Presents Part 2--teaching and information services department (ISD) staff perspectives--of a study in the use of information technology (IT) on Masters students in records management distance learning course. Findings showed students' experience had many parallels with that of the teaching and ISD staff when considering the potential of IT with…

Introduction: changes in educational policy and practice demand that we examine school library programmes from a new perspective. As a model that takes a developmental view of minds in context, Cultural Historical Activity Theory is particularly well suited to the study of school libraries and the learning that occurs therein. This paper focuses…

This volume contains articles by culturally diverse librarians who share their experiences in the transition from library school to library work. The librarians detail their introduction to librarianship, their encounters with racism, and their desire to succeed in a profession that has not always lived up to its pledge of fairness and equal…

This report presents the findings of a telephone survey of 1,181 adults and 390 librarians which was conducted in 1991 to elicit information on their opinions of services libraries ought to provide; the kinds of materials that should be available to certain people; who should be responsible for libraries; groups who might be involved in…

The development, testing, introduction, evaluation, and refinement of a user interface for a statewide, multi-library online public access catalog network can be a very involved and politically complex enterprise. A multitude of perspectives, assumptions, preferences, and needs accompanies the multitude of players involved, i.e., library…

Advocates of participative management in academic libraries point to increased job satisfaction and performance as benefits, while opponents favor less participative means such as consultive management, with librarians having input and the directors making the decisions. A survey of reference librarians in the Texas community colleges was…

Interviews with library professionals, plus a telephone survey of 400 librarians (100 each White, Black, Latino, and Asian), revealed fewer occupational opportunities for minorities. Discussion includes diversifying collections; discordant views of racism among Whites and minorities; percentages of minority library school graduates; initiative…

This study, conducted at Illinois State University library, evaluated the ability of professional librarians to answer reference questions. Evaluations by undergraduate students were scored for accuracy of response and attitude of the librarian to determine the best attitudinal predictor of accuracy scores. The evaluation form is appended. (three…

Reports the results of a survey of graduates of the University of Pittsburgh's Masters of Library Science (M.L.S.) program that was conducted to investigate reasons for leaving the profession for other fields or to leave the workforce entirely. Highlights include characteristics and attitudes of at-home versus employed women and their educational…

Literature analysis indicates that surveys are not widely used in the planning process for academic libraries because of difficulties with design of user studies, translation of survey results into management decisions, and acceptance of survey data by librarians. Trends such as competition from private information sources will force a change in…

Describes a survey of user satisfaction among 300 young adult patrons at 2 urban libraries, 1 with special staff and programs and 1 without. Issues involved in specialization and the study methodology are presented. Nine conclusions about the effectiveness of young adult librarians and other services are drawn from the survey. (Contains 19…

Describes electronic information resources in religious and theological studies, considers the impact these tools may have on theological librarians, and discusses results of a survey of electronic tools in theological libraries that was conducted to measure the attitudes of theological librarians toward computer-aided biblical research. (35…

Presents results of a recent survey of over 100 public and academic libraries about pricing options from online companies. Most options fall into three categories: pay-as-you-go, fixed-rate, and user-based. Results are discussed separately for public and academic libraries and for consortial discounts. Trends in pricing options preferred by…

This paper uses results of postal surveys carried out in the United Kingdom further education (FE) and university sectors to highlight themes and elaborate on suggestions for advancing performance measurement. Academic libraries face insecurity arising from the political and educational changes taking place in academic institutions, competition…

This study examined attitudes among faculty of Florida State University (FSU) toward an established merit pay system and in particular whether faculty were more comfortable with a merit system which included departmentally developed criteria. Union and administration had agreed on a merit pay system in 1984 which included faculty and departmental…