California's three public higher education systems (University of California, California State University, the California Community College System) enroll nearly 3 million undergraduate students and employ almost 100 thousand faculty. In 2012, the California State Legislature directed the three systems to create an online library of open…

In June 1975, 100 participants spent a week considering the future of California's libraries. Library trustees, Friends, concerned citizens, and librarians from all types of libraries heard talks by state and local government officials, social planners, and eminent librarians. Topics discussed included library planning, librarianship in general,…

Three articles relate public library services in different areas: Project ASIA, cooperative venture of California public libraries to better meet reading and information needs of Asian community; extension services (additional stations, bookmobile) instituted by Bedford (Virginia) Public Library; and preservation of and access to local history…

Reports on an evaluation of the higher levels of California's statewide reference referral network that involved an unobtrusive method utilizing existing records of actual reference transactions evaluated by panel of judges. Reference evaluation methods, findings of other studies, and other uses of the method are discussed. (Nineteen references…

An examination is presented of costs, measured in time and dollars, resulting from the maintenance of a selective California state documents collection. A discussion of previous research dealing with government documents collections is followed by a brief description of the California state documents depository program. Then the state documents…

An extensive study was conducted to determine whether California's Public Library Services Act had succeeded in its goal of improving and extending library service through the establishment and funding of library systems. The comprehensive study involved field interviews at all 20 systems; a review of system documents; a survey of reference…

Union catalogs have yet to reach their full potential on the national level or in California. The National Union Catalog and the Union List of Serials in the Libraries of the United States and Canada, although monumental efforts, are far from comprehensive. A survey found that California exhibits most of the problems involved in union catalog…

Describes six information technology projects in California libraries, including Internet access in public libraries; digital library developments at the University of California, Berkeley; the World Wide Web home page for the state library; Pacific Bell's role in statewide connectivity; state government initiatives; and services of the state…

Representatives from California government, business, industry, and all types of libraries met to discuss interlibrary cooperation and coordination. The addresses presented at the conference and included in these proceedings cover these topics: libraries of the future, major national issues in the development of library networks, library and…

The long-range program presented in this document outlines the present status of statewide library development in California and identifies needs and resources as a background for future statewide library development. It relates the forecast requirements for the next five years with the future of library service. The program sets forth the goals…

This article highlights the LSTA-grant funded California Local History Digital Resources Project (LHDRP) as a case study of a collaborative statewide program involving three primary groups: cultural heritage institutions, grant funding agencies, and digital library service providers. It explores how the infrastructure of the California Digital…

This part of the final report provides an historical context for a state technical information system by reviewing prior work toward establishment of state-wide cooperation among libraries, with particular emphasis on service to business and industry. It then outlines a network schematic which incorporates both geographic groupings and specialty…

Five articles about library cooperation discuss: statewide tiered reference services in California; sharing costs and increasing access through the Washington State Library's database licensing project; the Washington State Cooperative Library Project; FIND-IT! Washington, a World Wide Web site for locating government information; and the impact…

Volume 2 comprises the appendices to the study reported in Volume 1. The following textual material is presented: (1) background material for the first regional meeting on reference referral in the state of California; (2) minutes and participation lists from the seven focus group meetings held from March 27 through April 23, 1986; (3) summaries…

Public libraries are currently the conduit for local, state, and federal funds used to support reference referral and other reference-related functions in California. Given potential funding constraints, this 5-month study expanded its original scope--to assess the cost effectiveness and efficiency of the Bay Area Reference Center (BARC) and the…