Libraries are making great efforts acquiring, maintaining, and promoting electronic book (e-book) collections; therefore, understanding what preference users have regarding e-books will help with current and future collection-development decisions. For librarians to provide e-book resources and services effectively, a thorough understanding of…

After one year of providing virtual reference service through an instant messaging (IM) service, Binghamton University (BU) Libraries, under the purview of its Digital Reference Committee (DRC), undertook a study of collected session transcripts. The goals of this work were to determine who was using the IM service and why; if staffing for the…

This report provides a variety of measures of households' use of public libraries and notes some interesting comparisons. It is a product of the Library Statistics Program at the National Center for Education Statistics. The data for this study were collected as part of the October 2002 Current Population Survey (CPS) Library Supplement.…

A questionnaire was distributed to 575 college library users to explore the extent of their use of federal, state, municipal, international, and foreign documents, as well as usage of various bibliographic tools to gain access to them. Responses demonstrated that bibliographic instruction in the classroom significantly affected access to documents…

Describes a survey of 100 community and junior college librarians to collect information about the libraries, the availability of electronic mail systems, and attitudes about expanded E-mail use for interlibrary communication. Of 22 respondents, 12 have local E-mail systems and 11 have access to multi-institutional networks. Includes the…

An auxiliary study of the direct observation method for counting periodical usage in Evans Library at Texas A&M University found that student observations contain substantial error and that aggregation problems and cost issues are fundamental constraints to this method. Concludes direct observation may be useful in calibrating the results of…

Discusses a survey undertaken in 1992 to gauge general user response to the online catalog used at a large state university library. A description of the library and its automated system (based on Geac/ADVANCE integrated software), the study methodology, and results are covered. A copy of the two-page survey is appended. (Contains five…

A library survey was conducted during February 1983 to ascertain the characteristics of the user population, user needs, and user satisfaction with library services in five science and technology libraries at the University of Texas at Austin, including the chemistry, engineering, geology, physics-mathematics-astronomy, and science libraries. A…

Conducted to evaluate user perceptions of library effectiveness and to obtain further information about user expectations and requirements, this study was used to identify gaps in total library service. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of students entering Drake Memorial Library during a seven day period, while…

Patron use of periodical indexes was studied by interviewing patrons on random basis as they used periodical and newspaper indexes. A questionnaire was designed to gather information on citation elements, how patrons locate magazines in library, and how they use university's serials holdings list. Seven references and questionnaire are appended.…

Findings of study of user perceptions of online public access catalog in an academic library system indicate that: most patrons learned to use system from printed instructions; next most frequent sources of information were library staff and help feature; most patrons were extremely satisfied with system. Six references are cited. (EJS)

The purpose of this paper was to investigate how well the Kent State University Archives serves its users. A self-administered questionnaire of 15 questions was utilized and the survey was conducted during the spring semester of 1991. It was found that the majority of archive users are undergraduate students from Kent State University doing…

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…

A mail survey of 1,682 graduate students and 758 faculty in the Colleges of Natural Science, Engineering, and Pharmacy, and in the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin was conducted during February 1983 to ascertain the characteristics of the science and technology libraries user population, the type and frequency of library use,…

In order to study the effects of introducing an automated circulation system at Oberlin College, Ohio, data were collected from September 1978 until June 1982 on book availability, usage of library facilities, attitudes of library users toward the library, and the efficiency of circulation activities. Data collection methods included circulation…