Discusses issues regarding training for computer-based reference services, including who is to be trained and who is responsible for training, and summarizes the training offered to date by search service suppliers, database suppliers, library schools, and extension programs. Available training materials are also considered. (Author/FM)

Discusses the use of computer information systems to aid in library management functions such as planning, control, and decision making. Outlined are applications of macroanalysis (comparative library data, performance measures, use statistics) and microanalysis (circulation, acquisition, catalog support, and online catalog systems). (SW)

Administrative computing in higher education and its implications for the management of colleges and universities are explored. The evolution of administrative computing is traced from the use of minicomputers to the implementation of a management information system. (Author/SF)

Discusses problems involved in maintaining special scientific or engineering libraries, including budget problems, remote storage locations, rental computer retrieval systems, protecting trade secrets, and establishing a magnetic tape library. (MLH)

Proposes a 'communication bill of rights' focusing on the right to access, the rights of redress and the right for public accountability of organizations. (MH)

Discusses a simple technique for stochastic resource planning that, when computerized, can assist educational managers in the process of quantifying the future uncertainty, thereby, helping them make better decisions. The example used is a school lunch program. (Author/IRT)

Proposes a mechanism for monitoring the operation of an information system so that information needs are met or are identified and communicated to information producers in a systematic manner. (Author)

Using the methods of ethnography of communication, this three-part study investigates time and timing, social elements, and individual information behavior in sense making. Argues that the sense-making concept captures how information behavior creates meaning and that a research focus on information and information-seeking divides people from…

End users think of file names as a way to identify file contents, whereas computer programs often assign special meaning to file extensions. This article discusses different kinds of files on the World Wide Web: text, document, sound, video, and multimedia; file compression; and encoding formats. Includes a chart of file formats and lists Web…

Describes the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). Identifies the reasons consortia and vendors might want to engage in collaborative licensing ventures; describes the process used in the CIC for coordinating the acquisitions and licensing of these resources; and discusses problems encountered. Includes guidelines for collaborative…

Information, like other organizational resources, needs to be managed to help organizations improve productivity, competitiveness, and overall performance. Reviews developments (1986-96) in Information Resources Management (IRM). Examines the concept of IRM; IRM from information technology and integrative perspectives; IRM practices; IRM in the…

Compares and evaluates the differences between OCLC's dial-up and World Wide Web FirstSearch access methods and their interfaces with the underlying databases. Also examines NetFirst, OCLC's new Internet catalog, the only Internet tracking database from a "traditional" database service. (Author/PEN)

An Associate Head of Information Services and the Internet Gopher project leader discuss the future of Gopher with the arrival of the World Wide Web. Strengths and weaknesses of both systems are addressed. One expert sees a future with new versions of both; the other predicts a next generation of information systems combining their features. (PEN)

Discusses wife assault and reports on two studies in which the social service network is viewed as an information system and which question the effectiveness of community responses to the information needs of battered women. Library services to individual women, social services providers, and public policy or decision makers are suggested.…

Discusses core competencies in library and information science and in information systems to use as a background for an examination of core competencies in information management. Suggests a set of core competencies and educational outcomes that might be applied to curricula in both developed and developing countries. (Author/LRW)