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This article summarises a 1989 survey on the use of optical products in libraries and information centres in Western Europe. Out of a total of over 13,500 questionnaires distributed to eighteen countries, some 23% were returned and of these just under 10% said they were using optical products (primarily CD‐ROMs) in their libraries or information centres. Nearly half of the respondents who were using CD‐ROMs had acquired only one product, which, in the main, was used by library staff as opposed to end users. This accounts for the high popularity of products such as Books in Print, BL/BN Pilot disk, BookBank, Ulrich Plus and Verzeichnis lieferbarer Bücher—though Medline was the single most used disc. Many respondents had not yet had their CD‐ROM products long enough to be able to give much information on their experience with them or the impact on users. Where details were provided, it was plain that the optical products seemed to be appreciated by users, contributed to greater information awareness and permitted the library to offer a better and faster service. It is interesting to note that these are exactly the kinds of things that libraries not yet using optical products expected to achieve if and when they did use them. While CD‐ROMs had reduced online searching to some extent, feelings were mixed regarding the pros and cons of various optical products. Searching may have been speeded up, but too infrequent updating of the information was seen as a negative factor together with the price. The price or cost of optical products as well as lack of a suitable budget was also cited by many as the reason for not getting such products in the foreseeable future. In fact, nearly 60% of those replying they were not using optical products in their libraries said they would not be getting them. It is clear that it is the bigger academic libraries with a large collection, a lot of staff and a large user community which are presently using CD‐ROMs and other optical technologies.

A scenario is given of a possible library of the future. Such a library might have shelves containing talking books, video cassettes, computer programs on floppy disks and the entire contents of Chemical Abstracts and Encyclopaedia Brittanica on biochips. The catalogue of the library stock and the reference books might well be stored on optical disks and viewed on flat screens. Information on the classification scheme and how to use the collection might be provided by listening to tape recordings and voice synthesisers might inform borrowers where to return items. Robots collect these items from dispensers and replace them on the shelves. Each item in the library has a barcode which is scanned by a laser to provide details of loans/returns and patrons. Terminals linked to computers via satellites enable distant files to be searched on demand for information not stored in the library. Most of the journals taken by the library will be in digital form but a touch of a button on the terminal causes the images to be printed out locally. Fact or fiction? The paper goes on to describe some of the equipment that is currently available to them in the future (such as holography, robotics and satellites). Where we are now in terms of technological developments in libraries and information centres is discussed with reference to some actual projects such as Maggie's Place and Dave's Den. Finally, the impact of such futuristic, electronic libraries on the user as well as the librarian is considered.

Bookmobiles have been an important part of public library service for over a century. Traditionally they have delivered recreational reading material, but new technologies now make it possible for high‐tech bookmobiles to provide a full range of information services. Telecommunications options such as mobile data radio, cellular telephone, and the use of satellites make online circulation, database searching, and facsimile service feasible for library mobile units. Optical disc and other compact storage technologies as well as state‐of‐the‐art navigation systems also have bookmobile applications. Unfortunately, the high cost of technology, particularly for mobile telecommunications, is among the problems delaying the development and commonplace use of ‘electronic bookmobiles’.

From diverse users' points of view, contextual frameworks are elaborated for the nature of the information technology, the information universe, and the information search. Within these conceptual parameters, established theories on search strategy are reviewed and cognitive models of information‐seeking are highlighted. Future directions for research on users' search processes are discussed in terms of the role for online retrieval in the future information environment.

The CD‐ROM market has enjoyed strong growth in recent years in Spain, similar to the experience in other countries. This article, which gathers together existing data from other studies, gives an overview of the current situation of the CD‐ROM market in Catalonia specifically and in Spain as a whole. Where possible, parallels are drawn with trends of CD‐ROM usage in other European countries. Points covered include the general characteristics of the market, trends in usage, titles published in Spain and comparisons with online information retrieval.

The purpose is to bring together all bibliographic references of the published literature on electronic books (e‐books) and related technologies in one source so that it will save time for others in conducting literature searches and reviewing the developments.

The information included in this bibliography is collected systematically from all the published sources in the world such as journal articles, conference papers, conference proceedings, books, reports and PhD theses on e‐books until the last quarter of 2004. Mainly it covers e‐books, e‐books publishing, the impact of e‐books on different types of users, e‐book publishing techniques and trends, e‐book user interfaces and other technologies related to e‐publications.

As computer usage continues to grow exponentially, the desire of users to use electronic publications (e‐publications) has also increased tremendously. This has led to the publication of materials in electronic form as e‐publications on both CD‐ROMs and web. The e‐book is one of the several forms of e‐publications and its popularity has been growing steadily for the past decade.

This bibliography will be useful to all researchers conducting research in any areas related to e‐books and e‐book publishing.

This bibliography was originally compiled for the purpose of a Doctoral degree submitted to Loughborough University of Technology in March 1993. The information in this bibliography, which was started in the last quarter of 1989, was continuously updated by collecting data from all the important current journals and abstracting and indexing sources. It covers all of hypertext, including HyperCard and other hypertext/hypermedia systems which are being used for teaching and training. These systems are also used for conducting research in this field. Full efforts were made to cover all the publications such as periodical articles, conference papers/Proceedings, books and reports that were published until the first quarter of 1993.

An index language usually incorporates various methods for improving recall and/or precision when searching. Recall devices tend to increase the size of retrieved document sets, while precision devices tend to reduce them. The most common recall and precision devices are described in general terms and their usage in several thesauri is examined. The thesauri looked at relate to databases available for searching in the ESA IRS online information system at one time or another and include the NASA Thesaurus; Thesaurus of Engineering and Scientific Terms; Thesaurus of Metallurgical Terms; Subject Headings used by the USAEC; Subject Headings for Engineering; INIS Thesaurus and the INSPEC Thesaurus. The extent to and the way in which the recall and precision devices are used in the ESA IRS online system for controlled and uncontrolled subject term searching are discussed.

The implications of disintermediation for librarians and information specialists (intermediaries) can be experienced as either a threat of a challenge, depending on how the issue is viewed. The different ways in which information specialists can react to disintermediation are discussed. Although most of these are viable, none addresses all implications of disintermediation. A holistic approach to disintermediation is therefore proposed, in which the situation of the intermediary is viewed within the wider society. The following aspects should be analysed with regard to their effect on disintermediation: changes in the society at large, the availability of information sources, the process of information searching, the specific organisations in which intermediaries operate, and the availability of information services. The specific end‐users and the information specialists involved should also be analysed. With this approach it will be found that the effects of disintermediation will vary according to the particular situations. To prepare information specialists for the effects of disintermediation, their training should also be adapted accordingly.

A short presentation concerning the use of computer‐mediated‐communication (CMC) in information work is given together with the latest figures for use worldwide. Human aspects of CMC are discussed briefly. A few traditional information professional applications of electronic mail are described. Special attention is paid to the Danish Science Park Network as an example of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). Through the use of some examples of dedicated ‘person‐centred’ systems (ALANET, LA‐net, etc.), interesting new applications of E‐mail for the information professional are considered.