Presents a series of articles written by paraprofessionals and originally presented as part of a conference for library assistants. The descriptions of paraprofessional responsibilities in a variety of library settings include children's programs, outreach programs, library technical services, and administrative roles. A bibliography on…

Attempts to define the unique characteristics of the political, social, and economic obstacles to the modernization of academic libraries in China. The historical development of librarianship in China is described, and a scenario is used to illustrate the organization of academic libraries and the resulting problems. (18 references) (CLB)

Theme issue shares experiences of librarians who have done oral history projects in school, parish, and university libraries throughout Louisiana. Articles cover the roles of the library and of oral history, how to begin projects, and how to involve students in the production of tapes and their organization for retrieval. (CDD)

Reports results of a survey sent to business school graduates from the classes of 1977 and 1983 on their use of libraries both currently and as students. Areas covered include: use of monographs versus journals and use of online services, public and corporate libraries, loose-leaf services, and popular current reading. (EM)

Reports on the method and findings of a study which used unobtrusive testing to measure the accuracy and efficiency of search strategies by library personnel when dealing with the technical report literature. A copy of the test questions used in this study is appended. (CLB)

Presents a model for teaching interdisciplinary research skills that can be applied to any two or more humanities or social science disciplines. Highlights include the definition and organization of the discipline, organization or printed reference tools, user definition of information needs, classification systems and subject headings, and online…

Examination of specific role of humor in college classroom and its effect on learning and communicative climate highlights academic classroom instruction, objectives of academic bibliographic instruction, positive learning environment and bibliographic instruction classroom, prevalence of humor in college classroom, and how classroom humor affects…

Criticisms of graduate study and suggestions for self-evaluation and change that were made 12 years ago by a Council of Graduate Schools Panel Report ("Scholarship for Society") are reviewed. The current status and future of graduate study are examined in that context. (MSE)

In 1984, 17 academic libraries in Association for Higher Education of North Texas consortium used the Research Libraries Group Conspectus to gather data concerning current collecting patterns. Results of study suggest that Conspectus subject breakdown may be too specific for libraries smaller than Association of Research Libraries institutions.…

Three articles present: results of survey of use of videocassettes and audiocassettes in academic and public libraries; (2) results of a survey of library collections of audiocassettes of books and their acceptance by patrons; and (3) a description of the operation of a videocircuit by a regional library system. (EJS)

Reports results of survey of 363 academic libraries designed to study: (1) media collections (audio formats, visual formats, audiovisual formats) and how they are arranged, accessed, and circulated; (2) staffing configurations; (3) space and funding allocations; and (4) other services offered within the media center. Questionnaire is appended. (8…

Examines nature of needs and problems of library use instruction in community college learning resource centers (LRCs) as they relate to students and faculty. Student enrollment, development of LRCs, methods of library use instruction, vocational-technical student instruction, faculty support, and providing for diverse needs are highlighted. Eight…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to investigate the changes in research library systems operations since 1994 and to identify future trends. A total of 70 of 124 ARL member libraries responded to the survey. A copy of the…

Geared toward librarians who frequently work with faculty and graduate students, this paper summarizes the experience of the library at the University of Southern California in organizing and conducting several subject specific workshops on using the Internet as a research medium. It examines the practical issues on how to approach the task of…

The World Wide Web is a powerful and versatile resource for documents librarians. It can serve as a source of information for patrons looking for government information, as a means of publicizing and distributing local information and services beyond the walls of the depository library, as a tool for more effective administration of a documents…