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The purpose of this paper is to assess the issues faced by managers of inland waterways in the Southeastern USA as a guide for improvements to spill management information systems.

A survey was administered to a group of over 300 professionals representing multiple organizations involved in water quality management and/or spill response in the Southeast region of the USA to query their perceptions on leading demands and issues faced in management of inland waterways both on a daily basis and during spill response efforts.

Survey results indicated that communication is often the “weak link” in both water management and spill response activities, and that enhanced spill management information tools could serve as a valuable resource in addressing this problem. Display of spatial/visual information was deemed to be especially important to spill response personnel and should be included in the next generation of spill response systems.

The scope is limited to the Southeastern USA, but similar results would be expected in other regions where management of surface water is of concern.

In these trying economic times, the survey results serve to rank order decision‐support priorities to which available resources should be allocated and indicate areas of interest for improved support in both water resource management and spill response.

The paper provides the first documentation of the demands and decision‐support priorities of inland waterway resource managers and spill response personnel.

WE look before and after at the beginning of 1951. The three cardinal dates in the history of the public library movement—which is only the larger part of the national library service—were 1850 which saw the legal origin of the movement; 1919 when it was set free from the enforced poverty of sixty‐nine years, and 1950 when it reached what until today was its veritable apotheosis. General recognition, such as authority from the Crown to the humblest journal gave to public libraries, was something undreamed of not more than thirty years ago. Perhaps, now that some of the splendour of the commemoration has taken more sober colours, it is well to consider what was gained by it. First, the recognition is there and can scarcely be belittled by anyone hereafter; we stand on a somewhat different platform now. We have the extremely valued recognition of our colleagues from libraries overseas. From these advantages all libraries and not only public libraries will in their own way profit.

Library Workstation and PC Report, founded in 1984 as M300 and PC Report, was the brainchild of Allan Pratt, then at the University of Arizona. Pratt, the founding editor of Small Computers in Libraries, had a hunch that OCLC's introduction of the M300 workstation was going to call for much hand‐holding and specialist advice and information for librarians. He was right. M300 and PC Report had a subscribership well before the first issue was mailed to readers. And it remains a growing publication to this day.