Library staff developed a project to reclassify the Curriculum Materials Collection of a specialty library on the campus of a regional comprehensive university. Materials were reclassified from a custom classification system derived from those developed by Lois Belfield Watt in 1962 and Harlan Johnson in 1973, to the Dewey Decimal Classification.…

Examines whether the established and traditional norms and standards of public librarianship structure the way challenges such as market orientation and privatization are met and coped with, or whether these standards are losing their structuring power. Compares three metropolitan library systems representing three different levels of…

Over the past 10 years, many changes have affected the roles of librarians and other professionals in research libraries. The changes have been caused, in part, by technological advances, reorganizations, more focus on libraries as learning organizations, the use of teams and team-based approaches to tasks, and a recognition of diversity's…

Examines how rural librarians view librarianship and libraries, and the future of both. A total of 441 surveys were sent out; 232 were analyzed. Findings indicate rural librarians are overwhelmingly positive about the profession and its future. The major obstacle facing rural libraries is a lack of education to cope with changes the information…

This SPEC Kit and Flyer focus on the gifts and exchange function in Association of Research (ARL) libraries. The survey was sent to 119 ARL institutions via e-mail; 62 usable replies were received. Results, discussed in the SPEC Flyer, highlight trends and effects of changes in library automation, staffing decreases, administrative reorganization,…

Describes how undergraduate libraries have responded to change and the changing needs of undergraduate students. Examines statistics from 20 libraries, and summarizes results of a survey of 9 libraries on book versus periodical usage; staff size; reference staff philosophy; library status; and response to increased emphasis on undergraduate…

Presents results of a survey designed to provide an overview of the academic media center past, present, and immediate future. The survey included sections on the history of the academic media center and/or collection, current policies and functions of the academic media center, and the way in which Internet technologies have changed academic…

The Council on Library and Information Resources' (CLIR's) College Libraries Committee began its study of the innovative uses of technology on college campuses in the spring of 1998. A letter was sent to heads of libraries of colleges and mid-sized universities in the United States encouraging librarians who felt their institutions had used…

This statistical analysis report from the National Center for Education Statistics examines the current state of school libraries in the United States and how they have changed. The primary source of data in this report is the 1993-94 Library Survey, the first federally sponsored survey of library media centers and head librarians in elementary…

Examines the readiness of depository libraries in Canada to adopt new technologies for disseminating government publications. Findings are reported on current use of different publication formats, type of help sought by users, staff skills and training needs, adequacy of physical and financial resources, support from governing bodies, and…

Discussion of monographic acquisitions in academic research libraries focuses on a study that employed descriptive methodology to analyze changes in collecting patterns between 1985 and 1989 in the aggregated resources base of 72 Association of Research Libraries members. Recommendations for further research are suggested. (Author/LRW)

Increasingly, digital libraries are being defined as collection pointers to World Wide Web-based resources rather than collections that hold the resources themselves. Maintaining these collections is challenging due to distributed document ownership and high fluidity. Typically a collection's maintainer has to assess the relevance of changes with…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the research library in scholarly communication. Two main issues are addressed: (1) the explosion of printed materials coupled with a rapid increase in the price of these materials that jeopardizes the library's ability to create and maintain collections for users; and (2) the emergence of…

This survey examined whether recent changes in the accessibility of bibliographic records and electronic access has led to an emerging pattern in the way that documents are organized into four areas: (1) general questions; (2) technical services; (3) collections and public services; and (4) changes in the organization of documents service.…