Technology plays a vital role in every field of life especially in business and education. Electronic commerce (EC) begins in the year of 1991 right after internet was introduced for commercial use. It is known to be the 12th five years' plan (2011 to 2015) of Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The main "objective"…

Why has the rise of the Internet--which drastically reduces the cost of distributing information--coincided with drastic increases in the prices that academic libraries pay for access to scholarly journals? This study argues that libraries are trapped in a collective action dilemma as defined by economist Mancur Olson in "The Logic of…

Today's electronic information landscape is growing exponentially with no signs of slowing. This poses a significant challenge for academic libraries. Librarians must continually learn and adapt to harness this explosion of resources. To fulfill their claim as the leaders in the information field they must be effective in providing access and…

In this column the authors discuss barriers to worldwide open access to peer-reviewed journal articles online and how they might be addressed by literacy scholars. They highlight economic and ethical problems associated with the current subscription-based system for distributing articles (which sometimes works against the ideals of research and…

In 2011 the University of Wollongong Library undertook a significant review of its Resource Sharing services. This was prompted by constraints in the systems supporting this service, changes to the Library's key suppliers, Infotrieve Australia and the British Library Document Supply Service, and the need to deliver effective library services…

The education sector remains abuzz with cost-cutting expectations despite pressures to increase services. Automation of costly manual tasks could save funds for many of these institutions, specifically in data protection. The IT departments of schools and universities can take advantage of a proven cost-savings opportunity in data protection that…

Rural small businesses struggling against the current of competition from "big box" retailers, weak consumer demand, and on-line shopping options must find strategies that work. Many are finding that adoption of e-commerce strategies is a key to survival, even prosperity. This article highlights the lessons learned from a recent case study…

EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) has been heavily used by UMUC students since its implementation in fall 2011, but experience has shown that it is not always the most appropriate source for satisfying students' information needs and that they often need assistance in understanding how the tool works and how to use it effectively. UMUC librarians have…

Libraries are an interesting instance of the radical transformations that higher education is experiencing. The neoliberal turn that has led to the commodification of what scholars do--teach and create knowledge--has had a profound effect on the academic library. But the political economy of the transformed library is invisible to many if not most…

Describes some of the new roles and challenges librarians face with the development of new information technologies such as computer networks and document delivery systems. It is argued that librarians will increasingly fill the role of information intermediary as patrons take advantage of end-user systems. (12 references) (LAE)

Describes the changes scientific abstracting and indexing services are making to develop new production systems for a marketplace which is influenced by the information superhighway and the demand for information in an electronic format. Descriptions are included of computer system and data input changes implemented by several database producers…

To compete effectively in the world of electronic reference, libraries must offer remote patrons a variety of index, abstract, and full text services, which are easy to access and which answer questions. A marketing alliance between electronic reference vendors and public libraries would ensure access, fair compensation for publishers and authors,…

The Canadian university library members of two consortial e-journal deals were surveyed t o determine how many of the corresponding print journals had been cancelled as a result of their participation in the online package purchase. The survey indicated that the number of concurrent print subscriptions held by the libraries had notably decreased.…