The study analyzed factors shaping adoption of technology in academic libraries in Kuwait. The research was based on interviews conducted with library directors, staff, and users, combined with observation and document analysis. A major aspect of the Kuwaiti context was a relative lack of financial restraints and an enthusiasm for technology…

Provides an overview of library automation and public policy initiatives in the state of Washington. Highlights include access to government information; public library initiatives, including Internet access; access in rural areas; partnerships between libraries and government; higher education cooperation; community and technical college…

Results of a national survey on public library outlet Internet connectivity reveal disparities in connectivity, public access provision, and speed of public access Internet services. Disparities have implications for future connectivity policy development like erate, state librarybased connectivity programs, and libraryinitiated connectivity…

Discusses information retrieval standards as tools for interoperability among systems and traces the development of de jure and de facto standards in the U.S. and international telecommunications environment. Implementation of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) and Z39.50 standards is described. (EA)

This paper considers the application of computers and microcomputers for library automation in Brazil, and the relationship of this application to that country's national policy on informatics. The discussion begins by comparing applications of computers in library automation in developed and developing countries, and several barriers to library…

On the eve of a major change in communications media (from printing to widespread electronic publishing), this article reexamines and projects into future the library's fundamental role as a social institution. Discussion covers three environmental trends, library as an institution, and public policy and economic choices. Twenty references are…

Summarizes nine papers commissioned by the Department of Education for "Rethinking the Library in the 1990s." Common themes include user education, technological and social change, public policies, and changing roles for librarians. It is argued that these papers, which address adult services, need to be critiqued in terms of library…