Sense-making theory involves a sociological/communications science approach to the need of students to make sense of their environment and the information they are seeking to find. With many digital resources to choose from, non-traditional students often have difficulty finding the best resource for their assignments, opting for the easiest path…

The contributions in this volume represent a decade of OCLC's user behavior research findings that articulate the need for the design of future library services to be all about the user. Highlights include: (1) People associate the library with books and do not consider the library in relation to online resources or reference services; (2) People…

The University of Mississippi Library created a profile to provide linking from Google Scholar (GS) to library resources in 2005. Although Google Scholar does not provide usage statistics for institutions, use of Google Scholar is clearly evident in looking at library link resolver logs. The purpose of this project is to examine users of Google…

In this article, the authors compared the MLA International Bibliography database (MLAIB) across five vendor platforms to determine how and why seemingly comparable searches produced varying results. A number of tests were conducted using a variety of fields, terms, and parameters, and examples of results are provided. The authors' findings are…

Reports results of a study that used an online survey, focus groups, and logs of telnet connections to examine Internet use when accessed through the University of Toronto Library (Canada). Discusses needs of Internet users and reveals patterns of Internet use. An appendix contains the online survey. (JMV)

This research is concerned with the pragmatic performance characteristics of competing information technologies (ITs) and services in the university research center, as measured by user demand and choice. Technologies and services studied include: (1) mediated search service operating at cost recovery, open to all; (2) end-user service collecting…

Lottery money in California, part of which is required by law to be distributed to educational institutions, provides avenues for innovative services. A pilot program was supported by the administration of California State University, Long Beach, to provide faculty access to CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) ONLINE (a remote database), which could…

As networked digital information proliferates and modern society's need to have access to information irrespective of location rises, the education needed for the digerati, defined loosely as the digital intelligentsia, the whole class of "expert" digital information professionals, becomes an important area about which all information…

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)

Discusses and compares the incorporation of technology by larger public libraries in Canada and the United States. Technology mentioned includes online public access catalogs; remote and local online database searching; microcomputers and software for public use; and fax, voice mail, and Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf and Teletype writer…

Outlines the cognitive theories influencing the Science Library Catalog's (SLC) design; describes the catalog itself; explains research based on the SLC; and discusses research results, emphasizing findings that are most relevant to school library media specialists developing children's information skills. An annotated bibliography of 14 related…