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The library marketplace for reference services is a rapidly changing environment. Various types of technologies have been introduced during the past twenty years to facilitate the retrieval of periodical information. Beginning with online access to databases, and progressing from menu‐driven systems to access online databases, the library community is now ready to embrace the latest and most revolutionary technology for libraries—CD‐ROM.

The Chemistry Online Retrieval Experiment (CORE), a five‐year R&D project, was one of the earliest attempts to make a substantial volume of the text and graphics from previously published scholarly journals available to end‐users in electronic form, across a computer network. Since CORE dealt with material that had already gone through traditional print publication, its emphasis was on the process (and limitations) of conversion, the optimization of presentation, and use of the converted contents for readers. This article focuses on the user response to the system.

During the last several years the staff of Mann Library has struggled with big questions and decisions. We have been obliged to recognize that the decisions we make today provide the foundation for the research library of tomorrow. We may not be able to grasp the precise details of the research library of 2020, but we are committed to the responsibility of ensuring that its great ideal will be upheld. As we have made decisions for today, we have been conscious of posterity and of assuring that the ideal of the research library survives.

This article describes the rationale behind the construction of an interactive numeric flies retrieval system, and the creation of the system (project team, project phases, data preparation, software, and hardware used). The major findings section includes comments on data problem resolution, database design and construction, interface considerations, enhanced cataloging, file transfer, standards adherence, and staff resources. The incorporation of the system into the range of services of Cornell's Mann Library is described.

While Gutenberg's invention is likely to endure for some time, it is indisputable that the prominence of print is diminishing. The recently published Mellon report University Libraries and Scholarly Communication highlights the symbiosis between the humanities and the print medium. It maintains that electronic media will ultimately change the nature of the humanities and spawn a new kind of discourse with fundamentally different features. The report asserts that the shift from print to electronic media, which began in the late twentieth century, will have widespread consequences on the intellectual experience of modern society, reaching beyond print and libraries.

A systematic, disciplinary approach to setting preservation priorities developed at Mann Library is described. The Core Agricultural Literature project, under the direction of Wallace C. Olsen, has identified the core historical literature in seven disciplines comprising the agricultural sciences. Specific applications and adaptations of the core literature methodology in three other biology and agriculture preservation projects are discussed. Two of the four preservation projects briefly described here have been undertaken as part of a national preservation plan for agricultural sciences literature. The application of digital technology in a national cooperative effort to preserve core historical literature of agriculture represents the culmination of Mann Library's work in developing a disciplinary approach to national preservation planning.

Provides a bibliography of CD‐ROM for librarians, covering case studies, costs, product evaluation guidelines, databases, CDI, downloading/copyright and CD vs. online, for use when making decisions about the adoption of CD‐ROM.

The Information Technology Section (ITS) of the Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University is introduced, focusing on key roles regarding the public services, technical services, and preservation and collection development divisions. Six key roles, or functions, are discussed: 1) maintainer—ITS is responsible for maintenance and support of all computer and network hardware and software; 2) interpreter—the section interprets the information access needs as expressed by patrons and staff to create useful software application programs for their use; 3) trainer—ITS plays a key role in training staff to effectively use those applications; 4) enabler—the section provides staff with the technical background that enables them to translate the challenges to information access they see firsthand into insightful and meaningful suggestions; 5) liaison—ITS exploits its technical expertise to effectively communicate the library's requirements to the campus technical support unit; and 6) advisor—ITS represents the library, both its needs and its offerings, participating in the strategic planning done by academic units for the incorporation of electronic technologies into instruction, research, and extension.

The Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University has created a working electronic library and has made significant changes in services and staff responsibilities to address users' evolving needs. This article presents an overview of these changes, after discussing the development of electronic libraries at Mann and elsewhere. The increased usage that Mann's collections have received as the electronic library has been developed is also described.

This article explores the relationship of commercial document delivery services with libraries in an arena traditionally dominated by interlibrary services, focusing on the supply of article photocopies. Major trends in interlibrary lending and private sector services are summarized. Commercial services are divided into two groups: collection‐specific and full‐service suppliers. The article explores the fit of commercial services in a resource‐sharing environment. Evidence is presented that corporate libraries are more likely to use commercial services than their academic counterparts. Speed of delivery is found to be the vital factor to librarians in both types of libraries, although economic issues are also important. The article concludes with a discussion of the private sector in developing and introducing new technology for document delivery.