Purposeful assessment of space for the understanding and improvement of the academic library is a relatively new area of inquiry. This essay offers a framework to consider different factors affecting such an assessment and insights for undertaking a meaningful inquiry about the relationship of space to an academic library's evolving purpose as…

The author recently asked his colleagues, "How can libraries determine the value in collecting, managing, preserving, and/or cataloging e-resources?" hoping to challenge readers to come up with some thoughtful opinions and useful tips. Not surprisingly, he received a handful of substantially different but uniformly provocative and creative…

Professionally, school librarians are faced with an explosion of choices--search engines, online catalogs, media types, subscription databases, and Web tools--all requiring scrutiny, evaluation, and selection. In turn, this support "stuff" forms a basis for making additional choices about how and what they teach and what they assess. Whereas once…

Examines in detail the aims, forms, and methods of USSR library services provided for children, including information and bibliographical assistance, as well as the main areas of research being conducted in this field by Soviet specialists. (CWM)

Reviews a study by the RAND Corporation on the changing ethnic nature of California which focused on the impact for public library services of having the majority of the population composed of what once were racial and ethnic minorities. The report is criticized for the narrowness of the questions addressed, softness of data, and simplicity of…

Discusses scientific creationism and the issues it poses for teachers and librarians. Briefly reviews early selection and editorial practices regarding human genetic evolution followed in the first six editions of the "Children's Catalog." (SR)

The direction and development of public library services to children are of vital concern; but socioeconomic "status insecurity" on the part of chilren's librarians may confound their ability and willingness to fulfill both personal and professional commitments to librarianship and to children. (Author/CMV)

The need to plan for operating and service patterns and to establish priorities for services to readers in the new Reference and Bibliographical Center at the Newberry Library guided this self-study. From December 1983 to August 1984, 32 staff members (grouped into 1 study team and 4 task forces) investigated the critical issues of bibliographic…

Presents a model for the development of statewide levels of adequacy for public libraries. Recent developments affecting the profession's thinking about standards are reviewed, various dimensions of the concept of standards are discussed, and issues that remain to be resolved are identified. (Author/JD)

This report summarizes activities conducted from fall 1984 through spring 1985, under a planning grant from the Council on Library Resources for Innovation and Improvement of Basic and Supplementary Education for Academic and Research Libraries. The report includes a review of selected literature related to educational programs for academic…

This report is the third in a set of three reports from the project, "Issues in Library Research: Proposals for the 1990s," which was launched in September 1986 to investigate library and information science issues in order to assess the current state of the profession and identify a research agenda to lead into the next decade. This…

Discusses the British Library's role, identity, and expectations, and comments on successes, charges, and copyright problems of the Lending Division, the current image of the Reference Division, controversial areas within the Bibliographic Services Division, and criticism of library research associated with the Research and Development Department.…

Through a comparison of the historical perspectives of medieval and modern libraries, this paper is designed to clarify the purpose and goals of the library, and to promote a public and intellectual debate to guide future developments. The Middle Ages were chosen because libraries possessed an importance and centrality to learning, civilization,…

Discussion of public library roles examines roles from the Public Library Association's planning and measurement tools for their usefulness in evaluating public library effectiveness, based on data from the Public Library Effectiveness Study. Indicators of library effectiveness are discussed, and a cluster analysis of libraries with similar role…

Describes the incongruence between the service priorities of the public library community and the public. The results of a public poll on library roles (e.g., educational support, independent learning, preschool programs, community information, reference, and popular materials) and an analysis of public library data for 1992 are compared and…