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The discussions surrounding weeding print journals can be quite different from those involving books or videos. This paper aims to provide commentary and direction for library managers seeking insight on how to engage pragmatically in the weeding of print journal titles for a variety of reasons.

Drawing on recent press related to an all-digital bibliotech opening in Texas, and contrasting the book weeding perspectives from part 1 of this series, this article explores print journal culling projects from the perspective of the consciousness of library users and stakeholders.

Weeding journals in waves or phases over multiple years of time can be a way to cope with the pressure of needing to reduce print collections due to duplication in online databases and print formats. Surveying users' journal needs separate from book or video needs will produce a more accurate understanding of what titles to keep on hand, and will also draw importance to this information type as it may be at risk as e-books and videos dominate the consumer information landscape.

Reduction in print journal collections continues as the popularity of online article databases grows more and more. Educating users on the virtue of journal publications separate from books and videos is a way to build more understanding about this unique resource. If digital bibliotechs of the future become what users know as “libraries”, but do not contain journals of any type, a major information source will have disappeared from the consciousness of future library supporters.

A survey of the literature of automation indicates not surprisingly that the use of the computer as a management tool apart from as a provider of statistics has attracted little attention. Chorba and Bommer for example see automation as a question of decision support systems, and Runyon typically regards library management as depending crucially upon a total systems approach. One of the most comprehensive accounts of computerisation in an academic library in the UK similarly reveals an inevitable concentration on the systems. The use of the computer as a part of a management philosophy per se is one which is hardly touched upon, yet in a multi site organisation in particular it can be of vital significance in itself. In the context of the particular problems of this kind of library service it is a general aid to management in a much broader sense.

This article describes the considerations a special library must address before building a database. It is based on the practical experiences of the Comstow staff and some actual situations in our clients' libraries. Rapid retrieval of citations on a demand basis followed by instant availability of the full documents is given highest priority. Providing software that will meet a variety of database needs has given Comstow Information Services many interesting problems to solve. The ways in which unique materials might be presented bibliographically often call for trial entries into the database before a standard is established. Examples will illustrate some of these cases and the reasons why software flexibility is critical. In addition to general guidelines and specific examples, this article includes some suggestions on retrospective conversions.

The following questionnaire was devised by Mr. William F. Kluckas and Mr. Joseph M. D'Allegro of E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. It is designed to alleviate many of the problems software buyers encounter in the process of evaluating, selecting, contracting for, and installing software products.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a location determination technology that has been receiving a lot of commercial attention in recent times, especially in the areas of asset tracking and supply chain management. The purpose of this paper is to outline a library prototype that utilises RFID in order to enhance and speed up the current customer book search and identification processes.

The hardware to be used in the design and implementation of the prototypes include a laptop to host the server, a router to create the wireless network, a PDA to host the applications, RFID tags and an RFID reader to carry out the RFID communication.

The functionality and benefits offered by the RFID systems match the needs and areas of improvement for libraries. RFID technology can help streamline major library processes such as stocktaking and book searches. Already approximately 8 per cent of libraries worldwide are using RFID, and it will be incorporated into many items libraries purchase in the future. The development and evaluation of the Library Application has demonstrated that RFID can be successfully integrated into library systems.

RFID systems can be integrated into existing library systems to improve the efficiency of the main processes carried out in any library and increase the quality of services provided. The ability of RFID to uniquely identify every item is very suitable for libraries.

Presents an RFID enabled library system to aid in the speed of identifying and finding books for the customer.

New Chief Executive for Aslib Roger Bowes, the successor to Dennis Lewis at Aslib, is a former Chief Executive of Express Group Newspapers and of Mirror Group Newspapers. He comes to Aslib from the Chairmanship of Citybridge Ltd, a management consultancy.

To share an important national meeting in Italy that provided an international overview of the Open Access movement to date and how progressive the European commitments have been in mandating OA publishing profiles, and more comprehensively how OA is being practiced in Italy.

A summary of the main points of the meeting.

This Congress included the major themes that brought together the research communities, the libraries and librarians, the scholarly publishing enterprises and highlighted the technologies in place to make OA a viable solution to the scholarly communication problems that currently exist.

By reviewing OA strategies and initiatives in place around the world at different institutions in different countries it is clear that there are ways to lay this groundwork so that long‐term success can be achieved. Lessons learned and best practices in place lead to more articulate and comprehensive ways to approach the ongoing problems to ensure that widespread adoption is close in Italy.

This paper looks at what is meant by integrated automated systems in libraries and provides an overview of the UK market for microcomputer‐based products in this area. Some 17 products have been identified with a further four being marketed specifically to schools. The hardware environment necessary for these systems is described along with details of the functionality provided by the various cataloguing, online enquiry, acquisitions and circulation systems.