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A library management system is a significant investment for libraries, but the procurement of a system is an infrequent activity with little opportunity for librarians to build on their experience. The procurement process is also difficult for potential system suppliers who must respond to specifications which are variable in content, format and quality. The HARMONISE project aimed to determine the feasibility of developing a model system specification which could be used to assist libraries in the procurement of library management systems. Specifications collected from libraries which had recently acquired a library management system were analysed. The results demonstrate that the functional requirements specified for each of the core modules had strong similarities both within and across library sectors. A survey of UK system suppliers was also undertaken to determine their views on the specification as a procurement tool. Suppliers expressed frustration with the tendency for specifications to be dominated by lists of functional requirements which were present in all library management systems on the market today. In conclusion, a model specification incorporating basic functions, which can be expected in all library management systems, should be developed.

The 1995 UKOLN International Conference was held at the University of Bath from 19–21 April 1995 on the theme: Managing the intellectual record. In the opening welcome to the conference, the former BLRDD (British Library Research and Development Department) Director, Brian Perry, mentioned the special nature of the conference, marking the retirement of Philip Bryant as Director of UKOLN, the Office for Library and Information Networking. The conference proceedings, which have been published, are dedicated to Philip Bryant.

Paul Anderson has been appointed to the board of Durr Ltd., Warwick, and Director in charge of the Paint Finishing System (PFS) Division.

The Commercial Invoice is the first EDI message to gain worldwide acceptance, and it has been registered as a standard by the United Nations. The action was hailed by the Commission of European Communities (CEC) as a significant step towards the international agreement on technical standards needed in order for electronic communications to gradually replace paperwork in world trade.

The substance of this article was prepared for and delivered as the keynote address at the Joint Information Systems Committee’s Electronic Libraries Conference, “Information Ecologies: The Impact of New Information Species,” 2‐4 December 1998, York, UK. With a prefatory warning about the useful limits of metaphor, the ecological principles of equilibrium, opportunism, symbiosis and ecological succession are applied to the information economy. The potential implications for publishers, libraries, and new information types are explored.

Describes the efforts of Information Services staff at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, to obtain course reading lists. The response rate of 66.35 per cent for initial return of forms was very encouraging and this success can partly be attributed to the singular approach of collaboration with two local bookshops. Details the methodology involved in the project, in addition to the results obtained. Examines the responses of different departments to being informed that some of their reading list texts are not held in the library. Concludes that, while departments may put up strong resistance to the concept of the library stocking all reading list texts (e.g. due to limited funds), even the fiercest of critics found the project beneficial and positive results ensued. These results varied from one department ordering all their absent texts, to another changing the layout of their reading lists to indicate which texts were to be found in the library and which could be obtained from the lecturer.

With Rosemary Russell, the library systems specialist at the Library Information Technology Centre, taking over the VINE editorship for issue 94, VINE once again became an all LITC affair. Until taking up a new post at UKOLN earlier in 1995, she became adept at juggling VINE, consultancy contracts and other LITC projects, somehow managing to keep all airborne simultaneously! In her five issues she unravelled the mysteries of topics such as EDI, Z39.50 and electronic copyright as well as continuing the VINE tradition of reviewing new systems including Genesis, Calm 2000 and Innopac. In this article she looks at the current role and work of UKOLN.

CLSI has recently announced a radical new development path for its LIBS‐100 library automation system. CLSI's previous intention was to migrate from the current PDP‐11 — based system to DEC VAX hardware to provide a capability for large libraries; this strategy has now been abandoned in favour of one which aims to take advantage both of state‐of‐the‐art processing capabilities and of a standard operating system environment.

The article reports on one area of research in an eLib MODELS supporting study which had three investigative areas: an examination of current database producers’ guidelines for their abstract writers, a brief survey of abstracts in some traditional online databases, and a detailed survey of abstracts from three types of electronic database (print‐sourced online databases, Internet subject trees or directories, and Internet gateways). The examination of database producers’ guidelines, reported here, gave a clear view of the intentions behind professionally produced traditional (printed index based) database abstracts and provided a benchmark against which to judge the conclusions of the larger investigations into abstract style, readability and content. The article concludes with a summary of recommendations for abstract writers.