Discusses the results of two collection assessments conducted 13 years apart at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Both assessments focused on the central stacks collection, a repository collection serving the institution's 42 branch and departmental libraries. Findings provide insight into the results of deferred collections care and…

A selection of academic libraries was studied to examine ownership of best-sellers from 1940 to 1990. The trend is to keep a higher percentage of older best-sellers in fiction than newer ones. Nonfiction appears to be more sporadic but still follows this trend. Findings indicate new collection development policies may be needed to protect…

Shows how new terminology related to technological advances has affected communication among library professionals through a literature review and a selective survey of administrators of information technology, public services, and technical services in academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries. (Author/LRW)

Working conditions in library technical services departments can be a problem for catalogers in need of a quiet work environment. Based on a successful program for indexers at the National Agriculture Library, a proposal for an experimental telecommuting program for original cataloging at the Michigan State University Libraries was developed and…

A survey at the University of Kansas Libraries was conducted to provide statistical information on the physical condition of the Slavic materials collection. Results revealed the condition of these collections should be cause for serious concern; however, the problems could be overcome through careful preservation planning and interlibrary…

Organizational changes in academic libraries are affecting the responsibilities of the library department head. This article examines the roles of traditional and reengineered department heads and describes the experience of the University of Illinois at Chicago in reengineering its library technical services operations. Includes a chart comparing…

Authority control is a vital part of providing students and faculty with adequate access to collections in university libraries. Small and medium-sized libraries find it challenging to meet rising user expectations and provide adequate access in an online environment through appropriate authority work. A planning process is offered on an authority…

Explores the use of "Journal Citation Reports" (JCR) for journal management in academic libraries. Outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using JCR citation data and researches the impact of journal self-citation on JCR rankings of library and information science and genetics journals. (Contains 41 references.) (Author/LRW)

Compares Florida State University (FSU) and University of West Florida (UWF) library reference departments using a five-task model for strategic management in organizations. The libraries serve different kinds of users; one supports programs through the doctoral level and the other serves only bachelors' and masters' programs. They have similar…

Continues a longitudinal study begun in 1993 of serial cancellations at five midwestern academic research libraries. Discusses cancellation overlap, titles at risk for cancellation, science versus humanities titles, rate of cancellations, serial orders versus cancellations, and language and place of publication. (LRW)

This study discusses the costs and benefits of vertical files and analyzes the results of a survey sent to 171 academic libraries that investigated vertical file practices. Topics include usefulness and user satisfaction; processing problems; access to vertical file material; and future possibilities. (Author/LRW)

This study examined job descriptions (1975, 1981, 1990) of three paraprofessional jobs in an academic library technical services department at a small, private liberal arts college to determine changes occurring as a result of automation. It found no significant differences. Although changes were more idiosyncratic than expected, they may indicate…

To determine the extent and success of the outsourcing of cataloging in academic libraries, a survey of 117 libraries investigated factors influencing the decision to outsource, reasons for outsourcing, what was outsourced, and how vendors were chosen. Results showed 28% of the libraries outsourced, of those, 47% would continue and 53% would…

The ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Women's Studies Section Technical Services Committee investigated subject headings assigned to core works in women's studies. Annotations for the works were compared with subject headings on OCLC cataloging by Library of Congress. Inadequacies were: terminology; complexities of assigning…