This case study analyzes seven years of data on Course Reserves, a service that allows instructors to provide to their students instant access to readings without either the instructor or the student needing to find access on their own. We sought to identify trends in academic discipline, data format, semester, and faculty member. Using Tableau to…

How do college students "really" conduct research for classroom assignments? In 2008, five large Illinois universities were awarded a Library Services and Technology Act Grant to try to answer that question. The resulting ongoing study has already yielded some eye-opening results. The findings suggest changes ranging from simple…

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission began a study of regional library planning in 1968. They identified needs and study objectives, and in 1969 inventoried existing library facilities, services, and use. This included public, school, academic, government, and special and institutional libraries both public and private. There…

The Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) compiles these SPEC Kits as a means of sharing management techniques and expertise. The materials enclosed in each kit are reproductions of working tools developed by individual libraries to meet their specific purposes within a limited area of library…

To aid in controlling the cost of acquisitions in a research library, techniques were developed for the rational selection of serial titles for cancellation. The context for the proposed methodology was a network or multicampus environment rather than an individual library, and it was tested with a specific body of health sciences serial titles in…

A survey of 1,006 individuals was undertaken in Summer 1973 to aid the Advisory Committee of the Colorado Council for Library Development in its revision of the Colorado Plan for Library Development. Of interest to the Council were the opinions, attitudes, and reported behavior of the state's citizens concerning information needs and libraries.…

This extensive study of the Beverly, Massachusetts, Public Library begins with a description of the community, including demographic characteristics and social, governmental, and educational activities and organization. A chronicle of library governance, facilities, financial resources, and collections is also included. Library services are…

Since recorded usage of vertical files in a university library does not always indicate actual needs of patrons, a study was conducted on the use of a collection of 20,000 pamphlets over a three-year period (1972-75). Data were collected from circulation records and from a questionnaire circulated with each pamphlet. Three subject areas had the…

A national probability sample was made to survey the costs, the characteristics of materials loaned and borrowed, and the present and future magnitude of interlibrary loans for academic libraries. From a sample of 80 libraries it was found that the cost of a filled loan request varied between two and seven dollars and that lending cost per…

The feasibility of developing cooperative arrangements for sharing exotic foreign language serial titles among the health sciences libraries of California was investigated. Preliminary circulation counts indicated that 74 percent of the 77 titles counted had circulated twice a year or less and that the health sciences libraries do maintain…

The application of cost-benefit analysis to two library delivery systems--bookmobiles and books-by-mail (BBM)--is described. The study surveyed 36 bookmobiles and the mail order delivery (MOD) of books in Pennsylvania. The analyses are intended to provide decision-makers with guidance in determining (1) the kinds of information which must be…

Special libraries in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area who were members of the University of Southern California (USC) School of Engineering Industrial Associate program were surveyed on their use of the USC program and other similar programs. The questionnaire was designed to discover the attitudes and needs of the Industrial…

At California State University, Long Beach, 1263 students and faculty members responded to a questionnaire regarding the university library. The four part instrument questioned the respondents' faculty position or student class, course level, and major; their use of the library, both type and frequency; attitudes toward staff, collection, and…

In the fall of 1974, the Nassau County Library System conducted a study of the New Hyde Park Public Library at the request of that library's directing board. Relevant documents and statistics were reviewed, building usage was studied, and the library staff and community organizations were questioned. The library was analyzed in terms of the…

A study was made to determine the adult public's expectations and attitudes about public libraries in the southern Maryland region, which encompasses St. Mary's, Charles, and Calvert counties. Survey instruments and interviewing procedures were developed to make these determinations to create profiles of the library user and non-user based on age,…