Presents overview of common characteristics and problems of academic libraries in China which operate under rules issued from the central government in Beijing. Discussion covers building design, furniture and equipment, budgets and salaries, personnel management, collection development, library materials, use rate, effects of the Cultural…

The meanings of professional and academic as qualifiers of librarians are discussed, arguing that if librarians in academic institutions are to be accorded a status comparable with that of faculty, they must be prepared to be assessed by the comparable and traditional means, namely qualifications, research, and publications. (14 references)…

Analyzes employment statistics of Association of Research Libraries members, relates data to patterns of library collection growth and decline during those years, and speculates on future staffing. Variables used to measure personnel are the number of professionals, nonprofessionals, full time staff, and ratio of professionals to full time staff.…

The standardized narrative for group orientation tours of a large university library was rewritten as audiocassette script for self-guided tours. Assessment of the audiotaped tour after one semester of use indicated that user reactions were positive and that it reduced the amount of staff time needed for orientation. (EM)

Despite evidence that researchers seek information by intuitive, illogical means, librarians approach research in a static, product-oriented way. In performing searches for scholars, librarians need to understand the organic nature of research and facilitate online searching's capability to enhance that process. (CDD)

Academic institutions having curriculum centers were surveyed regarding cataloging, classification, and resource sharing of curriculum materials. Findings showed a variety of cataloging and classification practices and a low rate of input of records onto national bibliographic utilities, such as OCLC. Standardization and usage of materials were…

An analysis of pricing policies and costs of LEXIS and WESTLAW indicates that it is less expensive to subscribe to both using a PC microcomputer rather than a dedicated terminal. Rules for when to use each database are essential to lowering the costs of online legal research. (EM)

Professional affiliations of authors of articles in library and information science are reported, based on a random sample of articles indexed in "Social Science Citation Index." Faculty members at schools of library and information science authored over 23 percent of articles; academic librarians authored nearly one-third of the…

Considers four points relative to the impact of technology on library users, noting extent to which certain classes of technical innovations result in library service discontinuities: user awareness and acceptance of technical innovations, the pace of technological adoption, impact of the online catalog, and user impact on library technology. (EJS)

Discusses the relationship between data and the recipient, and the academic library and its institutional information systems. Examples are drawn from the sciences, including medicine, because of their greater intensity of experimentation and change in information management. New roles for libraries and librarians are highlighted. (EJS)

Proposes guidelines to assist educational technologists and librarians in exploiting and communicating video information effectively in public and academic libraries. The reasons for using video in libraries, current international developments, equipment and facilities recommendations, and relationships between educational technology units and…

Discusses the concept of mental (or cognitive) maps--the images we construct in our minds to help us understand something--and argues that geographers' literature on mental maps can provide greater understanding of scientific literature's formats, conventions, processes, and formulations. Three classes of perception studies for mental maps are…

Studies characteristics of a multilateral cooperative selection program for small rare book collections and describes success of such a program at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and University of North Carolina-Greensboro. Highlights include five guidelines as prerequisites to formal agreement and a cooperative collection development…

This paper examines specific issues in the administration of serials (publications issued in successive parts and intended to be continued indefinitely) as they have been addressed by a small academic library with budget constraints and limited personnel. Highlights include collection development, bibliographic control, acquisition, automation,…

Written from perspective of the president of a graduate research-oriented university, the author explores nature of the academic library, its size and structure, retrenchment as it affects acquisitions and services, and issue of who makes decisions concerning the library. Space and budgetary problems at the University of Oregon are discussed.…