Edward John Kazlauskas

What the Library and Information Professional Can Learn from the Information Technology and Project Management Knowledge Areas

There are various forces driving change in the knowledge and skills areas for information professionals: 1) technologies, 2) changing environments, and 3) the changing role of information technology management. These forces affect all levels of information technology-based professionals--those responsible for information processing and those responsible for information services. This paper discusses and reviews the pertinent literature that deals with the competencies needed of information technology (IT) professionals, covering both general and project management knowledge and skills. Discussion follows relating this review to the library and information studies (LIS) field. The analysis leads to a composite picture, presented in a classification framework, of the competencies and skills needed of the new LIS professional.

A Descriptive Analysis of the Characteristics of the Microcomputer Periodical Literature.

An analysis of the current microcomputer periodical literature is described. The study consisted of a review of the publishing and content characteristics of the literature, the nature of the indexing, and the availability of titles. Some fundamental problems with the literature are identified, such as the overabundance of titles, the repetition of themes, the lack of indexing and the non‐availability of titles in libraries. In general, the microcomputer periodical literature reflects the everchanging, dynamic nature of the microcomputer field itself.

The Application of a Minicomputer to Thesaurus Construction.

The use of a minicomputer in various phases of creating the thesaurus for the National Information Center for Special Education Materials (NICSEM) database is described. The minicomputer is used to collect, edit, and correct candidate thesaurus terms. The use of the minicomputer eases the process of grouping terms into files of similar concepts and facilitates the generation of products useful in vocabulary review and in term structuring. Syndetic relations, indicated by assigning coded identification numbers, are altered easily in the design phase to reflect restructuring requirements. Because thesaurus terms are already in machine‐readable form, it is simple to prepare print programs to provide permuted, alphabetic, hierarchical, and chart formatted term displays. Overall, the use of the minicomputer facilities initial thesaurus entry development by reducing clerical effort, editorial staff decisions, and overall processing times.

Education and Large Information Systems. R.A. Buckingham, Amsterdam: North‐Holland; 1977: 197 p. Price:

Education and Large Information Systems contains a collection of papers and transcripts of discussions presented at the IFIP Working Conference o n The Educational Requirements Introduced by Large Information Systems held in the Netherlands in April of 1977. A wide range of papers are included covering both theoretical and descriptive topics. For example, “The Elements of Largeness: A Contribution t o the Theory of Information Systems” is quite theoretical in nature and covers such topics as definitions for systems and information systems, and categorizations for “largeness” of information systems. One type of largeness is dynamical, or the largeness based on amounts of information processed. This category of largeness may be estimated by analyzing the number of transactions between the data bases which are part of the information system and the environment of these data bases, e.g., analyzing the transactions which will change the contents of the data base. Although such measures of largeness are useful in estimating costs, the paper emphasizes the conceptual issues associated with large information systems. Stamper’s article on the aspects of scale is also theoretically oriented. He discusses the organizational, social, and economical aspects associated with building large information systems. He also provides a list of strategies that can be used t o tackle large information problems. Some of these strategies include taking evolutionary approaches, modularizing t o avoid very large problems, exploiting new organizational possibilities, and increasing technical standardization. Descriptive types of reports are also included in this collection. An article by Reuterskoid on S.W.I.F.T., the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, provides detailed information on the history, operations, and benefits of one large information system. The report by Hansen discusses in detail the graduate program in Business Information Systems at Duisberg University, West Germany, while Land reviews the development of training information specialists in Englishspeaking universities. Other reports cover such topics as IBM’s European information systems education program and ITCIS, the Integrated Telephone Customer lnformation System for the Netherlands. Also included within Education and Large Information Systems are recommendations from the conference. These include general recommendations for programs of education and training as well as for increased research in the area. Since this publication is a collection of papers, the reader is confronted with a variety of writing styles, formats, illustrations, and the use and nonuse of bibliographic citations. However, this is a typical pattern of collected papers and most readers are accustomed t o this. The main criticism is that the title of the publication is somewhat misleading. An individual may assume that the work deals with educational information systems rather than with education associated with any large information system. The price is also somewhat high for the 197 pages of text. However, this is a recommended book for those interested in an international viewpoint on information system education.