This paper presents guidelines and tools for action research in the school library which will help the librarian justify expenditures and personnel and evaluate and plan services. It shows how statistics can be turned into meaningful knowledge about what is currently being done in the library, how well it is being done, whether it should be done,…

Suggesting a diamond as a visual metaphor for upcoming research in school library media, this article discusses four questions that would occupy the corners. Questions examine contributions of library media programs to student achievement; roles of the library media specialist in today's schools; how students use electronic information resources…

Describes two studies conducted in the DeKalb County (GA) School System's secondary school libraries, one on DIALOG, the other on the use of the Internet and media specialists' perceptions of that tool. Discussion includes the application of experience from the DeKalb library to other new school library Internet projects. (16 references) (KRN)

Describes a project conducted by the Texas Tech University Library to review support staff positions, which led to salary increases, and an upgrade of one-third of the positions. Highlights include six examples of competencies required of support staff; six steps in the review process; and the position description questionnaire appended. (four…

Discusses changes in and future prospects of information delivery systems, including libraries, and describes four areas that the Council on Library Resources (CLR) is addressing to promote the evolution of information services: human resource issues; economic issues; infrastructure questions; and information processing and access. Other…

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…

Presents a geographic analysis of results of a survey of medical libraries in the United States, Canada, and Europe that examined the automation of book and serials processing. Levels of automation are investigated, geographic differences between the use of personal computers versus mainframe/minicomputers are discussed, and software systems are…

Reports on a four-year study of use patterns of CD-ROM databases in a biological sciences library. More than half the individuals recorded all use within one month. Over a third recorded use on only one day. Results suggest that the library should emphasize point-of-use instruction for first-time searchers and deemphasize workshops. (Contains 11…

Describes a study which was conducted to test the ability of four motivators to explain adult use of the public library: (1) home and family life; (2) vocational growth; (3) religion; and (4) politics. Other general user characteristics were examined as supplements to the four motivators in predicting library use. (16 references) (LRW)

Two articles discuss information professions in Africa. Highlights include the training of personnel at the middle level; library schools at the University of Ibadan and the University of Botswana; curriculum recommendations; and a review of 87 articles published between 1985 and 1989 that investigate areas of research in the information…

A reanalysis of data from a national telephone poll (n1181) conducted in 1991 determined that if local libraries faced a fiscal crisis, 47% favored raising taxes, 44% preferred instituting user fees, and 9% advocated reducing services. Frequent library use, urban residence, higher level of education, and greater income were associated with a…

Discusses written instructional materials created by librarians for end users searching database systems. Highlights include novice user studies; the importance of print instruction in digital information environments; a paradigm shift from system-centered to user-centered focuses in technical writing and user documentation for software; and…

This study aimed to develop a demographic profile of the typical student user of academic libraries. Subjects were undergraduate/graduate students (n=522) at two universities. Results are discussed in terms of: populations of student users, how the library is utilized, predictors of frequency of library use, gender differences, non-native English…

Arguing that library and information needs should be met at the national, rather than at the local level, this report analyzes ways to meet these needs with special reference to the role of national libraries. The first two chapters highlight such library and information concerns as: (1) collection and preservation of documents of national…

This 22-paper collection addresses a variety of issues related to representation and transfer of knowledge. Individual papers include an explanation of the usefulness of general scientific models versus case-specific approaches and a discussion of different empirical approaches to the general problem of knowledge representation for information…