What began with a few libraries' early application of ethnographic methods to learn more about user behaviors and needs has grown to become a significant body of work done across many institutions using a broad range of methods. User-centered investigations are increasingly influential in discussions about the shape and future of the research…

Report on current state of research in academic and research librarianship in Federal Republic of Germany highlights projects concerning acquisition of books; work procedure investigations; personnel requirements; cost accounting; investigations of library use (user research, user education); public relations work; librarianship; and subject…

To investigate the experience of American and Canadian university libraries with remote access catalogs, self-administered questionnaires were sent to the 137 directors of all Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries and all libraries of Canadian degree-granting institutions. The study was designed to: (1) survey Canadian and U.S.…

A result of the Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) November 1975 Services Survey, this kit presents statistical studies developed from management information sources such as circulation records or generated expressly for a particular study. While academic and research libraries maintain statistical records measuring library efficiency or…

Designed to evaluate the usefulness of the BIOSIS PREVIEWS database when searching the psychiatric literature, this study compared the effectiveness of this online database with the effectiveness of two other computerized databases, MEDLINE and PsycINFO (Psychological Abstracts), which psychiatric researchers and clinicians usually rely on when…

Describes a circulation model for academic research libraries which uses the mixed Poisson model, incorporating ageing of library materials, to predict future use of monographs and to suggest weeding procedures based on frequency of circulation. Longitudinal studies are examined and statistical details are appended. (Author/LRW)

This study considers the theories of impulse buying in an examination of the effects on circulation of library books when books are displayed face front (with all or most of the book jacket showing) as opposed to spine front. Reviews of the literature on consumer behavior and on library displays support the hypothesis of this study, i.e., that…

Suggests that fundamental questions with broad policy implications and a perspective that approaches academic library from patron's point of view remain to be asked about library costs, collections and their use, library users, and both the academic setting itself and the people who work within it. Seventeen references are cited. (EJS)

Library use and user studies (1973-1981) indexed in ERIC database were analyzed to ascertain areas in need of research as characterized by Tobin. Since 1972, most research conducted has been in large-scale studies and use of nonprint materials; use of government documents and library staff needs remain unresearched areas. (35 references) (EJS)

Based on the concept that library use measurement should have as its basic starting point the individual patron, a method of data collection and analysis has been developed that explores individual patterns of borrowing over time. The method accounts for the number of visits on which borrowing takes place, number of items borrowed per visit, and…

This study develops a three-stage model of the question-answering process and investigates several potential sources of extraneous variability. Discussion includes implications of findings concerning what it means to "use" library materials and services, adverbs used as response category labels, and subject's responses as predictors of…

The process described in this manual is designed to help small academic libraries systematically study the use of their circulating book collections. Originally developed in 1980, the manual has been used successfully in several small college libraries, both with and without assistance from outside consultants. In most cases, the study can be…

This report describes a computer-monitoring study of users of the Ohio State University Libraries' online catalog, an established and heavily used information retrieval system. Designed for end users, online library catalogs require little or no formal training, and often replace an existing manual system. Data were gathered unobtrusively by…

Presents results of study which examined interlibrary loan requests received at University of West Florida to ascertain whether books that other libraries could normally be expected to buy were being requested, and how many books in "high-use" areas were being requested by other libraries. Conclusions and recommendations are included. (3…

Intended to provide a guide to the most useful, practical, and relevant methodologies developed and implemented over the past 20 years for assessing a library's effectiveness, this bibliography provides citations to 72 selected studies evaluating the use, collections, and services of academic libraries. The citations are organized into three major…