Secret shopping is a form of unobtrusive evaluation that can be accomplished with minimal effort, but still produce rich results. With as few as 11 shoppers, the author was able to identify trends in user satisfaction with services provided across two entry-level desks at Illinois Wesleyan University's The Ames Library. The focus of this secret…

To evaluate the current state of resource sharing and cooperative collection development, this paper examines the relationship between less commonly taught language collections (LCTL) and ILL services. The study examined multiple years of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's resource-sharing data. This paper provides a historical…

Academic librarians are challenged with development and maintenance of collections of research materials in various formats. Although it is assumed that they are monitoring the needs of their constituencies as a part of the collection management decision-making process, the literature reflects only a few studies that focus on direct solicitation…

The Association of Research Libraries E-Science Working Group developed a survey to "build an understanding of how libraries can contribute to e-science activities in their institution" and "identify organizations and institutions that have similar interests in e-science to leverage research library interests." The August 2009…

Describes results of a research project conducted in Illinois to obtain detailed information about preferences of public library customers and about how much value they place on various types of library services. Discusses rural perceptions of public library contributions, willingness to pay more for service, and implications for library…

In order to gather information detailing the extent and effectiveness of oral history projects in public libraries, questionnaires were sent to public libraries in 11 states that listed "oral history" among their resources in the American Library Directory, and to a small number of other libraries in these states with oral history…

Eighteen state-supported academic libraries, primarily in Illinois but also in other midwestern and western states, were contacted by letter (14) or by telephone (4) in order to obtain information on their circulation policies and procedures. Fifteen libraries responded by sending copies of their policies. Information was also collected by…

The main article in this issue is a report on "Salaries and Expenditures of Illinois Special Libraries, 1983," based on 366 usable responses to a mail questionnaire. Data on 14 variables (including 4 aspects of salaries) are cross-analyzed by 6 factors: geographical area, person to whom head librarian reports, sex of head librarian, size…

Academic librarians in Illinois were surveyed to determine their attitudes toward and recordkeeping practices for online searches. Findings indicate that confidentiality is considered to be as important for online searches as for circulation records, but that recordkeeping practices and attitudes toward subject and client disclosure do not assume…

Discusses the role of consortia in academic libraries, specifically the Illinois Digital Academic Library (IDAL), and describes a study conducted by the IDAL that investigated issues surrounding full text database research including stability of content, vendor communication, embargo periods, publisher concerns, quality of content, linking and…

Each year, from 1982 to 1986, the Library Research Center at the University of Illinois conducted a study called the Index of Quality of Public Library Service. For this study, unobtrusive tests of reference service and book availability were performed annually in Illinois Public Libraries. When the results from rural libraries were compared with…

A research project sponsored by the Illinois State Library had two goals: to develop a set of mathematical models suitable for predicting the impact of alternative library network policies on network preformance, and to demonstrate through series of case studies that the methodology developed could feasibly be applied to real library networking…

One of a series of annual studies undertaken by the Library Research Center for and on behalf of the Illinois State Library, this report provides a detailed, question-by-question examination of the 143 responses (84% of the 170 Illinois academic libraries polled) to the 1981/82 Higher Education General Information Survey/Library General…

Describes a survey of Illinois school library collections in astronomy, space, and the solar system; general biology and ecology; and human anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. The survey produced statistics on funding needs; provided a collection assessment tool; and determined whether libraries had resources for supporting state goals for science…

Researchers from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) surveyed faculty members from 10 academic research libraries to learn about scholarly publishing activities, attitudes, and policies. Areas of special interest included the effect of publishers' intellectual property policies and institutional promotion and tenure processes on library…