Putting content onto the Internet: the libary's role as creator of electronic information

This paper addresses several experiments that the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) University Library has undertaken to shape how information is presented on the Internet and to contribute to the quality and quantity of information accessible via the Internet. Four projects were begun under UIC's Great Cities Initiative. This paper describes each project briefly; reviews the significant issues addressed by the development of each project; discusses the future of each project; and identifies areas for other organizations, but especially libraries, to become involved with Internet publishing. The four projects include: a partnership with the Chicago Public Library (CPL) to make information about the Library and the City of Chicago available to eight CPL branches as well as to Internet visitors from more than 30 countries; a pilot project, now under contract, with the United States Department of State to provide State Department information world-wide on a timely basis, resulting in more than 3,000 full-text, fully indexed items distributed via Gopher and the World Wide Web over 300,000 times each month; a project with Pemberton Press to provide selected articles from four print journals, plus tables of content, author's guidelines and other information; and a collaboration with the Illinois State Archives to provide access to specialized databases of interest to genealogists and historians, such as the Federal Land Sales in Illinois.