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This project demonstrates three specific applications for integrating paper‐based information into the electronic environment. The first allows users to interactively select and view portions of page‐images, such as illustrations, subtitles, or text paragraphs, when either the screen resolution of their workstations or low transmission rates prevent viewing the bitmap of the entire page. The second application automates the selection of suitable portions of the document (e.g., abstracts) for subsequent optical recognition for full‐text searching of journals and reports in paper form. The third application automatically links pixel maps of illustrations with ASCII text files.

Experience has shown that states lose business and stall the ensuing development of their economies because of a lack of quality and foresight in their education systems. Some states feel that they have a vast reservoir of unskilled citizens who will work for nothing and companies will buy into it, but Harlan Cleveland in his article, “Education for Citizenship in the Information Society,” writes that “people who do not educate themselves, and keep re‐educating themselves to participate in the new knowledge environment will be the peasants of the information society.” Many research libraries are also stunting their own development through a lack of foresight in the provision of service. These libraries feel that their “all‐encompassing” unconnected collections continue to be a drawing card for recruiting and retaining the best scholars. University administrators who are also strategic planners will not continue to financially support this attitude.

In this emerging computer‐information age, library instruction goes far beyond research familiarity with books. With the advent of both library OPAC (online public access catalogs) and end‐user searching of online and CD‐ROM (compact disk read only memory) databases, the need for improved instruction in library use approaches a new plateau. These new technologies are forcing libraries, as well as their patrons, to move from traditional information handling to a total information support system.