The Getty Information Institute conducted a two-year study of online searching by 27 humanities scholars using DIALOG. Discusses results and recommends that library services: provide interdisciplinary information for humanities scholars; recognize that online searching in humanities may be harder than in sciences; expect wide preferences for…

Describes a study that investigated the value of various access points in online catalog records by determining their usefulness to searchers who requested location information for items. Results of a transaction log analysis of the Illinois Library Computer Systems Office online union catalog for 45 academic libraries are discussed. (LRW)

Describes how undergraduate libraries have responded to change and the changing needs of undergraduate students. Examines statistics from 20 libraries, and summarizes results of a survey of 9 libraries on book versus periodical usage; staff size; reference staff philosophy; library status; and response to increased emphasis on undergraduate…

Changing services, technologies, organization, and ownership and access policies in academic libraries will bring new management and leadership techniques. Reviews literature examining change, management creativity, learning organizations, Total Quality Management, technological advancement, internationalization of higher education and global…

Discusses Web site management, rather than design, as it relates to academic libraries. Reviews library literature as well as literature from other fields and presents results from four case studies that investigated staffing, professional rivalries, governing structure, usability studies, staff tool versus public resource, maintenance, and…

Discusses the use of print versus electronic resources by undergraduates and describes a study at a Canadian university that examined the use of print resources in relation to online resources. Investigated which type of source they used first and whether problems associated with electronic journals would cause them to switch to print versions.…

Describes a qualitative study of the research and teaching habits of early adopters of electronic journals that was conducted at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Discusses perceptions, expectations, and changing practices pertaining to electronic journals and other electronic resources, focusing on shared behaviors and values and…

Offers practical tips and suggestions on how to conduct user surveys to evaluate library services. Topics include how trends, such as online services impact library reference services; incorporating survey questions into reference interviews; segmenting academic and public library users; questionnaire design; measuring value; and tabulating…

Presents results of a study on communication channels used by academic librarians in different job categories and organizational levels. A literature review of information processing and internal and interdepartmental library communication is included. Face-to-face and telephone communication dominated as choice of medium. Public service and…

In a pilot program for meeting their need for additional reference and instructional personnel, the Zimmerman Library of the University of New Mexico employed and then evaluated two graduate students. Administrators concluded that graduate assistants can make valuable contributions to reference, information, and instructional services if they are…

As an aid to humanities librarians, this article reviews 14 Internet databases, available without subscription, that support research in the fields of art and architecture. Each site entry includes name, Internet address, access instructions, special software instructions whenever relevant, an outline of scope, a discussion of usefulness, and a…

The Pennsylvania State University Libraries and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) collaborated to bring the entire NTIS bibliographic database online on the University-wide information system and make it available for searching at all 21 Pennsylvania State campuses. This article also reviews the level of database and technical…

This study identified and described the purposes, levels of importance, and self-perceived roles of librarians at Pima Community College (Tucson, Arizona), a large urban multicampus community college. Results suggest that broad strategies aimed at inducing faculty to make student library assignments are not as likely to succeed as strategies…

Discussion of technological change, the growth of information sources, and shrinking higher education budgets focuses on the merger of the library and the computer center at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The role of the library director, staffing issues, resource allocation, and vision of service are examined. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of course-related library instruction focuses on a study at Wichita State University (Kansas) that indicated little relationship between students' demographics, previous library instruction, or prior use of library resources and how they evaluated library instruction for an undergraduate anthropology course. Subject interest was more…