Provides an interview with K. Wayne Smith, chief executive officer of OCLC, that focuses on OCLC's online reference services. Topics include the ratio between technical and online reference services, how OCLC fits into the online industry, telecommunications, electronic publishing, pricing, database tape leases, and CD-ROM. (EAM)

Reviews issues associated with the distribution of CD-ROMs by the Government Printing Office (GPO) as identified by documents librarians in an E-mail discussion, Govdoc-L. Titles being distributed on CD-ROM are identified, access and cost issues are discussed, software limitations are described, and level of patron service is considered. (three…

Asserts that educators should help students to make the transition to the real world of desktop publishing (DTP) as smooth as possible by presenting DTP concepts in the classroom. Offers seven principles of page design and a classroom exercise on DTP. Reviews several word processing programs that include DTP functions. (PRA)

A discussion of the issues facing academic libraries looks at economic dilemmas, alternatives to traditional information distribution, electronic publishing, scholarly workstations, and electronic books. It concludes that libraries will play a significant and more dynamic role in the acquisition, organization, and services for new electronic…

Examines whether search engine design shows a pattern of interdisciplinarity focusing on two disciplines: computer science and library/information science. A citation analysis measured levels of interdisciplinary research and publishing in search engine design and development. Results show a higher level of interdisciplinarity among library and…

Relates how scholarly publishing in Western Europe feeds into North America. Discusses globalization, regionalism, and particularism; new models and research methodology; Biblio-Darwinism (survival of the fittest publishing languages) and the language of the imprint; differing academic infrastructures of Europe; booming scholarly-title production;…

Examines both the current state of scholarly communication and its future prospects. Topics include the relationship between author, publisher, and librarian; ownership of published material; traditional role of the library in scholarly communication; fair use; new paradigms with electronic publishing; and libraries as scholarly communication…

Discusses the economic value of information and cost and benefit concepts. A subjective evaluation model for comparing the desirable and undesirable potential of library acquisition of an electronic information resource is then introduced. The model considers objectives, impact, costs, benefits, and alternatives, and lists evaluation criteria for…

Discusses the effects the Telecommunications Act of 1996 will have on telephone services, telephone and cable mergers and buyouts, cable television rates, alarm monitoring services, satellite services, broadcasting and media ownership, electronic publishing, the television industry, and the Internet. Describes the impacts the act may have on…

Explores the accessibility of Internet-based electronic resources (e-sources) through three efforts: (1) evaluation of accessibility of e-sources cited in four print journals and four electronic journals in library and information science, (2) a survey of editors regarding policies on citing e-sources, and (3) a survey of authors on accessing of…

Focuses on the "real" e-books. Discusses Stephen King's novella released exclusively for electronic publication, and discusses experiences of another author writing on a specialized subject. Presents a brief background of e-books. Examines the differences between Portable Document Format (PDF) technology and the new Open eBook (OEB)…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the future of electronic communications in science. The analysis concludes that communicative plurality and communicative heterogeneity are durable features of the scholarly landscape, and that field differences in the use of and meaning ascribed to communications forums are likely to persist, even as…

The community of specialists in scientific information and communication must begin to give more vigorous attention to its expectations for ethical conduct by authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers in the realm of electronic publishing, and to consider how those expectations may differ from the standards applied in a print-based environment.…

Explores the relationship between scholarly communication, an established research area receiving renewed interest, and digital libraries, a relatively new area of research. Stakeholders agree that the relationship structure inherent in scholarship has become unbalanced with the advent of electronic publishing, digital libraries, computer…

Calls for better research on how information technologies alter graduate education. Proposes questions: (1) "Are our graduate programs preparing students for new media literacies?"; (2) "How can information technology tools facilitate research and writing processes?"; (3) "What training do students need?"; (4)…