The desire of academic institutions to link up to the virtual repository is a global phenomenon. Traditional scholarly publication through established journals characterized by peer review is being challenged by less formal net-based communication that links scholars essentially instantaneously. The contention is that universities need to preserve…

The University of Nevada, Reno's Special Collections and University Archives Department moved into a new facility and had to utilize an automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) for storage of manuscript and archival collections. Using ASRS bins presented theoretical challenges in planning for the move. This article highlights how well the…

The internationally recognized "NMC Horizon Report" series and regional "NMC Technology Outlooks" are part of the NMC Horizon Project, a 12-year effort established in 2002 that annually identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years in every sector of education around the…

Academic libraries are turning to automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) as a long-term cost effective means of gaining additional space in their open stacks areas by removing lesser used books and other materials for storage and placement into ASRS bins. The new library building under construction at the University of Nevada-Reno will…

S. R. Ranganathan's five laws of library science, originally published in 1931, provide the basis for reflections on current trends in academic libraries.

In order to determine if the pH of archival storage boxes decreases over time, experimental research was performed by sampling 25 Hollinger, one cubic foot, archival storage boxes from the Kent State University (Ohio) Archives. Boxes chosen for testing were new, 5, 10, 15, and 20 years old. Each box was tested for pH value using pH pens and a cold…

Describes lessons learned by the Great Collections Microfilming Project at Cornell University Library Department of Preservation and Conservation. Discusses choosing the right vendor; selecting collections that have scholarly significance when seeking funding; monitoring the budget and useful cost monitoring computer systems; communicating with…

Defines and discusses strategies for digital preservation. Describes the United Kingdom's CURL (Consortium of University Research Libraries) exemplars in digital archives project "Cedars" led by the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Leeds to address strategic, methodological, and practical issues, and to provide guidance in best…

Describes the value of defunct newspaper morgues, with a focus on the E. H. Butler Library at Buffalo State University (New York), and provides the historical background of two Buffalo newspapers. Discusses challenges facing the special collections librarian: storage facilities, requests for information by patrons from all over the world,…

Examines the increasing trend of universities to pursue electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) programs. Although the goal of most programs is similar, procedural variations impact a program's long-term success. As primary research generators, responsibility for providing long-term access to unique materials must be borne by universities.…

The scholarly communication system is in a critical stage, due to a number of factors. The Open Access movement is perhaps the most interesting response that the scientific community has tried to give to this problem. The paper examines strengths and weaknesses of the Open Access strategy in general and, more specifically, of the Open Archives…

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…

Discusses the problem of access in managing image collections and describes a prototype system for the University of California Berkeley which would include the University Art Museum, Architectural Slide Library, Geography Department's Map Library and Lowie Museum of Anthropology photographs. The system combines an online public access catalog…

Describes the Selected Archives at Georgia Tech and Emory (SAGE), a local grant-funded project to build virtual library capabilities at both libraries. Discusses the progress made by the libraries in six areas: selecting materials; preserving original data formats; creating digital files; indexing digital files; designing Web-based navigation and…

Describes a report (published in 1993) on British university libraries. The report addresses funding problems, the growth in desktop and electronic publishing and resulting archiving and preservation issues, the increased number of university students, the impact of information technology on the transmission and storage of information, and the…