UK: THINQ & Microsoft Encarta Join Forces to Train a Nation

The Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) have announced that the Andrew W Mellon Foundation has approved a grant of $250 000 to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA), for use of over three years, in support of a South African Library Leadership Project.

This is a partnership project between the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs at the University of Illinois, the Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium (GAELIC) and LIASA.

The goals of the project are

1. To implement a leadership program for future library managers from academic and public libraries in South Africa; and
2. To assist with establishing a continuing education function in LIASA.

The project will be administered within the LIASA National Office.

xrefer, the web's reference engine and leading supplier of bespoke reference content solutions, have announced that it is developing a new service aimed at academic, corporate and public libraries. The as yet unnamed service is expected to be available from autumn 2001. The new service is being developed to meet the increasing demand for networked services in libraries, and will leverage the unique technology behind the popular xrefer.com destination site. The library service will incorporate reference content provided by leading publishers to provide quick and easy access to authoritative information covering science, art, literature, business and finance, social science, linguistics, foreign languages, biographies and quotations, together with a range of encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauri. The majority of content available through xrefer's library service will be making its first digital appearance through this service.

xrefer's proprietary technology will add value to this content through creating a network of links that guide the user to related information throughout the entire collection of books. This extra dimension of cross-referencing will generate in excess of 5 million additional cross-references, providing library users everywhere with a more informative and more useful information sourcing experience.

The first release of the new xrefer library service will contain approximately 50 titles, with librarians being given the option to include extra subsets of data covering new subject areas in subsequent releases. The new service will be available for an annual subscription fee.

Daryl Rayner, marketing director, xrefer, said of the new service: " The popularity of the xrefer destination site, combined with the feedback gained from librarians from all spheres, have led to us deciding to develop this new service. Not only will it provide library users with easy access to reliable factual information, it will provide reference publishers with a new channel to distribute their products to libraries."

Northern Light® Technology, Inc. [www.NorthernLight.com], an award-winning search engine and leading provider of information management solutions to enterprises and individuals, has announced that it is enhancing its enterprise product offering to provide corporate intranets access to the company's award winning search technology. Enterprise clients who license Northern Light's Special Collection (or other premium content sources can now include, at no incremental cost, a customized Search box on their corporate intranet sites. This ensures that employees can have immediate access to the online resources licensed by the company, directly from their desktops.

Plans to install more than 1,700 computers in over 200 libraries are going ahead this week with the backing of over �5 million of lottery funding from the New Opportunities Fund. Eight local authorities in England today have approval for development of their People's Network plans to bring local libraries on-line. The authorities are: Barking and Dagenham; Greenwich; Lancashire; City of Nottingham; Suffolk; Warrington; Windsor and Maidenhead; and Worcestershire.

The People's Network scheme is linking every public library in the UK to the internet and the National Grid for Learning, making technology accessible to local communities. Now, a further �5,287,121 of lottery funding is providing at least 1,730 computers in over 230 main and branch libraries in eight library authorities as part of this national information framework.

The New Opportunities Fund, a National Lottery Good Cause distributor for health, education, and the environment, has �100 million for the People's Network, developing information and communications technology centres in every public library in the UK.

Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund, Stephen Dunmore, said: "Local libraries are hubs of information for their communities. In the 21st century the internet brings a knowledge base that links across the globe. Everyone, including disadvantaged groups, should have access to computer technology. The People's Network will do just that."

Barking and Dagenham will put 120 computers in 11 libraries with �326,502 of lottery money. "Providing free internet access is enormously important. So many local people don't have their own resources even to think about computers," said Trevor Brown, Head of Library Services. "We've a good spread of libraries and this provides good access," he added.

"The �1,052,062 grant to Suffolk will provide around 150 extra public internet computers in all 45 public libraries in the county, bringing the total to 325. The internet is already very well used in Suffolk's public libraries. This grant is particularly welcome not only because it will help reduce the time people have to wait to use an internet terminal, but more importantly because it will make access to the internet faster, and enable access to interactive learning materials, multimedia information and video conferencing. People in Suffolk use the internet in libraries to learn, to apply for jobs, to contact their councillor and so on. Now many more people will be able to participate in the e-society," said Guenever Pachent, Assistant Director of Libraries and Heritage.

In Warrington the installation of the new state-of-the art equipment will be rolled out over two years, with Lymm library being one of the first centres to come online this month. Alan Stephenson, Director of Environment and Regeneration at Warrington, said: "This �348,268 will help provide state-of-the-art computers for everyone to use. Our libraries are already a vital resource and centres of community activity. However, these new computers will ensure they play an even more important role within our communities. Working in partnership with other agencies and organisations, this will open up the 'on-line' world to all the people of Warrington and will be a vital community resource."

For the first time since 1969 the UK library community is set to change the format for all its cataloguing and bibliographic data exchange. The clear message that UK libraries wish to adopt MARC21 as the standard for encoding new library catalogue records was given in response to a consultation exercise carried out by the British Library. MARC21 is the standard format for the exchange of catalogue information used in the US, Canada and several other parts of the world, and its adoption in the UK will make possible the downloading of bibliographic records from a wider range of Internet sources than ever before. What's more it will build for the future by bringing the UK into closer alignment with US, Canadian and other libraries worldwide.

The British Library has been working since the mid-1990s with the US Library of Congress and the National Library of Canada, who are the guardians of MARC21, to bring the UK and North American formats closer together, and this latest step is a logical development of that work.

A survey conducted by The British Library as part of an extensive consultation process with key users of its National Bibliographic Service showed that 57% of respondents were in favour of fully converting to MARC21. Whilst 30% would prefer partial harmonisation, only 7% wished to retain UKMARC, the format which has been in place for the last 32 years.

Stuart Ede, Director of Collection Management at the British Library said "In the light of this clear mandate the British Library has confirmed its commitment to lead the change to MARC21, and over the coming months we shall be developing plans for the transition".

Having pursued a distinguished career as Director of Special Collections at the British Library, Alice Prochaska has been appointed as University Librarian of Yale University, Conneticut. Dr Prochaska will begin her five-year term in this highly prestigious post on August 1 2001.

Since her arrival at the British Library in 1992 Dr Prochaska has been responsible for the Library's main 'heritage', non-book and Asian collections, which include the Manuscript Collections, the Map Library and Music Collections, the Oriental and India Office Collections, the National Sound Archive, the Philatelic Collections and the Library's Archives. She has also played a leading role in policy making at the Library, both as a member of the Executive Committee and by chairing the Digitisation Policy Group, with overall responsibility for the Library's digitisation initiatives.

Dr Prochaska graduated from Somerville College, Oxford in 1968 and received her doctorate in Modern History from Oxford in 1975. She has had a wide-ranging career in cultural and academic administration.

London Archives on the Wider World has been awarded a grant of �25,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to make access to the catalogues of twelve archive offices in the London area much easier. By making archive catalogues available centrally and in a searchable format, both amateur and professional historians will be offered the opportunity to locate useful documents at the tap of a keyboard.

London Archives on the Wider World is a project led by the British Library which will provide fast access to a variety of archival sources in London documenting the relationships of Britain and its people with the wider world by mounting their catalogues on the world wide web.

London Archives on the Wider World is part of a nationwide programme entitled Access to Archives (A2A) led by the Public Record Office, the Historical Manuscripts Commission and the British Library. It will consist of over 15,000 catalogue pages on archival gems and will be available via A2A's database. This will provide a one-stop shop by making archive catalogues available centrally and in a searchable format. A few mouse clicks will take users from descriptions of documents to linked information on the archive offices where the documents can be consulted.

