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Analogies used to describe the National Research and Education Network (NREN) range from the national highway system, to the regional canals, to an intertwined postal‐telephone system. Five years from today, I believe the NREN will have earned its rightful place as a new model for building a strong America and enabling still undreamed of concepts to flourish.

The worlds of online information, the Internet and cable television networks are continuing to blur with announcements from the likes of PSI and Ziff‐Davis, Prodigy, CompuServe and America Online. In effect, these worlds are coming together to form a general‐purpose global network based around one medium, cable TV, and all using the same cable modems and routers.

Tracks the evolution of Internet interconnection and charging arrangements, drawing comparisons with telecommunication carriers’ arrangements. Focuses on how pricing arrangements could change ISP relationship’s nature from peer‐ to hierarchy‐based systems. Spotlights Internet basics and differences between telecoms and Internet pricing systems. Concludes that because of ISP, free riders and non‐explicit service subsidies, days are numbered.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

The manning and readiness levels of the reserve forces have been a key issue in the debate of the efficacy of the All‐Volunteer Force (AVF) since the original recommendation for an AVF by the Gates Commission in 1969. General Maxwell Taylor (1981) has identified the AVF's principal failings as:

It has been widely projected in the library literature that a substantial number of librarians will retire in the near future leaving significant gaps in the workforce, especially in library leadership. Many of those concerned with organizational development in libraries have promoted succession planning as an essential tool for addressing this much-anticipated wave of retirements. The purpose of this chapter is to argue that succession planning is the wrong approach for academic libraries. This chapter provides a review of the library literature on succession planning, as well as studies analyzing position announcements in librarianship which provide evidence as to the extent to which academic librarianship has changed in recent years. In a review of the library literature, the author found no sound explanation of why succession planning is an appropriate method for filling anticipated vacancies and no substantive evidence that succession planning programs in libraries are successful. Rather than filling anticipated vacancies with librarians prepared to fill specific positions by means of a succession planning program, the author recommends that academic library leaders should focus on the continual evaluation of current library needs and future library goals, and treat each vacancy as an opportunity to create a new position that will best satisfy the strategic goals of the library. In contrast to the nearly universal support for succession planning found in the library literature, this chapter offers a different point of view.

The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:

Examines the debate over “Higher superstition” (Gross and Levitt, 1994). Puts forward the arguments in the book and the response to the book from members of the US science and technology studies community. Asserts that increases in technical control have been at the expense of social and individual control. Mentions “diversionary reframing” – changing the subject, possibly by diverting attention away from the subject matter to the person doing the criticizing. Explores public attitudes towards science and technology, quoting a number of layman approaches to the bafflement of science. Identifies the irony in Gross and Levitt’s arguments, particularly in developing the interface between science and technology. Recommends paying more attention to the social construction of beliefs.