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…

Interviews with two reference librarians and two users of reference services explored the concept of quality in academic reference services. The study determined that providers and users agreed on the meaning of quality service: librarian knowledge and willingness; mutual expectations, willingness, competence, and satisfaction between librarian…

Reviews theory and research findings concerning service organizations, develops a model of the library reference process, and summarizes the results of a partial test of the model in five academic libraries in northern California. The roles of clients and service providers are explored, and variables that influence service outcomes are discussed.…

Senior marketing research students conducted an unobtrusive survey of reference services at Central Missouri State University, and found 74% of reference transactions rated satisfactory or very satisfactory. Focus groups suggested including library information in freshman orientation packets, providing reference help during the day, and requiring…

Summarizes the results of 11 selected studies of the accuracy of reference services and identifies six modes of failure of reference services. Methods of detecting and reducing failure in each of these modes are then discussed. (17 references) (MES)

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…

Reports results of a 1987 survey designed to determine the educational preparedness and attitudes of academic librarians who participate in bibliographic instruction. Findings are discussed under the following headings: demographics; educational preparation; previous teaching experience; gaining and retaining support for the program; position…

College students were trained to do online searching in a mandatory research paper course. Bibliographies from student papers, search transcripts, questionnaires administered to students, the library's serials holdings, and interviews with instructors and librarians provided data for analyses of students' database and library searches and the…

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…

Three problems in online searching in women's studies are type of indexing, database quality, and adequacy of coverage. Results of a recent study show there is significant end-user satisfaction and the searches done are described in order to promote greater and more effective use of online retrieval in women's studies. (Author/EM)

Presents results of study evaluating reactions of 20 university students and faculty to first-time online database searching on the Bibliographic Retrieval Service's menu-driven BRS/After Dark. Background information on participants, search analysis and problems, end user education needs, and the role of the intermediary are discussed. Four…

A study of the collection of college catalogs at a medium-sized university library found that they are used by many types of clients in addition to undergraduates; users need a current, comprehensive collection and are not bothered by a lack of shelf order; use is enough to justify the collection. (Author/EM)

Includes articles on the use of online databases for historical research, machine readable data sources for historical research, the librarian-historian interface in reference service, and a sampler of databases for searches in history as well as a selected list of guides to history databases and data archives. (JL)

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…

Reports on a transaction log study of the online catalog at North Carolina State University-Raleigh that was conducted to determine users' searching behavior and the problems they experienced. Failure rates for various searches are examined, usage patterns are described, and results are compared with data from earlier studies. (seven references)…