USE OF A MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEM FOR INTER‐BRANCH LOANS IN ESSEX LIBRARIES Available to Purchase

In the current climate where the automation goal of most libraries is the ubiquitous integrated library system, it is easy to forget that there are often alternative solutions to particular problems, some of which may not, in any case, be best dealt with in an integrated systems environment. Big is not necessarily beautiful, nor is online and integrated. Essex Libraries, one of the largest library organisations in the country, has recently introduced a microcomputer system to handle the management of its inter‐branch loans requests.