"Public Libraries and the Internet: Roles, Perspectives, and Implications" explores the impact of the Internet and the expansion of the networked environment on U.S. public libraries through more than a dozen essays written by leading scholars and administrators. Notwithstanding the far-reaching changes wrought by the Internet, this is the first attempt to provide a comprehensive exploration of the subject over time and across areas of practice.

This wide-ranging volume, edited by the authors of several national studies tracking the use and involvement of public libraries with the...