The study reported in this paper was conducted to determine the need for "see" references for authors' names in library catalogs. Nine-item patron questionnaires were placed in the University of Rhode Island's main library. Over the course of six years, 160 questionnaires were completed, 47 by undergraduate students, 76 by graduate students, 17 by faculty, and 20 by other patrons. Only two of the 160 patrons encountered a "see" reference while using the library's card catalog. The surnames patrons used to search the catalog were correct 94% of the time. Forenames were correct 88% of the time. Patrons failed to locate items held by the library 23% of the time. Reasons for failure were: (1) filing rules or cataloging information displayed were misunderstood; (2) information about the holding library was not understood; and (3) the call number of the desired item was incorrectly transcribed. These results suggest that time spent on providing "see" references would be more productively spent in patron instruction. (Contains 11 references.) (KRN)