The catalogues of London Archives on the Wider World list documents on the rich and varied history of Britain's contacts overseas. These sources are held in the India Office Records of the British Library and eleven other archive offices in London. They include papers of civil servants and army officers who served all over the world, documents relating to British rule in India and to the freedom movements in India, Pakistan, and Burma, and archives of international business, health and education. The personal papers of many historical figures are represented in the holdings of other participating archive offices, ranging from the 19th century explorer David Livingstone to the pioneer anthropologist Margaret Read who died in 1991.

THINQ Learning Solutions, a leading provider of enterprise wide corporate learning solutions, has announced it has received $20 million in financing in its fourth round of equity investment led by two prestigious venture capital firms, CIBC Capital Partners and Mellon Ventures. Despite the economic climate, investors funded this round because of their continued confidence in THINQ's seasoned management team, their business model, and continued success in winning new customers.

In addition, investors point to THINQ's product and services leadership, the company's global vision, and a proven merger and acquisition growth strategy as key to THINQ's staying power in a difficult market. THINQ will use the money for operations, product development and acquisitions.

"Our decision to invest in THINQ is based largely on the long-term value we see in the company's technology, business model, and management team," said Teddy Rosenberg, managing director at CIBC Capital Partners. "THINQ is unique in its ability to provide both proven technology and content solutions. We believe this combination will drive its success with customers."

This latest round brings THINQ's total venture funding to $66 million since its incorporation in February of 1999. THINQ's previous financing came from a number of leading institutional investors, including Charles River Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, BCI Partners, HLM Management and Windspeed Ventures. These firms also participated in this recent funding. CIBC Capital Partners, based in Toronto, is the merchant banking division of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the eighth largest bank in North America. Mellon Ventures, located in Pittsburgh, PA and an affiliate of Mellon Financial Corp. (NYSE: MEL), is one of the largest venture capital firms in the U.S. with over $1.3 billion under management.

"Receiving endorsement from such impressive investors in a very difficult market underscores THINQ's leadership in the e-learning arena," said THINQ CEO Hemang Dave. "We believe this continuing investor support will reassure customers and partners that THINQ is here to stay with a sustainable business plan and leadership in both the learning management system and content aggregation spaces."

Since THINQ's last round of funding, the company has grown significantly, adding numerous corporate customers and strategic partners. A merger with TrainingServer, Inc. in October 2000 delivered over 200 new customers and four million active learners to the company. THINQ has since successfully integrated both its and TrainingServer's products and services to create a single, comprehensive source for enterprise learning needs. This new combination of products and services has earned THINQ significant new contracts with organisations such as Eastman Kodak and CommerceOne.

The corporate e-learning market is currently more than $2 billion and is expected to grow to $23 billion by 2004, according to a recent report by International Data Corp., which predicts the market will more than double in each of the next three years.

Ariba, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARBA), the leading business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce platform and network services company, was recently named the undisputed leader in the eProcurement arena by seizing 36 percent of the worldwide buy-side eProcurement market segment - more than twice that of its closest competitor - and 18 percent of the total eProcurement market. According to the February 2001 IDC Report, "eProcurement Applications Market Forecast and Analysis, 2000-2004," Ariba leads the market with year 2000 application license and network revenue of $375 million, over $100 million more than the closest competitor.

The report also noted that in 2000 Ariba grew faster last year than the overall market (815 percent as opposed to 167 percent) due to its powerful sales engine and key partnerships.

"There's no question that Ariba is one of the fastest-growing application vendors," noted Albert Pang, author of the report and eCommerce software research manger for IDC. "Its effective execution in the buy-side procurement applications market has given Ariba a sizable lead over others."

"Ariba understands that customers need a market leader who can provide them with a rapid implementation and immediate time to value," said Michael Schmitt, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Ariba. "The Ariba platform of solutions delivers this by providing our customers with increased efficiencies, reduced costs and improved trading partner relationships, which significantly impact a company's bottom line."

"For the BMW Group, Ariba was the only choice. We chose them for their frictionless global platform and proven ability to execute. No one else even came close," said Robert Bauer, head of eProcurement, BMW Group.

Despite the current economic slowdown, IDC projects that the eProcurement applications market will grow to over $9 billion by 2004, a compound annual growth rate of 47 percent. eProcurement is a popular IT investment as it brings a huge amount of efficiency and savings to a company's operations and bottom line.

The aim of the DISA project is to make accessible to scholars and researchers world-wide, South African material of high socio-political interest which would otherwise be difficult to locate and use. In addition this national project aims to provide experience and develop knowledge and expertise in digital imaging amongst archivists and librarians in this country. It is intended that DISA be the first in a series of projects dealing with South Africa's fascinating social and political history.

The School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Oklahoma is pleased to announcement the appointment to the faculty of Dr. Cecelia Brown and Dr. Guillermo Oyarce, effective fall 2001.

Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma. Prior to joining the faculty of the School she was Assistant Professor of Bibliography and Chemistry-Mathematics Librarian at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Brown's research program focuses on the information-seeking behavior of scientists in the electronic environment and information literacy of science students.

Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. in information sciences and a master's degree in technology and cognition, both from the University of North Texas. He comes to the School from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was a member of the faculty of the School of Library and Information Science. Dr. Oyarce's research interests emphasize human-computer interface design and information retrieval.

"These well-qualified and experienced faculty members are an important addition to the faculty," according to Dr. Danny P. Wallace, Director of the School. "As we move into new programmatic areas, including introduction of a bachelor's degree in information studies and development of a master's degree in knowledge management, the abilities and skills brought to the School by Dr. Brown and Dr. Oyarce are an invaluable addition to the School's faculty expertise."

Nobuko Kishi, associate professor at Tsuda College, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan, has begun a one-year term as an OCLC Visiting Scholar.

The Visiting Scholar Program is sponsored by the OCLC Office of Research to bring experienced scientists, educators and administrators to OCLC.

During her tenure, which runs through March 31, 2002, Ms. Kishi will conduct research, in collaboration with staff of the OCLC Office of Research, on the structure, organization and content of the World Wide Web.

"We anticipate a mutually beneficial collaboration with Ms. Kishi," said Ed O'Neill, OCLC consulting research scientist and manager of OCLC's Web Characterization Project. "The web is an information resource of remarkable depth and scope. The OCLC Office of Research and Ms. Kishi share the same fundamental objective, which is to understand and characterize the structure and content of the web in ways useful to librarians and other information managers."

Since 1992, Ms. Kishi has been a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Tsuda College. From 1984 to 1992, she was an associate researcher at Tokyo Research Laboratory, IBM Japan. Ms. Kishi received a bachelor of science degree and a master of engineering degree from the University of Tokyo.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization whose computer network and services link more than 39,000 libraries in 76 countries and territories. OCLC is dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs.

Following a four-week trial, 13 members of the Turkish University and Research Librarians Association (UNAK) formed a consortium to use the OCLC FirstSearch service. Two more libraries have joined the consortium since the libraries began using FirstSearch in early January.

The UNAK consortium has focused on full-text capability combined with access to OCLC's unique databases available through the OCLC Base Package with Full Text option, which includes WorldCat, OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online (bibliographic index), OCLC ArticleFirst, OCLC ContentsFirst, OCLC NetFirst, OCLC Union Lists of Periodicals, OCLC PapersFirst, OCLC ProceedingsFirst, ERIC, GPO, MEDLINE, World Almanac and H.W. Wilson Select Plus.

"Fifteen OCLC consortium members are very pleased to have access to a huge database that covers all subjects with reasonable prices," said Adile Gunden, president of UNAK and deputy director of the Hacettepe University Libraries, Ankara Turkey. "Besides this, we can access a wide range of electronic periodicals through the Electronic Collections Online database in FirstSearch."

