Discusses problems and opportunities encountered in implementing staff exchange programs among reference departments of a multibranch academic library, based on experiences at the University of New Mexico. Highlights include communication; collaboration; uniformity of service; implementation criteria; goals; training; workloads and scheduling; and…

This manual describes the library instruction program taken as a part of English 200/201 at Utah State University. This manual is meant to be read after completing Project FORE, a computer-assisted instruction program at Merrill Library (Utah State University). Project FORE and this manual review the skills needed to retrieve information on…

This study is the second of a two-phase survey of public library information and referral (I&R) service. In this phase, seven public libraries offering I&R services were studied in depth to provide descriptions of their operations, organizational factors, and the reactions of their users. Organizational factors and operations were studied through…

The role of school librarians has changed as the rapid expansion of information technology during the last decade has placed more emphasis on their participation in the instructional process, and propelled the librarian into a new role as school media specialist. Many media specialists have difficulty in grasping their role in schools. They are…

In November 1982, questionnaires were sent to 1400 public, secondary school, academic, and special libraries in Massachusetts to determine their use of computers for various activities. Of the 778 respondents, 282 (36.2%) reported automation of some kind and an additional 105 (13.5%) indicated that they were planning some automation within a year.…

This System and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) flyer/kit is based on two research efforts: a 1986 SPEC survey on the collection and use of management statistics related to reference services, and a 1987 supplemental survey on qualitative measures of reference services. A brief introduction describes the survey and discusses the evaluation of…

A 1981 investigation by the Australian National University (ANU) library of the scope and nature of online bibliographic retrieval services provided by the 19 Australian university libraries and 5 of the Australian central Institute of Technology libraries, and a further study carried out in 1980-81 to assess the satisfaction of patrons with…

This publication reports the results of the first annual survey of those Illinois academic libraries affiliated with the Illinois Library and Information Network (ILLINET). It is noted that responses were received from 132 libraries, a 91 percent response rate. Information is presented on public use of academic library materials and services;…

Reports the results of a survey which examined the response of academic libraries to the needs of deaf students in terms of reference services, staff interaction with students, bibliographic instruction, formal policies, and outreach programs. Several recommendations to improve library services to deaf students are presented. The questionnaire is…

Investigates relationships among: techniques used by search analysts during interviews with users before engaging in online retrieval of bibliographic citations ("open" and "closed" questions, pauses of different lengths); amount of new information gained by user as result of search; and user's satisfaction with quality of…

Throughout 1999 and 2000, 234 academic institutions in Canada--66 university libraries and 168 college libraries--were asked to respond to a survey of library services for off campus users. Previous surveys were conducted in 1984 and then again in 1988. It was felt that with the advent of the World Wide Web, increased levels of library automation,…

Discusses results of a survey of LIS (library and information science) educators who specialized in reference services or online retrieval to understand how teachers have prepared students to deal with online and CD-ROM resources. Results are compared to those from earlier studies, and a copy of the survey is appended. (Author/LRW)

Academic libraries in Ohio were surveyed to determine the existence and content of training in customer service offered to library employees in the circulation and reference departments. Surveys were mailed to 127 libraries, and achieved a return rate of 68% (n=87). The survey contained questions about customer service training for both new and…

A survey of 88 users of SISMAKOM, a computerized selective dissemination of information (SDI) and document delivery service provided by the Universiti Sains Malaysia and four other Malaysian universities, was conducted in August 1982 in order to collect data about SISMAKOM and to assess the value of a computerized SDI service in a developing…

Documentation supplied in this kit demonstrates how research libraries provide services to visiting scholars as distinguished from other categories of external user. A "visiting scholar" is most often defined as a faculty member affiliated with an institution of higher education but the term may also include independent scholars and persons…