Explores the potential impact of imposed query, a new model of information-seeking behavior, on current approaches to library service and system evaluation. Discusses reference service evaluation, user studies, output measures, and relevance as an evaluation tool. Argues that imposed query broadens understanding of the user and of the role that…

Examines the usefulness of the Eisenberg-Berkowitz Information Problem-Solving model as a categorization for academic reference encounters. Major trends in the data include a high proportion of questions about location and access of sources, lack of synthesis or production activities, and consistent presence of system problems that impede the…

Outlines a study to develop methods to assess the quality of digital reference services, test and refine measures and quality standards to describe digital reference services, and to produce a guidebook that describes how to collect and report data for these measures and standards. (Author/AEF)

Jennifer Duvernay, a science reference librarian at Arizona State University (ASU), feels it is very important to make sure that the information shopping experience is completely satisfying. "I'd like our students to choose to come to us because they have good experiences with us, trust us, and like us, despite [the availability of] plenty of…

Libraries have taken some major hits lately, again raising questions about how or whether libraries will survive a constantly shifting information landscape. The intrusion of the Web threatens to alter libraries in ways far different from those of past technological changes. Already the Web is affecting the very core areas of library services: (1)…

Issues 248 through 255 of "Fast Facts" from the Library Research Service present data gleaned from libraries in Colorado and across the nation. Topics addressed in these "Fast Facts" from 2007 include the library labor market, the benefits to libraries of using a statewide courier service, and the results of a patron survey at…

This article presents interesting articles that explore several different areas of reference assessment, including practical case studies and theoretical articles that address a range of issues such as librarian behavior, patron satisfaction, virtual reference, or evaluation design. They include: (1) "Evaluating the Quality of a Chat Service"…

After providing background to Continuing Professional Education (CPE) of librarians in Hungary, this article outlines the content of a course that seeks to make Hungarian librarians familiar with free Internet resources that are usable for library technical services and reference. One of the most important topics covered in the course is the…

A survey of the reference departments of public libraries in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah was conducted to determine whether CD-ROM products are being used in routine reference work. Previous literature on CD-ROM had primarily been concerned with the response to and acceptance of the technology by patrons. A stratified sample of public…

This study profiles bookmobile libraries operating within the state of Ohio. Details of the services offered to the public by these libraries were gathered through a questionnaire soliciting information about individual programs. The questionnaire was completed by 35 librarians in Ohio--in each case, the librarian most responsible for the…

The purpose of this study is to determine responsibilities expected of newly-hired academic reference librarians and background experiences they are expected to possess. The content analysis of 3 months' worth of reference librarian job listings from three 1990 issues of "College & Research Library News" led to a profile of…

Controlled experiments were conducted with an enhanced experimental intermediary system, CONIT (COnnector for Networked Information Transfer), to test how effective such a system could be in assisting end users in online searching of medical and biomedical literature. A total of 16 end users, none of whom had previously operated CONIT or any of…

This report contains annex materials from a study conducted for the New Jersey State Library (NJSL) with two major objectives: (1) to determine how much it costs two state contract libraries--the Central Library of the Newark Public Library and the Bureau of Law and Reference of the New Jersey State Library--to provide supplemental question…

This report presents the results of a study of the Extended Campus Library Services program at Western Kentucky University (WKU), which was conducted by a committee appointed by the Director of University Libraries. A description of the program's goals and objectives is followed by a review of the extended campus programs in relation to similar…

This seminar addressed various aspects of the provision of library and other services to external students. Resolutions carried at the end of the seminar are noted, and the full text is provided for the opening address, which summarizes the activities of the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission Standing Committee on External Studies, and the…