"This agreement offers UNAK libraries access to quality content coupled with links to online full text for immediate delivery to the desktop," said Nick Rawson, director, Library Services, OCLC Europe, the Middle East & Africa. "We are delighted to be working with UNAK on this important project, and we look forward to strengthening our links with Turkish libraries in years to come."

James Benson, Director of the Division of Library and Information Science and Dean of University Libraries of St. John's University has been appointed Interim Chief Information Officer for the University. The Office of Information technology supervises all aspects of Information Technology as well as Telephone and University Postal Services on campuses in Queens, Staten Island, Eastern Long Island, Manhattan, and Rome, Italy.

In Fall 2001, the Division of Library and Information Science will begin offering a substantial portion of the MLS degree with a concentration in School Media Services at the University's Eastern Long Island Campus in Oakdale, NY. A six credit residency at the Queens campus will be required to earn the MLS. The Division is also exploring the possibility of offering courses [possibly beginning in Fall 2002] in Manhattan leading to the MLS with a concentration in Corporate Information Services. St. John's University is merging with The College of Insurance [located in the financial district near the World Trade Center]. The College of Insurance will become the School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science of St. John's Tobin College of Business Administration. The projected closing of the merger is scheduled for late May. At that time the facilities of The College of Insurance will become the Manhattan Campus of St. John's University.

Eliza T. Dresang, 1981 Ph. D. graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies has been chosen as the School's "Distinguished Alumna" of 2001. The award recognizes Professor Dresang's outstanding leadership contributions in four significant arenas of library service: the professional practice of librarianship, library education, national professional leadership, and scholarly research.

Dresang is especially recognized for the theory of Radical Change that she developed and applied to identify and analyze children's and young adult literature reflecting interactivity, connectivity, and access of the digital world. Her book, Radical Change: Books for Youth in a Digital Age published by the H. W. Wilson Company, was selected as the top professional book of the year 1999 by the Voice of Youth Advocates. In addition, she is the co-author of School Censorship in the 21st Century: A Guide for Teachers and School Media Specialists, scheduled for publication in 2001 by the International Reading Association.

Dresang is currently Associate Professor in the School of Information Studies at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL. Prior to her appointment there in 1996, she was an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Library and Information Studies (1978-1996). She served the Madison Metropolitan School District as Director, Library Media, Technology and Communication (1980-1996) and as assistant to the Superintendent of Schools (1987 - 1996). Before her administrative career, Dresang was a school library media specialist at Lapham Elementary School in Madison, WI. She had previously been a children's librarian at the Ida Williams Branch of the Atlanta Public Library and at the Encino-Tarzana Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Dresang completed her Ph.D. in Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1981.Her earned her masters in library science from the University of California at Los Angeles where she graduated with high distinction. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Emory University with a B.A in French/Spanish/Education.

Dresang has been a contributor to the profession throughout her career. Her contributions include Councilor of the American Library Association (1991 - 2000), Member, Board of Directors, Association for Library Service to Children (1984 - 1988 and 1966 - 2000), Chair of the National School Library Media Program of the Year Award (1985-1988), and membership on both the Newbery (1982-1983) and the Caldecott (1990 - 1991) award committees.

Dresang's awards and distinctions include the Wisconsin School Librarian of the Year, awarded by the Wisconsin Library Association; and the Judy A. Harris Award, presented by the Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education. Academic Honor Societies include Phi Beta Kappa and Beta Phi Mu.

With these and other distinctions and contributions to her credit, it is not surprising that one of her nomination letters describes Dresang as "an extraordinary scholar, teacher, and community servant."

Dresang will be the featured speaker at the 2001 graduation ceremony for the School of Library and Information Studies on May 19, 2001.

As part of restructuring its top tier of management, the British Library has appointed Clive Field as its new Director of Scholarship and Collections. Dr Field joins the Library during August, having spent the past six years as Librarian and Director of Information Services Directorate at the University of Birmingham. During that time he implemented a radical and highly successful re-organisation of the Information Services division, bringing together planning and delivery of the University's principal information and learning resources. He also played a major role in the overall management of the University of Birmingham, through membership of bodies such as the Academic Board, the Senate, the Senior Officers Group, the Estate Strategy Group and the e-Business Group. As the Chairman and Director of the Consortium of University Research Libraries, and through other national and regional agencies, he has been involved in promoting the development of hybrid and electronic libraries and collaborative solutions to research library support.

Previously at the British Library, responsibility for the development and management of the collections has been divided by location, subject, format and function. The newly created role of Director of Scholarship and Collections brings together responsibility for all collections and all collection-related functions. These include collection development and acquisition, and responsibility for the core collection management processes of cataloguing, preservation and storage and special collections. While the Director is therefore custodian of a substantial scholarly resource, the role also carries responsibility for streamlining and improving service quality and value from processes which involve large numbers of people.

External relationships are particularly important, for while the British Library has a responsibility to widen access, it also has a traditional base of scholarly users whose research and personal influence are both substantial. Services will grow to meet their needs still further and the excellent relationships the Library enjoys with the UK and international scholarly community will also be vigorously developed. Expressing warm congratulations to Dr Field, the Library's Chief Executive, Lynne Brindley said, "I am very pleased to welcome Dr Field to the British Library. He is an active scholar and has extensive experience of working closely with the research and scholarly community. He will be a key member of the Library's new senior management team." Commenting on his appointment, Dr Field said: "I am delighted to be joining the British Library at what I regard as this turning-point in its history. I am excited by the challenge of being able to develop its superb collections and information resources as a coherent whole, for the first time, and to make them more accessible in a digital environment, for the benefit both of scholars and a much broader audience."

Lynne Brindley added, "As Director of Scholarship and Collections, Clive Field will play a pivotal role in sustaining and enhancing The British Library's curatorial profile as well as working alongside other Directors to advance key elements of Library strategy, in particular our developing programme of digitisation. He and the rest of the new executive team will constitute the driving force behind the Library's engagement with the digital future, keeping the UK's national library at the forefront of national and international scholarship and research."

K. G. Saur Verlag Munich, Germany Announces the 2001 annual award for Best LIBRI Student Paper

Since 1950, through 51 volumes, LIBRI International Journal of Libraries and Information Services has been a leader among scholarly journals in the international library world. As part of its strategy to remain one of the premier library journals, LIBRI is issuing a call for "Best Student Paper of 2001." This competition supports LIBRI's goal of publishing the best articles from the next generation of library and information science professionals. We are proud once again to recognize the very best article with this special award.

Students at all levels* are invited to submit articles with clarity and authority. For 2001, there is no stated theme. Research papers should address one of the significant issues facing today's librarians and information professionals. Case studies, best practices, and pure research papers are all welcome.

Length: approx. 5000 words
Language: English
Deadline: May 31, 2001

The best paper will be selected by a panel consisting of the members of the Editorial Board, the Advisory Board, and other international experts. The paper will be judged on the basis of

• originality of thought and observation
• depth of research and scholarship
• topicality of problems addressed
• the international readership of the journal

NISO, the National Information Standards Organization, has released the final report on its invitational Forum on Performance Measures and Statistics for Libraries. The Forum was held in February 2001 to gather information from the library and vendor communities in preparation for a review of the current Library Statistics standard (ANSI/NISO standard Z39.7).

The sixty participants representing a broad spectrum of libraries, associations, publishers, vendors, integrated library systems companies, and researchers focused on issues related to measurement of library services and electronic resources and the definition of performance measures that compliment traditional metrics. Four general themes emerged from the programs and discussions:

• There is a critical need for systemic data collection.
• There is a pressing need for guidelines for collecting qualitative and performance data.
• Different methodologies are evolving to measure network performance, service quality, impact, and economic value.
• As a starting point, NISO is well positioned to develop a "data dictionary" of terms in frequent use by the different constituencies.

