Addresses issues of access and policy in developing Web-based interactive reference services via academic library home pages. Discusses results of a national survey that showed that less than half of surveyed institutions use Web-based interactive reference as an extension of traditional reference services. Tables include findings. (Author/LRW)

Describes changes in the undergraduate library at the University of Washington that resulted in combining the reference and computer support desks into one service desk. Discusses benefits and drawbacks to the new service and considers training, communication, the librarians' changing work environment, and expanded services. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the combination of school and public library facilities. Includes six essays that relate experiences and opinions regarding public libraries that have some cooperative agreement with school or university libraries to share services and facilities. (LRW)

Describes the teen area of the Solon Branch library in Cuyahoga County (Ohio). Highlights include the collection; catalog computers; hours and teen traffic; planning the space, including extra display units of bulletin boards; teen programming, including monthly programs and a summer reading program; and the teen advisory group. (LRW)

The conclusions reached at the conference "Rare Book and Manuscript Libraries in the Twenty-first Century," (Houghton Library, Harvard University, 1992), summarized in this essay, provide a context for the "Flair" Symposium. Some issues have changed; others have not. Newer technologies have produced aids and challenges for…

Examines how librarians are customizing their services and collections for handheld computing. Discusses the widest adoption of PDAs (personal digital assistants) in libraries that serve health and medical communities; PDA-friendly information pages; the reference focus; journals and databases; lending materials; publicity; use of PDAs by library…

The Communications Director of the American Library Association (ALA) offers five reasons librarians should claim literacy as their top professional mission: the "America Reads Challenge" to ensure that all 8-year-olds can read by the year 2000; the ALA's experience in literacy programs; the issue's universality; the success of past…

Describes a program called Get Real 'n' Read developed by Perth (Australia) public librarians to offer adolescents a greater incentive to use the library and to improve the image of reading. Topics include demographic characteristics of the area; planning; and advertising, including donations appealing to the target audience. (LRW)

Describes DeKalb College, a multi-campus, two-year commuter college of the University System of Georgia. Highlights include the Learning Resources Program, its mission, and campus-level and college-wide services; the Jim Cherry Learning Resources Center and classroom support, media production, and distance learning; the Learning Resources…

Examines the place of public services education in the professional training of archivists. Discusses what public services are; analyzes a course in public services--its objectives (accessibility, use and users, social dynamics, organization, delivery, ethics, program development and implementation), content, and methodologies; and explores the…

Summarizes results from a study of problems blind people using screen readers and Web browsers experienced when reading tables on the World Wide Web. Explains accessibility factors including complexity of layout, use of HTML programming, features of screen-reading software, and user variables; and makes recommendations for Web-based tables,…

Examines questions related to service quality, satisfaction, and outcomes assessment in academic libraries. Relates the literature of library and information science to each concept, identifies major research methodologies used, and offers suggestions for future research. (Contains 65 references.) (Author/LRW)

Focuses on library economic metrics, and presents a conceptual framework for library economic metrics including service input and output, performance, usage, effectiveness, outcomes, impact, and cost and benefit comparisons. Gives examples of these measures for comparison of library electronic and print collections and collection services.…

Examines what differences libraries and librarians make, primarily from the perspective of geographical communities. States reasons why this is an essential research issue and describes contributions of current public library planning tools to the determination of impact. Examines the framework that is essential for the intellectual development of…

Examines four significant unanswered questions related to children's and young adult services in public libraries. After reviewing the existing knowledge base that can serve as scaffolding for the needed research, the author suggests strategies for refining and implementing this research agenda. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/AEF)