Vol. 20, No. 7 • July/August 2000

As most of you know, the CIL Buyer’s Guide and Consultants Directory is always our big summer double issue, and it’s chock full of all the information that you’ll need to buy just about anything that your library could possibly use. Our listings cover the smallest things (like library cards and plastic bags), the medium things (like printers and CD-ROMs), and even the largest things (like IOLS software and furniture). It includes services too, from consulting to ret con to serials processing. If you need to buy it, you can find it here! (And if you can’t, let me know!)

Last fall, we totally redesigned the survey form, took off some outdated categories, and added lots of new ones. We asked all the vendor companies to fill out our survey forms from scratch this spring, to make sure that you get the most up-to-date information. On the inside, we also had a new database guru this year, Jonelle Guy, and a new software program to pull it all together. Jonelle tells you a bit about the whole process in her introduction to the listings, which starts on page 26.

We don’t carry our usual departments in this issue (like Newsline and People & Places), nor do we run columns. (Our writers would mutiny if we didn’t give them their summer breaks.) We do, however, have two features. The first will be an old friend to you longtime subscribers. It’s the annual article where former CIL editor Eric Flower re-emerges to write about the state of the PC industry and the current buying trends. This year Eric gets a little futuristic; turn to page 8 to find out what he sees in cyberspace. The second feature is a good general-purpose one that we thought fit nicely into the Buyer’s Guide, because it’s something you’ll want to file away to refer to when you need it. William Doering (who also wrote a feature in last summer’s Buyer’s Guide about getting ready for Y2K) writes for those of you asking the big question, “I’ve just bought a new library catalog—how in the world do I implement it and manage a smooth migration from our old system?” If you’re curious, turn to page 20 to learn the lessons that experience has taught this library professional.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year ... I’m not going to go caroling out in the snow, but I will be taking a couple days off next week. And as I walk out the door, I’ll probably be humming this song.
 

Kathy Miller, Editor
kmiller@infotoday.com