Special libraries can be expected to accept and approve the National Program for Library and Information Services although certain aspects of the program are antithetical to the nature of the special library. Traditionally independent, special libraries tend to have a local rather than national orientation and to resist standardization. Although…

This is a general descriptive and comparative report on alternative forms of library catalogs. The specific problems and factors associated with library catalogs are introduced briefly and then treated with respect to the following physical forms: card catalogs, book catalogs, microforms, and on-line catalogs. Whenever possible, examples of…

To aid in controlling the cost of acquisitions in a research library, techniques were developed for the rational selection of serial titles for cancellation. The context for the proposed methodology was a network or multicampus environment rather than an individual library, and it was tested with a specific body of health sciences serial titles in…

In the United States there are 15 to 20 independent research libraries designed to provide the corpus of records necessary to intellectual inquiry in one or more disciplines, in dimensions as complete as possible, and with the optimum provision of scholarly apparatus and physical convenience. The rare nature of much of the collections of these…

The feasibility of developing cooperative arrangements for sharing exotic foreign language serial titles among the health sciences libraries of California was investigated. Preliminary circulation counts indicated that 74 percent of the 77 titles counted had circulated twice a year or less and that the health sciences libraries do maintain…

Eight papers are included in this report of the Preconference Institute on Library Automation, June 1973. Papers addressing automation in user services, cataloging systems, acquisitions systems, and personnel are presented. Other papers focus on a review of the trends in library automation and computer technology, innovative strategies in systems…

A study on information technology and public policy examined relationships among information providers and their clients in order to determine the economic, institutional, and technological factors that are key in deciding how people get the information they need. The research project was conducted to help the National Commission on Libraries and…