Explains how Texas A&M University libraries developed a wireless network, including problems encountered, and describes three wireless services currently being delivered using Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), tablet PCs, and wireless laptop computers. Topics include costs versus value; data security and access; wireless access points;…

Describes a method of library staff training based on chat transcript analysis in which graduate student workers at a university reference desk examined transcripts of actual virtual reference desk transactions to analyze reference interviews. Discusses reference interview standards, reference desk behavior, and reference interview skills in…

Relevant studies on support from sociology, psychology, and communications, as well as library and information studies, are summarized and applied to analyze the services of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center, a library widely sought for intellectual freedom support. (MES)

Includes four articles that address issues related to digital libraries. Highlights include a framework for evaluating digital library services, particularly academic research libraries; interdisciplinary approaches to education about digital libraries that includes library and information science and computing; digital rights management; and the…

Reports on work from two studies in progress related to assessing digital library reference services and developing standards that support such services. Suggests that two types of standards-utilization and technical-should be considered together in the costing, statistics, and measures for digital reference services. (Author/AEF)

Women's studies faculty often engage in complex information-seeking patterns as they examine social issues from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Academic librarians constructing an understanding of those patterns in order to provide effective reference service can incorporate the results of this national, qualitative study…

Discusses the results of two collection assessments conducted 13 years apart at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both assessments focused on the central stacks collection, a repository collection serving the institution's 42 branch and departmental libraries. Findings provide insight into the results of deferred collections care and…

Presents four challenges faced by libraries and proposes research designs to address each of them. The challenges involve: invisible infrastructure; content and collections; preservation and access; and institutional boundaries. Proposes a mixture of research methods that includes surveys, case studies, documentary analyses, and policy analyses.…

Discusses types of peer training and describes the development of peer training instruction for reference/instruction librarians at DePaul University (Illinois) to keep communication open among staff members, share subject expertise, sharpen skills needed in group and one-on-one instruction, train new librarians, and provide ongoing professional…

Surveys the literature from 1995 through 2002 related to interlibrary loan and document delivery services in libraries. Topics addressed include reference sources; national and international initiatives; theory, management, and practice; document delivery; resource sharing; and copyright and licensing. (Contains 228 references.) (Author/LRW)

Discusses electronic information services in support of higher education in the United Kingdom and describes the JUBILEE project at the University of Northumbria (Newcastle upon Tyne, England) that measured user satisfaction and information-seeking behavior in a longitudinal study. Highlights include performance measures; and barriers to access…

Discusses the effects of reductions in federal funding on academic libraries and describes the development and implementation of a faculty and staff needs assessment at the University of Iowa that identified what resources and services are used for research, teaching, study, and work so plans can be made for the future. (Author/LRW)

Describes a program in Seattle, the Rapid Library Transformation Initiative, that was designed to help transform libraries by changing the way librarians do their jobs. Discusses the presentation by Michael Eisenberg that encouraged school librarians to reach out to teachers more frequently and focus on their roles in information literacy, reading…

Describes a computer use survey that investigated users' search behavior in an academic library, specifically how they approached their research needs using online resources. Discusses the variety of sources accessed, requests for assistance, and satisfaction with results; concludes that searches are not always effective; and considers how to…

Describes the potential library uses of technology that link video cameras, video recorders, and microcomputers. The equipment is explained, including color video printers; costs are examined; and library uses are discussed, including the provision of access to material that cannot be photocopied, archival storage, and photo enhancement. (LRW)