The challenges and potential benefits of automating university libraries are reviewed, with special attention given to cooperative systems. Aspects discussed include database size, the role of the university computer center, storage modes, multi-institutional systems, resource sharing, cooperative system management, networking, and intelligent…

Enumerates the reasons that a college campus needs data communications networks and the benefits that will derive. Explains the recent surge in data communications and identifies new products and services. Offers guidelines for decision making, network design, and expanding instructional delivery systems. Considers alternatives available to small…

Describes a study that examined the concepts of power, influence, and issues as they related to establishing a new school district. The decision to break away from an existing school district and to establish a new one provided a unique opportunity to study community action in support of and in opposition to public school reform. (MLH)

Describes the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) and several of its uses in the schools. Uses acid rain as an example of one topic that has been investigated and conferenced on the EIES System by schools in geographically dispersed locations. (CW)

In forming local or regional consortia, campus libraries will face not only some compromises with respect to campus policies but also a multitude of decisions relating to broader consortium issues. The Oakland Library Consortium in Pittsburgh is discussed. (MLW)

The first article discusses how recent changes in both the academic library and the computing center have aligned their separate missions and functions. The second examines the roles of the reference librarian and the computing center in providing assistance and instruction in electronic information resources to library users. (CLB)

Teachers determine how much school reform filters down to the classrooms. Teacher networks appear to be one of the few realistic options for restructuring the education enterprise. (SI)

Uses multidimensional scaling and clustering analysis of the co-citation patterns of 58 authors to explore the intellectual organization of population genetics and related specialties. Concludes that co-cited author mapping, with the author as the unit of analysis, is likely to complement studies of informal communication networks. (SR)

Presents an overview of information infrastructure development in Latvia and discusses the role of the Latvian Academic Library. Describes Latvia's telecommunications, information network, data transmission, and electronic information services and reviews the types of electronic information sources that have been created. (Author/JMV)

Description of the ERIC database covers suggested uses for teachers, students, parents, and researchers; information available in ERIC; how to access ERIC, including through the Internet; the AskERIC service that is available through the Internet; and steps for searching the database. A directory of ERIC clearinghouses is also included. (LRW)

This study examines the cost and performance of six commercial document suppliers accessible via Online computer Library Center (OCLC), compares their service to traditional interlibrary loan (ILL). Results indicate that, although commercial firms cannot replace ILL, they can add flexibility to a library's plan for document delivery. (Author/AEF)

Discusses the development of a national information superhighway. Highlights include the National Information Infrastructure; NREN (National Research and Education Network); private networks, including Prodigy; repositioning in the telecommunications industry, including telephone, cable, and entertainment companies; government regulations;…

Provides an overview of the importance of user-based evaluations of networked information services; reviews data collection techniques that provide a user perspective when assessing networked information services, including focus groups, user logs, interviews, observation, and surveys; and offers practical suggestions and guidelines for using such…

Presents selected results from an empirical investigation into the use of computer networks in aerospace engineering based on data from a national mail survey. The need for user-based studies of electronic networking is discussed, and a copy of the questionnaire used in the survey is appended. (Contains 46 references.) (LRW)

Discusses the availability of virtual communities on the Internet. Stresses that there are online environments for nearly everyone, and offers advice for those designing new communities by relating experiences from the development of the specialized MediaMOO, a multiuser dungeon. Discusses restricting access, shaping development of the community,…