The September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States have contributed greatly to a change in the information environment around the world. The weeks following the attacks saw governments around the world rush to pass legislation designed to prevent future acts of terrorism. Much of this legislation targeted information flow, especially on the…

This paper discusses some of the factors that lead to the success of a health information library, including: (1) the mission statement; (2) practical matters such as location, equipment, furniture, and layout; (3) considerations in writing the procedure and policy manual; (4) confidentiality; (5) staff and volunteer training; (6) sources of…

Papers from the opening session of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference are presented. "New Beginnings" (Robert Wedgeworth) opens the conference and pays tribute to S. R. Ranganathan, in whose memory the conference was dedicated, and William Warner Bishop, also a past president of IFLA.…

This paper investigates the need for electronic provision of information, and advises that the purpose and motivation for providing electronic resources be explored before embarking on a project to provide them. Many projects at universities and other institutes have been begun arbitrarily just because there happened to be financial resources…

This British Library Research and Development Department study assesses current activities and attitudes toward quality management in library and information services (LIS) in the academic sector as well as the commercial/industrial sector. Definitions and types of benchmarking are described, and the relevance of benchmarking to LIS is evaluated.…

This paper discusses the management of library collections of electronic information resources within the classical theoretical framework of collection development and management. The first section provides an overview of electronic information resources, including bibliographic databases, electronic journals, journal aggregation services, and…

This paper begins by examining various aspects of children's and young people's reading ability and the new media, including children's media use and ownership, as well as multicultural aspects. The way public libraries see their role in the teaching of media skills is then considered, including well-developed reading ability as a prerequisite of…

This paper presents the results of a four-year study conducted in primary and secondary schools from all sectors in two Australian states, Victoria and New South Wales. The study investigated the impact of inclusive schooling on the provision of library and information services to students with disabilities. Research questions were identified to…

This paper identifies obstacles to physical and intellectual access and effective use of books and media by South African children and suggests some possible solutions. It also includes a description of a study of the attitudes of first-year student teachers at colleges of education and universities in the Transvaal towards school libraries. The…

In the past decade, significant advances in information technologies in the Euro-American world have fostered the creation of information monopolies. The prices imposed by the monopolies, whose products are largely in the English language, have caused academic libraries to focus almost exclusively on international scientific and cultural materials…