The research reported here is focused on a specific type of change in an organization: an innovation. In an empirical analysis of research libraries, it was found that five factors had a significant impact on the innovation performance of the library. These factors relate to the strategy, organizational structure, and leadership of the research…

Evidence-based practice (EBP), like information literacy, is concerned with an individual's knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to using information. EBP is now a professional competency in fields as diverse as social work, nursing and allied health fields, and public policy. A comparison of the Association of College and Research Libraries'…

Although cited reference studies are common in the library and information science literature, they are rarely performed in nonacademic institutions or in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. In this paper, we analyze more than 400,000 cited references made by authors affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration between…

This empirical research examined scale economies of academic research libraries that belong to the Association of Research Libraries and developed a total cost function for estimating economies of scale. Argues that libraries are information provision organizations that provide multiproducts and multiservices and compares this study with previous…

Reports on the results of a survey on structure, support, and expectations in place for peer review of librarians. Compares previous research, discusses new information on the value placed on individual contributions in the review process, and reviews librarian status to uncover differences in the structure of the review process and how…

Considers the decision that branch libraries, music libraries in particular, have struggled with concerning a centralized location in the main library versus a decentralized collection. Reports on a study of the Association of Research Libraries that investigated the location of music libraries, motivation for the location, degrees offered,…

This study examined the ownership of religious texts within academic libraries that were members of the Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania (ACLCP). Results showed that most of the texts in English were owned by the libraries, whereas the texts in their original languages were generally not owned. (Author/LRW)

A quantitative and qualitative study of an innovating academic library examined individual, departmental, and organizational activity and considered three aspects of a learning organization model: continuous learning, team learning, and shared vision. Internet use was the innovation investigated. Concludes that learning and innovation in an…

Analyzed annual electronic journal usage data for the NorthEast Research Library (NERL) consortium. Discusses the high degree of skew in journal use; describes results of a cluster analysis that revealed three distinct groups of institutions based on journal use; and recommends that institutions consider their consortial membership and organize…

Describes the use of a professional marketing and opinion research firm at Brown University Library to conduct focus group meetings with users and to provide data analysis. Highlights include a review of library literature on focus group use; focus group methodology; benefits of employing professionals; logistics of focus group preparation; and…

Discusses the results of responses from 63 academic libraries about the choice and content of their default home Web pages. Shows that some branch libraries display a main library Web page as the default home page for their public computers, while others display a branch library page. (Author/LRW)

This usability study examines how students use electronic research libraries such as Questia, which has been designed to replace traditional libraries, and compares it with large university library Web sites. Suggests that design features incorporated by Web site designers can drastically affect the success of students doing research. (Author/LRW)

Reports the findings of a survey of South African university and technikon libraries that investigated annual reports and their use outside of the issuing institution. Highlights include the purpose of annual reports; issues included; recipients of the reports; promotion and distribution; availability; and feedback. (Author/LRW)

Refereed articles from "College & Research Libraries" and "Journal of Academic Librarianship" between 1990 and 1999 were analyzed with respect to the research agenda developed by the Association of College and Research Libraries. The analysis found that articles on collections, services, staffing, and the Internet have…

Describes the card sort technique that was used by Cornell University to help determine how users would organize a set of concepts to be included in an online digital library help system. Presents Cornell's experiences as a case study with detailed instructions for conducting and evaluating the card sort technique. (Contains 13 references.)…