A survey of 96 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) member libraries in the United States and Canada was conducted to obtain information on whether and to what extent these libraries offered reference services to students by telephone. Survey results showed 89 of the 93 responding libraries reporting that they offered some form of…

Presents the results of a study on data collection instruments, specifically questionnaires, used by libraries in evaluating resource use and institutional effectiveness. A number of causes for inconsistent survey results are identified and problems with imprecision in survey question terminology are discussed. (JL)

Academic librarians report that use by increasingly large numbers of high school students is creating pressures in budgets, staff, and materials. Indications are that these demands will increase: students are increasingly sophisticated in their information needs; they are mobile; and school library media centers' collections have been weakened by…

A Public Library Association (PLA) survey compiled information on public libraries in bibliographic networks. Aspects identified and measured were perceptions of participation, reasons for non-participation, reactions to services, and suggestions for increasing participation. Recommendations are made for actions by PLA and the networks to ensure…

Undertaken for a doctoral dissertation, this research project on reference services tested a model of major variables that influence academic library reference service outcomes. The study focused on reference librarians who serve in boundary spanning roles, i.e., positions where interchange with the organization's external environment is central…

A study was conducted at Cincinnati Technical College (CTC) to determine why students were underutilizing the Learning Resource Center (LRC), as well as to assess the opinions of students who did use the collection and services of the LRC. Telephone surveys were conducted by LRC staff members with 142 of 360 randomly selected students in the study…

Since the future role played by the school library media center is important to library planners, a Delphi survey questioned school librarians, leaders in the profession, and faculty members in schools with media. Four factors were seen to affect the future of the media center: (1) trends within the next 25 years, (2) innovations needing to be…

A survey of the collections of the libraries at the State University College at Buffalo (New York) was conducted to determine the physical condition of books and bound periodicals. The methodology of prior surveys at Yale (Connecticut) and Syracuse (New York) Universities was used and the following hypotheses were tested: (1) the methodology used…

Most institutions of higher education have a mission that specifically addresses three areas: instruction, research, and service. The repertoire of activities and the complexity of the goals of the University Library mirror the goals of the institution, the academic units, and the faculty. The clients of the library are the students, the faculty,…

Papers on library history presented at the 1985 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "The Historical Role of Libraries in Scholarly Communication" (Pamela Spence Richards, Rutgers University, United States); (2) "Current Bibliographies for Library History: An International Review and a Feasibility Study"…