Prepared by the Standards Committee, Reference and Adult Services Division, American Library Association. (PF)

As background for defining public library adult services in the 1980s the perceived role of the public library in the United States since its inception is summarized and changing definitions are analyzed. Data collection and analysis plans for the Adult Services in the Eighties Project are described. (EM)

Reviews the current dynamic nature of library service to the disabled and institutionalized, emphasizing that the concept underlying the provision of special materials, facilities, and programs for such persons is not essentially different from that which underlies service to other adults: the librarian's role is to serve as intermediary between…

Examines two traditional approaches to the measurement of library service--the gathering of circulation and reference statistics--and relates them in a statistical model in an attempt to define real standards against which a library's activity can be compared. Graphs comparing reference and circulation statistics are included. (Author/JD)

Discusses gradual emergence of reference service in today's liberal arts college libraries through a century of changes in the liberal arts curriculum, in teaching methods, faculty attitudes toward librarians, library facilities, and research tools. The relatively recent acceptance of reference service has obscured difficulties early proponents…