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This section presents news briefs related to library science and libraries in the U.S. as of April 1990. The vision of a virtual library, where a vast array of resources will be accessible to students and scholars via computer, is the central image behind the newly founded National Research and Education Network (NREN). NREN is the creation of the Coalition for Networked Information, founded by the Association of Research Libraries, CAUSE--the organization for the management of information technology in higher education--and EDUCOM--a consortium of colleges and universities to facilitate information technology use in higher education. A new paper preservation process is being tested by the Lithium Division of FMC Corp. in Bessemer, North Carolina. The process, which is described as deacidifying, buffering, and strengthening acidic paper, will be tested in a pilot unit built in the North Carolina location this year. The FMC Corp. has been researching mass deacidification technologies since 1987. Gordon & Breach Science Publishers has succeeded in obtaining a temporary injunction against the American Mathematical Society (AMS), barring AMS from distributing in West Germany its November 1989 comparative price survey of science journals.

Reports that Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics Co. has agreed to use Wei T'o Associates Inc. preservation technology. Outlook for the use of the technology to preserve books, documents, maps, works of art, and other paper-based materials; Use of nonflammable materials by the system which fill paper with a nontoxic magnesium carbonate complex to neutralize acids and prevent further acid development; Use of the Wei T'o process to preserve documents such as the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution; Treatment of books by the National Archives of Canada and the National Library of Canada with the system.

This article provides information on the Paper Preservation Symposium held by the Technical Association for the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. in October 1988. The symposium had very clear objectives: to describe the deterioration of paper, to describe techniques in production and process that would halt that deterioration, and to enable the scientists and manufacturers to communicate with the library profession and vice versa. The concept of bringing together in one place librarians, conservators, and paper industry personnel to talk about paper was the elegant brainchild of Richard D. Smith, president of Wei T'o Associates, one of the organizers of the symposium. The conference was preceded by a meeting organized by Ellen McCrady of Abbey Publications, which brought together a panel of librarians, conservators, and paper industry people to talk specifically about what each institution represented was doing for the cause of permanent paper. A cluster of other potentially divisive issues was raised around the concept of deacidification. The various deacidification processes halt the deterioration of paper by removing acid. They do not improve the paper but merely arrest its further deterioration.

Reports on request made by Representative of California Vic Fazio to the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment for evaluating the appropriateness of using diethyl zinc (DEZ) deacidification process to preserve paper. Key points to be considered while evaluating DEZ.

Details the issues discussed during the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Paper Preservation Symposium held on October 17-21, 1988. Usability of research library collections; Engineering answers to book preservation; Preservation technology choices available.

The article reports that the information technology (IT) department of Loudoun County, Virginia has implemented the enterprise content management (ECM) system. It states that the department showed the system to several departments which used paper. It mentions that the system has helped to increased access of digitized files and streamlined several departments.

The author reflects on the findings of a survey conducted by the company Poll Position to determine the future possibilities of paperless society in the U.S. He states that 56 percent men and women saying there could be no paperless society whereas 58 percent Republicans see a bright future for paperless society in comparison of 51 percent Democrats. He further states that paper is cheaper and portable than personal computer.