This case study, one in a series of research efforts designed to examine the utilization of the Administration on Aging's research, compares the use of two handbooks--one on nursing home ombudsman services for which high use resulted and one on residential repair and renovation for which low use resulted. An introduction describes the study that examined the generalizability of three propositions derived from the studies of successful utilization experiences to this case in which utilization was more limited. (The three propositions are that successful utilization follows the development of an informal social network, linking knowledge producers and knowledge users; interventions designed to boost utilization must occur throughout the life of a research project; and utilization depends on vigorous dissemination of project materials, not necessarily of its final report.) The second section summarizes the history and utilization experience of the comparison case, the Program Development Handbook Project. In the third section the fit between the propositions and the evidence from the comparison case are examined. These findings are discussed: no evidence was found that interventions differed appreciably from handbook to handbook, and the ombudsman services handbook had some advantages in regard to both networking and dissemination. (YLB)