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…

This study compared the performance of students using the printed and CD-ROM versions of ERIC. Four groups of undergraduates researched assigned topics using either CD-ROM with formal instruction, CD-ROM without instruction, the printed version with instruction, or the printed version without instruction. Data suggest that patrons can use CD-ROM…

Describes how the Computer Database Advice Centre (CDAC) at Ealing College of Higher Education identifies potential user groups, assesses their information needs, and formulates demonstration seminars. Included is a preliminary evaluation of CDAC performance and usefulness, which is based on the demand for seminars and a user questionnaire. Costs…

Discussion of the reference practitioner-client relationship in academic libraries focuses on mediation and client self-determination. Highlights include the role of librarians, assessing the needs of the client, limitations in client capacity to make choices, empowering clients, and developing partnerships. (Author/LRW)

Discusses reference librarians' dissatisfaction with their profession and the resulting negative attitudes toward library education, the professional literature, and the users. Teaching reference courses is suggested as a method of overcoming these negative attitudes. (Contains three references.) (LRW)

Describes a study that focused on users' public library reference service experiences that was carried out by graduate students from the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario. Topics addressed include body language; reference interviews; listening skills; familiarity with relevant sources; service…

Presents norms for reference desk staffing based on 1988-89 statistics from over 100 libraries in the United States and Canada and compares results with an earlier study based on 1978-79 statistics. Data are reported on gate count, reference transactions, person-hours at the reference desk, and workload. (five references) (MES)

Examines users' accounts of asking reference questions in Canadian public or academic libraries. Discusses problems, including failure to conduct a reference interview, unmonitored referral, and failure to ask follow-up questions; and considers how the availability of electronic resources, including the Web, has changed reference transactions and…

Defines "values" and lists the eight values (stewardship, service, intellectual freedom, rationalism, literacy and learning, equity of access, privacy, democracy) derived by the author in an earlier work. Gives a brief history of the evolution of human-to-human reference service and discusses its future. Relates each of the author's eight values…

Discusses how traditional work of academic reference librarians has been impacted by access to electronic publications on the World Wide Web. Describes how librarians are using the Web to create publications for in-house library users and remote users through HTML documents that provide access to Web and other electronic resources. (Author/LRW)

Examines the theoretical model of information-seeking behavior called the "imposed query." Qualitative findings identify teachers, the school library media specialist, parents, and children as imposers. Quantitative findings include persistence of a relationship between grade level and question type, gender difference in library use at…

This preliminary study was designed to benchmark patron perceptions of reference desk services at academic health science libraries, using a standard questionnaire. Responses were compared to determine the library that provided the highest-quality service overall and along five service dimensions. All libraries were rated very favorably, but none…

This longitudinal study examined the library use patterns of 1,046 undergraduate students during their first three years of college. The significant changes in library use patterns have implications for the redesign of academic library services, including reference and bibliographic instruction. (Author/LRW)

This book is designed to help novices get started in providing services to patrons of their library. By separating professional tasks from others, an indication is made when expertise is needed above and beyond the use of common sense and natural organizational skills. The book covers the realm of a librarian's responsibilities, offering advice on…

The fourth in a series, this publication presents a statistical picture of Illinois Public Libraries during the 1990-1991 fiscal year. Its purpose is to provide librarians and trustees with statistics that can be compared to those of other libraries of similar size and environment to determine whether the library is above or below the average for…