Harlequin, a subsidiary of Global Graphics (Nasdaq Europe: GLGR) has signed a contract with NoOffice International, specialists in information, communication and knowledge delivery, to integrate JAWS PDF technology into the award winning NoOffice product. The contract is expected to be worth in the region of $500,000 and $1,000,000 in the first year and marks a further stage in Global Graphics Software division's expansion into the corporate document management market since acquiring the digital publishing division of 5D Solutions last year.

NoOffice - the name of both the company and the product - is an enterprise wide solution for information and knowledge management that rewrites the rules regarding ease of use, speed of deployment and end user happiness. By simplifying the creation and sharing of communication "documents", such as letters, faxes, emails, calendar entries etc, NoOffice quickly delivers greater efficiency and reduced overheads to an organisation. Integral to NoOffice is the "world wide workplace", which enables users to access NoOffice with just a web browser. NoOffice gives organisations greater overview, insight and control over workflow, projects, teams, departments, customer information and personal documentation.

The JAWS PDF technology gives end users the ability to create a PDF file instantly from the NoOffice application, simply by selecting an email icon. The document is automatically attached to and distributed by email with the advantage that it looks exactly the same when viewed by the recipient as when it was created.

The Jaws PDF technology is a stand-alone PDF Creation tool which translates files created in a wide range of native office and page layout applications such as Word, Excel and WordPerfect to the published PDF specification.

Jim Freidah, chief operating officer of Global Graphics Software division says, "We are recognised internationally in the high end of the printing software market for our Harlequin RIP (Raster Image Processor). Part of our strategy in acquiring the JAWS® RIP, PDF Creator(tm), and Digital Courier(tm) products from 5D Solutions was to move into the middle market and gain share in the growing market for corporate document management. We intend to build on our relationships with Original Equipment Manufacturers in the high end RIP market whilst at the same time strengthen our position to meet demand in the corporate market. So we are pleased to make our technology accessible to partners like NoOffice with their innovative product for collecting and sharing documents in the corporate environment."

Bj�rn Helge Kj�snes, NoOffice Concept designer, says, "The NoOffice philosophy is to keep things simple at all times for the end user. Creating and distributing PDF files should be no exception. The integration of the JAWS PDF technology into NoOffice ensures this procedure is as simple and straightforward as possible. User confidence and recipient satisfaction is also greatly increased by knowing that when the emailed document arrives it will look exactly as it was created."

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) was recently awarded a government/private industry contract for the development over the next three years of an extensive, multifaceted database in the area of biocomplexity. This database will be referred to as the Biocomplexity Collection and will examine the countless interactions of all living entities, especially humans, with the Earth and its environment. The database also explores the impact of the earth and the environment upon living entities.

The partnership agreement is with the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII), which is part of the Biological Resource Division (BRD), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of the Interior. In developing the Biocomplexity Collection, the partnership plans to:

• Incorporate biocomplexity-related bibliographic citations from CSA proprietary abstracting and indexing databases.
• Incorporate biocomplexity-related records from CSA's Web Resources Database.
• Develop three completely new and unique biocomplexity-related citation databases, all records of which will be included in the Biocomplexity Collection.
• Develop an extensive biocomplexity thesaurus.

A new licensing model, the IDEAL Charter for Low-Income Countries, offers institutions in countries with severely limited resources specially priced access to IDEAL. The charter offers reduced-rate access to countries conforming to the World Bank's definition of low-income countries, i.e. those with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $760 (USD) or less. This group includes sub-Saharan African countries, as well as ones in Central America and Central and Southeast Asia.

Through the IDEAL Charter, all universities, research institutes and teaching hospitals in an eligible country may gain access to all journals on IDEAL. In addition, the charter offers full-text access to archival backfiles, dating back to 1993, of all Academic Press journals on IDEAL.

Stated Dr Einar Eriksen, with the Yekatit 12 Hospital Burn Unit in Ethiopia: "As a plastic surgeon working in the capital city Addis Ababa, I mainly deal with burn patients and other individuals in need of reconstructive surgery. Easy access to medical journals through the Internet, as proposed by the IDEAL Charter, will be of great encouragement, motivation and benefit to professionals working in various health institutions in developing countries."

IDEAL now offers nearly 175 currently published Academic Press journals, plus Harcourt Health Sciences journals from Churchill Livingstone, W.B. Saunders, Bailliere Tindall, and Mosby.

Dean Richard Worthing of the College of Fine and Professional Arts has announced the appointment of Professor Richard Rubin as Director of the School of Library and Information Science at Kent State University, effective July 1, 2001.

Dr. Rubin has been instrumental in the development of numerous interdisciplinary initiatives at the University including the establishment of the M.S. in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management, and the newly proposed College of Communication and Information. He has instituted a campaign for attracting minorities into the profession. Within the State of Ohio he is recognized as a leader in expanding education and training opportunities, such as the School's new 12-12-12 Distance Degree Program to deliver an MLIS degree to the four quadrants of the state. He has supported library services to youth initiatives, which include the School's co-directorship of the nationally recognized Virginia Hamilton Conference on Multicultural Literature for Youth and the expansion of the distance education program to include courses in youth services and school librarianship. In making the appointment, Dean Worthing observed: "Dr. Rubin possesses broad knowledge of his discipline and tremendous administrative skill and energy. He is a recognized scholar and leader, both on and beyond our campus. His vision of the role of information resources and delivery in today's world is clear and compelling."

Dr. Rubin has been a faculty member in the School of Library and Information Science since 1988 and has served as Acting Director and then Interim Director of the School since Fall 1999. He received his Ph.D. at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he served subsequently as a Visiting Assistant Professor. Previous to his Ph.D. work, he was employed as a librarian and then Personnel Director for the Akron-Summit County Public Library System. He has served on many committees of the American Library Association and the Ohio Library Council.

Dr. Rubin's scholarly accomplishments include numerous publications in prestigious journals, particularly in the areas of human resource management and ethics, and numerous presentations before professional organizations and associations at the national, state, regional, and local levels. He is especially well-known for his textbooks: Foundations of Library and Information Science and Human Resource Management in Libraries: Theory and Practice.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering 26 lecturing/research awards in Library Science for the 2002-2003 academic year. Awards for both faculty and professionals range from two months to an academic year. A new short-term grant program, the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program, offers two-to-six week grants. While foreign language skills are needed in some countries, most Fulbright lecturing assignments are in English.

Application deadlines for 2002-2003 awards are:

• May 1, 2001 for Fulbright Distinguished Chair awards in Europe, Canada and Russia
• August 1, 2001 for Fulbright traditional lecturing and research grants worldwide.
• Rolling deadline for Fulbright Senior Specialists Program

Responding to the Department for Education & Employment consultation paper 'Building a Stronger Network: developing the role of the National Training Organisations', Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries proposes the creation of a new, broadly-based, effective and sustainable National Training Organisation (NTO) for the cultural sector.

Resource's response to the DfEE consultation states its commitment to ensuring that:

• There is a strong and effective network of NTOs.
• They have the enthusiastic support of the sector, employers and work force.
• There is greater clarity than at present about their central purpose.
• More sustainable funding arrangements are put in place to underpin their work.
• Their relationship with DfEE agendas is clarified; and
• There is greater complementary work between the NTOs and Resource.

The University of Surrey has won a prestigious national award, the Daphne Clark Prize, for excellence in library and information research. The Prize, awarded by the Library and Information Research Group, was presented to UniS Information Services Staff Sally Rumsey and Jon Maslin for their research, 'Exam Papers On-line'.

