This report includes an account of the RASD program of the American Library Association at the 1979 Dallas Conference with an annotated bibliography on guidelines for information services, and a questionnaire distributed at the RASD Business Reference Services Committee meeting at Dallas, with tabulated results. (JD)

A survey of 113 Texas libraries examined characteristics of reference positions to determine whether there were important similarities and differences between public and academic libraries in the areas of professional qualifications for employment; job skills and responsibilities; work scheduling; benefits; and departmental characteristics. The…

Surveys of labor educators and academic librarians, designed to study library usage by participants in labor education, indicate that a lack of communication and understanding exists between the two departments at many institutions. Increased cooperation and library utilization are recommended. Twenty-seven references are listed, and the…

Results of survey involving 54 U.S. colleges and universities reveal that while 98% of international education offices offered orientation programs for newly enrolled foreign students, only 56% of libraries provided special instruction for this group. Need for programs and suggestions for establishing them are discussed. Questionnaire is appended.…

Describes a study that examined patron response to and success in using bibliographic databases on CD-ROM. Perceived needs for training and satisfaction with the system were measured by asking patrons about ease of use, search success, their need for assistance, and preferences for CD-ROM or print research tools. The questionnaire used is…

The relative effectiveness of the CD-ROM information retrieval system, InfoTrac II, and the manual "Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature," was studied. Seventeen community college students were divided into two groups which researched the same questions either on CD-ROM or in the printed index. Results showed the "Readers'…

Provides a composite picture of interlibrary loan policies of 832 academic, special, and public libraries published in American Library Association's second edition of "Interlibrary Loan Policies Directory" (1984). Loan policies for books, periodicals, microforms, dissertations, theses, government documents, audiovisual materials, and…

A survey of public and academic libraries conducted to obtain information on length of reference desk shifts and proportion of the reference librarian's time spent at the desk found the two-hour weekday shift to be the most common, and that librarians typically work 7 to 21 hours per week at the desk. (EM)

A survey of 121 academic libraries examined five general areas of CD-ROM use: (1) user and librarian acceptance; (2) impact on the printed source; (3) cost; (4) assistance and maintenance; and (5) user confusion with multiple computer resources. A copy of the questionnaire is appended. (12 references) (MES)

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…

Patron use of periodical indexes was studied by interviewing patrons on random basis as they used periodical and newspaper indexes. A questionnaire was designed to gather information on citation elements, how patrons locate magazines in library, and how they use university's serials holdings list. Seven references and questionnaire are appended.…

Student requests for online searching often show that faculty members have suggested inappropriate searches. A survey of faculty that examined their use of online searching in research and their communications to students about this research method is described, and ways in which librarians might improve the situation are suggested. The…

Describes a survey of reference-bibliographers at 21 medium sized academic libraries that examined workload in terms of daily activities, committee work, and publication responsibilities. The need for further research to determine the impact of reference-bibliographer workload on the quality of library services is emphasized. The questionnaire…

A study of users' keyword searching success and knowledge using the NOTIS online catalog at Indiana State University revealed a low rate of knowledge about keyword searching. Frequency of catalog use, previous online database searching or computer coursework, and library instruction were found to correlate well with search success and keyword…

Describes results of a survey of members of the Association of Research Libraries that was conducted to determine what procedures are followed to obtain current reference books in foreign languages and to assess the libraries' satisfaction with those procedures. Standing order plans are discussed, and proposals to improve reviewing sources are…