The 1975 User Education Committee was charged with formulating a comprehensive user education program for the General Libraries. Work begun by this committee and completed by the 1976 committee is summarized in this document. The committee defined categories of users and, in cooperation with the university's Measurement and Evaluation Center,…

Costs and cost-related factors connected with providing on-line search services through the public library are examined. The examination was based on preliminary results from an on-going evaluation of an experimental program (DIALIB). In the DIALIB experiment Lockheed's DIALOG search service was available to the public through four public…

A cost analysis was made of on-line bibliographic searching in four public libraries in the San Francisco Bay Area using the Lockheed DIALOG system. The study involved monitoring the time that 35 individuals in the libraries spent processing some 411 search requests. The study identified a set of seven tasks that are performed for each request and…

The prime function of a special library is the correlation of all aspects of patron needs, coupled with extensive knowledge of the parent organization. Business librarians should be alert to their role as facilitators, and routing sheets are an example of internally generated information distribution. Feedback from employees can also provide the…

Work sampling is an effective device for testing efficiency in the use of library materials and personnel. An administrator can determine whether circulation or reference librarians are effectively using their time and whether the work flow should be reorganized. Key operations of a sampling should include definition of a problem, identification…

Major social institutions repeatedly reinforce the deprivation of the urban disadvantaged. Libraries, as the "Universities of the People," must commit themselves to the promotion of a better standard of life for all people, especially the poor. A close look at priorities is especially important if libraries are to pursue their mission in…

In a brief review of the use of audiovisual materials in the library, the author uses descriptions of programs in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area to document current developments in public school libraries, regional centers, district centers, and academic libraries. She notes that some centers have equipment and no media and some have media and…

As part of a series on library services to disadvantaged adults, this pamphlet provides guidelines for the use of community advisory committees in libraries: the duties and capabilities of such committees, their influence on the library, and their relationships with library boards. The size and composition of the committee are considered, as are…

In a magazine format, the services and programs of the State Library of Ohio from July 1974 to June 1975 are reported. New programs such as the opening of the State Library Tower Center to meet changing government information needs and the Ohio-Morehead program to reach educationally and economically disadvantaged; new uses of technology within…

Newspaper librarians discussed the public use of their newspapers' libraries. Policies run the gamut from well-staffed public information services, within or outside the newspaper library, to no service at all to those outside the staff of the paper. Problems of dealing with tax and law enforcement agencies were covered, as well as cooperative…

Increasing demands for more information more quickly has called into serious question the traditionally fragmented nature of library service by creating a need for greater interlibrary cooperation. Libraries have responded to this need by the formation of networks which are nothing more nor less than a formalized tool for interlibrary cooperation.…

The London Borough of Hackney libraries faced many pressures in a time of increased demands for services and diminished resources. Declines in circulation from the adult and children's sections were compensated for by increased activity in the reference, archives, hospital and housebound readers services, interlibrary loan, and music departments.…

In considering possible combinations of public and school library services, thought must be given to the varying roles of the two kinds of libraries, the location of facilities, the collection and circulation of materials, hours of services, qualifications of staff, system services, and community involvement. Some school-housed public libraries…

The origin of the idea that public libraries ought to provide social service and entertainment can be traced back to the voluntary uplift and cultural societies of the nineteenth century. The book-reading public was never large, leading librarians to seek a function in other areas, especially those better served today by social workers. From an…

The Appalachian Adult Education Center has developed a method of planning the expansion of library services to disadvantaged adults. Preplanning activities include assessing community needs and resources, assessing the resources of the library, and selecting and inviting the people to attend the planning session. The planning session itself should…