Internet‐based reference services and community libraries: A need for new models and strategies Available to Purchase

The explosive growth in client/server technology, and the availability and popularity of Internet‐based navigational tools and access services, present today's reference library with a broad and much publicised array of opportunities to expand the quality of its services and even, in some cases, the scope of its mission. The paper proposes, however, that this sudden rate of change in the underlying technological infrastructure has surpassed the ability of most libraries to identify, let alone assimilate, these opportunities properly. The paper examines emerging Internet‐based strategies for community libraries, and suggests the need for a new set of information access models in the areas of patron access and control; rights and usage tracking; cost‐recovery on World Wide Web‐based services; Internet‐based ILL; self‐service for the remote patron; and community marketing via the Web.