Discusses library services to gay and lesbian patrons. Topics addressed include heterosexist prejudices; information needs of gay and lesbian patrons; censorship; inadequate indexing of lesbian and gay materials; inappropriate subject headings; reviews of pertinent materials; interlibrary loan; and services to children and young adults. (LRW)

Examines the Wallace Library Computer Access System at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Sources of 892 interlibrary loan requests processed between January 1 and March 31, 1992, were studied to determine how patrons used this increased access to electronic resources. Information on the source of requests, patrons, materials, and fill rates…

Examines how international students encounter the interlibrary loan process in academic libraries and describes problems in using the system. Highlights include public service implications, including the interlibrary loan borrowing interview and bibliographic instruction; and how to access foreign research materials needed by international…

Describes the restructuring of a traditional Interlibrary Loan Department at the Auraria Library, University of Colorado at Denver, into Information Delivery/Interlibrary Loan (ID/ILL) and its move to Collection Development Services. Discusses cost-effectiveness of ownership versus access; the collection philosophy; and components of the ID/ILL…

Discusses library resource sharing. Highlights include access to information, document delivery, interlibrary loan, and the social, economic, and technological complexities of new mechanisms; and traditional roles of libraries that provide both opportunities for cooperation and paradoxes for the continuation of selection, archiving, and…

Suggests that the traditional concept of library resource sharing achieved through interlibrary loan cannot be justified and proposes expanding resource sharing to all library functions with information resources represented in machine-readable form accessible via data communication networks. The changes that would occur in the publishing process…

Discussion of the development of periodical collections in college libraries describes strategies for building the collection, including collection use studies, collection development policies, and bibliographic instruction programs. It is suggested that access to the collection be enhanced by improvement of available indexing such as CD-ROM…

This document presents perspectives on, and a reference guide to internationally interlending materials in alternate formats (recordings, braille, large print). A questionnaire was sent to the world's known libraries serving the blind; results of the survey include specific lending information from 29 countries including: South Africa, Hong Kong,…

Discusses the issue of access versus ownership of academic library materials necessitated by rising costs, declining budgets, and increased scholarly production. Highlights include technological advances in resource sharing; performance criteria for access; costs; speed (user expectations, turnaround times); and reliability (fill rates of…

Examines the Amazon.com online bookstore as a blueprint for designing the world's largest library. Topics include selection; accessibility and convenience; quality of Web sites and search tools; personalized service; library collection development, including interlibrary loan; library catalogs and catalog records; a circulation system; costs;…

Describes the methodology used at the University of Arizona Library to address the issue of access versus ownership of library materials. Topics discussed include participatory management; data collection, including focus groups, interlibrary loan statistics, and graduate research citation analysis; and resulting recommendations, including…

Highlights problems facing academic and research libraries in Ghana in providing scientific and technical information. Challenges include poor collections and inadequate funding. Topics include library cooperation, training in interlibrary lending and document delivery in the United Kingdom and in Denmark, and the need for CD-ROM databases and…

A study at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Saudi Arabia) revealed that the overall materials availability performance rose from 63.8% to 76% when library staff provided assistance. The major reasons for nonavailability of items were related to circulation policy, ownership, and user skills. (Author/AEF)

A survey of computer hardware and software access, network familiarity, and systems use was conducted to determine the optimum placement of two newly developed electronic Interlibrary Loan (ILL) forms at the Ohio State University Health Sciences Library. A sample of 205 ILL users were mailed a questionnaire, with a resultant 72% (n=148) response…

Describes a study that surveyed how liberal arts college libraries are coping with the challenge of increasing periodical prices in the sciences. Highlights include reconciling budget shortfalls; cancellation procedures; accreditation criteria; access versus ownership; interlibrary loan and document delivery services; cooperative purchasing; and…