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The Andy Holt Virtual Library, with a focus on the Humanities and Fine Arts, is free and open to the public, though designed to serve the learning communities within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Tennessee-Martin (UT). It also plays a resource role in UT's New College and the Tennessee Governors School for the Humanities. This independent information source is linked to in key places to the Paul Meek Library on the UT campus. This presentation describes the development of the library and illustrates many of its links. (Contains a 21-item bibliography for digital and virtual libraries.) (Author/MES)

This study explored the perspectives and information behaviors of scholars in the humanities. The following general questions were examined: How do humanities scholars think about, organize, and perform their research? How are information sources used throughout the research process? And, how do electronic information sources affect work practices? In addition, the research also looked at two specific questions related to research library collections and services: What functions and characteristics make one resource better than another? And, how can the traditional role of the library as a repository for printed works be reconciled with the provision of virtual, unallocated resources? Participants were 33 humanities scholars from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago. Data were collected by project-based semi-structured interviews, selected case studies, and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Findings are reported in the following areas: (1) ways of reading, including chaining to enable reading; (2) collaborative networking; (3) researching and searching, including collections as capital, many states of primary materials, multitude of sources, access tools for speed and scope, diverse skills and strategies, generic searching problems, and browsing across collections and tools; and (4) ways of writing, including information management, accretion, and refinement, as well as oscillating and overlapping synthesis work. One of the last sections is "Trends: The Evolving Information Environment for Humanists." Methods are appended. (Contains 29 references.) (MES)

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of information service provided in Swedish and Chinese medical libraries and to judge the information gap between China and Sweden. Two libraries of key Chinese medical universities and a Swedish medical library were selected for the study. Based on the number of databases, print journals, electronic journals, user education courses, level of library research activities, and other services such as navigation systems and biomedical links, an evaluation of information service quality was given. Results are presented in the following areas: (1) differences in library collections, including a comparison of the latest shelved journal issues in the libraries; (2) information services in library management, professional promotion, knowledge sharing, user-centered library service, and contents of library services; (3) research activities; (4) extensive services in information technology; (5) continuing education for librarians; (6) the ability for library development; and (7) the future of medical libraries in China. The conclusion was that a large information gap exits between China and other developed countries. (Contains 10 references.) (MES)

This paper describes how SDLIP and STARTS, two complementary protocols for searching over distributed document collections, were combined. The resulting protocol, called SDARTS, is simple yet expressible enough to enable building sophisticated metasearch engines. SDARTS can be viewed as an instantiation of SDLIP with metasearch-specific elements from STARTS. The paper also reports on the experience of building three SDARTS-compliant wrappers: for locally available plain-text document collections, for locally available XML document collections, and for external Web-accessible collections. These wrappers were developed to be easily customizable for new collections. This work was developed as part of Columbia University's Digital Libraries Initiative-Phase 2 (DLI2) project, which involves the departments of Computer Science, Medical Informatics, and Electrical Engineering, the Columbia University libraries, and a large number of industrial partners. The main goal of the project is to provide personalized access to a distributed patient-care digital library. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/AEF)

This paper on electronic books (e-books) in the academic library begins by defining the e-book and presenting general information on developments in the e-book industry, including collections of e-books that are accessed through the Internet and electronic editions of print books that can be downloaded to a proprietary reading device. A list of e-book reading devices, along with links to their World Wide Web sites, is included. NetLibrary, an online e-book collection that is enjoying popularity in all types of libraries, is described. The problems and challenges that the e-book presents to a university library are addressed, including circulation, readability, bibliographic control, and administrative problems. The LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act)-funded Electronic Book Evaluation Project is summarized. (Contains 14 references.) (MES)

