Elizabeth Melrose   

Biography - Elizabeth has enjoyed a career in Libraries co-ordinating reference and local studies provision, latterly for North Yorkshire County Library Service, which boasts two central and forty branch libraries in a prominently rural region.  She is a past chairman of CILIP Local Studies Group and the immediate past chairman of UK and Ireland NEWSPLAN. In 1998 she received the MKE medal for her contribution to Anglo-Hungarian Librarianship and the LA Centenary Medal. She has written for library publications, and has contributed to conferences in the UK and abroad. She is a committee member of the Genealogy and Local History Section of IFLA and produces the Section newsletter. In addition she is at present co-editing a volume of the IFLA Genealogy and Local History Section presentations.

Abstract - Extravagance or treasure-trove: electronic resources at the smaller service points

Members of the public visiting large central libraries can be the first to benefit from the new generation of electronic and online resources. But can the development of this expensive electronic media supplement the selective print reference collections in the small service points - where staff time is at a premium and opening hours are limited? How relevant are electronic enquiry services and home access to small rural branch libraries or to county mobile library users? How should librarians evaluate the new technology and integrate the best of this with the best of the old?