Describes the development of a policy at the University of Colorado to catalog, package, house, and circulate books with accompanying electronic media. Highlights include a literature review, motivation, a processing flowchart, retrospective conversion of older materials, and an example of a MARC record. (Author/LRW)

The appearance of revolutionary information technologies must elicit equivalent responses from the library profession. Creating local online databases--information dropshipping--is an activity that public and academic libraries can implement. Through technology, libraries can create a new domain on the production side of knowledge and information.…

Describes the use of distance learning for a lesser-taught foreign language course at the University of California at Berkeley that was sent to two other campuses and lowered the per-pupil cost. The use of videoconferencing, electronic mail, and a World Wide Web home page are explained, and problems are discussed. (LRW)

An experiment at the College of Charleston (South Carolina) library examined whether using Blackwell's Library of Congress Machine Readable Cataloging with books without the CIP upgrading would be worthwhile in terms of cataloging productivity and efficiency; it also looked at additional costs involved with the CIP upgrading. (AEF)

In a study of library use and research behavior, 91 undergraduate and 68 graduate business students at California State University San Marcos were surveyed and observed for query formulation and task assignments, prereference process expectations, and postreference process responses. Findings support past research by pointing to user impatience…

Investigates the search behavior of CD-ROM database users in Zagreb (Croatia) libraries: one group needed a minimum of technical assistance, and the other was completely independent. Highlights include the use of questionnaires and transaction log analysis and the need for end-user education. The questionnaire and definitions of search process…

Academic library managers need a multimethod, objective, valid tool for measuring service quality. Examines three research studies in the measurement of service quality in Australian and New Zealand academic libraries: the Hernon and Altman Study; Hernon and Calvert Study; and the University of Waikato (Hamilton, New Zealand) Survey, a two-stage…

Many libraries have noise problems that can't be fixed with ceiling and carpet treatments, physical arrangement, or sound barriers. This study at Henderson Community College (Henderson KY) attempted to confirm results from an earlier study suggesting that reducing light levels led to reduced noise. The data showed mixed results, but overall the…

Provides a list of political Internet resources that have proved to be valuable for reference in academic and public libraries. Highlights include political parties; campaigns, candidates, and election results; campaign finance; political news; incumbent voting; and interest groups and issues. (AEF)

In 1990, George Mason University (Virginia) proposed building a combined library/student center. Examines the processes, policies, and procedures used to develop a new library collection combining multiculturalism, diversity, and core texts. Discusses the collection development plan, strategies, and policy; faculty involvement; key series and sets…

Explores the different perceptions of community college and four-year institution library professionals toward bibliographic instruction (BI) for transfer students based on a SUNY (State University of New York) study. Topics include a literature review, the use of a written survey and interviews, and differences in instructional design and faculty…

A study of criteria used by academic library directors to evaluate monographs and journal articles for tenure and initial promotion determined the four most important criteria for monographs (solicited external assessments, awards, reviews, and solicited internal assessments) and for journal articles (appearance in referred journals, nature of the…

When the Higher Education Library Information Network of Rhode Island transferred members' bibliographic data into a shared online public access catalog (OPAC), 10% of the University of Rhode Island's monograph records were missing. This article describes the consortium's attempts to retrieve records from the database and the effectiveness of…

The application of business skills and practices to the operation of academic libraries is becoming popular. Management skills will be useful as increased information production and technological complexity are being offset by shortages in resources and labor. To avoid conflict, managers must focus on teamwork, quality, customer service,…

Academic libraries must change in response to developments in higher education, information and telecommunications technology, and scholarly communication or risk becoming marginalized. Describes why revolutionary and not evolutionary organizational change is necessary; identifies organizational elements, assumptions, and approaches that need to…