Speaking on behalf of Information Services, Director Tom Crawshaw said of the award: 'It is gratifying that this project has been appreciated at this prestigious level. Sally and Jon well deserve the recognition that this award has brought their project. It is particularly pleasing to receive such approval from one's peers - often the most critical and difficult audience to impress!'

The shared use of individual library collections is a necessary element of international co-operation by libraries. Just as no library can be self-sufficient in meeting all the information needs of its users, so no country can be self-sufficient. The supply of loans and copies between libraries in different countries is a valuable and necessary part of the process of Interlibrary Lending (ILL).

Recently IFLA's Professional Board approved a completely new set of principles and guidelines for International Lending and Document Delivery. These were prepared in a close cooperation between the IFLA Office for International Lending and the IFLA Section on Document Delivery and Interlending.

Sara Gould, Programme Officer, IFLA/UAP Office at the British Library said: "The sharing of library resources is an important element in ensuring improved access to published material. The revision of these Principles ensures their relevance in the 21st century, and should offer guidance to libraries in carrying out interlibrary lending between different countries. I hope that ILL departments throughout the world will find them a useful guide when requesting and supplying items on interlibrary loan."

Vision IQ / Poseidon Technologies, a leading developer of next generation computer vision technologies, has announced that it has received 17 M / �10.5 M in financing in its second round of equity investment, led by Air Liquide Ventures. Pre-IPO.net (Group Banque du Louvre) also participated in this round of financing joining previous investors including CDC Innovation Partners, Credit Lyonnais Asset Management, NeSBIC CTe, and Apollo Invest, who reaffirmed their support for the company.

Vision IQ / Poseidon Technologies' has baptized its project to build a new generation of computer vision technologies "Vision IQ.(tm)" The objective of the project is to "teach computers to see" resulting in a new generation of Smart Vision(tm) products. Based on proprietary "Video Artificial Intelligence" technologies, these new products will be capable of making decisions in real-time based on what they see.

"The success of this round of funding is a strong confirmation of the market potential of our computer vision technologies, particularly given the current state of the financial markets," said J�r�me Meniere, Vision IQ / Poseidon Technologies CEO. "With this round of financing, we will be able to accelerate the international commercialization of our first Computer Aided Surveillance product and bring two new applications to market between now and the end of the year."

Supported by partnerships with leading academic research laboratories, Vision IQ / Poseidon Technologies has developed breakthrough computer vision technologies. These technologies have proven their worth by powering the company's first product, the Poseidon(tm) System, the world's first computer-aided surveillance system that helps prevent drowning accidents in professionally run aquatics facilities. Sold in Europe and North America, this system responds to the needs of over 200,000 facilities around the world, a market estimated at over $10 billion.

On November 28, 2000, at one of its first installations in Ancenis, France, this system saved the life of an 18-year-old young man, confirming for aquatics professionals the value of the technology and its imminent status of a "standard of care."

"Vision IQ / Poseidon Technologies convinced us of their ability to transform their technological advance into a product that addresses the needs of the market," emphasized Philippe Viennot of Air Liquide Ventures. "This first application gives us the confidence to address other "Smart Vision" applications, for example the industrial markets that we know well."

"The challenge of teaching a computer to see in the aquatics environment has pushed our technology much more than we could have ever done in the laboratory," said Fr�d�rique Guichard, the company's Chief Scientist. "Now we have the basis of applications of computer vision in natural lighting conditions that we could have only dreamed of up to now."

Ms. Betty L. Tsai, Professor/Systems Librarian at Bucks County Community College, Pa., has been chosen to receive the first Ching-chih Chen Leadership Award as a recognized leader among Asian Pacific American Librarians.

Co-founder of Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), Ms. Tsai served as its president in 1987-88. She was also president of Chinese American Librarians Association (CALA) and recipient of its Distinguished Service Award in 1997. An active ALA Council member, she is chair of the Committee on Minority Concerns & Cultural Diversity. She also serves in the Spectrum Leadership Institute Planning Committee, the Congress on Professional Education, Task Force on Librarians Core Values and ACRL Planning Committee for IFLA Conference. In addition, she is a member of Middle States Association of Colleges Evaluation Teams since 1986, and Delaware Valley Documents Group Steering Committee. A firm believer in teamwork, Ms. Tsai said in her statement on leadership: "There is no star. There are only teams."

The award, $1,000 and a citation, will be given at Legacy and Awards Banquet immediately following the Banquet on Thursday, June 14, 2001, at the NCAPAL Conference in San Francisco. The following morning, Ms Tsai will be featured on the program "Ginny's Conversation with APA Leadership."

Dr. Margaret Mary Kimmel, professor in the Department of Library and Information Science at the School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, has been chosen as Dominican University's Distinguished Alumna of the Year for the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Recipients of this honor must demonstrate excellence in their profession and a commitment to service, both to Dominican University and the community.

Teaching a wide variety of graduate courses related to children, literature and the provision of library services, Dr. Kimmel also lectures extensively in the U.S. presenting programs for teachers, librarians and parents.

Dr. Kimmel spent two years as a visiting professor at the College of Librarianship in Wales. The experience provided her with an opportunity to visit libraries and library education programs in Great Britain, West Germany and France. She was a guest of the French Ministry of Culture, evaluating libraries and museums for children in Paris. Dr. Kimmel also spent two weeks lecturing for the State Department about American children's literature.

Professional activities for Dr. Kimmel within the American Library Association include president of the Association of Library Service to Children, chair of the committee on accreditation, chair of the Office of Library Personnel Advisory Committee, a member of ALA's Council and chair of the Standing Committee on Library Education. Dr. Kimmel served as a member of the board of directors of the Association for Library and Information Science Education.

Her writings include Magic in the Mist, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman and For Reading Out Load! with Elizabeth Segel. Dr. Kimmel has worked with Fred Rogers as an advisor to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

Dr. Kimmel received both her Bachelor of Arts degree and her Master of Library and Information Science degree from Dominican University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Mediapps, the European leader in enterprise portals, has appointed two additional account managers to its team. Jon Clark will be responsible for new business development and James Clark will manage channel relationships. Both will report directly to Ian Wells, managing director of Mediapps.

Jon Clark, aged 29, has worked in new business for over five years, most recently he worked for Macromedia and before this for technology company MSW. James Clark, aged 21, comes from a channel background having spent three years working for a specialist IT distributor.

Mediapps' corporate portal software, Net.Portal, provides customers with the ability to access instant appropriate business information from the Internet, intranet and extranet. This saves companies in lost time, revenue and labour. It provides employees with up-to-date information about their market space and competitors empowering them to make informed business decisions.

Ian said "Our two new recruits will provide Mediapps with the scope to become the principal player within the portal industry. They will provide a more focused approach for both our potential client-base and our partner programme. Jon's role is vital in building up a strong high-level client base. He will target blue chip and FTSE 250 companies. James' role will facilitate this as he develops a strong and vigorous channel programme".

"Whilst the concept of personalised portals is in its youth, increasingly this technology will be adopted by clients. This will highlight the demand for portals to be sold via the channel."

BIOSIS has announced that it has added US patent information to MethodsFinder, its Web database for laboratory methods and protocols. By introducing the patent records into MethodsFinder, BIOSIS has opened up another area of research to its users, and increased the size of the database by 15%.

BIOSIS has added 16,000 patent records to MethodsFinder, each containing a patent number, patent class, grant date, country of origin, and patent assignee. Users will also be able to link to the full-text of each patent. BIOSIS indexers review the content of each patent to ensure it contains information relevant to life sciences laboratory research.

