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Emerging electronic library services and the idea of location independence

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Abstract

IN THE LAST DECADE, many academic libraries have installed online public access catalogs (OPACS). Recently, many of them have begun to provide users with dial-up access and access across various networks, including the Internet. As these connections have multiplied, the combination of electronic library services and connections across high-speed telecommunications networks have begun to transform both the use of library resources and the way in which users and librarians perceive the library. This paper focuses on means and issues associated with the development of what Kibbey and Evans have termed “location independence” (Kibbey and Evans, 1989, p. 16), and it suggests how remote access to library resources may prove of special benefit to scholars in the humanities and other areas of scholarship highly reliant on library services.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Christinger Tomer is Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh. Tomer, who was educated at The College of Wooster and Case Western Reserve University, has taught previously at Case Western Reserve University, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, and Notre Dame College of Ohio. His professional research interests include computer networking and network resource management, alternative software development in the MSDOS and UNIX environments, and computer-mediated conferences. He is a member of the American Library Association, the American Society for Information Science, and the Association of Library and Information Science Educators.

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Tomer, C. Emerging electronic library services and the idea of location independence. J. Comput. High. Educ. 4, 88–121 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02940981

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