The business of negotiating for hospital librarians

Although many hospital librarians may find it difficult, negotiating with vendors has become a basic skill of library acquisitions. This article reports the results of a non-scientific questionnaire administered to hospital librarians and vendors attending a chapter meeting of the Medical Library Association in 2003. The answers revealed that vendors regard libraries as businesses, and while admitting that the role is often uncomfortable for them, librarians acknowledged that negotiating skills have become an important aspect of their jobs. Questions to help guide librarians through the negotiation process are provided in the Appendix.     

The business of international broadcasting cultural bridges and barriers

The advent of international satellite television broadcasting, including the satellite‐to‐cable services which are now proliferating in several countries of the world, represents a qualitative leap in the nature of broadcasting. Satellite distribution is a literally ‘international’ medium in which signals can not only spill across neighbouring borders, but reach audiences spread over entire world regions and even link diasporic communities on different continents. The concerns raised by various countries about national sovereignty and their attempts to control reception are well‐known, but dishes and cable systems have flourished, and international and regional services are leasing new transponder capacity faster than operators can get their satellites into orbit. In this new satellite business, language and culture are emerging as powerful forces in making and breaking world‐regional markets. Thus, in contrast to the large degree of regional integration in Latin America, thanks to its linguistic and cultural similarities, service providers in Asia have soon found that they have to take account of linguistic and other cultural differences in establishing their markets, which therefore have more of a national than a regional character. This article reviews these trends and outlines how the technological potential to integrate regional markets via satellite broadcasting across borders has been attenuated at least as much by cultural as political resistance. Evidence of the effectiveness of such resistance, it is argued, raises questions about the validity of the rhetoric of ‘cultural imperialism’ now being heard again in Asia.     

U.s. government information need,awareness, and searching: A study of small business executives

Small business executives were studied to assess their need for government information, their awareness of its availability, and the extent to which government information searching was affected by factors such as their information need, availability awareness, and individual and company background characteristics. Data were collected through mailed survey questionnaires to small businesses in New Jersey. The results showed that the regulatory and legislative information was rated the most important to small businesses, and that less than one-third of respondents were fully aware that government information is available in multiple formats at local depository libraries with no user cost. Data also showed that more frequent users viewed government information of higher value, and were more aware of its availability. These executives were also more likely to perceive high industry competitiveness of their companies, to own a computer, and to have Internet access. Implications for library services and research are discussed.     

The impact of physical book displays on business e-book use

This study examined the effectiveness of a physical display for increasing use of business e-books. The authors created three topical displays and compared the average use of the display titles to the average use of titles in the general collection. The overall rate of use for display e-books (12.3%) was lower than the average rate of use for nondisplay e-books (14.4%), suggesting that displays are not effective tools for increasing business e-book use. However, one display had a significantly higher average rate of e-book use (26.6%), suggesting that factors other than visibility may affect e-book use.     

刍议高校图书馆的业务流程再造

章介绍了业务流程再造理论及其产生背景，指出了高校图书馆传统业务流程的不足，提出了一种新的业务流程。     

The business of library acquisitions: A consumer action model

Librarians'concerns for ethics, management, standards, and evaluation of service performance reflect a concern for the business operations of a library. While libraries serve social, educational, and cultural needs in society, they are also non-profit business organizations. It is, therefore, necessary that a library be managed as a professional business. We are large bureaucracies and major consumers, but we find ourselves striving for recognition as professional organizations by the public and the book industry.In Acquisitions, as conscientious consumers of the publishing industry, we have a responsibility to evaluate the trade standards of the products we purchase and the performance of the service for which we have contracted. This paper presents a model of trade standard guidelines for a specialized area of the publishing industry and advocates a broader application towards trade standards for the entire publishing industry.     

网络环境下图书馆业务涉及到的著作权问题

本对图书馆提供拷贝、套录、链结和下载；对进入“公有领域”作品数字化；在网上汇编和翻译作品；电子剪报；购买电子出版物提供服务等业务中可能涉及到的作权问题作了浅析。