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The major bibliographic utilities in North America were established in the 1970s. What role are they playing in the 1980s? This select bibliography provides a synopsis of what is happening in the world of bibliographic utilities.

The nature of information retrieval applications, the Z39.50 protocol, and its relationship to other OSI protocols are described. Through Z39.50 a client system views a remote server's database as an information resource, not merely a collection of data. Z39.50 allows a client to build queries in terms of logical information elements supported by the server. It also provides a framework for transmitting queries, managing results, and controlling resources. Sidebars describe the Z39.50 Implementors Group, the Z39.50 Maintenance Agency, and international standards for OSI library application protocols.

The upper three OSI layers support communication requirements of applications. To communicate meaningfully, applications must share a common understanding of various aspects. This is achieved through the use of several OSI‐related concepts described in this article, including application association, application context, and abstract syntax. The Application layer is concerned with semantics and not encoding. The presentation protocol is concerned with the coupling of semantics with a particular encoding. The session protocol provides for organized and synchronized data exchange. Several application protocols are described in this article, and a sidebar about the File Transfer, Access, and Management protocol is included.

The Linked Systems project (LSP) is directed towards implementing computer‐to‐computer communications among its participants. The original three participants are the Library of Congress (LC), the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and the Western Library Network (WLN, formerly the Washington Library Network). The project now has a fourth participant, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). LSP consists of two major components. The first component, Authorities Implementation, is described in Library Hi Tech issue 10 (page 61). The second component, the Standard Network Interconnection (SNI), is the specification of the LSP protocols, and the implementation of these protocols on the participant systems. Protocol specification was a joint effort of the original three participants (LC, RLG, and WLN) and was described in Library Hi Tech issue 10 (page 71). Implementation, however, has consisted of individual efforts of the (now) four participants. This four‐part report focuses on these individual implementation efforts.

This special “theme” issue of Library Hi Tech is devoted to Open Systems Interconnection. The editor is Ray Denenberg, of the Library of Congress. Eleven articles cover the basic OSI platform, applications, support areas, and implementation. The basic OSI platform consists of protocols for the seven layers, including support for file transfer and message handling. Three articles describe network applications and the corresponding OSI services and protocols. “Information Retrieval as a Network Application” describes the ANSI Z39.50 protocol. Another article describes the interlibrary loan protocol, which incorporates the sequences of messages that occur in distributed interlibrary loan transactions. An article about electronic data interchange describes the edi conceptual model being developed by ISO, and its relationship to OSI. Network management and directory services are two of the most important OSI support areas; individual articles cover these two topics. Implementation topics include profiles, testing, and products.

The Linked Systems Project, directed toward implementing computer‐to‐computer communications, consists of two major program components. One component is the development of the Standard Network Interconnection. The other is the creation of a practical application —Authorities Implementation—which was discussed in the preceding article. This discussion of the Linked Systems Project covers the design and implementation of the Standard Network Interconnection. The article on “Open Systems Interconnection” in Library Hi Tech, No. 9, should be read as an introduction to this topic (and article).

In September 1990, the U.S. Department of Education's Library Technology and Cooperation Grants Program awarded a three‐year grant to the Florida Center for Library Automation (FCLA), an agency of the Florida State University System, to develop software adhering to the ANSI Z39.50 Information Retrieval protocol standard. The Z39.50 software was to operate over the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) communications protocols and be integrated with FCLA's NOTIS system, which is shared by all nine state universities in Florida. In order to test the correctness of its Z39.50 software, FCLA sought out other library software developers who would be willing to develop Z39.50 systems of their own. As part of this process, FCLA helped to found the Z39.50 Implementors' Group (ZIG), which has since gone on to improve the standard and promote Z39.50 implementations throughout much of the North American library systems marketplace. Early on in the project, it became apparent that TCP/IP would be a more heavily used communications vehicle for Z39.50 messages than OSI. FCLA expanded its design to include TCP/IP and, by the end of the grant in September 1993, will have a working Z39.50 system that can communicate over both OSI and TCP/IP networks.

The Western Library Network software, installed at such libraries and networks as the National Library of Australia, the National Library of New Zealand, The British Library and the Universities of Illinois and Missouri, is also available through Biblio‐Techniques as a fully vendor‐supported system called BLIS. Currently installed at six major research libraries, BLIS supports an online union catalog; a catalog management facility, including authority control, acquisitions, and accounting control. Circulation and other modules are under development.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the underlying mechanisms through which social media use for vertical and horizontal communication enhance employee performance.

To test the research model, the authors conducted a questionnaire survey in China. The authors used a customer panel database provided by a marketing research firm in China to identify appropriate respondents. Finally, the authors received 243 valid responses.

The authors find that social media use for vertical communication (SMUVC) is positively related to leader-member exchange (LMX) and social media use for horizontal communication (SMUHC) is positively related to team-member exchange (TMX). LMX and TMX are positively related to employee performance. LMX is positively associated with TMX. Besides, task complexity positively moderates the relationship between LMX and employee performance, while it negatively moderates the relationship between TMX and employee performance.

First, it adds to the literature by investigating the underlying mechanisms of how social media use for communication influences job performance. By identifying LMX and TMX as the underlying mechanisms, the authors make comprehensive considerations of how the vertical and horizontal relationships link the effect of social media use for communication on employee performance. Second, despite the growing evidence demonstrates that high-quality LMX and TMX can individually contribute to employee job performance, little research has considered both LMX and TMX relationships simultaneously and their effects on job performance. Finally, by establishing task complexity as a key moderator on the relationships between LMX and TMX and job performance, the study could explain the inconsistent findings in the literature that the effects of LMX and TMX are significant in some studies yet not significant in other studies.

This study analyses the relationship between the use of work–family benefits and job satisfaction (JS). Furthermore, it proposes that work-to-family conflict (WFC) and work-to-family enrichment (WFE) play a mediating role in this relationship. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

Data are gathered from 1,051 employees of Colombian organisations. Partial least squares path modelling is used.

The results show that the perception of WFE to a greater extent and the WFC perception, to a lesser extent, are significant mediators in the relationship between the use of benefits and JS.

This study justifies investments and initiatives on the adoption and promotion of work–family benefits. Moreover, it provides practical clues on how to boost JS: WFC and WFE are variables to be considered.

This study proposes a multiple mediation model to analyse the relationship between the actual use of work–family benefits and JS from a family perspective. It contributes to the literature in examining antecedents of JS, highlighting the role of WFE.