Requests to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for postsecondary education data were analyzed and compared to previously identified issues. Summaries of telephone requests (log entries) and files of letter requests from January 1977 through December 1977 were studied. A single coding scheme was developed for both letter and phone…

Batch mode processing is compared, using cost-effectiveness, with on-line processing for computer-aided searching of chemical abstracts. Consideration for time, need, coverage, and adaptability are found to be the criteria by which a searcher selects a method, and sometimes both methods are used. There is a tradeoff between batch mode's slower…

A comparison of costs for computer-based searching of Psychological Abstracts and Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) systems by the New York State Library at Albany was produced by combining data available from search request forms and from bills from the contract subscription service, the State University of New…