Search results

E‐mail based electronic conferences (e‐conferences) and journals (e‐journals) are an increasingly popular means of communication for scholars who have access to the academic networks BITNET or Internet. This article explains the technology that allows e‐conferences to form and proliferate, presents preliminary research on scholars' use of the networks, and then examines general issues informing and moderating e‐conferences.

The impact of electronic publishing (e‐publishing) on library collections, services and administration is complex. There are no simple solutions to the problems of managing the collection, archiving and access to e‐publications as well as including them in library services. There are, however, many good usable solutions that libraries can learn from each other. No one needs to recreate the wheel to cope with e‐publications. Many librarians feel that the technology to solve the problems and take advantage of e‐publishing is either currently available or clearly under development. How the advent and increasing presence of e‐publications will impact the people who will read them may ultimately be of more importance than what we will do with the machines, the storage media or the delivery mechanism. Therefore, emphasis in this special theme issue is more on the human‐interaction aspects of e‐publishing rather than on the technology or delivery mechanisms.

Building a Web‐based e‐library may be the most important thing a library ever does. An important role for librarians in all types of libraries is the planning and/or building of Web‐based e‐libraries. Offers a practical discussion of developing and implementing a collection plan for building Web‐based e‐libraries. The starting point for developing any collection plan is an assessment of the function of and need for an information collection and the audience it will serve. Discusses some guidelines and practical strategies on where and how to find, identify, evaluate and select appropriate Web‐based information resources. Focuses on Web‐based information resources rather than other electronic information resources such as CD‐ROM or fee‐based databases that have been discussed extensively in recent literature.

Identifies key activities that network users can perform in order to use the network effectively. Offers recommended reading, from beginner to expert user status. Explains some commonly used terms (e.g. Turbo Gopher with Veronica!). Lists useful Internet resources.

Reports on a project to: first, provide an empirical analysis of textual information on the Internet; second, to test the suitability of cataloguing rules and record formats governing the creation of machine‐readable cataloguing records; and third, develop recommendations that would assist the efforts of standards bodies and others interested in systematically cataloguing or otherwise describing and providing access to electronic information objects available through remote network access. Provides summary tables regarding the growth of the Internet and its traffic, together with file types. Concludes: first, that machine readable cataloguing records should be created; second, the effectiveness of records created for providing description and access information should be monitored; and third, cataloguing rules and formats should be extended to include interactive network systems and services.

As CD‐ROM becomes more and more a standard reference and technical support tool in all types of libraries, the annual review of this technology published in Computers in Libraries magazine increases in size and scope. This year, author Susan L. Adkins has prepared this exceptionally useful bibliography which she has cross‐referenced with a subject index.

Electronic mail (e‐mail) has become one of the most indispensable means of communication of our times. One of its applications is discussion lists. The paper looks at discussion lists in general and academic discussion lists in particular. It further highlights some very important directories of discussion lists, including both electronic and print versions, pertaining, but not limited, to academic and scholarly discussion lists.