Describes a method of library staff training based on chat transcript analysis in which graduate student workers at a university reference desk examined transcripts of actual virtual reference desk transactions to analyze reference interviews. Discusses reference interview standards, reference desk behavior, and reference interview skills in…

Relevant studies on support from sociology, psychology, and communications, as well as library and information studies, are summarized and applied to analyze the services of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Cooperative Children's Book Center, a library widely sought for intellectual freedom support. (MES)

Includes four articles that address issues related to digital libraries. Highlights include a framework for evaluating digital library services, particularly academic research libraries; interdisciplinary approaches to education about digital libraries that includes library and information science and computing; digital rights management; and the…

Women's studies faculty often engage in complex information-seeking patterns as they examine social issues from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Academic librarians constructing an understanding of those patterns in order to provide effective reference service can incorporate the results of this national, qualitative study…

Discusses the results of two collection assessments conducted 13 years apart at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both assessments focused on the central stacks collection, a repository collection serving the institution's 42 branch and departmental libraries. Findings provide insight into the results of deferred collections care and…

Emphasizes the need for collection development policy in community college academic libraries. Highlights areas of resource sharing, community analysis, and collection assessment. Also provides an overview of how to create a collection for development policy, and recommends books on writing such policy. Includes model policy statements. (NB)

Explains how Rutgers University libraries have been experimenting with platforms in which more complex Web database technology can be reused by designing generic software functions and a generic database. Describes a platform for collecting and cataloging Web sites for an undergraduate course in history. (LRW)

Reports results of a nationwide survey of first-year experience (FYE) courses for college freshmen to determine whether FYE course curricula contained a library component, especially information literacy. Discusses who develops the library component, who teaches it, course content, and the role that libraries and librarians play. (Author/LRW)

Discusses types of peer training and describes the development of peer training instruction for reference/instruction librarians at DePaul University (Illinois) to keep communication open among staff members, share subject expertise, sharpen skills needed in group and one-on-one instruction, train new librarians, and provide ongoing professional…

Discusses the effects of reductions in federal funding on academic libraries and describes the development and implementation of a faculty and staff needs assessment at the University of Iowa that identified what resources and services are used for research, teaching, study, and work so plans can be made for the future. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that investigated the relationship between an institution's academic library performance measures and undergraduates' library use and educational outcomes. Discusses results of regression analyses and suggests that the most important implication of this study is the creation of a new model of academic library quality. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of the difficulties undergraduates have with the research process focuses on the research process of scholars and suggests guiding questions for students to ask. Highlights include finding a topic and its focus; selecting a search method; the role of the librarian; and evaluating Web sites. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the history of academic research, library instruction, and the role of leisure, reflection, and creativity. Suggests that these cultural elements should be introduced to undergraduates and contends that deep reading, rather than information literacy competency, cultivates these elements. Examines productivity and the faculty research…

Describes a computer use survey that investigated users' search behavior in an academic library, specifically how they approached their research needs using online resources. Discusses the variety of sources accessed, requests for assistance, and satisfaction with results; concludes that searches are not always effective; and considers how to…

Explains how to decide what type of computer to buy for a small academic library, based on software requirements, staff and patron use, and PC technology. Topics include the central processing unit; types of memory; storage devices; ports; multimedia capabilities; modems; operating systems; and monitors. (LRW)