This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of 16 national libraries designed to clarify how national libraries attempt to justify their web archiving activities. Results indicate they envisage that a) the benefits brought about by their initiatives are greater than the overall costs, b) the costs imposed on libraries are greater than the costs…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit and Flyer reports results of two surveys conducted in 1996 and 1998 that examined ARL (Association of Research Libraries) member libraries' World Wide Web history, development, use, and activities. Fifty-six out of the then 119 ARL member institutions responded to the 1996 survey, and 68 out…

Discusses and compares results of a survey of teacher's perceptions of school libraries in Tokyo, Japan and in Honolulu, Hawaii that showed differences in policies, availability of trained school library personnel, and in the nature of school library development. Copies of the questionnaires used are appended. (Author/LRW)

There are many different approaches to the concept of "quality," which focus on both "what" defines the quality of a service and "who" defines quality. A study funded by the British Library (England) sought to define an approach to quality appropriate for the delivery and effective management of public library…

The goals of this SPEC Kit were to report on the extent to which ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries provide electronic reference services and to offer a snapshot of the types of users reached, questions received, policies established, data-gathering techniques utilized, and innovations implemented. The first section of the kit…

This SPEC (Systems Procedures and Exchange Center) Kit and Flyer summarizes results of a survey of ARL (Association of Research Libraries) members that was designed to gather information about current approaches to bibliographic control of materials digitized for preservation. The survey is intentionally limited to the cataloging treatment of…

Discusses staff development opportunities for school librarians and teachers to improve skills in meeting the needs of disabled students. Discusses results of a four-year study which evaluated school library services to disabled students in Australia and emphasizes the need for staff development programs that include policy formation, collection…