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The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from the research carried out among the directors of Croatian public libraries about cooperation between public libraries and the academic community and about promotion of science in Croatian public libraries. Owing to their number, strategic position in society and the skills and knowledge of librarians, public libraries have an opportunity to cooperate more intensively with the scientific community, expand their holdings with science‐related content and to offer new services. Some already cooperate with the Croatian scientific community by participating in joint research projects and in promoting science. Although cooperation with the scientific community is not among their priorities, Croatian public libraries are enthusiastic to continue with this type of activity.

The first part of the paper offers an introduction followed by a short review of the current position of public libraries in society and possibilities for strengthening their position by cooperating with the scientific community (in the second part of the paper). The third part introduces the research among the directors of Croatian public libraries followed by the presentation of the findings of the same research. An online survey consisting of 19 closed questions was used as a method of research. An e‐mail invitation to participate in the research was sent to all public libraries in Croatia.

The outcome of the research may serve as an orientation to the members of the Croatian academic community when planning new cooperation with public libraries and vice versa. The findings of the research may also serve as an orientation to the directors of Croatian public libraries when considering expansions of their holdings with new material related to science and in the development of new offline and online services.

The strategic position of public libraries in society makes them of interest for promotion of results of developments in many areas of human endeavour, including science, by using their holdings, services and premises. According to the research findings, public libraries participate actively in popularisation of science by using their existing holdings and services. Public libraries in Croatia are promoting science actively and are participating in scientific projects led by scientific institutions. Their holdings contain popular science titles, and they offer services to facilitate access to scientific information. Public libraries included in the survey plan to continue with the promotion of science, as they believe that this activity is important for them.

The paper aims to advance understanding of the role of public libraries in Croatia and their role in promotion of science, and contributes to the growth of library and information science literature on topics related to public libraries.

This article considers what contribution traditional library practices — identification, selection, organisation and retrieval — can make to managing networked information, and how those practices need to be updated to take account of the special difficulties of the Internet. The answer is found in cooperation. Cooperation between librarians and authors in the creation of metadata. International cooperation between librarians to select resources. The article defines a workflow for cooperation in both fields, and proposes a library search engine to hold jointly created records and a catalogue of Websites online to support selection.

Examines the historical overview of library cooperatives, focusing on Baruch College, in the City University of New York. Describes its newly established programs on Asian and Asian‐American studies, its library’s collections on Chinese and Chinese cultural studies, the presence of Asian and Asian‐American students at Baruch, and career development activities both on campus and abroad. Describes the William and Anita Newman Library at Baruch and presents a library cooperative model at Ohio University in Athens where the author presented a paper in the First International Conference of Institutes and Libraries for Overseas Chinese Studies.

NORDINFO (The Nordic Council for Scientific Information) was founded in 1977 after a long tradition of Nordic cooperation within the research library field. The Council is responsible for coordinating Nordic cooperative initiatives that can facilitate access to scientific information. Prior to that, Nordic countries developed a variety of cooperative forms: political, economic, cultural and scientific. During its 20 years of operation, NORDINFO has financed many experimental projects and financially supported many conferences, seminars and smaller projects with the general aim that these projects should have benefit beyond each individual country. Projects included an interface, which was to serve as a tool to search databases in different countries and structured in different languages. NORDINFO also financed Centres of Excellence where Nordic expertise could be developed. NORDINFO operates on a budget provided by the Nordic Council of Ministers and is given a three‐year contract based on strategy which must be accepted by the board, consisting of one member from each of the five countries that finance Nordic cooperation.

The paper aims to focus on the definition, meaning and functions of knowledge innovation culture (KIC) of libraries, its influencing factors and some strategies to develop it.

The paper gives a definition of KIC, discusses its meaning and functions, analyzes several influencing factors, and suggests some strategies and provides a case study.

The paper finds that the KIC of libraries is a kind of value, behavior and institutional system, which gains competitive advantages and sustainable development of libraries through knowledge creation. This kind of culture is different form traditional library culture and has several specific functions. Some factors like environment, resources and business may affect the development of KIC of libraries. Therefore, it is necessary for libraries to establish environment beneficial to knowledge innovation, enhance trust and cooperation within staffs, create a kind of learning culture, shape knowledge‐based team organization, enhance human resource development and cultivate knowledge innovation talents in order to build up KIC of libraries.

