In the educational arena, information is conventionally scattered throughout many projects and documents and on many systems. This distribution of data inhibits students and faculty members from searching and accessing information conveniently and efficiently. The research project described in this paper aims to consolidate the disparate data into…

This report of the Virtual Library Planning Committee (VLPC) is intending to serve as a blueprint for the University of South Florida (USF) Libraries as it shifts from print to digital formats in its evolution into a "Virtual Library". A comprehensive planning process is essential for the USF Libraries to make optimum use of technology,…

This paper discusses reference services in the digital library. The introduction provides definitions of a digital library, and the first section summarizes the purposes of a digital library system, as well as key roles for information professionals. The second section provides examples of mediated and unmediated digital reference. The third…

This paper discusses developments in information and communications technologies and their impact on university libraries. Topics addressed include: (1) background, including the Information Revolution, the Knowledge Economy, implications for education and information services, and responses to the challenges of globalization; (2) university…

This paper focuses on the concept and practice of information literacy in relation to the virtual information environment. Key challenges for the development of digital information services are identified, and three fundamental components of information literacy (connecting with, interacting with, and utilizing information) and related research…

The goals of this SPEC Kit were to report on the extent to which ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries provide electronic reference services and to offer a snapshot of the types of users reached, questions received, policies established, data-gathering techniques utilized, and innovations implemented. The first section of the kit…

This manual is a first effort to begin to identify, describe, and develop procedures for assessing various aspects of digital reference service. Its overall purpose is to improve the quality of digital reference services and assist librarians to design and implement better digital reference services. More specifically, its aim is to: assist…

This digest discusses the development of World Wide Web-based services for libraries and provides examples from the Cleveland Public Library (CPL). The first section highlights the importance of developing such services, steps to be followed for a successful project, and the importance of having the goal of replicating and enhancing traditional…

This strategic technology plan for Virginia's public libraries presents current findings, recommendations, and the steps required to achieve universal access to electronic information. Introductory material includes lists of members of the Library of Virginia Board and Technology Plan Committee, an executive summary, and vision statement. The…

Increasingly, digital libraries are being defined as collection pointers to World Wide Web-based resources rather than collections that hold the resources themselves. Maintaining these collections is challenging due to distributed document ownership and high fluidity. Typically a collection's maintainer has to assess the relevance of changes with…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to gather information about who has responsibility for the development, management, and maintenance of library World Wide Web sites and to determine which combination of human resources works…

This paper discusses the reorganization of libraries in order to adopt new techniques and to incorporate the electronic library, focusing on the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. The first section addresses manpower and the electronic library, including processing electronic journals, justification for the traditional library organization…

This paper contrasts monologic and dialogic World Wide Web services in a library context. The first section contrasts monologic and dialogic ways of understanding human nature and the way knowledge is constructed. The second section describes the dialogic nature and potential of the Web, including intranets as dialogic spaces and the dialog…

This annual report of the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) begins with a list of staff, a letter for the Chairman of the Board, and a message from the CLIR President. Activities for 1999-2000 in the following areas are then summarized: (1) resources for scholarship, including the artifact in library collections,…

Discussion of automation and school library media specialists focuses on library Web sites. Highlights include characteristics of library Web sites; examples of high school, middle school, and elementary school library Web sites; an evaluation methodology; and a list of useful online library research sites. (LRW)