"The addition of patents to MethodsFinder significantly enhances the product's ability to deliver important life sciences information to laboratory researchers," said Joel Hammond, Director of Product Database Development for BIOSIS. "We saw that researchers use patent information for everything from discovering novel patent applications to checking how specific reagents and pieces of laboratory equipment are used in energizing research areas. BIOSIS is committed to making MethodsFinder a repository for all information that aids laboratory research in the life sciences, and patents certainly play an important role in this area."

The Library and Information Science Department at the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University is pleased to announce that the following people will join the faculty beginning in the Fall term of 2001.

Gheorghe Muresan comes to us from the School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland where his doctoral work has been in the area of Computer Science. His expertise is in information retrieval with specialization in human computer interaction, mediated/assisted retrieval, and cognitive psychology.

Anslem Spoerri has a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is producer of an award-winning documentary film, co-founder of i-Recall Inc. computer software company. His expertise is in information visualization, internet tools and multimedia applications.

Nina Wacholder has a Ph.D in Linguistics from CUNY Graduate Center and an MLS from Columbia. She has been affiliated with the Center for Research on Information Access and Health Sciences' Office of Scholarly Resources of Columbia University. Her expertise is in information access from full-text documents, natural language processing, semantic ontologies and concept mapping, and digital libraries.

Libraries are getting wired up. Over �21/2 million of lottery funding from the New Opportunities Fund is being allocated to four local libraries.

Four local authorities in England now have approval for development of their People's Network plans to bring local libraries on-line. The authorities are: Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Hounslow, and Leicestershire.

The People's Network scheme is linking every public library in the UK to the internet and the National Grid for Learning, making technology accessible to local communities. Today's allocation of �2,586,619 will lead to a further 807 computers installed in over 130 main and branch libraries in four library authorities as part of this national information framework. (Other library authorities already allocated a grant are listed below.)

The New Opportunities Fund, a National Lottery good cause distributor for health, education, and the environment, has �100 million for the People's Network, developing information and communications technology centres in every public library in the UK.

Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund, Stephen Dunmore, said: "The People's Network will open doors. Computer technology is coming to every local library branch to bring a wealth of learning to neighbourhood communities. Libraries are now so much more than books."

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: With over 30 library branches in Buckinghamshire, the allocation from the New Opportunities Fund will bring the total number of computer terminals to over 330. Jenny Varney, Head of Support Services for the county said: "The �827,138 grant to Buckinghamshire libraries will provide a speedier, more efficient, network which is fully integrated with the County Council corporate network. Internet access has proved very popular in all of our 34 branch libraries over the past two years. The additional 273 terminals funded by the allocation will improve access to County Council services, and to multimedia information and interactive learning materials. Video conferencing will provide a 'friendly face' route to specialist services for users who cannot access them through personal visit."

DORSET: The grant of �638,000 to Dorset libraries for the People's Network will support the installation of over 150 computer terminals in 34 libraries.

Users in rural locations will benefit particularly from their access to the many small part-time libraries scattered across the county. In larger libraries a big increase in the number of terminals will reduce significantly the present congestion. Ian Lewis, Head of Libraries and Arts in Dorset, said "I am pleased that the grant has been offered to Dorset and it will make a tremendous difference to our information services across the county".

HOUNSLOW: Plans for the People's Network in Hounslow will bring the total number of computer terminals available to local residents to 160. The borough has 11 local libraries. Councillor Ron Bartholomew said: "Access to the internet should be seen as a right for everyone and not just a privilege for the few. This funding will help make lifelong learning and information available to many more people, closing the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged in our community. It will also help to maintain our libraries as a vibrant and dynamic service, fit for the twenty-first century."

LEICESTERSHIRE: The �772,700 grant allocated will fund the installation of additional computer terminals to the county's 54 library service points, most of which are spread across the rural areas of Leicestershire. "The ability to access, via the internet, information and on-line learning opportunities from any local library, wherever it is in the county, is a huge benefit to those Leicestershire residents who currently do not have personal access," said a spokesperson from the council.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the debut of "PubMed Online Training," a Web-based interactive tutorial that enables anyone using a computer with Internet access to learn about PubMed. We invite members of ALISE to consider adding the PubMed tutorial to your teaching and training curriculum.

Swets Blackwell have announced the launch of SFX functionality in SwetsnetNavigator, their electronic journal service. SFX technology provides libraries with a fully inter-linked environment, whereby heterogeneous scholarly information resources are seamlessly linked via the OpenURL protocol.

By using the SFX functionality in SwetsnetNavigator, users can link to other resources and always arrive at the appropriate copy of the article. This technology provides institutions with many more possibilities for integrating the various resources that are used by the end-users.

Patrick Hochstenbach of Ghent University, the beta tester for the SFX functionality, commented: "Now that SwetsnetNavigator includes SFX links in the user interface, our end users are presented with links to our own SFX server while searching or browsing through journals. Because the SFX links in SwetsnetNavigator are not predefined we can add or delete services whenever we like."

Geert Visscher, CEO of Swets Blackwell, added: "Users now have the option of linking out from SwetsnetNavigator just as easily as they can link in. With this powerful new linking strategy, together with our multi-level linking technology, SwetsnetNavigator is paving the way for libraries to integrate their services."

Laurie Bonnici, a recent graduate of the Florida State University's School of Information Studies' doctoral program, has been hired to direct the new Information Science programs to be taught at the university's campus in the Republic of Panama.

"The idea is to bring this program to the Latin American region," said Dr. Bonnici, who will teach courses as well as coordinate and market the undergraduate and graduate programs. "They have a high demand for technology in their libraries."

The undergraduate program will start in May and the master's program is scheduled to begin by fall 2002. Courses for both programs will be offered in both traditional and distance learning formats.

The Panama campus already offers an undergraduate degree in Computer Science. Jeremy Brown, director of the FSU-Panama campus, said the addition of the LIS program will help "bolster our offerings in the information technology area."

"We hope to be able to offer this program to students and professionals from other countries," Dr. Brown said. "We have already started an extensive recruiting campaign aimed at marketing FSU-Panama, its academic excellence and the strength of the curriculum (including the LIS programs) to most countries in Latin America."

Resource has published proposals for developing a standard for learning and access for museums, archives and libraries in the UK. After extensive consultation the paper summarises its main purposes and outlines the next stages of the standard's development.

Neville Mackay, Chief Executive of Resource, commented: "Developing an access and learning standard is a key part of Resource's learning strategy. Our aim is to produce a means of measuring the impact of the learning services provided by an individual museum, archive or library. The standard will therefore focus on users and the extent to which museums, archives and libraries meet their needs and improve the quality of their lives."

Dialog, a leading provider of online-based information services and a subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation (TSE:TOC), has announced its strategies for 2001 and beyond. This coincided with the release of a number of new products and databases, including the award-winning Dialog1. This Web-based product combines Dialog's traditional precision search tools and breadth of content with new technology to make Dialog1 among the easiest to use products of its kind.

"Dialog's strategy is to develop products and services for our core customers - information professionals -that build on our traditional strengths while leveraging the power of our brands, content, global sales and service organization, and leading-edge customization tools for the Internet," said Roy M. Martin, Jr., president and CEO of Dialog. "For almost three decades, Dialog's brands have been known among librarians and information professionals for their breadth and depth of content, precision search tools, and speed. In addition, our worldwide sales and service networks have helped to make us the clear choice for both small and large businesses that desire extensive access to detailed information, allowing them to better develop their own products and services."

Building on these strengths, Dialog is also launching its new theme -"Information to Change the World" -and a set of new graphical marks for its products.

"Because our information is so deep and our search tools so precise, Dialog stands alone as the information service of choice within corporations, government agencies, and private organizations worldwide," remarked Libby Trudell, senior vice president of Information Professional Market Development for Dialog. "Our products deliver the information that helps customers to develop world-changing products and support major industry-altering transactions in more than 100 countries. 'Information to Change the World' could not be more appropriate in emphasizing Dialog's position as a pivotal supplier in the information society."

