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A pressing task facing reference librarians in public and academic libraries in the 1990s has been helping downsized workers find sources for job hunting. Most libraries carry sources on job hunting and how‐to books on resume wiriting. Libraries also need to provide sources that help people who lose their jobs find out what programs and benefits are available to help them survive during financially lean times and how to deal with the emotional and psychological problems they face. A review of the monographic lieterature published between 1990 and 1996 reveals few titles that deal with emotional and psychological problems resulting from job loss. For this article, the authors selected titles from that period that are in print and provide coping strategies and practical solutions to people in and out of the workplace.

Criminal justice is a major concern of American society and a vast amount of research is published each year on this topic. In this article, Dodge reviews 15 Web sites, which have been selected according to the following criteria: authority, currency, purpose, objectivity, and potential usefulness to researchers. The Web sites evaluated here all provide narrative and statistical information concerning the field of criminal justice: crime, law enforcement, the judicial system, and corrections. These Web sites are published by educational institutions, the federal government, and a few nonprofit organizations.

“What basic competencies—body of knowledge, skills, and tools—are needed to work at a centralized reference desk in an academic library?” asked reference staff of Texas A&M University’s Sterling C. Evans Library. Their goal was to identify skills and areas of knowledge with which a reference staff member should be familiar in such areas as reference desk procedures, electronic resources, and the three major subject groups of humanities, sciences, and social sciences. This article presents an overview and discussion of the concept of subject baseline competencies, approaches to organizations of subject‐related baseline competencies, and the documents resulting from discussions with senior subject specialists in those three groups to develop subject lists for baseline competencies as training tools for new librarians and staff.

The advent of Internet access, full‐text online databases, and graphic user interfaces has vastly increased the amount of hard‐copy information being supplied by today’s libraries. Individuals in both academic and non‐academic libraries are retrieving ever‐increasing amounts of online information. While the majority of libraries have been able to provide some form of electronic information, few libraries are prepared for the volume of printing that accompanies this new form of information access. Individuals without personal computers have little choice other than to print out what they find of interest online. Can a library’s decision to institute a fee for printing present a barrier to information? How does an institution implement a system to recover printing costs? In this article, the authors demonstrate one library’s attempt to provide solutions to these pressing issues.

Describes the experience at Rollins College, of delivering live imagery to the Web. Outlines the steps taken, and the end result. Uses Web cams to deliver a temporary solution. Argues that real‐time video delivery is on the horizon.

Due to the significant cost of interlibrary loan services and the pressure to provide better access to journal articles, a pilot project on unmediated document delivery was designed as an option for interlibrary loan requests at Texas A&M University (TAMU). Graduate students and faculty members of the Educational Psychology and Psychology Departments were given access, at no cost, to the electronic document delivery service of the Institute of Scientific Information’s (ISI) Web of Science^®. Participants were asked to order only items not owned by the TAMU General Libraries. Data gathered included the item(s) ordered, the cost of each item, and the users’ experience level with electronic systems. Key factors examined were the patron’s inclination to check the catalogue, total and average costs, ease of use, willingness of patrons to use the system, and the problems incurred.

During the months of May and June of 2002, interviews and surveys were conducted with over 30 high‐level private, public, academic and non‐profit sector leaders from around the world to discuss the development and impact of regional e‐commerce initiatives. Three pioneers in this arena were analyzed: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the European Union (EU). The motivation, objectives, design, structure and implementation of their respective e‐commerce programs were explored, with an eye toward uncovering the visible and invisible challenges and opportunities. This paper presents a set of high‐level principles which guided and influenced these initiatives and that can serve as a reference for other organizations considering regional e‐commerce needs.

Analyzes a national random telephone survey, carried out in October 1995, on the motivations for and barriers to Internet usage. Eight percent of the random sample reported being Internet users, while surprisingly another 8 percent reported being former users. In total, 85 percent of respondents reported having heard of the Internet. The survey showed evidence of a digital divide, Internet users being generally wealthier and more highly educated, and blacks and Hispanics disproportionately unaware of the Internet. Social and work networks appear to be important for stimulating interest in the Internet and providing users with support. As to reasons for using the Internet, socio‐personal development appears to be the key driver, while nonusers have a decidedly different set of beliefs about the Internet’s value. As to the barriers to Internet usage, even experienced users find it difficult to get started, which confirms other studies of this topic. Barriers include cost and difficulties in understanding how to use the Internet. Concludes that the results of the survey indicate that people strongly desire an easier‐to‐use Internet.