This paper reports findings from the first annual cycle of a three‐year research project on the provision and use of electronic information systems (EIS) within higher education in the UK. The project, JISC User Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services (JUSTEIS), was funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and undertaken at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UWA). Students, academics and library staff in 25 universities were surveyed using critical incident and critical success factors methodologies to ascertain the range and nature of EIS use. Provision of these systems by higher education institutions was also investigated via an analysis of their library websites. The findings reported in this paper focus on student use and the purposes for which EIS are employed, and reveal the limited array of EIS used and the ad hoc nature of search strategies adopted across undergraduate and postgraduate bodies within a range of disciplines. There appears to be little or no variation in the pattern of EIS use by the various student groups studied – the effect of the Internet on information seeking by students is hugely significant and the more formal resources, such as JISC‐negotiated resources are little used. There is little evidence of coherent search strategies used by students. Recommendations for both the JISC and higher education are offered.

Considers the five 'persistent issues' relating to LIS education discussed in an article by Denis Grogan in 1983, to see whether they still apply in 2000, together with two additional issues that have

The NEWSPLAN project aims to microfilm and make more accessible thousands of fragile local and regional newspapers in UK libraries and is the first major preservation award made to libraries by the UK's Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The grant of five million pounds was made towards a nationally co-ordinated preservation microfilming programme. Questions why this project should have been successful compared with others and whether the chosen micrographic technology is the right one, compared with digital alternatives that may soon be available. Questions also whether the parochial contents of local and regional newspapers warrant the cost of preservation, compared with other categories of literature. Concludes that the strength of NEWSPLAN lies in the involvement of a consortium of different groups rather than an individual institution. Justifies the use of microfilm on grounds of the urgency of the preservation problem, which necessitates some immediate action before more titles are lost forever; and the inadequacies of existing OCR technology to cope with the poor printing quality found in local newspapers. Local newspapers provide a detailed record of the changing social patterns of community and national life, are important for genealogical studies and are an intrinsic record of the development of the UK press. As such, they are suitable candidates for preservation.April 1999 saw the first major preservation award to libraries by the UK's Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF); a grant of £5 million was made towards a nationally co-ordinated preservation-microfilming programme for local newspapers. The NEWSPLAN project aims to microfilm and make more accessible thousands of fragile local and regional newspaper. The first phase ran from 1983 until 1996, leading to the publication of ten reports identifying holdings, and was the subject of an Editorial in JOLIS in September 1993. The second phase aims to secure their preservation. The HLF grant is for the first stage in an ambitious programme of work over a five-year period that ultimately aims to cover 3,460 titles dating between 1800 to 1950, create 83,816 reels of microfilm, and includes the provision of 800 microfilm readers, at a total cost of £16.3 million. The £5 million from the HLF is only the first tranche of the programme; the participating libraries will make contributions in kind and another £2 million is sought from the UK newspaper industry and other companies. Beneficiaries of the project will include libraries, schools and historical researchers in many disciplines.The HLF was set up to award grants from the highly successful National Lottery which would 'safeguard and enhance the heritage of the United Kingdom' (Heritage Lottery Fund, 1997). Its remit encompasses the preservation of 'buildings, objects and the environment, whether man-made or natural, which have been important in the formation of the character and identity of the United Kingdom and which will be a vital part in its future'. Implicit within this phrase is the preservation of Britain's uniq...

Presents an analysis of the articles published in the periodical, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JOLIS), in the period 1991-1999. The analysis was carried out to compare JOLIS' and was intended as a comparison with a similar survey of the periodical's first 21 years' existence , as Journal of Librarianship. Both surveys were conducted by the Editor as his first and final editorials, respectively. The initial analysis was based on coverage by type of library and by geographical area. The subject headings assigned by Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) for these articles were analyzed and the most frequently occurring headings were listed and compared to the earlier study. Results suggest that the Editor was successful in his goal of increasing the coverage of special libraries and the range of countries featured in the articles.In August 1990, I was both surprised and flattered to receive an invitation to take over the editor's chair of what was then The Journal of Librarianship, and was shortly to become the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. The first issue for which I was responsible appeared in March 1991, with a new format, publisher and title. My appointment was for three years in the first instance, subsequently extended for a further three, and was then made openended. I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 10 years and have derived enormous benefit from the experience gained, and professional contacts made, in connection with the journal. However, when I took over the role I had no idea how much of a treadmill, the editing of a quarterly journal would be, in addition to my normal teaching, administration and research duties as a university lecturer. I have therefore decided that 10 years is enough for me, and in any event it is time to hand over to someone else with fresh ideas for the sake of the journal. After this issue JOLIS will be the responsibility of my successor, Dr Anne Goulding of Loughborough University, who will take the journal into the 21st century. My final editorial will therefore offer some thoughts on what, if anything, has been achieved over the last decade, before recording my thanks to the hundreds of people who have contributed to the journal in one way or another over the last 10 years.In my first editorial (March 1991), I offered a brief analysis of the contents of the Journal of Librarianship during the 21 years of its existence, based upon the subject headings allocated by Library and Information Science Abstracts. I have therefore downloaded those for 1991-1999 for purposes of comparison (the entries for 2000 were not available at the time of writing). I do not claim that these two sets of figures are strictly comparable as the indexing practices have changed and new terminologies and subject areas have developed. Nor do I claim that they are complete, but they do provide an approximate picture of the changes that have taken place over the last decade.My initial analysis in 1991 was based on the type of library to which many of the ar...

Comments on the consequences of the pressure being brought to bear on UK academics by the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) of UK university departments, the 4th of which will cover the period, Jan 92 to Mar 96 There also be those who will deliver too many or too few words, or cover the wrong subject or period, wandering into some other contributor's territory, or