This paper discusses fee-based services in public libraries. The first section examines examples of charging for public library services in three countries: the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland; and New Zealand. The intention is to consider the circumstances in which charging was introduced, the public's response in terms of the effect on…

Ten law librarians, at one private and three academic law libraries, were studied to ascertain what types of reference services they provide to their patrons. The current model employed in public libraries today was used as the baseline against which to measure these legal reference services. This model employs five traditional categories of:…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit reports results of a survey that examined how many Association of Research Libraries (ARL) libraries offer fee-based services to their external users, the procedures and organizational structures of such services, and the factors that contribute to a successful fee-based service program. For…

This paper describes the progress made under the ELISE II electronic image library project from a technical standpoint. The ELISE II project is a European-wide initiative that aims to provide a comprehensive electronic image library service for Europe. It is funded under the European Commission, DG XIII-E, Telematics for Libraries Initiative. The…

This document consists of seven issues of the ARL (Association of Research Libraries) Newsletter, covering February 2002 through December 2002. Most issues include some or all of the following sections: "Current Issues"; "Leadership and Management"; "New Measures Initiative"; "Statistics and Measurement";…

This paper looks at the importance of librarians with the current availability of online information. The first section summarizes the author's observations of online research in special libraries in the 1980s. The second section presents his observations of the current situation, using examples from the Los Angeles Times Editorial Library,…

Interviews with 20 adult returning students investigated their library needs. Seventeen female and three male undergraduates aged 23 years and older at colleges in three cities in North Carolina participated. Many adult students have needs that differ from those of traditional undergraduates, especially in dealing with technology. The time…

University libraries, and specifically the University of South Florida (USF) Library, are used for many different purposes that go beyond traditional library services. Activities users engage in while in the library should factor into decisions regarding the allocation of library space or expenditure of resources. The results of this survey…

Librarianship has undergone a radical change in recent years, which will be continued in the future. Whereas previously the administration of media was most important, nowadays an ever increasing willingness to provide a service is required. In addition to the essential restructuring of libraries, a generational change is taking place within the…

The goal of the "Best Practices Initiative: Characteristics of Programs of Information Literacy that Illustrate Best Practices," undertaken by the Association of College and Research Libraries' Institute for Information Literacy is to systematically identify and test the key elements essential for a successful institutionally supported…

Helping Books Help Families (HBHF) is a book discussion program developed by the State Library of Ohio to be instituted by public and school libraries in the state of Ohio. The focus of the program is to promote reading with three groups: families as a group, to parents alone as role models for reading, and to students in school libraries. There…

This study used data originally gathered about student satisfaction through a survey in fall 1999 at Nova Southeastern University, Florida to determine whether there were differences in the perspectives of students aged 25 years or younger and those aged 26 years and older. At Nova Southeastern, more than 80% of all fall 1999 students were 26 or…

This book of essays is a guide to help librarians in reference and/or collection development in the field of literature in English. Chapters fall into two broad sections: Resources and Collections, and Readers and Services. The first section includes six chapters: "The Nature of Library Collections" (William A. Wortman); "Retrospective Collection…

To address an abiding concern of technical services managers regarding the efficient use of staffing resources, a questionnaire was distributed to 200 heads of technical services in medium-sized libraries to ask about their operations, with 82 usable questionnaires returned from 40 public, 38 academic, and 4 state libraries. Respondents were asked…

This manual for the 1999 Mississippi summer library program for preschool through elementary age children contains the following sections: (1) Introduction, including planning, promotional activities, sample radio spots and press releases, sample letters to parents, tips for including children with disabilities, a general bibliography, a…