Suggests that fundamental questions with broad policy implications and a perspective that approaches academic library from patron's point of view remain to be asked about library costs, collections and their use, library users, and both the academic setting itself and the people who work within it. Seventeen references are cited. (EJS)

Reports results of a pilot study and full survey of preservation/conservation concerns about the non-rare book collections at the Syracuse University libraries. The methodology is described, including physical characteristics of the collections that were examined and statistical analyses used. (CLB)

Focuses on effects of organizational structure upon innovations in both technical operations and administrative areas of organizations. Theories of innovation, major studies of innovation and organizational structure, organizational structure and innovation in libraries and library literature, and current and future research in libraries are…

Reports measures of the gains in search time and likelihood of success in known-item searches with the Acorn automated catalog at Vanderbilt University. User time and search success are valued in dollar terms to make the measures meaningful for system design choices. (Author/CLB)

Describes an instrument designed to assess the reference outcome in terms of patron report of success in finding what was wanted, rather than overall satisfaction. The results of a library survey which tested the reliability of this instrument and compared it with unobtrusive observation are reported. (Author/CLB)

Describes a study that examined the feasibility of automating the process of library collection analysis, using collections in botany and mathematical analysis as the study population and bibliographic utility databases as sources of holdings information. The discussion covers the effectiveness of the methodology and potential uses of the results.…

Study of perceived prestige (value for tenure and promotion) of core group of library journals by directors of Association of Research Libraries and library school deans reveals that: the two groups differed significantly on ratings of one-third of journals; deans agreed more on ratings within group than directors. (5 references) (EJS)

This study determines the current length of service among library directors at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and non-ARL libraries and compares findings with similar investigations completed in early 1970s. Responses on gender, ethnic background, position titles, internal promotion, professional experience, degrees, and retirement and…

Randomly sampled librarians were asked to rate 56 categories of baseline knowledge and skills according to their importance and degree to which respondents considered themselves knowledgeable. Highlights include areas of knowledge; library education effectiveness; and the importance of knowledge and experience, the library position, and the…

This study examined catalog records and compared the number and type of access points with number of circulations by type of user. Although little significant correlation was found between the total number of access points and total circulation, interesting trends were found in correlations by type of subject and user. (CDD)

This study examined the nature and chronological spread of references used by English-speaking scholars writing monographs on foreign literary topics, and compared the findings to an earlier study of the monographic literature of English and American literature and the humanities journal literature. Implications for research library collections…