The New Review of Information Networking, Vol. 4

The New Review of Information Networking is an annual review with the scope, “all aspects of networking”. In fact, the review is concerned with networked information resources and the networking of access to them. Technical matters are dealt with to the extent that non‐technical users can be informed about key issues, but this is not a technical journal. With that proviso, the broad scope of this journal is reflected in the 16 articles included in the fourth volume of the Review.

Volume 4 consists of two parts. The first part contains nine full‐length articles which address various aspects of delivery and use of networked information. The second part is a separately edited collection of shorter articles on network resources and access tools.

Part 1 is edited by the journal’s editor, Michael Breaks, university librarian at Heriot‐Watt University in the UK. The articles range from a description of how librarians have contributed to development of Malaysia’s economically vital multimedia super corridor (by Edna Reid, writing from Singapore) to a discussion of co‐operation in management of intellectual property rights in the electronic environment (by Judy Watkins of the British Library Copyright Office).

The second part of this volume, “Network resources and access tools” (NRAAT) is edited by Roderick MacLeod, a senior librarian at Heriot‐Watt University. The aim of this section is “to provide critical and informative perspectives on recent initiatives” (p. 1). The articles are, in fact, more informative than critical.

Howard Lake’s article on use of the Internet by charities, although emphasising the situation in the UK, is interesting and informative. Rupert Hewison’s article on the establishment of the Australian Cultural Network, a government‐sponsored gateway to Australian cultural information, provides a useful discussion of consultation with diverse institutions, tendering, and contract development. Renato Iannella’s tutorial on the resource description framework (a framework for inter‐operability of meta‐data) is well pitched to an informed but not highly technical audience.

The articles in this volume are drawn predominantly from Europe, but there are also articles from USA and Australasia. Those articles written from a particular country or regional point of view have something to offer readers from other regions. This is one of the few works in this international field that comes close to being truly international.

The volume presents a coherent picture of our concerns about networked information resources. The overall standard of writing and information is high and the articles are a pleasure to read. Although this volume has a 1998 cover date, most articles remain of current interest early in 2000.

Despite its breadth, I would have liked the editors to have drawn out the themes in this issue. Perhaps they will do so in the next volume? I offer as a partial list of themes: integrated access to resources from diverse sources, description for retrieval, protection of intellectual property, information literacy (among users and providers), and the roles of information professionals. But, just what we were thinking about these things in the late twentieth century, at that point in history when we began to understand the nature and potential impact of networked information resources? If you want to find out, read this volume.