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Purpose – Knowledge management systems have opened new arrays in the present digital environment. Nowadays, because of innumerable features, they have become the choice of many organizations. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the issues of a KM-based digital library system that will support the creation, organization, storage, dissemination and utilization of the institution's digital knowledge assets. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on viewpoints, a review of existing concepts and the structure of DL and KM, and on the results of an interview of ten DL practitioners world-wide. The respondents are purposively selected from the participants' lists of an international training program (ITP) on “managing electronic information and digital libraries”. The interview is conducted by e-mail using a short, structured and open-ended questionnaire. Findings – The present study finds some significant overlaps between DL and KM and argues that a generic KM process of acquisition, organization...

Purpose. Describes the work of the e‐measures project, which aims to produce a set of statistics for measuring electronic information services in UK higher education libraries, to be used nationally as part of the Annual Library Statistics produced by the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) and locally for library decision making and user support. Design/methodology/approach. A group of 25 higher education libraries are piloting a range of 21 e‐measures covering holdings, usage and costs of electronic services. Data collected over a four‐month period in phase 1 are currently being analysed and a review of issues raised will inform case studies planned for phase 2. Findings. Issues raised by phase 1 of the project are presented here. Reports from pilot libraries illustrate both the importance of the work being undertaken and its complexity. Research limitations/implications. The project has highlighted the issues involved in the collection of data for measuring use of electronic information services and drawn attention to the difficulties in getting reliable, consistent data. Practical implications. After testing by the pilot libraries, selected e‐measures will be incorporated into the SCONUL Annual Library Statistics, to be collected on a regular basis by all SCONUL libraries. Libraries will also have a greater understanding of their use of electronic resources through the guidance and support provided by the project. Originality/value. This paper, in describing the results of phase 1 of the e‐measures project, increases awareness of the project and the understanding of the issues involved in collecting data for e‐measures.

Purpose. To provide an overview of the approach to EIS evaluation taken by the eVALUEd toolkit and relate this to other work in this area. Design/methodology/approach. The eVALUEd toolkit was designed to fill a gap in EIS evaluation in relation to qualitative techniques, user‐focused evaluation and the utilisation of evaluation findings. Findings. The eVALUEd toolkit makes a distinct contribution to EIS evaluation through its focus on people rather than resources or technology, emphasis on qualitative methods and promotion of all aspects of the evaluation cycle. Research limitations/implications. Further work is required in relation to mixed methods of EIS evaluation and case studies would provide greater insight into the ways in which such data can be used in practice. Practical implications. There should be greater consideration given to the use of qualitative methods of EIS evaluation as statistical data alone are rarely sufficient for investigating complex problems and planning and managing services. However, there is a need for further guidance and training in this area. Originality/value. Aimed at library practitioners and researchers and others who provide support with evaluation. Reports on a practical tool and offers a balance to work focused on quantitative evaluation methods.

Focuses on the research outcomes of a longitudinal, in‐depth investigation of the electronic information resource use of 16 young people. Aims to provide a flexible, qualitative framework that can be applied within local contexts to enable context‐specific understanding of electronic information resource use. Concludes that, although the groups may remain consistent, personal constructions and notions of value within those groups is more likely to be context‐specific.

Describes the electronic library initiative project at Yale University and summarizes the first‐year collaborative research methodologies and initial results. Concludes that it offers several core contributions both through practical insights into the role of digital images in teaching, learning and service support, and in evolving a model of discovery and expression of an assessment project results.

Investigates, through the use of questionnaires, the use of electronic information services by students at Glasgow Caledonian University in a programme of research undertaken in conjunction with Leeds Metropolitan University. Presents a series of conclusions.

Digital preservation is currently a major concern for the information management, technological and scientific communities in all domains. It is also critical at the organisational level, with special pressure for all institutions with a responsibility for preservation, such as libraries and archives. This paper provides a brief overview of the main issues in digital preservation, highlighting current research and standards efforts.

A programme of electronic information search training for health care academics was carried out at Dorset House Library, Oxford Brookes University, in summer 2000. Academic staff in health care need to be competent bibliographic searchers, but experience some barriers to learning. The author reflects on the potential benefits for academic staff and libraries when timely and appropriate training is offered to this user group.

The increasing availability of electronic information is changing the role of the librarian and information professional. This article examines how joint working between the School of Information Studies and the Library at the University of Central England is crucial to successfully deliver electronic information resources to students and staff. It also illustrates how co‐operation and collaboration has helped them both to adapt to the changing needs and culture of today’s electronic environment.

This paper is about copyright and digitisation as distinct from copyright in electronic publications. It focuses on Higher Education (HE) in the UK. It discusses the development of digitised collections and the role of the trusted repository specifically with reference to the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) electronic reserve (ER) projects and Higher Education ON demand (HERON), the current eLib national ER project. Licensing developments such as the establishment of the Copyright Licensing Agency's Digitisation Licensing Programme DLP, are also discussed.

Electronic information delivery has a significant part to play in the teaching and learning strategy at the University of Derby. Delivery systems have been implemented to support the shift towards resource‐based learning including an electronic library service developed by Library and Learning Resources. A Microsoft Access document management system linked to a Web server enables documents to be delivered across the campus. Further developments are currently underway to enable secure delivery to distance learners by the millennium.

