The Metropolitan Cooperative Library System in California is a group of 17 autonomous community libraries which have joined together to provide better services to their patrons. This survey of the reference resources and services of the system was conducted by personal interviews at each of the member libraries. The focus is upon reader oriented…

Reports on a project which developed a measure of levels of difficulty of reference questions handled by the California Interlibrary Reference Referral Network, and identified indicative measures that would reliably stand for the concept of difficulty. Correlations of predictive difficulty and actual difficulty are discussed. (nine references)…

Reports on an evaluation of the higher levels of California's statewide reference referral network that involved an unobtrusive method utilizing existing records of actual reference transactions evaluated by panel of judges. Reference evaluation methods, findings of other studies, and other uses of the method are discussed. (Nineteen references…

A 2-phase study evaluated the existing reference referral network in California, and developed and evaluated two alternative designs, one organization-based and the other formula-based. The evaluation phase consisted of the following tasks: (1) a survey of all public libraries and cooperative systems of the state regarding their priorities for and…

The Cooperative Information Network (CIN) was formed in 1972 to respond as totally as possible to the informational needs of individuals, governmental units, and businesses located within Santa Clara County, California. A network of TWX machines links all types of libraries in the county. Libraries joining the system agree to respond as quickly as…

This part of the final report provides an historical context for a state technical information system by reviewing prior work toward establishment of state-wide cooperation among libraries, with particular emphasis on service to business and industry. It then outlines a network schematic which incorporates both geographic groupings and specialty…

Volume 2 comprises the appendices to the study reported in Volume 1. The following textual material is presented: (1) background material for the first regional meeting on reference referral in the state of California; (2) minutes and participation lists from the seven focus group meetings held from March 27 through April 23, 1986; (3) summaries…

Social and economic issues affecting the vitality of public libraries in California are discussed. A 1993 study by the California State Library identified diminishing reference skills and reference collections, reduced funding which impacted staffing, increased demand, technology change, and language/culture issues as contributing factors to…

Public libraries are currently the conduit for local, state, and federal funds used to support reference referral and other reference-related functions in California. Given potential funding constraints, this 5-month study expanded its original scope--to assess the cost effectiveness and efficiency of the Bay Area Reference Center (BARC) and the…

Five articles about library cooperation discuss: statewide tiered reference services in California; sharing costs and increasing access through the Washington State Library's database licensing project; the Washington State Cooperative Library Project; FIND-IT! Washington, a World Wide Web site for locating government information; and the impact…