Hope Tillman, Babson College
Walt Howe, Delphi Internet Services Corp.

Information professionals seek to use the best information available. Where does the Internet fit into the mix of information products? At this point, certainly one can find familiar online services such as DIALOG, Dow Jones and much more. In counterpoint, there is an incredible amount of data on the Internet that is less familiar, and librarians need to make sure that this is part of their arsenal as well. Discussions will address the current mix and future directions of the Internet as an information source. This full day, interactive workshop is definitely for those interested in making effective use of the Internet as it exists today and learning how to keep abreast of Internet as it evolves.

Stephen Abram, IHS Micromedia Limited
Rebecca Jones, Dysart & Jones Associates

Why should services be "re-created" and how? What are the new and emerging technologies and what's their impact on library services? This workshop answers these questions, provides a framework for viewing the exhibits and sessions, and helps you focus on the technologies you will want to investigate throughout the conference.

Greg Notess, Montana State University

This workshop takes an in-depth look at the major Internet search engines and finding aids. It explores the features and limitations of the principal Internet indexes including: Alta Vista, InfoSeek, Lycos, Yahoo, HotBot — or whatever has replaced these by the time of the conference! Learn tips and techniques, effective use of these search engines to their maximum potential, and contrast their limitations with each other.

Ruth A. Pagell, Director, Center for Business Information, Emory University
Anne Mintz, Director of Information Services, Forbes Inc.

What do I say when the boss wants to know why I use expensive online services when "you can get it free on the internet"? How are database producers selecting their international sources and content, and what steps are they taking to monitor quality? What role can I play so that my suppliers will provide me with the type of information I need at a price that I can afford? This half day workshop is for any individual in the information field who uses, selects, evaluates or has an interest in international business information. It differs from other sessions on international business in that it brings together individuals who use, evaluate, or select electronic sources of international business information with those organizations that provide it. The emphasis is on content, quality, analysis and partnering. Beginning with an overview of the present structure of international business and a review of international data quality and analysis issues by the instructors, the workshop then includes representatives from database providers and search services discussing, comparing, and contrasting their products. Emphasis will be on quality, content and uniqueness. This is followed with a section on partnering with information providers and a discussion of how to get the most and give the most to the relationship.

D. Scott Brandt, Purdue University

This half day workshop is for those who have a short amount of time in which to teach beginners how to find, use and evaluate information on the Internet. It focuses on how to identify the most important objectives to cover; integrating training objectives and conceptual understanding; understanding a user's mental model of information seeking; building a base model of instruction which targets the learner; and determining how to incorporate experiential learning exercises.

Laverna Saunders, Salem State College

Professional presentations are key to enlisting support and resources in any organization. With millions of users, Microsoft Powerpoint has brought presentation software into corporations and schools. Once you have used Powerpoint to create and give presentations, you know the powerful value they have in positioning your message with your audience. And once you have created a number of Powerpoint presentations, finding individual slides and creating customized presentations using slides from multiple Powerpoint shows is a tedious process. PowerPresenter, a new product from New Media Services, organizes Powerpoint slides into logical folders that make sense to users. PowerPresenter automatically interacts with Microsoft Powerpoint so existing slides can be captured and modified for new presentations which are automatically saved to the user's library. In this half day session, Saunders will demonstrate the features of PowerPresenter and show how new presentations can be created. All those involved in marketing and selling their products and services, and want those services to be positioned powerfully in the mind of their audience, will want to attend this workshop.

Stephen Abram, IHS Micromedia Limited
Ulla de Stricker, de Stricker & Associates

"Something's gotta stay, something's gotta go — the art is in telling which is which!" This half day workshop looks at the changing environment with a scan of emerging technologies that will have an impact on the information professional and the knowledge environment. What do they mean? Can we ignore some and concentrate on others? This interactive workshop focuses on the decision making process; effective implementation; defining services and products, and keeping your eye on the goal. It also includes discussion of the new roles for information professionals as well as the skills and strategies for success.

Sara Laughlin, Principal, Sara Laughlin & Associates
Dennis Tucker, INCOLSA (Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority)

Bringing new technology into the library changes every aspect of the library's operation, from acquisitions, cataloging and reference to staffing and building design. Now, more than ever, libraries need to have a plan, and some funding sources require a written plan. This workshop presents a community-based technology planning process that can be used in any type or size library and views model plans that can serve as prototypes. It prepares participants for all the steps from writing a plan to selling it.

Howard Besser, University of California—Berkeley

What does a library need to do in order to make collections of images available to users over the Internet? This introductory workshop focuses on metadata issues for information discovery and retrieval. Participants will learn about the importance of administrative, structural, and intellectual metadata; metadata standards developments; the history and importance of the Dublin Coer; and pilot projects such as REACH and the VRA Core. They will learn the difference between semantics, structure, and syntax. They will learn about best practices for this area, and about efforts to create guidelines on the subject. They will also learn about related issues such as scanning and delivery versus archiving. The workshop will focus on digital libraries of document images and photographic type materials, but much of the discussion will be relevant to other types of material.

Nancy Cundiff, Library Services Coordinator, Dow Chemical Company
Jan Petersen, Information Quest
Chrysanne Lowe, Academic Press
Lorrin Garson, American Chemical Society

More and more technical journals are becoming available electronically. This presents a dilemma: how can a user access all of the electronic subscriptions of an institution from one place? Currently several publishers offer an interface to their titles alone. But the user needs to have all titles available from one interface. Three groups are represented in this workshop: the customer, Dow Chemical, a subscription agent, and several publishers. They will discuss the needs, roadblocks and potential solutions to integrating electronic journals into a one stop shop.

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