The article describes the approach taken to implementing ATHENS at the University of York, and the close cooperation of library and computing service that made this approach possible. Users register themselves for a personal account on a local database. Accounts are then created at ATHENS by a transfer of data, overwriting existing information. This allows York to give users the benefits of a personal account, with the minimum of manual effort for staff.

The article describes the Athens authentication system, run by NISS for the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). She describes the initial implementation of the system at University College London. She also discusses other implementations, based on a JIBS survey.

The provision of information in electronic form and its network distribution simplifies the process of searching and retrieval while enabling remote access. The electronic material, though, is not provided for free. Electronic publishers organise and distribute their material to library subscribers according to contracts. Thus, management is not limited to storage, cataloguing and retrieval but it also encompasses security, access control management and copyright clearance. An architecture and the relevant procedures enabling library subscribers access to the electronic publishers' content are presented in this article.

The Open University Library's remit expanded in 1995 to include services to students. These services primarily involve providing access and guidance on the use of a range of electronic information resources. Electronic journals are important, as the Library does not currently offer a document delivery service to students. This article discusses a number of the issues relating to licensing and access arrangements that affect students' access to electronic journals.

The University of Hertfordshire's decision to move, “from a holdings strategy to an access strategy” (Review of Library and Media Services 21–22, May 1992), for its research and academic staff, led to a one year trial of the Uncover service. Preliminary feedback and results were provided in Vine 98, March 1995, pp.40–42, so the final report on the trial is a timely addition to this issue.

Mark Kerr is one of the new generation of information professionals who straddles the dual services of library provision and Internet cafe. This article represents some of his views on the future of library provision in the light of the Internet cafe. He describes the current state of public Internet access, charts the rise of the cybercafe and compares public libraries and Internet cafes as a source of access to electronic public information.

In May 1996, the City of Edinburgh Council received the Society of Public Information Networks — EPl Today award for excellence and innovation in electronic public information for its council information system, CapInfo ‘96. The award is in its inaugural year and CapInfo ‘96 has effectively set a benchmark for other public information systems to follow. This article looks at the history of the Capital Information project — a Libraries project (developed by the Community Information Service) which was adopted by the then Edinburgh District Council for the decentralisation of council information. The article then details the first phase of the project from 1993–5, the strategy and the technology, and goes on to describe the recent restructuring and launch of CapInfo ‘96 for the new unitary authority, the City of Edinburgh Council. Finally, it considers the future of Capital Information and electronic information in public libraries.

The organisers of the annual Electronic Public Information Provision seminar at Loughborough University regularly ask participants about the topics they would wish to be included in the programme. Among the topics they most frequently ask for are copyright and other legal issues. This article is a version of a presentation given at the 1995 seminar, held on 19 September. It is intended to provide a kind of checklist of the relevant issues, with some indication of how providers, and those such as librarians who feed information into their services, can avoid embarrassing and possibly costly mistakes. One thing it is certainly not about, is how to win spectacular lawsuits; it is intended to suggest how difficult situations can be avoided by anticipating them. The viewpoint is that of an [informed] layperson, not a lawyer. When decisions on really contentious matters need to be made it is important to consider taking professional advice.

This unusually named library was the world's first public library to mount information on a World Wide Web server. The article describes how this joint project came about, undertaken by Helsinki City Library and the Katto‐Meny Cooperative Society. The author maintains that the public library is the ideal host for electronic information and offers the Cable Book as an example of how public libraries, in cooperation with local organisations, can fulfil their new role as producers of electronic information on the Internet.

Copyright is frequently mentioned at library IT conferences as a slight problem to be overcome. Instead, this article affirms that it is a major impediment which affects all players in the electronic information chain. Problems are reviewed both from the point of view of information professionals and copyright holders. The author suggests that librarians could take on the role of ‘emulsifier’ in mixing copyright and information.

The papers in this issue and the next issue of Vine (110 and 111) are concerned with the impact of electronic journals, and fall into two main groups: those from libraries, and those from publishers. There is no paper from a purely commercial publisher, and one of the “library” papers is in fact from the managing agents of the NESLI programme, who negotiate on behalf of libraries. Despite these caveats, the groupings do make clear the difference in position that exists between those who look at electronic information services from the viewpoint of the librarian (as surrogate for the end user), and those who look at them from the viewpoint of the supplier. The hybrid case is perhaps Tom Wilson, a supplier in this case, but very much on the side of the academic rather than the publisher, and putting the case for the free electronic journal.

ELAN (Educational Local Area Network) is the local area network of IBM PC's installed in the Department of Information Science; Strathclyde Business School. Essentially; it has a dual role (a) as part of the administration and management of the Department and (b) as a working example of electronic information handling and transfer which can be demonstrated to; and used by; students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Much student work is now prepared electronically; and there are signs that; in the future; much of it will also be submitted electronically!

[The British Library Research and Development Department recently awarded its largest grant — £794,000 over 3 years — for a quadrapartite project to investigate a wide range of factors affecting the creation and exchange of electronic information. Technical, human and organisational aspects will all be considered. The following pages set out the background to the project and describe the main areas for research. Though it is not directly relevant to library housekeeping, the project will look at many of the issues which are beginning to interest librarians, particularly as they move towards greater networking of library services and information. Ed]