Evaluates the database program SAVVY PC and describes its use in a public library reference department to index a local newspaper. The basic structure of SAVVY and FORTH, the language it's written in, are explained along with how the database is used. Advantages and disadvantages of the system are discussed. (EM)

Compares three Web-based online reference services that are described as a cross between a traditional database service and a Web search engine: Ask Jeeves (http://www.ask.com), The Electric Library (http://www.elibrary.com), and Information Please (http://www.infoplease.com). Concludes that each has strengths and weaknesses and aren't directly…

During the 2001-2002 academic year, Augustana College Library (Rock Island, IL) and St. Ambrose University Library (Davenport, IA) began a unique joint venture of peer observation between the reference staff members of the two libraries. Librarians from each college took turns visiting the other library and conducting peer observations of…

The purpose of this document is to highlight some of the difficulties associated with retrieving information on Iran using Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) and several other commonly used reference tools based on LCSH. Four subject areas concerning Iran are identified, and their treatment in LCSH and periodical indexes is analyzed. The…

This paper discusses the applicability and adaptability for evaluating reference interviews in library science of the Arizona Clinical Interview Rating Scale (ACIRS), a process-oriented scale originally developed in 1976 at the Arizona College of Medicine to evaluate the interview performance of medical students. The analysis surveys the content…

This task force report on current and anticipated needs relating to the use of microcomputers in libraries on the University of California, Berkeley, campus is intended to serve as a fundamental document, the basis for future discussion, planning, and development. The task force divided into two groups to consider the issues of staff use of…

Evaluates these two bibliographic databases for geosciences information in terms of their content coverage, search methodologies, user effort, and analysis of results. (SW)

Describes Usenet, an Internet service that provides access to computerized discussion groups, and examines how it can be used as a reference tool. Topics include subject groups, appropriate questions, exhausting local resources before posting, explaining Usenet to patrons, sending the question, and evaluating the answer. (AEF)

Issues involved in integrating new methods of bibliographic and physical access with old ones to create a unified system of periodical article access and identification are identified. Desirable characteristics of a system, a possible model, and suggestions for further research are presented. (Author/JKP)

This document reports on the e-mail-based question and answer services (digital reference) that the Department of Education offers to customers. The report is presented in five sections. Section 1, "Introduction," outlines the research goals which were to: analyze current processes, procedures and problems; suggest solutions for…

Reviews the use of CD-ROM technology in libraries. Topics addressed include personal computers and CD-ROM; possible futures of CD-ROM technology; the organization of CD-ROMs; workstations; help for users; remote access; delivery systems; and providing reference services to CD-ROM users. (Contains nine references.) (LRW)

The authors adapted Web usability techniques to assess student awareness of their library's Web site. Students performed search tasks using a Web browser. Approaches were categorized according to a student's preference for, and success with, the library's Web resources. Forty-five percent of the students utilized the library's Web site as first…

At reference desks across the nation, statistics in traditional reference service have been declining in most categories while requests for individual instruction and training in electronic research are showing a dramatic increase. Library technology has created a change in the activity at reference and information desks along with a need for more…

The number of electronic resources has climbed up steadily in recent times. Some of these e-resources are reference sources, mostly in Science, Technology and Medicine (STM), which publishers convert to electronic for obvious reasons. The library budgets for materials usually have two main lines, budget for one time purchase (monographs) and…

Reference e-mail continues to be a vital reference service. This article studies the trends in reference e-mail use over an eight year period. Usage statistics are analyzed particularly in light of the marketing of the service via changes in the location of the service on the official university libraries' Web pages. Included are recommendations…