Dialog's strategies will lay the groundwork for meeting the evolving requirements of information professionals who need to organize and categorize ever-increasing amounts of data from multiple sources, while better leveraging the Web and their own intranets to efficiently and effectively manage knowledge and deliver internal services. New intranet services from Dialog allow customers to enhance their information by providing active links from local content to Dialog content, all accessible with the same search tools. Aggressive programs to build new products and add content will support information professionals' exacting needs, and an enhanced focus on customer support and service will be implemented this year.

"Dialog's acquisition by The Thomson Corporation last year has energized our business and our customers," noted Martin. "2001 will mark the first solid progress by Dialog as a result of this relationship. Customers are going to observe increasing evidence of Dialog's and Thomson's commitment to our markets and information professionals around the world."

The Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) has launched a major interdisciplinary Ph.D. program with the first class of doctoral candidates being admitted for Fall Semester 2001.

Over 120 knowledge and information managers and executives from the information industry gathered at a seminar in New York City to discuss 'The impact of a "recession" on the information market', hosted by TFPL Inc., marking the expansion of their New York office.

Deciding that there definitely was a turndown but uncertain as to how long it would last, a panel of four speakers including Tom Stewart, Board of Editors, Fortune Magazine; Suresh Kavan, CEO and President of the broker and fund management group of Thomson Financial; Carol Ginsburg, Managing Director, Global Information Services, Deutsche Bank; and Nigel Oxbrow, founder and CEO of TFPL considered the knowledge and information strategies that can be used to help organizations thrive in a recession.

The consensus of the panel was that:

• The speed of the arrival of the downturn was a factor of the new networked economy and a recovery could happen just as quickly
• The knowledge economy was here to stay and that a recession might slow down it's development but would not reverse it
• The impact of the recession would be cuts in spending, budgets and staffing within corporate information services
• Those companies that had adapted their business models and services to the new dynamics of the knowledge economy would survive better and would surface from the recession faster
• Information vendors would be vying for their share of a diminished market - and that those who could adapt to new client needs, be flexible and add value would be the ones that succeeded in retaining and increasing revenues
• Not all was doom and gloom - that the new knowledge economy was in fact still generating new jobs for people with information skills and that most people who were being 'let-go' were finding new positions.

For further details and images from the seminar contact:

Students, lecturers and researchers who think they can find good Internet information on their subject area quickly and successfully may need to think again. A national Web initiative offering free online training in Internet skills was launched on Tuesday May 8 at

The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) Virtual Training Suite is a collaboration between 30 universities providing 40 "teach yourself" tutorials on the Web from "Internet Physicist" to "Internet Philosopher".

Each tutorial takes the user on a tour of the best of the Web for their subject, with expert "tour guides" commissioned from universities, libraries, museums and research institutes across the UK.

The new Web site will be launched by Michael Wills, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Technology, and Sir John Kingman, Vice-Chancellor of Bristol University, via a live link-up at simultaneous launch events hosted by six UK universities: Bristol, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Kings College London, Oxford (held at Leeds) and Manchester.

Michael Wills, commenting on the Web site, said: 'It is going to train learners to make the best use of the Internet to support their particular subject focus, and to help them harness technology effectively, efficiently and economically.'

Sir John Kingman added: 'The ability to locate, evaluate and use information on the Internet is becoming an essential skill. This new educational resource will help people in all subject disciplines to learn more about using the Internet as a source of scholarly information.'

The worldwide marketplace for all types of electronic information resources is developing rapidly as publishers and vendors creating electronic information seek to attract libraries of all types (academic, public, national and special) as their customers. Today, libraries around the world continue in their role as mediators between users and producers of information and cultural expression. This role persists even more energetically, it appears, for electronic information than for print.

The use of electronic information everywhere in the world is usually defined and described by contractual agreements, otherwise known as licenses. These are marketplace arrangements in which a willing information provider and a willing purchaser of information access come together to make arrangements, deal by deal, resource by resource.

IFLA views the licensing arena positively, although key issues remain to be resolved. In particular, licensing is increasingly responsive to the complex business arrangements between information providers and library consortia of different types and sizes. IFLA encourages and supports the evolution of all types of libraries negotiating as consortia.

Recently IFLA's Executive and Professional Boards approved a set of Licensing Principles which should prevail in the contractual relationship and written contracts between libraries and information providers. Aspects that have been touched upon by these principles include: the law, access, usage and users, and pricing.

Marianne Scott, Chair of the IFLA Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters (CLM) which prepared the text of the Principles, commented: "Licensing is increasing in importance as a means of gaining access to commercially available digital information. I am pleased that the library community world wide now has a set of principles to provide support and guidance in negotiating these licenses".

The British Library Co-Operation and Partnership Programme have announced the successful proposals to be funded under their second Call for Proposals.

The final selection of projects was carried out by a Selection Panel which met on 12 April 2001 and included both British Library representatives and outside experts.

The Research Support Libraries Programme again agreed to co-fund the Higher Education elements of successful projects which fell within its remit and, in addition, Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries provided �50,000 to co-fund cross-domain projects.

The Panel selected a total of 10 proposals for funding. At least four will be jointly funded with either Resource or RSLP and two will be jointly funded by all three funding partners. The results are very much in keeping with the BL's strategic objectives, cover both strands of the Call and also represent a good geographical spread.

The Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science is pleased to welcome Dr. Linda Cooper, who will join the faculty in September, 2001 as the lead faculty member of the Library Media Specialist Program. Dr. Cooper has her Doctorate from Rutgers University in Information Systems and Structures/Human Information Behavior. Her research and publications focus on information-seeking behavior in children and organization of information with a user focus. She has her Master of Library Science from Queens College, and a Master of Science in Education from the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University. She has done graduate work in art at Herbert Lehman College, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Queens College. Dr. Cooper has over nine years experience as School Library Media Specialist.

The University of Arizona, School of Information Resources and Library Science is pleased to announce the following appointments: arriving in the fall of 2001 are Cheryl Knott Malone, and Anita S. Coleman. Also effective this fall, Betty Marcoux has accepted the position of Clinical Associate Professor. Other recent appointees are William B. Edgar, Assistant Professor, and Brooke E. Sheldon, Director. Both Edgar and Sheldon began their appointments in January, 2001.

Dr. Malone, who will be an Associate Professor at SIRLS has been a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1996. She has a PhD. in Library and Information Science from the University of Texas at Austin. She has recieved several awards for her research which focuses on the history of library collections and services for African Americans and more generally on information access issues. She teaches in the areas of online information systems, instruction and assistance systems, government publications, and the history of libraries.

Dr. Coleman, Assistant Professor, is currently a Visiting Associate Researcher (Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype Project and the National Science Digital Library) in the Dept. of Computer Science, University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds degrees from the University of Madras, Southern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests revolve around the design, development and use of documents and systems for information work. Dr. Coleman has taught in the LEEP program for Illinois, and for UCLA. Her teaching interests include information organizations and systems, information seeking behavior, knowledge structures, systems analysis and design, and digital libraries.

Dr. Marcoux has served as the Associate Director and Director of Certification and Interdisciplinary Programs at SIRLS for the past two years while in an exchange from the Tucson Unified School District. She is the recipient of two Gates Foundation grants for SIRLS, and has been a member of several task forces about e-learning and literacy in Arizona and nationally as well as writing for the profession. She has taught courses at SIRLS in school librarianship, foundations, resource development etc. In her new position she will continue to teach and provide extensive liaison with schools and their libraries, public libraries and other educational/informational agencies in Arizona. She will develop SIRLS internships and coordinate continuing education events for the library community statewide and nationally.

