Key issues of the development of the information infrastructure and information support of innovation activities

We consider some issues of the development of the national information infrastructure in the field of innovation, including a national system of accounting for the results of scientific and technical activities (RSTA) and a national new-generation research computer network (NNGRCN). The current state of the national system of scientific and technical information and its resources for information support of innovation processes are analyzed. In the context of further development of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), we propose a Conception of scientific and technical support for programs and projects of NIS member-states in the field of innovation, making it possible to incorporate the existing innovation-oriented information resources into a joint distributed integrated information system as well as to create new information resources and technologies.     

On measurements in the accounting for library stocks

The existing practice of measurements in the system of the accounting for library stocks is considered from the standpoint of econometrics. Terminological aspects are touched upon.     

On rubrication of the division <Emphasis Type="Italic">spintronics</Emphasis> in a separate edition of the abstract journal of the VINITI RAS <Emphasis Type="Italic">solid-state physics</Emphasis> (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Electrical Properties</Emphasis>)

The necessity for publishing a separate abstract journal on spintronics, which is a new, rapidly developing branch of physics, is substantiated. The interest in spintronics, which is the study of fundamental processes involving the simultaneous transport of both electron charge and electron spins in solids, as well as the interaction of electrons with a magnetic grating, is determined not only by its fascinating prospects but also the results that have already achieved. The spin and charge “degrees of freedom” open possibilities for the creation of semiconducting devices with parameters that are much superior to the existing ones and also the construction of devices that do not have analogues at present. First of all, this will permit problems of information transmission and processing to be solved in a new way. A detailed rubrication on spintronics is given in order to discuss the possibility of publishing a separate edition of an abstract journal devoted to spintronics.     

Recent developments in Palestinian higher education and the CEEPAT programme

Conclusions Palestinian teachers at the pre-collegiate level who participate in the CEEPAT programme will, it is hoped, learn to place new emphasis on enhancement of their students' analytical skills and discourage an identification of knowledge with memorisation. For their part, Palestinian professors who have been trained to teach in the programme will presumably constitute a growing reservoir of talent which may be expected to raise the quality of Palestinian university education. Plans are now under way to give all Palestinians teaching under the auspices of CEEPAT an opportunity to attend an annual, three-week winter seminar in Gaza and/or a summer seminar in the United States, both of which will focus on issues of pedagogy and methodology. Such professors can be expected to pass on their new understanding of teaching via discussion to their colleagues and to their university students, thereby spreading an important pedagogical method to other segments of the Palestinian... community. 7 CEEPAT clearly has the potential to make a significant contribution to the elevation of educational standards in Palestine at a time of major historical change.In Palestine, higher education of quality is obviously a very serious business. It is understood that it underlies any possibility of individual betterment, economic development, or the evolution of an independent Palestinian state. If ever the Israeli occupation is completely terminated and the present financial crisis of the universities is solved, Palestinian university and post-baccalaureate training may reasonably be expected to become fully competitive on an international scale.     

Outreach to health professionals in a rural area

An outreach project which juxtaposed technology (Grateful Med) and a human intermediary (a circuit librarian) to serve health professionals in a rural area of Illinois is described. The five goals of the project were: promote Grateful Med as a clinical tool; introduce circuit librarianship to Illinois; heighten the awareness of health professionals to the value of timely information services; increase the visibility of the resource library; and evaluate the impact of the two components, Grateful Med and circuit librarianship. While the project was well-received and enjoyed short-term success, sustaining the same level of information activity post-project has not been achieved. Insuring utilization of health information by remote health professionals may be characterized as a Sisyphean task.     

Book reviews

Zwartjes, Otto, ed. La Sociedad andalusí y sus tradiciones literarias (Foro Hispánico, 7). Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1994.

Brincat, Joseph M. Malta 870–1054: Al‐Himyai's Account and its Linguistic Implications. Malta: Said International Ltd., 1995. 52pp.

Sells, Michael A. Mystical Languages of Unsaying. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994. 316 pp., US$18.95 (paperback), US$49.91 (cloth).

Diem, Werner, Arabische Geschäftsbriefe des 10. bis 14. Jahrhunderts aus der Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek in Wien (Documents Arabica Antiqua 1), 2 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995. Textband ix+518pp., Tafelband 76 plates.

Coope, Jessica A. The Martyrs of Cordoba: Community and Family Conflict in an Age of Mass Conversion. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1995. xvii+113 pp., US$ 25 (cloth).

Edwards, John. Religion and Society in Spain, c.1492 (Variorum Collected Studies Series: CS 520). Aldershot and Brookfield: Variorum, 1996. x+351 pp., US$ 97.00 (cloth).

Tolan, John Victor, ed. Medìeval Christian Perceptions of Islam. A Book of Essays (Garland Medieval Casebooks, Volume 10). New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1996. xxi+414 pp., US$60.00 (cloth).     

The literature of women and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS): implications for collection development and information retrieval

The purpose of the study was to identify the pattern of publication about women and AIDS in scientific journals. Bradford zones were identified in each of six databases. The study determined that journal scatter for this subset of AIDS literature differed from the scatter in the general literature; further, the information indexed in the six electronic sources demonstrated little overlap. Consequently, key journal and newsletter titles identified by this study should form the core of any collection focusing on women and AIDS. The assurance of quality patient care management demands that librarians consult multiple resources for information retrieval that can assist health care providers, patients, and caregivers to enhance quality of life as well as to provide optimum care.     

The hospital library as provider of consumer health information

The health care environment of the 1990s demands that hospital libraries develop creative strategies for providing consumer health information (CHI). Librarians at the Reuben L. Sharp Health Sciences Library at Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center have developed a multifaceted approach to the problem. Using a combination of institutional resources, private funding, and cooperative arrangements with public libraries, the Sharp Library helps to serve the consumer health information needs of the southern New Jersey community.