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Traditional methods of studying and evaluating the use of online public access catalogs (OPACs) are discussed and compared to the protocol method. Verbal protocols are spoken records of people describing their work; they uncover detailed data about what people are thinking as they attempt to solve problems. The results of the Carnegie‐Mellon University protocol study of OP AC users are discussed.

The writer of functional documents must make both macro‐ and micro‐level judgments: decisions about the format and layout of the document as well as decisions about the wording of each passage. The four steps in producing a document are: 1) Analysis, 2) Planning, 3) Development, and 4) Evaluation, Testing, and Revision. To demonstrate the application of these four steps, the authors describe the process of developing and revising a brochure to guide library patrons in conducting an author search on an online public access catalog.

The processing and storage capacity of microcomputers can now support sophisticated and powerful information retrieval systems, previously available only on larger mainframes. The characteristics of information retrieval software are discussed as are the performance capabilities of two software programs, SIRE and ZyINDEX.

The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with orientation to library facilities and services, instruction in the use of information resources, and research and computer skills related to retrieving and using information. The thirteenth annual such review in Reference Services Review, the article covers items in English published in 1986. A few items are without annotations because the compiler was unable to secure copies of them for this review.

The Carnegie Mellon University Library Information System (LIS), introduced in March 1986, is one of the most popular services the university libraries have offered. Distributed access to online library catalogs and other computer‐based information resources is no longer a novel approach to library services. However, Carnegie Mellon's LIS is unusual in several respects. The search interface and retrieval system, though based on IBM's STAIRS proprietary retrieval software, were custom designed by the libraries’ staff. In addition, since LIS access is not password‐controlled, anyone with access to both the campus asynchronous and TCP networks can use the system. Moreover, the Carnegie Mellon environment is particularly well suited to innovation and experimentation that goes beyond merely providing access from terminals in faculty offices or public terminal clusters. The Andrew system, an extensive campuswide network of powerful personal workstations under development by the university and IBM, is the basis for much innovation in applications of computing to teaching and research. By linking basic information resources to the Andrew campus network, the university libraries will increase the integration of information resources with routine class assignments and research.

When former Assistant Oregon State Librarian (now Iowa State Librarian) Shirley George talked about the Oregon State Library's pioneering OPAC system, she began with a story about another Oregon State librarian, a spunky, turn‐of‐the‐century innovator named Cornelia Marvin. According to George, Cornelia was energetic, determined, and very much committed to getting information to the public using any means available.

The Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University has created a working electronic library and has made significant changes in services and staff responsibilities to address users' evolving needs. This article presents an overview of these changes, after discussing the development of electronic libraries at Mann and elsewhere. The increased usage that Mann's collections have received as the electronic library has been developed is also described.

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.

Most second‐generation online catalogs give libraries some capability to customize help messages, screen displays, and system prompts. Microcomputer applications designed or mounted locally may offer even more flexibility. Commercially available information systems offer the user some type of assistance, even when not totally profitable. The librarian has become an active, if not always willing, participant in the design of his or her system's user interface. Knowledge of both patrons and collections can have direct bearing on the structure and effectiveness of the library's automated system, its interface, and online help features.

The need for effective directories of networked information resources becomes more critical as these resources—online library catalogs, file archives, online journal article repositories, and information servers—proliferate, and as demand grows for intelligent tools to navigate and use such information resources. The existing approaches are based primarily on print‐oriented directories, but print‐oriented directories will not scale to support the future services that will help network users navigate tens of thousands of resources. The paper first explores the “user” perspective in various usage scenarios for employing a database of descriptive information to navigate or access networked information resources. It then considers specific data elements that will be required in a description of these networked information resources. Classification of networked information resources will ultimately rely on large‐scale prototypes, coupled with a new generation of advanced information‐seeking tools, and within the reality of economics.