Abstract: The article says that quality management is an effective method of managing an organization, and a balanced system of indicators is its tool that allows to increase the effectiveness of activities and systematically measure the effectiveness of the organization based on vision, values and strategy.

Abstract: An approach of organizing of the informational educational environment of higher educational institute is presented. Approach takes into consideration new Russian federal educational standards. Some practical implementation of all ideas is described in the paper.

Abstract: The article tells about the creation of knowledge management system in Republican Medical Library Information Centre (RMLIC, Kazan). Key elements of knowledge management in libraries are explained. The information on programs of improvement of professional skill of librarians, forms and methods are given.

Abstract: There are three main ways of obtaining information: searching, browsing and alerting. The first two are being widely developed by libraries using the Web, but the last has been somewhat neglected. The NewsAgent for Libraries project was originally funded under the eLib Programme by JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee of the UK higher education funding councils) as a two-year collaborative project started in April 1996.
Several small publishers of library and information science journals worked with network specialists, market evaluators and commercial software developers to design an open, distributed architecture for disseminating information via email and personalised Web pages. Dublin Core metadata was used, enhanced by NewsAgent specific keywords, to map stored user subject profiles against information feeds. Metadata was harvested using software robots to build an Oracle database where both user profiles and document attributes were stored.
Users can join the service via a Web page, to receive information updates by email or as a personalised Web page. Users can select predefined Topics in which they are interested, or create new named ones (stored queries). They can also modify existing Topics. Topics are presented in groups, called Channels.
A major part of the project was an extensive study of the potential end users of the service, before and after a prototype service was created. The project was considered a success, although further development of both software and marketing strategy were needed before a full scale launch could be planned. This is now expected in autumn 1999. In addition to this service, the software is being applied to other services by different organisations, targetted at groups such as small businesses, medical information and environmental information. It is expected that a commercial software package will be available from Fretwell-Downing Informatics as a result of the project.

Abstract: In this paper, we describe the analysis we had conducted on the matter of usage of biotechnological simulations in virtual space. We used the results to design the set of requirements for mechanics, environment, visual and technological aspects of virtual labs. We also showcase our simulation of the biomedical virtual lab as an example of how methodologies we described could be implemented.