Outlines a lesson plan used by an academic library to evaluate the quality of World Wide Web information. Discusses the traditional evaluation criteria of accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage as it applies to the unique characteristics of Web pages: their marketing orientation, variety of information, and instability. The…

Describes the experiences of two health sciences libraries, at East Carolina University and at the University of Virginia, in developing electronic collections. Highlights include full-text, Web-based resources; licensing issues; joint access to electronic resources through consortia; collection development policies; and an electronic resource…

Discusses some of the factors that librarians should consider when planning to automate their libraries. These factors include vendor and systems selection; equipment; support; additional costs; and time. Seven tips to avoid common automation pitfalls are also given. (MAB)

Addresses issues to consider when upgrading library CD-ROM networks for multimedia applications. Topics includes security issues; workstation requirements such as soundboards and monitors; local area network configurations that avoid bottlenecks: Asynchronous Transfer Mode, Ethernet, and Integrated Services Digital Network; server performance…

Highlights multimedia CD-ROMs that can describe pictures aloud for blind users and turn sound into text for the deaf. Outlines barriers confronting blind users. Discusses software programs designed to significantly improve access to multimedia software for users with disabilities and presents evaluation criteria for purchasing the most accessible…

Evaluation of information found on the Internet requires the same assessment of reliability, credibility, perspective, purpose and author credentials as required with print materials. Things to check include whether the source is from a moderated or unmoderated list or FTP (file transfer protocol) site; directories for affiliation and biographical…

Backups are a modern fact of life. Every organization that has any kind of computing technology (and that is all of them these days) needs to back up its data in case of technological or user errors. Traditionally, large-scale backups have been done via an internal or external tape drive that takes magnetic tapes (minicassettes, essentially) and…

Discussion of concerns of librarians who are involved in CD-ROM selection and acquisition focuses on three main areas: (1) sources for discovering and investigating CD-ROM products, including an annotated bibliography of journals, publisher's catalogs, books, network conferences, and online indexes; (2) criteria for selection; and (3) vendor…

Defines multimedia and briefly discusses its history, and details the elements comprising information systems and products. Asserts that the context for evaluating multimedia materials is based in the various layers of the system, and that multimedia materials will be more complex to evaluate than earlier generations of electronic information…

Identifies and discusses the criteria that end users might employ when evaluating a gopher client, particularly for the Windows environment. Topics include cost and availability, help features, functionality, viewing, searching, navigating, bookmarks, retrieving and displaying files, robustness, and gopher clients available via FTP (file transfer…