Cardon and Nathan M. Smith describe a study at Brigham Young University which demonstrated that interpersonal relations training for circulation desk staff could improve patron satisfaction. Anna L.…

This manual was produced during the 1992-93 Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario school year to be used as a reference guide and a training tool for library support staff assigned to work at the library's information desks. Its purpose is to help ensure a uniform standard of service and to provide practical procedures for information and basic…

This exploratory investigation of the process of defining the information needs of computer users and the impact of that process on information retrieval focuses on communication problems. Six sites were visited that used computers to process data or to provide information, including the California Department of Transportation, the California…

The terms "virtual library,""digital library," and "electronic library" have received growing attention among professional librarians, researchers, and users of information over the past decade. The confluence of exploding sources of data, expanding technical capability, and constrained time and money will quickly move these concepts from…

Reserve readings are a special collection in the university library, established by a professor to support a particular class. A recent study at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill found enthusiasm among current reserve users for an electronic reserve system (Petersen, 1996). The study described in this paper examined the reasons some…

Provides an overview of research conducted at Victoria University of Wellington regarding differing perceptions and expectations of user communities and librarians related to the usability of digital services. Considers access to services, currency of information on the Web site, the online public access catalog, databases, electronic journals,…

Provides guidance to academic librarians for making cost-effective and appropriate purchase and networking decisions for electronic bibliographic database products. Topics include user needs, user and program demographics, academic computing and network support, delivery options, and considerations for the future. (Author/LRW)

Describes library services available to distance learners at the Rochester Institute of Technology's library. Highlights include courseware products; subject specialists; electronic course reserves; interlibrary loan; research databases; online library instruction, including online guides, streamed instruction, and computer based training for…