The near future trend: Combining Web access and local CD networks. Experience and a few suggestions

This paper discusses the complementary nature of two media, Web access and CD networks, with emphasis on three points: (1) combining Web access and CD networks — their importance and feasibility; (2) the benefits and necessity of considering the community network environment as a whole, rather than focusing on the particular library; (3) the need for flexibility in considering new technologies. There is not a unique model for each library to implement. As well as introducing a few new products, the paper describes the experience at the Occidental College Library (Los Angeles, California, USA) to indicate the possibility of building such a network; the possibility of sharing a network and network file server; and the workload/flow between the Computer Centre and the library, and between the student worker and the library CD network administrator.