Describes a study of the online search service at a university in Saudi Arabia which used personal interviews and questionnaires to evaluate the demand from faculty in different institutions and departments and to discover which subjects were requested the most. Guidelines for improvements to the service are proposed. (Contains seven references.)…

Presents the principles of effective supervision of library employees from practical, rather than theoretical framework. The topics covered are directed to library school students and new library professionals and include supervisory expectations, respect, delegation, communication, praise and criticism, accessibility, loyalty and support,…

Reviews research on faculty status of librarians to show that the roles and benefits included in the traditional model are not supported by empirical evidence. Two alternative approaches are suggested: using only the significant components or building new theories, based on conventional organizational theory or gender-based theory. (Contains 54…

Discussion of the role of systems librarians (i.e., librarians responsible for library computer systems) reports the results of a survey of academic libraries that examined the duties and responsibilities performed by systems librarians and the knowledge level and skill level required by new systems librarians. (four references) (LRW)

Discussion of users' persistence in scanning displays of postings on computer-driven information systems focuses on a study of the Library Computer System (LCS) in Illinois, an online library system that provides access to an academic library collection. The use of transaction log analysis is described and results are analyzed. (12 references)…

Reports the results of a survey of library assistants in 32 university libraries in the United Kingdom that investigated pay satisfaction, its influence on job satisfaction, and perceptions of promotional opportunities. Use of the Job Content Analysis Index (CAIn) is explained, and recommendations for libraries' reward systems for assistants are…

Describes EasyNet, a gateway service that allows users access to over 900 databases. Use of EasyNet at the University of Richmond (Virginia) libraries is explained, search strategies are discussed, problems with the price structure are examined, and its use both as an end-user service and for mediated searching is described. (LRW)

Promotes the use of an automated item file by selective depository libraries for collection management and cooperative collection development. Ways to implement such a device and useful data that it can generate are described. A case study of the implementation of the GOVDOX software by three libraries in Richmond, Virginia, is presented. (Three…

Describes a project which created a database of faculty and academic professional research interests at Arizona State University. Uses for library subject specialists, reference librarians, and collection development staff are discussed. Methods to link the existing collection development policy statement and the database are examined. Sample…

This survey of 84 librarians from 42 ARL (Association of Research Libraries) libraries that confer faculty status examined whether library faculty are given release time to engage in research, whether libraries have written policies regarding research time, and whether there are differences in working conditions between technical and public…

Discusses a survey of 185 academic librarians in Oklahoma that was conducted to examine the relationships between institutional provision of release time and financial assistance and librarians' participation in various types of professional development activities. Results are reported that indicate a strong correlation between institutional…

Presents the annual review of library building projects that includes statistics for new buildings, additions, and renovations. Highlights include information for academic and public libraries, including costs, funding, and size; a six-year cost summary; and a listing of architects. (LRW)

Summarizes information that will be used to describe microform sets on the University of California, Irvine's World Wide Web site for microform resources, including title, publisher, price, contents, index/bibliography, reviewed in, location/holdings, and Webpac site. Discusses staff/network resources, HTML/UNIX editors, and indexing/search…

A survey of statements of philosophy on reference and bibliographic instruction from libraries in small, Chicago area liberal arts colleges and universities revealed a wide variety of relationships between the two services. The study concluded that most of the libraries surveyed compartmentalized reference and bibliographic instruction. (PEN)

A review of 19 university libraries in 12 African countries compared the benefits and drawbacks of information technology (IT), concluding that IT will not reduce the need for books and journals and that IT's biggest potential is in increasing intra-Africa communication and providing links to the outside world. (PEN)