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Outlines the reasons behind the development of the EuroStudies section the Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG) and discusses the extent of the database coverage and the changes that have had to be made to absorb the new subject area.

This article discusses the changing role of librarians in a higher education sector that is having to adapt to a new social and educational agenda. Many converged library and computing services have been created and this has speeded the process of change for librarians, particularly those who are working as subject specialists. Such librarians, particularly those working in hybrid teams with information professionals from different skill backgrounds are having to acquire expertise and undertake tasks that only tenuously relate to the training they received at the start of their careers. Their work increasingly takes them away from those others in the same profession who undertake more traditional work. A brief list of organisations that can offer training and help for these new professionals is given along with the current UK initiatives for developing support for learning and teaching from the information community.

This article describes the development of a Web Library Guide at the University of Birmingham, UK. Having developed a hypertext guide using Asymetrix Toolbook which gave guidance to users on the subjects and services available in the Main Library of the University, the information was repackaged for loading on to the World Wide Web. The reasons for this move are outlined, the process of the transposition is explained and future possibilities for the project are suggested.

This article describes the development of a hypertext guide to the University of Birmingham Main Library. Using Asymetrix Toolbook software the guide offers users a description of library services and subject locations, floor plans and a subject index. The structure of the guide is described, the problems of development and revision are outlined and possibilities for future progress are suggested.

This paper seeks to illustrate the Internet and IT skills that are required by information professionals in their support for learning, teaching and research within the changing context of the higher education sector in the UK and the development of managed (or virtual) learning environments. In this work environment, as in most others, IT skills, particularly in relation to the Internet are essential. However, some of the more traditional skills that have always been a part of the armoury of the information professional should not be abandoned. Current developments at the University of Birmingham will provide the background throughout the paper.

CDROM network pricing was discussed by over 50 members of the CDROM Standards and Practices Action Group (CDROM SPAG) at the Barbican in London, England last month. Debate ranged from discussing whether standard net‐work pricing was possible, views of users and publishers on metering, and the likely impact of large Metropolitan Area Networks. The day's programme, organised by TFPL, began with two publishers, then two users, discussing their views on networking licensing, before the debate was thrown open to the floor.

A new vehicle for user instruction in academic libraries could be a hypertext library guide distributed on the World Wide Web. This article considers the advantages of an electronic library guide, and the particular advantages and problems of producing one using HTML (hypertext markup language) on the World Wide Web. Existing library guides on the Web are reviewed, and found to be impressive if capable of improvement. Some of the broad design issues are also reviewed, and the possible content of a guide discussed. Likely future developments are then considered.