Virtual reference, which allows users to connect easily with librarians online, is becoming popular. Librarians answer thousands of questions every day over the Internet. As the service matures, professional associations publish standards that provide professional guidelines to improve the quality of the services. This article focuses attention on the quality of these e-services in light of professional and ethical standards in the field. It examines the extent to which librarians adhere to professional and ethical guidelines and the role that virtual reference plays in providing services to diverse user groups. First, it discusses adherence to the professional standards and shows that the professional behaviors of librarians vary depending on user, institution, and request types. Then, it discusses the extent to which librarians provide equitable online reference services to diverse users groups and the inconsistent findings from empirical research.

Virtual reference, which allows users to connect easily with librarians online, is becoming popular. Librarians answer thousands of questions every day over the Internet. As the service matures, professional associations publish standards that provide professional guidelines to improve the quality of the services. This article focuses attention on the quality of these e-services in light of professional and ethical standards in the field. It examines the extent to which librarians adhere to professional and ethical guidelines and the role that virtual reference plays in providing services to diverse user groups. First, it discusses adherence to the professional standards and shows that the professional behaviors of librarians vary depending on user, institution, and request types. Then, it discusses the extent to which librarians provide equitable online reference services to diverse users groups and the inconsistent findings from empirical research.

While librarians are concerned about copyright and intellectual property, the extent of their compliance with ethical guidelines and copyright laws is unclear. This study examines, through content analysis, librariesâ approaches toward copyright concerns in three countries (Israel, Russia, and the United States), and suggests a model of library response to social responsibility issues.

While librarians are concerned about copyright and intellectual property, the extent of their compliance with ethical guidelines and copyright laws is unclear. This study examines, through content analysis, librariesâ approaches toward copyright concerns in three countries (Israel, Russia, and the United States), and suggests a model of library response to social responsibility issues.

This keynote address recounts the many important accomplishments and advancements in cataloguing theory and practice which have occurred between 1900 and 1999, and provides a backdrop for the papers and discussions which presented in the Conference on Bibliographic Control in the New Millennium. The address also serves as an upbeat reminder of all the progress that has been made and, we hope, will inspire conference participants to tackle the challenges of networked resources and the Web with enthusiasm and resolve.

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This thesis presents three studies on the regulation of externalities. In the first chapter we use a two-period model to analyse the reform of environmental policy when enforcement is incomplete. We show that in evaluating such reforms it is important to differentiate between two types of non-compliers which react to regulatory reform in qualitatively distinct ways. In Chapter 2 we show the problems caused by using the 'ALARA' criterion when the supply of new technologies of environmental protection is endogenous. The difference between the ALARA rule and the socially optimal rule is characterised and it is shown that the difference depends upon whether the source of technical change is R&D effort or learning-by-doing. In the third chapter we examine the externalities which are created by a particular type of regulation, and show the gains from self-regulation which are thus generated. Though each chapter discusses a particular industry or class of industries, the results obtained are argued to have more general validity.

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