Sometimes users need to be asked if they need help. This is difficult with online users, because in-person cues cannot be used to engage when the users need assistance. Proactive chat widgets help to solve this problem as the chat box slides out onto the screen and prompts the user for help. The need for the proactive chat widget was also seen as…

In this research project, subject terms from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Schedules and Relative Index were incorporated into an online catalog as searcher's tools for subject access, browsing, and display. Four features of the DDC were employed to help searchers browse for and match their own subject terms with the online catalog's…

This design phase study concerning the proposed replication of the DOBIS system for the British Columbia Library Network (BCLN) was conducted to determine the preferred strategy for the transfer and loading of the British Columbia Union Catalogue (BCUC) database currently resident at the University of Toronto's UTLAS system. User and database…

Discussion of computerization of information retrieval in State Archival Fonds of USSR focuses on development of two computer-based systems: one for central catalog containing information on each of assemblages comprising Archival Fonds, and the other for individual subject fields among archive documents. Sample subject searches and five…

This 2-year project at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) was conducted to determine the feasibility of providing online periodical indexing to the journal holdings of the UTA libraries by demonstrating an extended use of the libraries' NOTIS Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) to provide better access to local resources. Three approaches…

This study investigated the use patterns of four CD-ROM systems--Newsbank Electronic Index, SilverPlatter's ERIC and PsycLIT, and Dissertation Abstracts Ondisc--and their print index counterparts in the University of Georgia (UGA) Main Library, which houses collections and provides library services for the humanities, the social sciences, and…

This report presents the results of a study whose purpose was to determine what automation is present in the library media centers in Georgia secondary schools and how it has been funded. A three-part questionnaire was sent to the media specialists in 50% of the secondary schools in Georgia, which were randomly selected. The analysis of the…

Reports on a study of library skills retention which showed that the inclusion of library exercises and hands-on training in undergraduate and graduate bibliographic instruction programs influences education students' retention of subject matter. Statistics are given for each item on a 24-question pre- and posttest; a copy of the test is appended.…