The provision of network access, resources, and services to members of the academic community is becoming an area of utmost interest and importance to academic administrators, faculty, and students. As the demand from network users grows rapidly, many network administrators are asking for resources to meet that demand; their requests are being met with questions about the costs, uses, and effects of networking at their institutions. In most cases, the information required to answer those questions is not available, nor are the tools with which to collect that information. This investigation attempts to characterize the current state of networking in academic institutions and to identify and develop tools and approaches to assess academic networking. Data was collected primarily through focus groups, interviews with individuals and small groups, and site visits to selected academic institutions. The primary method of data analysis was content analysis. Results of the study indicate: (1) there are multiple barriers to the assessment of academic networking; (2) there is little current assessment of academic networking; (3) there is an interest in assessment of academic networking and a need for assessment tools and techniques; and (4) among the tools and techniques desired are guidelines for conducting qualitative assessments, a set of quantitative measures, and a user survey instrument. (Contains 94 references.) (Author/SWC)