How to best decide when it's time to replace your PC, whether at home or at work, is always tricky. Spending on computers can make you more productive, but it's money you otherwise cannot spend, invest or save, and faster systems always await you in the future. What is clear is that the computer industry really wants you to buy, and the computer…

In this column, the author outlines the details of this year's merger of Dynix and Sirsi, which resulted in the creation of the combined company, SirsiDynix. SirsiDynix is now the largest player in the library automation industry. Its earning power exceeds $125 million in annual revenue, and it will employ well over 700 and have a customer base…

The recent Library & Information Technology Association (LITA) National Forum was held in October in St. Louis, a city that was very focused on the present. The Cardinals were on their way to winning the National League Pennant, and across town, at Washington University, the presidential candidates were on stage with the second of their three…

Web 2.0 challenges libraries to change from their predominantly centralised service models with integrated library management systems at the hub. Implementation of Web 2.0 technologies and the accompanying attitudinal shifts will demand reconceptualisation of the nature of library and information service around a dynamic, ever changing, networked,…

This article attempts to offer an overview of the current changes that are being experienced in the management of audio-visual documentation and those that can be forecast in the future as a result of the migration from analogue to digital information. For this purpose the documentary chain will be used as a basis to analyse individually the tasks…

As campus renovation projects go, the Ohio State University's plan to turn its main library into "a library for the 21st century" is ambitious. The author describes the decade-long, $109 million transformation of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library. The overhaul calls for a complete replacement of all mechanical and electrical…

Library Web sites must compete against easy-to-use sites, such as Google Scholar, Google Books, and Wikipedia, for students' time and attention. Library Web sites must therefore be designed with aesthetics and user perceptions at the forefront. The Music and Performing Arts Library at Urbana-Champaign's Web site was overcrowded and in much need of…

This article identifies and provides some commentary on the key issues emerging from research into the digitisation of Indigenous materials in collections conducted in collaboration with three state libraries. It situates the research project within the broader context of related activity aimed at addressing the ongoing challenges of access,…

The high rate of technological change that libraries are experiencing makes it seem that the future is closer than it used to be. Rather than having some notion of the future, particularly in emerging technologies, librarians need to be kept well informed and up-to-date in the potential uses of these technologies, especially those that apply to…

This preliminary study investigates the current situation of school library support of K-12 health education in China. A survey of 42 school librarians and 115 K-12 teachers from selected schools was conducted to find out their views about school library's role in school health education and their current practice of library use in health…

The library and the computer are only tools to be used to render service. (PF)

Speculations about ways in which media centers will utilize computers in the future include applications for circulation, cataloging, reference, information retrieval, and computer controlled videodisc machines. (STS)

Four papers discuss: (1) advantages and disadvantages of uniform serial titles; (2) corporate names as qualifiers in uniform titles; (3) earliest entry cataloging of serials; and (4) latest entry cataloging in an automated environment. (MES)

Discusses the design principles behind the Unicorn Collection Management System, an integrated library system which includes modules for bibliographic and inventory control, circulation, academic reserves, serials control, authority control, acquisition, electronic mail, bulletin board, and enhanced public access. The flexibility of the system is…