The Z. Aranne Central Education Library of Hebrew University (Israel) has two functions: it is an academic library and a national library on education. As a university library, it serves the students and faculty of the School of Education, as well as students of other faculties of the Hebrew University. The Education Library plays the role of a national library with its special collection including reports, decisions and archival material about education in Israel, textbooks for schools, and other non-book materials with historical significance. Library users have access to electronic resources such as e-periodicals and databases through the library network as part of the Universities Libraries Consortium. The Education Library is on its way to being a global library and must enable maximum and easy access to all library resources. The library has adapted to advanced technology and growing diversity of users by adjusting its structured training programs as: (1) general library orientation; (2) workshops for faculty for use of electronic resources; (3) workshops for M.A. and Ph.D. students oriented to special research subjects; (4) library orientation for Israelis who study at foreign university branches; and (5) workshops for school pupils on special collection on hot educational subjects such as drug education and violence in schools. (MES)

This library technology plan from Mission College in California establishes the goals, objectives, strategies, and implementation plans of the library in developing and maintaining its technical capabilities and electronic resources. The goals are organized into four categories: information resources, instructional resources, infrastructure, and human resources. The objectives and strategies for the first are: (1) universal online access to information; (2) organization of effective access to electronic resources; and (3) increased access to information resources through resource sharing. The objectives and strategies for instructional resources are: (1) instructional modules and courses; (2) continuing education for faculty; and (3) an information competency requirement. The objectives and strategies for the infrastructure are: (1) facilities that, after the move to a new building, will provide a fully wired organization with an interactive instruction room; (2) systems; and (3) equipment and furnishings. Finally, the objectives and strategies for human resources are: (1) staff support; (2) staff development; and (3) efficient use of resources. (Includes implementation and funding table.) (NB)

"ARL Statistics 1998-99" is the latest in a series of annual publications that describe collections, staffing, expenditures, and service activities for the 121 member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The first section of the report includes several illustrative charts and discusses service trends; the decline of ownership, and monograph and serial costs in ARL libraries (1986-1999); the promise of access, and supply and demand in ARL libraries (1986-1999); expenditure trends in ARL libraries (1986-1999); and resources per student in ARL libraries (1986-1999). The body of the publication consists of ARL library data tables for 1998-99 that provide statistics and summary data on collections, expenditures, and personnel and public services. An analysis of selected variables of ARL university libraries for 1998-99 and Ph.D., faculty, and enrollment statistics are given, followed by rank order tables of university libraries for 1998-99. The ARL Statistics Questionnaire, footnotes to the ARL statistics, and a list of ARL member libraries are included at the end of the document. (Contains 75 references.) (AEF)

The first section of this paper on library services for distance education discusses the status of distance learning in higher education. What distance learning means for libraries is addressed in the second section, including considerations related to diverse locations, agreements with participating institutions, delivery limitations, librarian commitment, and awareness of new ways to deliver services. The third section summarizes requirements for libraries and provides World Wide Web addresses for American Library Association and Canadian Library Association guidelines. The fourth section describes the challenges and impact of distance learning on library service units related to administration, collection management, acquisitions, cataloging, collection access (interlibrary loan, circulation, and reserve), reference and instruction, and technical support systems. (MES)

The continuing problem of the high cost of accessing scientific, technical, and medical (STM) literature haunts both developed and developing economies. Maintaining access to significant research and scholarship at a time when both the volume and price of information have increased nearly three-fold in the last decade requires fresh strategies and new creative efforts. This paper comments on the array of coping mechanisms adopted by U.S. libraries, including canceling lesser used titles, moving from ownership to access, resource sharing, and consortial purchasing. The paper then looks at the recently developed strategic responses aimed at addressing some of the root causes of the STM crisis: an imperfect marketplace; growing presence of commercial publishers; consolidation of STM publishers; and proliferation of titles. As a result of this economic analysis and legislative developments, the academic community needs to consider dramatically different strategies for responding to the crisis. Some of the emerging strategies are noted in the paper. (Contains 15 endnotes.) (Author/MES)

Canada's National Core Library Statistics Program is designed to capture several key indicators of the broad impact on Canadian society of library services provided by the public, academic, and special library sectors. These impacts can be broadly organized into cultural and economic. Current indicators of cultural impact are question answering services, which numbered 82,000 inquiries per day in 1996 by Canadian library users, and collection use, numbering well over 1 million circulations daily in 1996. Other cultural indicators are library staff, library collection holdings, and service points. An aggregate indicator of economic impact is library expenditures, which totaled more than $1.4 billion in Canada in 1996. However, several important dimensions of library service are not captured at present in the National Core Library Statistics Program, in particular self-help use of electronic information. Given the multidimensional nature of library services and impacts, the challenge of articulating library value must be correspondingly multidimensional, standardized, and universal. (Author)

