Examines the concept of service quality in libraries. Highlights include assessment; service quality versus user satisfaction; measuring service quality, including SERVQUAL; planning; experiences at Texas A& M University in cooperation with ARL (Association of Research Libraries) that resulted in LibQUAL+; and conceptual issues. (Contains 54…

Applies the concept of competency-based education to library user instruction, and describes a number of competency-based programs currently in operation at academic libraries. (FM)

This study of the way librarians use the library literature examined interlibrary loan requests at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Data were analyzed on: subjects, journals, and years requested; library types; patron types; and citation sources. The practical and technical aspects of librarianship were found to be the most…

Provides a brief overview of focus groups; discusses the use of undergraduate focus groups on two campuses of the University of California library system; describes methodologies used, including interviews and questionnaires; and describes new directions the libraries were led as a result of student input. (Author/LRW)

Describes a qualitative ethnographically informed case study of an electronic text center in a large academic library designed to reveal the underlying metaphors that library staff and patrons used in thinking about electronic texts. It draws upon theories from cognitive anthropology concerning metaphors and mental scripts. (Author/LRW)

Considers the impact that the computer revolution has had on college and university libraries. Discusses the historical background of changes that resulted from the invention of the printing press; the development of national languages; knowledge acquisition; the historical role of religion; content control of libraries; and changes in students.…

Discussion of the role of academic libraries focuses on a study that proposed and tested a model to explore the use of academic libraries. Investigated service quality factors, resources, and user characteristics, and concludes that use is influenced most by a user's perceived familiarity with the library and its resources. (Author/LRW)

Explores the planning, funding, engineering, designing, and construction of the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota that combined eight archives and special collection units into a single building. Considers how internal library planning meshes with the architectural design process and how the political process can affect…

This discussion of the problem of funding college and university media centers outlines the general categories of available support, assesses current prospects of attracting funds for instructional technology in higher education, and explores the implications that a media center poses for a library's internal budget policy. Twenty-nine references…

This assessment of the library profession's response to technological innovation focuses on the handling of nonprint collections. Highlights include definition of nonprint materials; basic considerations in conservation and environmental concerns (temperature, dust, light exposure); the problem of security and storage procedures; and circulation…

This empirical research examined scale economies of academic research libraries and developed a total cost function for estimating economies of scale. Suggests that libraries in general, and academic research libraries in particular, are information provision organizations that provide multiproducts and multiservices. Findings indicate that slight…

This study applied an analytical technique called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to calculate the relative technical efficiency of 95 academic research libraries, all members of the Association of Research Libraries. DEA, with the proper model of library inputs and outputs, can reveal best practices in the peer groups, as well as the technical…

The rationale for using Activity-Based Costing (ABC) in a library is to allocate indirect costs to products and services based on the factors that most influence them. This paper discusses the benefits of ABC to library managers and explains the steps involved in implementing ABC in the user services area of an Australian academic library.…

Describes four library retreats held by the Bowling Green State University library staff from 1995 to 1998. The retreats reflect changes in library work and management theory that have occurred. The importance of technology to library work is recognized, but there is also a growing realization of the importance of developing a flexible staff…

Examines the current international economic disruption and its effect on scholarly and academic communities, including a shift in donor philosophy. Considers how academic and cultural institutions are reevaluating traditional areas of support; discusses implications for research libraries, including special collections; and offers suggestions for…