The paper demonstrates how libraries can develop KIC.

The history of Bulgarian librarianship comprises a history of survival under change imposed by foreign rule. This chapter traces the historical development of Bulgarian libraries and LIS education through the lens of Bulgarian history. Part I presents an overview of Bulgarian history, focusing on four dramatic epochs. During Ottoman rule (1393–1878), Bulgarian libraries survived by hiding. The second epoch, European intervention, Russian, occurred under the Austro-Hungarian, and German rule (1878–1944). Bulgarian LIS survived by adopting European practices and the German academic model of library education. The third epoch, Soviet rule (1944–1989), saw a massive suppression of information, Bulgarian libraries survived by maintaining an undercurrent of dissent. The fourth epoch began in 1989 with the onset of democratic reforms. Bulgarian librarianship survived the financial crisis and anarchy of that epoch by adopting foreign practices and establishing partnerships with foreign library institutions. Part II describes agents of change acting within the Bulgarian LIS field during the radical change from Soviet to democratic rule. The change agents included the formation of a union, cooperation among Bulgarian libraries, and international cooperation with Western institutions.

Research for this chapter incorporated literature reviews, surveys of accredited Bulgarian LIS programs, interviews with Bulgarian and American LIS professionals, and bibliometric analysis of Bulgarian publications.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the network strategies of academic libraries and presents an approach to the evaluation of strategic plans and their implementation.

The balanced scorecard approach is used as a framework for organisations to communicate and implement their strategic plans.

It is shown in this study that the balanced scorecard also provides a general framework for the evaluation of the strategy and performance from different perspectives.

The concept of the strategy map is used to illustrate the objectives of the strategic plans of the consortium of libraries.

This study contributes to the knowledge and practice of the strategic planning of libraries. The findings of the study are useful for those who seek to achieve cost‐efficiency with the increased and networked cooperation of libraries.

This paper aims to present the results of a study on success factors of resource sharing (RS) and cooperation in Iranian Academic Libraries (IAL), from the point‐of‐view of librarians who have direct experience of such activities. It investigates and compares the librarians' experiences of, and opinions on, the importance of the success factors in the current and desirable situations in the IALs.

Based on a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, 58 success factors of RS were identified from the previous studies. Using Likert scale technique, the importance of the factors in the current and desired situations of the RS programs were explored and ranked, based on the experiences and opinions of a sample of “key informants” who had direct experience of RS activities in the context of IALs. Then the consistency and/or inconsistency between the current and desired situations of the success factors were identified, using gap analysis method.

The findings revealed that almost all of the success factors mentioned in previous studies are considered important by the respondents. However, only eight factors received high rankings in the current and desired situations of the RS programs in the IALs.

The research focuses on factors identified in previous studies. This may ignore certain, especially cultural, factors, which are effective in the context of IALs.

The study highlights the importance of success factors in development or improvement of any RS activity. The factors would provide both researchers and practitioners with a rich framework to examine the current situation of their RS programs and develop informed strategic plans to improve that. In particular, the findings inform the RS planners and policy makers that particular attention needs to be given to the factors that are identified as very important by the study participants. These factors would alert them to the causes and impacts of such a deficiency in the RS and library cooperation systems.

There is no comprehensive study on the success factors of RS in libraries and, as such, no investigation of the factors in some real‐life contexts of RS activities. Both researchers and practitioners in the field of RS may value the novelty and results of this study.

Details the last OCLC Users′ Council meeting which had the theme “Cooperation and competition: OCLC and libraries′ strategies for the next generation”. Reports include: the delegate algorithm task force report; OCLC reference services; OCLC cataloging and resource sharing; the Users′ Council executive committee report on telecommunications; access to OCLC services – trends pricing and the future. Concludes with a summary of the question/answer and old business sessions.

Three different governing boards of higher education in Louisiana joined together to create the Louisiana Online University Information System (LOUIS). Key players in this endeavor describe progress from an idea formulated in 1990 to the 1993 reality of an effective statewide online system. Improved services to users and more effective use of collections are examples of what the various libraries throughout Louisiana are expecting to realize from this collective action. Various lessons learned are detailed. Budget components are addressed openly. In 1993, the state of Louisiana was awarded a federal $2.48 million grant that enabled the completion of this statewide infrastructure. Other states contemplating a statewide library network may want to look closely at the planning for and implementation of LOUIS.