This paper discusses the importance and the place of collections preservation management in the larger preservation objectives of a library or an archive. Topics addressed include the issues, restraints, strategies, and difficulties associated with implementing collections preservation. The first section frames some of the management issues associated with collections preservation in the United States, including hybrid treatment approaches and integration with other library functions and units. The second section considers assessment, including condition surveys and the use of online catalogs and databases to provide critical information in terms of action surveys. The third section describes selection strategies, including the use-based/circulation-based approach, the subject/great collections/class approach, and the acquisitions-based approach. The fourth section discusses prioritizing, and the last section presents the framework for collections preservation activities at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana). (MES)

This paper discusses access to Asian serials (i.e., Asian and Western language titles, including publications from Asia, as well as serials about Asia produced elsewhere) in Australian libraries. Background is provided on the development of Asian collections since the 1950s. Results of a 1994 national survey of Asian materials are summarized. Efforts to coordinate Australia's Asian collections are described, including the National Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) Service and the Indonesian Acquisitions Project. A survey of users of Korean materials is reported, as well as a panel on information needs of Asian studies academics. Other topics include: a collecting agreement for Chinese statistical yearbooks between the National Library and the Australian National University (ANU); World Wide Web sites for major Asian collections in Australia; serial indexing; and backlogs of uncataloged Asian serials. (MES)

This paper discusses the status of library services and reading in Mali. Following an introductory section that provides miscellaneous data about Mali, the first section of the paper describes the development of libraries in Mali before the colonial period, during the colonial period, and during the independence period up to 1977. The libraries of the public reading network operation are highlighted, including library collections (i.e., books, audio-documents, and oral tradition gathering), use, and the library-wagon. The next two sections address secondary/advanced and primary school libraries. The national languages libraries are covered in the fifth section. The sixth section discusses the rural audio-libraries, including results of an analysis of benefits and problems. Actions to encourage reading and creating are described in the next section, including workshops on writing and illustrating children's books, the creation of the Bamako Editorial Committee, publication of cloth-binding books, an annual book fair, and the Autograph Project to finance authors and editors. The ninth section considers reading difficulties, including illiteracy and socio-economic factors, as well as the weakness of local publishers and the book distribution network. The final section addresses prospects, focusing on a project on book and reading assistance in Mali. (MES)

This paper examines the place of oral heritage in France. The first section provides an overview of oral collections in France from the early 1900s to the present. The study of oral materials is then discussed in the second section, including: research centers within universities or high schools; activities of the Ministry of Culture; development of a network of museums; the role of associations; the Metive associative network, comprising a museum, a hall, sound and audiovisual studios, exhibition, training and meeting rooms, and a center of research and documentation on orality; and the Datsum association, focusing on the oral traditions and music of Bretagne. The third section addresses orality in the library, including public library collections, legal aspects, and collections of the audiovisual department of the national library. (MES)

For a variety of reasons, collection care in Southeast Asia, especially in the northern regions, is fraught with many difficult challenges. Climates that are unfriendly to paper-based materials, poor economies, war, and civil unrest, are just a few of the reasons that librarians and archivists find it extremely difficult to ensure the survival of cultural property. The rate of deterioration can be slowed and, in some cases, reversed through actions that are relatively low-cost and uncomplicated. This paper discusses some of the strategies employed by the Cornell University (New York) Department of Preservation and Conservation to preserve materials in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, and Thailand in projects conducted over the last ten years. The need for careful needs assessments and clear articulation of them will be discussed in the context of competing for the necessary resources from international funding agencies, along with descriptions of stabilization operations. (Contains 25 endnotes.) (Author/MES)

