Reports the results of a study which examined the need for and use of both academic and professional materials in library collections for professional education. The measures used included proportions of materials in an existing business collection, and comparisons of patron use and obsolescence rates of academic and professional materials. (CLB)

The first year of a two-year project to develop a method for user evaluation of purchased scientific and technical information services was directed at those services which provide information without interpretive evaluation or analysis. Using a case history approach, factors were identified to be used in composing a matrix of parameters and…

To examine relationship between strength of book reviews in "Choice" and subsequent circulation of titles reviewed, authors drew sample of reviews from "Choice," ranked reviews according to reviewer's opinion of book, determined frequency of circulation in Purdue General Library, and correlated frequency with strength of…

Serials collections are a costly but essential part of a library's periodicals holdings. Jacksonville State University Library's (JSUL) budgetary problems have forced librarians to examine their serials closely in terms of cost factors, indexing, expected usage, and curriculum and research support. The purpose of this project is to assess JSUL's…

The objective of this study was to determine how large research libraries perform the function of collection development. The paper describes collection development theory within the formal organizational structure of the library, identifies the actual decision points involved in selection of materials, and examines the staff and facilities…

Four significant data analyses have been made of 6,622 adult titles selected at random from the collections of 20 United States public libraries. An inductive quality estimate was determined by counting the times each was listed in up to eight evaluation guides. The analyses show that: (1) although there is a positive and significant relationship…

Bibliographies of student papers, student questionnaires, and interviews with library media specialists were examined in studying the use of magazine articles by high school students to fulfill assignments calling for the collection of information on individual topics. Areas examined included context of use, age of materials, title selection, and…

Recently the Peru State College Library (Nebraska) had an opportunity to use a special acquisitions grant to study the effects of removing librarian bias in one area of its collection. This study considers the use of the items selected for this grant by humanities faculty and compares their use with other items selected by both librarians and…

Interviews conducted in the first phase of a project to develop a method for user selection of purchased scientific and technical information services identified a number of relationship among different populations of users. Research scientists, engineers, and patent attorneys want convenient access to original data identified in the search.…

Presents preliminary results of Clearwater Public Library's study of the usefulness of "Output Measures for Public Libraries" as an indicator of reference performance, and the impact of collection development choices on reference output measures. Data on turnover rate, in-library use, reference fill rate, and reference transactions per…

A periodicals use study was conducted in a public high school library media center to determine whether its periodicals collection supported the curriculum needs of the students. For this study, 3,924 magazine requests by the students over an 8-month period were collected and analyzed. The analysis revealed that 96% of the magazine date requests…

A study at the Emory University School of Business Administration library compared the effectiveness of faculty members and librarians as book selectors. Effectiveness was measured by comparing selected titles with the Baker list published by the Harvard Business School and with business periodical reviews, and by examining circulation records.…

This document is an overview of the problems that confront both librarians and library users in accessing materials in two-year library collections. It includes a brief discussion of library collection management concerns and issues, then focuses on the formulation of an evaluation strategy, its methods, findings, and results. The math collection…

Four case histories were studied in an on-going project to develop a method for user selection of purchased scientific and technical information services. The issues involved were: (1) the value of computer search services to a small branch of a company technical library; (2) the special decision-making factors used for selecting items of very…

Describes a study partially replicating the 1978 University of Pittsburgh library materials study. Findings presented include the five-year circulation patterns of DePauw University books sampled compared with the University of Pittsburgh's patterns, and circulation of books given to and purchased by DePauw University. Provided are four tables and…