Managing Technology for Competitive Advantage : Editors

We have one report this issue which is, not surprisingly, on the topic of electronic serials. This institute, which reached full capacity, covered both theoretical and practical considerations for dealing with the influx of electronic serials. Many of us are barely coping with the need to plan and implement access to the vast amount of electronic information publishers have now mounted. We are faced with many new decisions about cataloging, vendor selection, license agreements, and consortial arrangements. The institute was planned as a basic course on electronic serials and addressed many of these topics froma wide range of viewpoints. Due to the popularity and success of this institute it will be repeated in April, 1998, in St. Louis.     

Serials spoken here: Reports on conferences, institutes and seminars

We have one report this issue which is, not surprisingly, on the topic of electronic serials. This institute, which reached full capacity, covered both theoretical and practical considerations for dealing with the influx of electronic serials. Many of us are barely coping with the need to plan and implement access to the vast amount of electronic information publishers have now mounted. We are faced with many new decisions about cataloging, vendor selection, license agreements, and consortial arrangements. The institute was planned as a basic course on electronic serials and addressed many of these topics froma wide range of viewpoints. Due to the popularity and success of this institute it will be repeated in April, 1998, in St. Louis.     

Auftragsklärung: Interventionen auf dem Wege zur Konstituierung eines Beratungssystems*

The author demonstrates basing on a case study, that the development of a consultation system is a process that requires time and patience of everyone involved. Not a fast decided definition of a consultation method with the corresponding setting is the first step but a clarification of the request. That is what the author is pleading for a phase of detailed analysis with the potential client.     

Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the Hyperlinked Library

Discussions surrounding the concepts of Web 2.0/Library 2.0 are increasing among the library community. This column outlines key principles behind Web 2.0 and provides a brief explanation of social tools, such as blogs, RSS feeds, podcasting, and wikis. The author also provides specific uses and applications of these tools within the library environment to illustrate the Library 2.0 concept. An open framework for library communication or hyperlinked library can result if Library 2.0 philosophies are fully utilized.     

Celebrating Twenty Years of a Serials Column

A co-editor of “The Balance Point” column looks back at its twenty-year history, its current function and its future in serving the serials professional and scholarly community. The author examines how the column emerged as an idea by then Serials Review editor Cindy Hepfer in 1988 to be a forum on important serials issues for practitioners who might not otherwise write formally on these topics. The column has continued though the 1990s and 2000s to provide that function, as well as serve as an important place where authors are invited to explore serial issues much in need of a balanced approach. The author shares comments from past “Balance Point” column editors, John Riddick, Mary Beth Clack, Ellen Finnie Duranceau, Karen Cargille, Markel Tumlin, and Kay Johnson on how they regarded the column, the rewards and challenges they faced, and how they see the future of this format in an evolving electronic communication milieu.     

Local to Global: The Importance of State-Level Journals to Library Literature

While the publishing needs of many state library associations are comfortably served by newsletters and Web sites, a number of state library associations produce major library journals that serve readers beyond their state membership. The author interviewed the editors of five state association journals: Alki: The Washington Library Association Journal, Colorado Libraries, North Carolina Libraries, Texas Library Journal, and Virginia Libraries. The editors were asked to comment on the role, challenges, and future of state-level library journals.     

Keines für alle!

The article is an answer to Hartmut Esser’s “One for All? The Weber Paradigm, the Moderate Methodological Holism Concept and the Sociological Explanation Model”, published earlier in this journal (KZfSS 58: 352–363). It explicates the differences between Essers sociological explanation model and the alternative model of moderate methodological holism. It analyses Esser’s misunderstandings and shows that his model — contrary to Esser’s “official” announcement — doesn’t entail the concept of macrodetermination, which is rightly so, because it doesn’t fit with Essers reductionist approach. The ontological and anthropological conceptions underlying the two explanation models are very different and lead to different methodologies.