This paper reports on a project that involved the digitization of manuscripts from the Boswell Collection (i.e., personal papers of James Boswell) by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University (Connecticut). In this case, the digitization process was designed to serve a group of scholars already at work on a publication series, and so distinguishes itself from many others by its focus on the scholarly communication process rather than on giving broad access to collections through the Internet. The paper discusses the many reasons that a special collections library might undertake a digital conversion program, and shares the staff's insights into how digital technology has found its place in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Specifically, the paper discusses: background on the library and the Boswell collection; project origins; forming a digitization strategy, including choices regarding where the library should place its emphasis; getting the project underway; the scanning process; results and benefits for the library; results and benefits for the scholar-editors; and conclusions. (AEF)

This paper describes the present shelf arrangement of instructional materials in the Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) located in Swirbul Library on the Garden City, Long Island campus of Adelphi University. The CMC is a special library resource supporting the curriculum of the School of Education at Adelphi, and graduate and undergraduate students preparing for careers as teachers are its most frequent users. It is an area that houses items quite different from the usual library collection, and the display and organization of these items offer special challenges to a librarian. Some of these challenges are related to the tension between the purposes of curriculum centers and the organizational schemes of libraries, of which they are a part. Background information is provided about curriculum centers and library organization to allow for better understanding of the reasons for changing the shelving of the nonprint materials in the CMC from the traditional library arrangement to a bookstore type of display. (Author/AEF)

This report presents a description of the status of academic libraries in 1994, a time of rapid technology-related change and increased introduction of electronic services. Two of the national education goals for the year 2000 emphasize the important roles played by resources and staff efforts of academic libraries. The report presents detailed tabulations for 1994 and historical comparisons with previous years, with a focus on comparisons since 1990. The data are from the 1994 Academic Libraries Survey (ALS), a part of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) of the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Topics covered in the report include: library number and diversity; services; collections; staff; and expenditures. Highlights of findings are provided at the beginning of the document. Appendix A contains methodological information for the 1994 survey; Appendix B contains detailed tables; Appendix C is the ARL benchmark listing; and Appendix D is a copy of the survey form. (AEF)

This document describes a collection assessment made of the Economics and Finance holdings at Ward Edwards Library at Central Missouri State University (CMSU). The assessment is divided into three parts: (1) books, (2) serials, and (3) standing orders/reference materials. In addition to standard collection development sources such as "Magazines for Libraries," serial holdings are compared to those recommended in several economics and finance journals. The paper also includes a matrix, which takes factors such as cost and indexing into consideration in order to make collection development decisions. Appendices include: lists of courses in economics and finance at CMSU; financial research journals and other media ranked by total number of citations; list of economics and finance journals purchased by the library, including their format and price; matrix of journals, prices, databases in which they are indexed, if they are recommended titles in review sources, and if they have been requested through interlibrary loan; and a list of economics and finance standing orders with price information. (Contains 11 references.) (Author/SWC)

A wealth of African-American resources have remained "hidden resources," even as interest in and need for these rare documents has risen. Digitizing collections would make these materials available through the Internet and World Wide Web. Many of these materials reside in historically black institutions which oftentimes lack the resources to transform them to digital modes. The paper identifies institutions that have made efforts to preserve African-American collections, and describes problems associated with digitizing African-American collections held at many academic institutions. Possible solutions to the demand for the latest technology within the constraints of a library's budget include: make critical decisions early in the developmental process; keep the technology simple; seek grants for funding; and begin with digitizing only a limited subset of materials. The digital system has arrived in the academic library; it will remain and evolve there, and it will provide new means of retrieving lost, strayed, and forgotten materials from the African-American experience. Problems associated with access will not disappear, interwoven as they are with copyrights, networking between institutions, and the fact that no regular, formal educational program will automatically produce the specialists needed in the field of these materials. (SWC)

This paper discusses how the Creighton University Health Sciences Library Serial Department has updated their process of claiming and replacing missing journal issues. The paper is divided into two main parts. The first part discusses the changes in the claiming procedure. The second part discusses how the claims are reported to vendors. Future efforts will include direct electronic connections with vendors. Evaluation for a new automated library system will include looking at how the different vendors and their electronic systems are set up to report claims, and how publishers are communicating issue availability and publishing schedules directly to libraries. (Author/SWC)

