The 56 papers in this proceedings are divided into three groups--theme, alternative format, and contributed papers. Myths and realities are explored in the first group as they relate to university, college, community, and junior college libraries, and to private sector information utilities. The conference wrap-up session is included in this…

This study examines publicity actions designed to draw people into academic libraries for the specific purpose of visiting U.S. government documents collections. Data were obtained through interviews with the documents librarians at 12 academic libraries selected as having active documents programs on the basis of their responses to a brief…

The following papers were presented at a joint conference of the Colorado Library Association and the Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA) in October 1986: (1) "Development of a Strategic Plan for the Harold B. Lee Library--A Model for Public Service" (Larry Ostler); (2) "The Library Committee in MPLA Libraries" (Ronald…

Describes an exchange program between academic libraries in Sichuan Province and Washington State University, and discusses the Chinese approach to academic librarianship in the areas of management and personnel, access and circulation, automation, reference services, collection development and censorship, and library facilities. (CLB)

This paper examines the changing instructional role of the high school librarian from 1951 to 1984 to determine: (1) if the purported changes in the instructional role have been fictional or factual; (2) if the changes were those of substance or of form; (3) if the changes represented a process of growth and development in direct relationship to…

This study compares attitudes of top level academic library managers with those of middle managers toward the provision of bibliographic instruction. Highlights include hypotheses and research questions; review of literature (doctoral dissertations, journal articles, reports, guidelines); methodology (design, population and sample, data…

Erroneous belief that library users are increasingly experiencing information overload is a result of confusion between concepts of information explosion and information overload, and misinterpretation of implications of research findings. Suggested ways that users can prevent overload include limiting, selecting, and delegating information;…

This report is a documentation of the questionnaire that was used for a user survey conducted by the University Library of the Technische Universitat Wien (University of Technology, Vienna, Austria) in 1979-80. The survey entailed interviewing 692 faculty as well as 1,319 students on the following topics: (1) social variables; (2) research and…

Presents a methodology for describing, analyzing, and evaluating the public service functions of serial file systems, and describes a user study conducted in a university departmental library to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of its system in enabling students new to the library to locate known-items in the serials collection. (CDD)

This review of the overall findings of the "Educating the Online Catalog User" project at Northwestern University Library focuses on methods of data collection used in evaluating online catalog performance and user performance. The rationale and methodology of transaction log monitoring and new directions for technical development are…

A study was done in the spring semester of 1983 at the East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas, to investigate the attitudes of 28 international students with regard to the importance and effectiveness of a library skills instruction course and their understanding and/or use of other library services and materials. The graduate level,…

This essay offers suggestions to make online public access catalogs (OPACs) less idiosyncratic and more usable. Discussion covers qualitative difference between online catalog and predecessors, challenge of debunking assumptions, skills for success, maintaining an instructional perspective, catalog development for the people by the people, and the…

Results of survey measuring university faculty attitudes toward bibliographic instruction indicated that: frequency of respondent's library use related positively to decision to offer bibliographic instruction and its delivery by librarians; part-time faculty were less aware of library services than full-time faculty; 29 percent of faculty…

At the request of the Pennsylvania State University Library, the Office of Management Studies surveyed Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members requesting information and documentation illustrating the organization, nature, and level of the library instruction function at their institutions. A review of the responses from 64 of the 94 ARL…

A task force at Northwestern University Library reviewed utility of a slide-tape program in new student orientation, and created an updated version for library use. The year-long project combined planning, goal-setting, budgeting, studying equipment and techniques, script-writing, selecting appropriate slides, and integrating all parts into a…