Information systems play a vital role in the NHS; however, not all are used to the fullness of their capacity. In order to inform the development of the National electronic Library for Health Management, the key elements of a successful, large‐scale, corporate, Web‐based resource were...

This paper provides a high‐level overview of some of the main research themes and preoccupations that are reported in this special ciber issue of Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives. The research activities of ciber are drawn together in the quest for a better understanding of the...

Information seeking is a fluid and situation dependent activity where a seeker's actions are influenced by access to information, perceived quality (or information fit) and trust in the information source. All of these factors combined create an ever‐changing information‐seeking environment....

The Institute of Health Sciences at City University has been funded by the Department of Health to construct a National Electronic Library for Communicable Disease to form part of the National Electronic Library for Health. As a final preparation for its launch, the developers have been...

The distinction between a meta‐ and an object‐language has become increasingly familiar in information science, through the diffusion of the concept of metadata. A significant antecedent to this distinction can be found in the development of formal logic. This paper proposes an analogous...

The second part of a two‐part paper reports the preliminary conclusions derived from the pathfinder phase of a study devoted to a reassessment of the information needs of academic researchers. Proceeding from the notion that long‐established research information needs may not have remained...

Purpose – To validate the use of fuzzy control systems for information channel optimisation. Design/methodology/approach – The research presents findings from a multi‐year case‐based study of an international software organisation. At the outset of the study, baseline log‐file data...

Purpose – To judge the quality of health information provided to the users of the NHS Direct online enquiry service. Design/methodology/approach – An examination of available online tools was necessary to enable the development of a quality framework appropriate for the study. The checklist...

Purpose – To provide a review of the interface between e‐learning, digital libraries and learning content. Design/methodology/approach – A review of current thinking and activity surrounding the delivery of content in e‐learning systems. Some analysis of information concerns and...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to compare Anglo‐American cataloguing codes and practices for description over the past 150 years and assess the contribution that they made to International Standard Bibliographic Description (ISBD). Design/methodology/approach – The major...