This bulletin highlights data on library staff, operating expenditures, and collections reported by 2,881 institutions of higher education on the 1985 Survey of College and University Libraries. Overall survey results are discussed; summary information is provided for library operating expenditures and titles and volumes; and the use of indices…

This report documents a study undertaken to determine the feasibility of and need for an information desk at the Kent State University (KSU) Library. Study methodology included gathering information through a review of the literature and a telephone survey of six academic libraries in Ohio comparable in size and holdings to KSU in order to develop…

Program presentations on issues related to the use of statistics by research libraries and business meeting minutes are combined in this report from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). The full text is provided for the three papers on the program theme that were presented at the meeting: (1) "Information to Manage--The Economics of…

A theoretical model proposed by Paul Kantor for determining shelf availability for library materials by checking a small sample of items drawn from the checklist against the stacks and circulation records is applied to a working environment, and the following considerations are examined: (1) time required to apply the model to a working library…

This paper analyzes the major national plans for preservation programs in the United States from 1954 to 1985 and shows the extent to which aspects of these plans have been achieved by academic libraries. Plans presented to and commissioned by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) between 1954 and 1972 are examined; the formation of the…

A survey of 317 faculty members at three institutions of higher education in western Pennsylvania was conducted to determine how online reference services and library automation affect the attitude of faculty toward several variables: (1) centralization or decentralization of online reference services; (2) willingness to learn to use and pay for…

Program presentations on issues related to staffing considerations in research libraries and business meeting minutes are combined in this report from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Under the program title, "Organizational Futures: Staffing Research Libraries in the 1990's," a report by the Task Force on Research Library Staffing…

This examination of the past and present states of collection development in the research library covers background information, theories, and associated problems. A historical review of methods that have been and are currently being used for collection development includes discussions of the changes imposed by World War II on the practice of…

At the request of the Pennsylvania State University Library, the Office of Management Studies surveyed Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members requesting information and documentation illustrating the organization, nature, and level of the library instruction function at their institutions. A review of the responses from 64 of the 94 ARL…

This collection contains data from a 1976 survey on organization, staffing, and operation of the gifts and exchange functions of member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and 26 primary source documents. Source documents in the kit include: (1) annual reports from Columbia University, University of North Carolina, and Ohio…

This kit on resource allocation in academic and research libraries contains nine primary source documents and a concise summary of a 1976 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) survey on management of fiscal spending activities in ARL libraries. Based on responses from 70 libraries, the summary discusses 3 specific subjects within the general…

This kit on the integration of nonprint media into Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions contains a concise summary of a 1977 phone survey with ARL members, eight descriptions of programs and services, and five acquisition and processing policies. To collect data on practices regarding the acquisition, processing, and use of…

One section of a spring 1979 Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) survey on communication in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) institutions examined how members exchange information with external groups including the university administration, faculty, users, support groups, other libraries, and the profession in general. According…

Because libraries are so closely linked to education, they will play a fundamental role in the transition to the Learning Society proposed in "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform," the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. The Department of Education's Strengthening Research Library Resources…

Twelve online searchers in several reference departments in a major urban university library were interviewed to identify the criteria that are present in successful searches from the searcher's perspective. The study was designed to show that successful searching requires active participation by both the searcher and the patron throughout the…