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PurposePrior research emphasises that organisational founders have a good deal of influence in organisational development and, where information and communication technogies (ICTs) are involved, a generic strategy is usually deployed by managers in order to deal with any resistance that might occur. Cognisant of this, the authors investigated the role played by a managing director of a small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) consultancy in an ICT project associated with organisational development.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on an ethnography of an ICT related change management initiative which, theoretically, takes into account though from the social shaping of technology – specifically the idea that technologies in their broadest sense are subject to ongoing work beyond the design stage.FindingsThe authors argue that Markus' interaction theory of resistance still has relevance today and we extend it by emphasising the problem of homogenising users and downplaying their ability to appropriate resistance strategiesin situ.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is based upon one group of individuals' experiences. Further case studies of resistance success are required which further highlight how this is achieved and why.Practical implicationsThose engaged with organisational development projects need to be better educated as to the reasons for resistance, particularly positive ones, and the methods by which this might take place.Originality/valueThis study conceptualises strategies for “overcoming” resistance as managerial technologies. Conceptualising them in this way shows the deployment of such technologies to be a complicated and active process where the audience for such things are involved in how they are received and appropriated to suit differing agendas.

When, back in 1994, I spoke to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) on the state of network development in Tennessee, I began by saying, “In Tennessee, as in many states, network development is multidimensional, multidisciplinary, multifaceted, multilateral, multidirectional—and therefore multi‐confusing.”

The focus of this special issue is upon notions, and experiences of, the erosion and blurring of the boundaries constructed between work, play, the public and private as related to digital media. We seek to increase knowledge regarding the contemporary experiences and potential reshaping of the boundaries and structures of existing social organisation, and the altering of the ways in which people learn to experience life. We know that even as access to digital technologies continues to vary based on age, gender, nationality, residence, ethnicity, work, and other key aspects of society, it is clear the presence and uses of these digital technologies are increasingly important features of contemporary life...

Libraries and other information services are likely to be faced with continuing economic difficulties over the next decade. One of the most promising reliefs for them is networking and other forms of resource sharing. Unfortunately, networking has not yet achieved its full potential because of a lack of understanding of what networking is and how it can help individual organisations. Too often network structures have been imposed upon organisations without regard to their economic considerations or without their participation. In this paper we describe a framework for library networking that can be used for decision‐making by individual libraries, groups of cooperating libraries or centralised services. The framework consists of six interdependent dimensions including: functions to be performed, type of access to information, types of materials handled, products and services to be offered, networking configurations and communications means. An economic model based on the framework can be used to determine the levels within each of these dimensions that should be accomplished by the individual libraries, groups of libraries or a centralised service.

Today's online catalogs typically access machine‐readable records for books, journal titles, and audio‐visual materials, and indicate their circulation status. In the future, the database of these traditional records may be dwarfed by additional databases that will become part of the future electronic library. A few libraries are already experimenting with the addition of other text files to their catalogs. Broad‐band telecommunications networks and supporting technologies are being developed rapidly and will significantly affect the evolution of online catalogs. Growing applications of online catalogs, and network access to them, will require more sophisticated and powerful processing. Six prominent consultants—Joseph Becker, Gayla Kraetsch Hartsough, Raymond DeBuse, Jose‐Marie Griffiths, Rick Richmond, and Wilson Stahl—address these and related issues.

The index term input to three information retrieval systems has been analyzed in detail in order to form the input to a completely computerized simulation of an information retrieval system. The paper reports that, with certain reservations, index terms conform in general with the Bradford distribution.