In the spring of 1979, the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) conducted a survey to identify common practices, approaches, and problems related to communication in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions. Survey responses were received from 75 of the 105 ARL libraries; the responses and statistical results are included in…

Program budgeting, a method founded in the systems approach, allows control, management, and planning in the library system, and avoids the more comprehensive analysis required by zero-based budgeting. By evaluation of the impacts of the work accomplished by the library staff, the budgeted amounts can be justified or adjusted in subsequent years.…

An open forum was held to let concerned parties comment on the report, "Provision of Federal Government Publications in Electronic Format to Depository Libraries," and to solicit suggestions for possible pilot projects that could test the feasibility of the proposal. More than 150 agency representatives, congressional staffers,…

Prepared as part of the California Library School Recruitment Project funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA), this report summarizes the current status of professional staffing in California's libraries. Following a brief history of the project and a summary of related research, a discussion of project methodology describes the…

This report describes a use study designed to facilitate the selection of books that will be needed and used by identifying heavily used subjects and publishers in an academic library's collection of nursing books. Discussions include the study background and significance, study limitations, and basic assumptions. In addition, the procedures for…

This SPEC kit is based on a June 1987 survey of approval plan use by 94 members of the Association of Research Libraries. It reports on the current practices of these libraries, the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using approval plans, and the effect of increased library materials costs and library automation on such plans. It is noted…

This report documents an investigation which was conducted to determine how the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library can best use its facilities, space, and equipment to meet the needs of users; provide a safe, comfortable workplace for staff; and house and protect its collections. The task force methodology is described, and…

This study investigated four general areas of concern at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library: (1) the characteristics of the library's present and future user population and the identification of its needs; (2) the role and program configuration of user education in the future; (3) methods for increasing user awareness of…

This final report is a product of a comprehensive 14-month Preservation Planning Program (PPP) self-study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Libraries, working with the Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) Office of Management Studies. The PPP is designed to put self-help tools into the hands of library staff responsible for developing…

This study reports the findings of two surveys conducted in 1983 by the University of Wisconsin-Stout's (UW-Stout) Library Learning Center. The main objectives of these surveys were to question users with regard to which library services and resources users are aware of, which ones are used by what groups, how they are used, and what value is…

One of a series of annual studies undertaken by the Library Research Center for and on behalf of the Illinois State Library, this report provides a detailed, question-by-question examination of the 143 responses (84% of the 170 Illinois academic libraries polled) to the 1981/82 Higher Education General Information Survey/Library General…

The 29 participants in this meeting on retrospective conversion included research and public library administrators; representatives from the Library of Congress, the major bibliographic utilities, and the regional networks; librarians with experience in planning retrospective conversion projects; three authors of the "Issues in Retrospective…

This meeting on the retrospective conversion (RECON) of music materials brought together 21 individuals to plan the integration and coordination of RECON activities within the context of the music library community. Major music societies and professional music groups were represented as were music faculty and composing communities. This document…

This report, commissioned by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) with input from the Board for Library Coordination and the Ontario Council of University Libraries, makes recommendations for extending university library cooperation in Ontario, and reviews and evaluates the history, development, and present state of Ontario's cooperative…

This final report describes the plan developed by the Northern Illinois Learning Resources Cooperative, a consortium of 44 community colleges and other academic institutions, which was awarded a Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) Title III planning grant to research the requirements for a statewide electronic network that would provide…