William B. Edgar, Assistant Professor, began teaching at SIRLS during this spring semester. He holds a BS in Business Administration, and the MSLS from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His Ph.D is from the University of Alabama, fall 2000. Dr. Edgar's dissertation was on "Corporate Library Resource Selection and Corporate Core Competencies: Exploring the Connections." His research interests include the examination of collections and services within digital libraries. With McCall and Herring he has published in ASIS proceedings "Patterns of Professional Practice in the Digital Collections of US Public Libraries" Dr. Edgars teaching interests include management of information agencies, business information resources, and collection development.

Brooke E. Sheldon, Director, arrived at SIRLS in January. She holds degrees from Acadia University, Simmons College, and the University of Pittsburgh. She is former Dean and Professor at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin; and former Dean of the School of Library and Information Studies at The Texas Woman's University. She is a former president of the American Library Association, and a past chair of the ALA Committee on Accreditation. Her research and teaching interests center around organizational change and leadership.

During March, researchers in science, technology and medicine logged over one million user-sessions on IDEAL - marking the first time usage of this online library has soared so high in a single month.

Located at , IDEAL offers STM journals, as well as access to a growing and diverse body of other electronic research products - including IDEALReferenceWorks encyclopedias and informatics databases from SciVision.

The 1,085,206 user-sessions logged in March represent an increase of 57% over sessions in March 2000, and an increase of 2,577% since IDEAL statistics were first tracked in 1997. User-sessions totalled 7,416,613 in 2000.

Launched in 1996, IDEAL continues to experience phenomenal growth indicated by user-sessions as well as numbers of downloads, institutions licensed, nations where licensed groups are located, and authorized users.

Academic Press President Dr. Pieter Bolman remarked, "We are very pleased, because we continue to experience 2001 as a year of exceptional growth. Much credit for this goes to the popularity of IDEAL's Academic Press and Harcourt Health Sciences journals and our current expansion of HHS titles on IDEAL.

"However, it's also significant that this record-setting growth is following fast on the heels of forward-looking technical innovations put in place last year. More links in and out of IDEAL from third-party providers such as CrossRef - of which AP is a founding member - make doing research more seamless than ever for our users. Plus, our bringing aboard Akamai Technologies' FreeFlow service has led to shorter download times for users."

Stated Larry Alexander, vice president of electronic publishing systems at Academic Press, "One more factor we see as crucial to IDEAL's continuing success is access. So researchers can tailor their access to IDEAL, last fall we introduced the pick-and-choose Institutional Publications License and our new pay-per-view service IDEALOnDemand.

"Today, our customers can choose to access individual articles, specific journals, or a collection of journals on IDEAL. Further, we most recently launched the IDEAL Charter for Low-Income Countries, making all our online journals affordable to researchers in the world's poorest nations and helping reduce the digital divide."

Continued Mr. Alexander, "We are delighted with IDEAL's extraordinary growth and our track record of successful innovations. And, we are proud of the terrific value IDEAL always delivers."

School of Library and Information Studies
University of Oklahoma

The Gates Learning Foundation is funding a one-time scholarship to a student attending the University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies. The scholarship provides tuition for a Master of Library and Information Studies degree and a paid, non-credit internship in an Oklahoma public library. The scholarship is in honor of Oklahoma librarians who are leading the way in providing access to technology and literacy. The successful candidate will commit to working in a public library in Oklahoma for a period of at least one year after graduating from the OU School of Library and Information Studies. The recipient must demonstrate a commitment to public librarianship and service to the people of Oklahoma, especially in the areas of improving literacy and using technology in Oklahoma's public libraries.

In addition to tuition for two regular semesters and one summer, the recipient will receive a ten-hour per week stipend at $12.00 per hour for the non-credit internship. The School will work with the student in selecting the internship site. Also, the School of Library and Information Studies will pay for the recipient of this scholarship to attend the Public Library Association Annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona (March 12-16, 2002).

The criteria for the scholarship are

1. Full-time enrollment in the MLIS program (nine hours during fall and spring semesters, six during the summer),
2. Dedication to the improvement of public library service in Oklahoma, and,
3. A commitment to spend at least one year after graduation serving in an Oklahoma public library.

An award-winning software package for sci-tech information, STN Express with Discover!, now includes new tools for enhanced post-processing of search results.

Among the options introduced in the new version 6.0 of STN Express are powerful tools for preparing reports and tables to present the information retrieved from STN International databases:

Table Tool - helps users create a table of data, graphics and chemical structures from STN answer sets for easy analysis of search results; Report Tool - helps users create customized, easily readable reports from search results; Predefined Reports feature - allows users to create reports with a professional-looking predefined format; and RTF files with live hyperlinks - allows users to follow links in their transcripts to the associated full-text documents on the Web.

"Information professionals who have relied on STN Express for years like the way this new Version 6.0 helps them deliver more value to their clients," said Robert L. Swann, CAS (Chemical Abstracts) Director of Research, Information Systems and New Product Development. "We created this new version of STN Express with substantial input from information professionals. One result is new tools that make it easy to create tabular reports and graphs of the search results. The reports not only look impressive but also help the ultimate users of the information to assimilate the data more quickly."

STN Express with Discover! is one of several interface options for accessing databases on STN International, the scientific and technical network. Other options include STN Easy, a Web-based product that offers simplified search features for users who are not experienced STN searchers, and STN on the Web, offering traditional online access plus the benefits of the Web for professional searchers.

A blue-ribbon panel of judges named STN Easy a winner of the prestigious Canadian e-Content Award for best product in the Scientific/Technical category. Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), operator of the STN InternationalSM network in North America, accepted the award at the Information Highways Conference, March 26.

STN Easy won the Canadian e-Content Award in view of many improvements added in 2000, including a more convenient ability use Boolean operators, the option to use "Easy Search" for casual searchers or "Advanced Search" for those needing more power, and several tools providing help and examples for new users.

"We are delighted that STN Easy was chosen by the Canadian e-Content Award judges," said Christine McCue, Manager, STN products. "CAS and our STN associates took great care in the design and usability testing of this product - we are happy to see the new STN Easy meets and exceeds the expectations of knowledgeable online professionals."

Canadian e-Content Awards recognize and honor electronic content (e-content) knowledge and e-business resources that are convenient and usable, offer access to high-quality information and are shown to enhance customer/user productivity and/or competitive advantage.

STN Easy is one of several interface options for accessing databases on STN International, the scientific and technical network. Other options include STN Express with Discover! personal computer software for assisted searching of the STN network and STN on the Web, offering traditional online access plus the benefits of the web for professional searchers.

Researchers doing a search on Internet Database Service (IDS) bibliographic databases from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) can now link their search results to fulltext documents offered through E*Subscribe from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS) and BioOne. With the addition of these two services, researchers using IDS are currently able to link to electronic journals from the following providers:

• BioOne
• CatchWord
• E*Subscribe
• EBSCO Online
• OCLC FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online (ECO)
• HighWire Press
• IDEAL (Academic Press)
• Information Quest (RoweCom)
• Kluwer Online
• LINK (Springer)
• ScienceDirect
• SwetsnetNavigator

xrefer, a leading reference technology company, has announced that it is seeking librarians to actively participate in the development of its new reference service aimed at public, academic and corporate libraries. The as yet unnamed service is expected to be available from late-autumn.

The new service will leverage the unique technology behind the popular xrefer.com destination site to deliver a value-added reference resource to meet the increasing demand for networked services within libraries. The new service will incorporate as yet digitally unavailable reference content from leading publishers, providing library users with quick and easy access to authoritative factual information.