Considers issues related to information equality from a theory-driven empirical perspective. Highlights include a case study of UCITA (Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act); issues for libraries, including licensing; issues for software developers; social constraints in a dynamic social environment with changing situational contexts; and…

Presents a summary review of 25 years of the literature on user instruction and information literacy. Notes how developments and technology during the last 10 years have affected user instruction and have led to the emergence of information literacy. Demonstrates how the field of user instruction has expanded. Includes bibliographies. (Author/AEF)

A British government project funded open learning in public libraries. Early provision of open learning packs expanded into uses of information technology. The project demonstrated that supporting adult learning is a core service of the public library. (SK)

Describes Project LIS (library information systems), a student-originated and student-developed metasite of URLs that points to information about integrated online library systems (IOLS) vendors, electronic journal titles and specific e-journal articles addressing IOLS topics of interest, and general information sources that might be accessed by…

This chronological bibliography of writings (1967-1999) by A.J. Meadows, astronomer, historian of science, and information scientist, is restricted to papers and book reviews on library and information science, publishing and scientific communication. It excludes works on the history of science and astronomy. It aims at completeness, though some…

Discusses the current status of information technology development in Kenya, especially as it affects higher education. Topics include management and funding of public universities; efforts to survive in the face of decreasing resources; Internet connectivity; telecommunications; network infrastructure; and information technology in university…

Describes use of a follow-up study and newspaper scanning techniques to collect data to review and revise the Library and Information Science curriculum at the University of Zululand (South Africa). Includes a case study of graduates that investigated whether their training was adequate and a scan of job advertisements. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the need for Spanish language materials as a result of the growth of the Hispanic population, and describes issues faced by one children's book publisher. Topics include how books are selected for translation; Spanish only versus bilingual editions; selecting translators; standard Spanish versus regional Spanish; and information for…

Presents a model of some of the typical important layers in the design of information systems, and shows how those layers interact in operation. Suggests that these layers are in the way of a cascade of each layer affecting the next. Presents a model of this cascade of interactions in information systems. Provides examples from networked…

Reports on part of an ethnographic study of one facility associated with the New Media Centers' Consortium, focusing on the viewpoint of university administration. Suggests the facility was used as a tool for change. Argues for evaluating the role of technology in higher education and for developing an understanding of how its role is legitimized.…

Examines how libraries and librarians can compare full-text general periodical indices, using ProQuest Direct, Periodical Abstracts (via Ovid), and EBSCOhost as examples. Explores breadth and depth of coverage; manipulation of results (email/download/print); ease of use (searching); and indexing quirks. (AEF)

Presents an annotated bibliography of selected reference books published between 1998 and 1999 under subject headings for biography, journalism, mythology, languages and literature, architecture and city planning, political science, economics, history, and new editions and supplements. (LRW)

This sidebar points out that the field of library and information science is highly centrifugal and greatly in need of high-quality synthesis. Suggests that encouragement should be given to writers to handle existing claims, rather than gather new data, and that books should be written that organize whole segments of the field through some single…

Describes different conceptual foundations and orientations of the two major approaches to metadata: bibliographic-control approach (origins and major proponents in library science); and data-management approach (origins and major proponents in computer science). Examination of efforts to establish metadata standards and comparison of different…

Describes the four priorities of Ernest Boyer's "Basic School": the school as community; climate for learning; a curriculum with coherence; and a commitment to character. Suggests that the Basic School framework and the principles of "Information Power" are mutually supportive in developing a learning community characterized by…