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Examines developments in online community information services, especially now that many homes have computers with modems and many people are familiar with the concept and use of telecommunications. Emphasizes the low cost of online systems in providing information to the public and to schools. Discusses the Cleveland Free Net, an online system providing community information in the areas of law, medicine, education, arts, sciences, and local government. Finally, details the National Telecomputing network mission statement and goals.

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.

Network resources have become widely used by libraries in recent years. More than ever before, librarians are expected to become familiar with such tools as electronic mail, file transfer protocol (ftp), and Internet‐accessible online catalogs. Many online professionals consider Usenet to be the world's largest computer network and an essential resource to academics, yet it has received little attention from the library community. This article will provide a brief description of Usenet and discuss how it may be applied to library settings.

Usenet is one of the most widely used services on the Internet. Recently, a handful of articles dealing with the mechanics and personal use of Usenet have appeared in the library literature, but little attention has focused on Usenet as a reference tool. This is unfortunate, since Usenet has the potential to serve as a valuable reference source to answer questions. With Usenet we have the ability to query the knowledge of a large well‐educated population on just about any subject from computers to popular culture. A question posted to the proper group on Usenet will often receive responses within hours. This article provides a brief introduction to Usenet and how it can be used for reference work, plus a guide to some of the issues involved with posting reference questions to Usenet. But first, I offer two examples of reference questions that I have answered using Usenet as a source.

Describes the basic components and background knowledge needed to set up a networked CD‐ROM system. Tests various products that can be used to share CDs on a local area network, these fall into three categories: hardware – Meridian Data, SilverPlatter and CBIS; operating systems – LANtastic; and software – OptiNet.

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.

The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the eighteenth to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1991. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.

While Gutenberg's invention is likely to endure for some time, it is indisputable that the prominence of print is diminishing. The recently published Mellon report University Libraries and Scholarly Communication highlights the symbiosis between the humanities and the print medium. It maintains that electronic media will ultimately change the nature of the humanities and spawn a new kind of discourse with fundamentally different features. The report asserts that the shift from print to electronic media, which began in the late twentieth century, will have widespread consequences on the intellectual experience of modern society, reaching beyond print and libraries.