The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is committed to bringing together museums and libraries across the country for conversations dedicated to developing a better understanding of the roles of libraries and museums as providers of public service to communities. The Future of Libraries and Museums in the 21st Century Planning…

Describes adoption of microcomputer tutorial for library orientation at state-owned school of approximately 2,800 students. Highlights include advantages and disadvantages of microcomputer-assisted instruction, production of tutorial software, the program, evaluation, and revisions. Goals for library instruction and sampling of questions used to…

Five performance measures suggested for use in public libraries are discussed in relation to corporate information centers: corporate awareness of library services; clients as percentage of jurisdiction population; reference transactions per capita; reference fill rate; timeliness of information delivery. Planning and survey questionnaires for…

Use of online bibliographic databases as ready-reference sources was evaluated in five-month study at three reference areas in University of Arizona Library. Equipment and training requirements were analyzed, and statistics were collected on databases searched, costs per search, question type, and patron and staff reactions. Ready-reference…

This research review analyzes output measures that assess the effectiveness of a library's reference services: reference questions, reference staff performance, reference users, combined output measures, and combined input/output measures. The need for research, a definition of reference effectiveness, and input measures are noted. Seventy-three…

This paper reports past performance data for document delivery services provided by two libraries at University of Minnesota (Walter Library, Institute of Technology Libraries) and results of survey of faculty served by these services. Differences between users and nonusers, reasons for nonuse, and correlates of extent of use are discussed. (EJS)

Presents results of survey based on sample of 500 U.S. academic libraries which was conducted during spring and summer of 1984 to gather descriptive data on current status of online searching and to predict future trends. Four broad categories are covered: availability; search service characteristics; evaluation; future trends. (31 references)…

This discussion of the measurement of performance criteria and desired or acceptable level of achievement focuses on the performance criteria used for the evaluation of interlibrary services (success rate, turnaround time, cost, and impact of service). Document delivery, communication, and interlibrary loan research are covered. Fifty references…

This study was designed both to determine if patrons are able to discern differences in library performance and to investigate relationships between patron evaluation and use of public libraries. Highlights include study procedures, instrumentation, data collection, results of data analyses, and interpretation of results. Eighteen references are…

Seven articles on library reference services highlight reference obsolescence in academic libraries, major studies of unobtrusive reference tests, methods for evaluating reference desk performance, reference interview evaluation, problems of reference desk control, online searching by end users, and reference collection development in…

This description of the Extended Campus Program offered at the University of Alberta that allows remote students to meet residency requirements for a Master of Education degree emphasizes the use of electronic communication to provide access to library resources, staff services, and computerized databases. Evaluations of the program are provided.…

Part of a 3-year study of the Chapter 1 Neglected or Delinquent (Chapter 1 N or D) Program providing compensatory education services to youths in state-operated juvenile and adult correctional facilities, this report presents case studies of nine facilities that have developed particularly effective programs. The study used teacher questionnaires,…