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Networking is one of the most important issues currently facing the library and information community. The convergence of computing and communications technology is affecting the creation, management and use of information in ways not witnessed since the introduction of printing with movable type.

Enhanced communication between citizens and local government is envisaged as a key role for the proposed UK public library network. Improved internal partnerships between the library and local government departments and representatives will be required. An example of the potential for the development of partnerships with social services departments is discussed, drawing upon recent research reports. However, an emphasis on citizenship information alone would be unfortunate. Partnerships with other information, advice and community networks will be essential to further the aims of increasing social inclusion through electronic networks. This recommendation is supported through a review of partnerships throughout the history of community information, and discussion of recent initiatives including the growth of community information and community information networks in the UK.

This paper is part of a doctoral research which aimed at proposing a national information system for educational administrators in Pakistan. However, this paper only aims at identifying what an information system is composed of and does; defining the information infrastructure (i.e. libraries/information centers and networks) needed for the development of a national educational information system; identifying the nature and design of the information infrastructure in Pakistan; and ascertaining the problems and gaps existing in the information infrastructure of Pakistan and why they exist.

The study is based on review of the available literature. For the literature search, valid sources of published and unpublished information were consulted (i.e. books, journal articles, reports, conference/workshop proceedings, theses and dissertations).

Many library/information centers and information networks are working in the educational domain of Pakistan. The position of academic, national and special libraries is also presented in this review. The basic weakness traced in this review is in the infrastructure of library/information centers and information networks and disintegration of available information sources. The information does exist within libraries/information centers and information networks but the educational administrators have problems in tracing this information. As a result, available information is not being utilized properly in educational planning and development in Pakistan. There is a need to pool the existing information sources, services and networks in one place to form a well‐integrated information system that may provide a holistic and complete overview of education enterprise for realistic planning and resource allocation.

This paper is the first to present the current position of the available libraries/information centers and information networks within the educational domain of Pakistan. Such a review may help the designers of educational information systems.

This article identifies the changes that libraries and information centres (LICs) need to undergo for networking, and lists the existing communication networks (INDONET, ERNET, NICNET, GPSS, RABMN, INET) and libraries and information networks (INFLIBNET, DELNET, BTIS, SIRNET, TIFACLINE, CALIBNET, MALIBNET, BONET, MYLIBNET, PUNENET, etc.) in India. It mentions the paradigm changes that LICs undergo, challenges to their networking, and also highlights the role of IT in transforming traditional LICs into a digital mode. It discusses the various Governmental policies that led to the development of national information infrastructure, the inadequacies of the infrastructure, the status of IT application in Government, and the challenges in converting library contents into computer readable form. It concludes that, although India has drawn up ambitious plans, it has not seen the benefits that could come from employing these facilities to improve the socio‐economic conditions of its citizens or help it emerge as an economic superpower.

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of social networks on the use of academic libraries by university students.

The method used in the present study was a survey. The statistical population included 461 university students. The data collection tool was a questionnaire. The result of the Cronbach test was equal to 0.726 indicating the acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. For data analysis, descriptive statistical methods and inferential statistical methods using SPSS 21 software were employed.

The findings showed that 243 of the participants used social networks for 4–6 h a day, 192 students never used university libraries and 229 used the university library only once in a month. Communication with friends was also reported to be one of the main goals in using social networks. The results of regression analysis also indicated that four predictor variables including information retrieval, social influence, trust and attractiveness of social networking environment were statistically able to explain the variance of reluctance to use university libraries.

The present study is one of the few studies that has examined the negative impact of social networks on visiting university libraries.

EARL (Electronic Access to Resources in Libraries) is a collaborative approach to establishing a national networked information and resource sharing service for public libraries in the UK. This paper provides information on the early stages of EARL during 1994 and 1995 which resulted in a pilot demonstration service being developed as a result of a scoping study. The achievements to date are then outlined and these include membership of EARL by 120 library authorities who use it to provide e‐mail facilities, creation of web pages, access to databases and the development of EARLweb which provides a gateway to a number of Internet resources likely to be of use in public libraries. The current work is described including the British Library funded project, Readiness, the work of the Task Groups and collaboration with European partners. In conclusion the challenges presented to EARL members in the future are included.

China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS), funded primarily by the Chinese Government, is a nationwide academic library consortium in China. As one of the two public service systems in “Project 211”, in China's ninth five‐year plan, CALIS plays a multiple resource‐sharing role among the participating libraries. During past five years, CALIS has established a three‐tiered coordination and management network comprising national information centers, regional information centers and member libraries. In addition, a number of resources have been developed or imported which have made considerable improvements to the service to Chinese higher education and also accelerated the growth of CALIS. The target for CALIS is to build the China Academic Digital Library within the next five years. Currently, CALIS is doing research on the strategies and development of digital library systems, with cooperation and coordination from member libraries. With the development of “digital service environment”, “public service platform”, “imported and self‐built resources”, “service network”, etc. the digital library and information system will be established. The extension of digital library consortium resources and services will thus operate in a digital, networked environment. This paper provides information about the background, initiatives and the strategic plan of CALIS, illustrating how it operates and what it provides.

When, back in 1994, I spoke to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) on the state of network development in Tennessee, I began by saying, “In Tennessee, as in many states, network development is multidimensional, multidisciplinary, multifaceted, multilateral, multidirectional—and therefore multi‐confusing.”

When the initial library networks were established in the United States, they provided affordable, online automation services that were available from virtually no other source. The surge of automation experienced by American libraries for the past two decades has altered the historical relationships that characterize library cooperation. Local networks are being created and machine‐readable products previously available only from the networks are now being packaged on optical media and distributed to individual institutions. With these technological advances, the need for, services offered by, and financial viability of the networks have begun to undergo dramatic change. This is also a time of great opportunity for libraries and networks. There is on the horizon what may be the infrastructure for a national information network. The realization of this network will require close cooperation of librarians, who have embraced the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model for networking, and members of the academic and research community, which is still relying heavily on the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocols (TCP/IP) for communications purposes.