This report documents the results of a survey on the current use and management of approval plans, and compares them with similar studies published in SPEC kits in 1982 and 1988. Overall, Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions still consider approval plans to be efficient and cost effective. Survey results include: (1) the percentage of respondents using approval plans has remained stable, with 85% in 1982, 94% in 1988, and 93% in 1996; (2) more than half of respondents committed a greater percentage of their library materials budget to approval purchases in 1996 than in 1988; (3) there was a 77% increase in approval plan spending per institution between 1988 and 1996; and (4) approval plans continue to be used primarily for acquiring traditional print materials, although 30% report using the approval concept to acquire non-print media. Observations made in the 1982, 1988, and 1996 surveys show that the use of the approval method continues to be very diverse in ARL institutions. The effectiveness of approval plans depends on the care and attention they are given by both the library and the vendor. The document includes a list of participating institutions, and approval plan documentation from the University of Kentucky, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Temple University (AZ), University of Texas at Austin, and University of Toronto (Canada). A selected reading list is also provided. (Contains 26 references.) (SWC)

This report is structured to educate East Carolina University about library materials preservation. The library-wide preservation program began at Joyner Library in 1993 with the organization of the Preservation and Conservation Department. The planning phase of the preservation program began in 1995 with the appointment of the Preservation/Conservation Needs Committee. This report is based on the background paper prepared by the Preservation/Conservation Needs Committee during the first planning phase and the task force reports, summaries of which are included in the final report. The study of the physical condition of a small sample of the general collection (100 books selected from 580,623 items in the HORIZON database) determined that education is needed for 35% of all books in the general collection. The need for staff and user education about preservation is based on the amount of current use of the collection; a preservation education program for users and staff can reduce damage to the collection resulting from frequent, sometimes careless, handling. According to the study, rebinding or repair is required for 15% of all books in the general collection. An insignificant percentage of the collection that appears to be missing indicates acceptable security measures within the library. The preservation goals and recommendations can be summarized with five key words: coordination, priorities, prevention, education, and cooperation. (AEF)

This paper discusses readers' advisory services in academic libraries from the 1920s to the present. Highlights include: definition of readers' advisor or advisory; browsing rooms and collections; reasons for the decline of this service in academic libraries; recent decline in reading interest and ability among college students; the importance of recreational reading; use of the World Wide Web by public librarians to provide readers' advisory services; use of the Web by academic libraries to support recreational reading interests; and a list of readers' advisory Web sites. Contains 14 references. (MES)

Two focus groups were held (fall 1996 semester) with selected faculty from the University of North Texas (UNT), College of Arts and Sciences to explore faculty perceptions of the Libraries' value to teaching and research and to learn more about what would allow faculty to make greater use of the UNT Libraries. The following major themes emerged from the focus groups: (1) access to electronic resources; (2) access to journals; and (3) libraries' role in assisting students. In addition to these themes, both of the focus groups held in common the perception of expert, helpful, and friendly service from the librarians and library staff. Overall, the focus groups revealed a positive perception of the UNT Libraries' past and current role in supporting teaching and research among the faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences. To encourage a continuation of this and to address the concerns expressed regarding access to electronic resources and access to journals, recommendations include strengthening the current library liaison program to keep the faculty directly informed and continuing efforts to integrate all electronic resources effectively into the campus computer network infrastructure. (AEF)

The World Wide Web is a powerful and versatile resource for documents librarians. It can serve as a source of information for patrons looking for government information, as a means of publicizing and distributing local information and services beyond the walls of the depository library, as a tool for more effective administration of a documents collection, and as a resource for building and maintaining a presence on the Web itself. This paper describes three librarians' different approaches and uses of the Web in their depository libraries at Columbia University, Brooklyn College, and New York University. The paper discusses useful tools and publications, about both Web development and government documents. Three basic principles for the ongoing care required for these documents web sites are: (1) simplicity; (2) borrow non-copyrighted source code and graphics from others; and (3) evolve--reassess the site's arrangement and verify links. (SWC)