Describes how a library cooperative can use marketing analysis and other tools to move successfully from an institution-based business to a network-based business that will better serve individuals who need information. (CHC)

Discusses a method of evaluating public library systems development in metropolitan areas with regard to four aspects: financial systems, interlibrary cooperation, new uses and services, and technical developments. The method was first proposed by the Urban Library Study Project of the Toronto Public Libraries. (Author/FM)

The adequacy of the Village Library Project, headquartered in Nome, Alaska, to meet the library service needs and desires of the people in 18 villages on Seward Peninsula, St. Lawrence Island, and Diomede is evaluated in this report. Sections are devoted to the goals of the evaluation, evaluation procedure, goals and objectives of the project,…

Describes the collection assessment methodology presented in the Research Libraries Group's "Conspectus," and assesses the usefulness of this instrument both in general, and as applied to an attempt to coordinate collection development at the consortium level. (eight references) (CLB)

Includes five articles that discuss digital reference in elementary and secondary education; the need to understand the technological environment of digital reference; question negotiation in digital reference; a pilot study that evaluated chat reference service quality; and collaborative digital museum and digital library reference services. (LRW)

The fourth of five phases of a study of planning and evaluating multitype library networks pulls together the results of the first three, which examined individually three previously used approaches--performance, organization, and attitude--to form a model. The fifth phase is currently testing the model on a national basis. (CDD)

Intended to stimulate further thinking on the part of the community of scholars who must have a voice in selection strategies, this report addresses: (1) the distinction between preservation (saving the content of a brittle book) and conservation (saving the original item); (2) differences in the needs and objectives of preservation across the…

Reports on an evaluation of the higher levels of California's statewide reference referral network that involved an unobtrusive method utilizing existing records of actual reference transactions evaluated by panel of judges. Reference evaluation methods, findings of other studies, and other uses of the method are discussed. (Nineteen references…

Describes a collaborative workshop designed by the Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania to identify and teach World Wide Web search skills to librarians. Highlights include how information get on the Web and is indexed; evaluation of Web resources; types of search sites; and which search engine is the best. (Author/LRW)

Public access needs for libraries of all types are assessed and plans of action to meet these needs are presented in this update of the Texas State Library's five year plan. Objectives for the next five years center around development of library services for the general public, the disadvantaged, the handicapped, and for institutions. In addition,…

Reviews meaning and theory of library collections and structure and enumerates ways that data on collections can be organized to reveal underlying global structure (links and connections between collections, parts of collections, and users of collections). Definitions of terms applying to eight models described in text are appended. (53…

Describes the use of the CACD (Collection Analysis CD-ROM), a microcomputer-based evaluation tool introduced by OCLC and supported by AMIGOS, by a consortium of SUNY (State University of New York) libraries. Topics include analyzing monographic collections, cooperative collection development, and resource sharing. (LRW)

Describes a project that examined a random sample of 5 percent of a shelflist to provide detailed information about the distribution of imprints according to age and language, percentage of duplication, and distribution of serial and monographic formats. It is concluded that the resulting collection profile provides a multidimensional, quantified…

The checklist and date distribution methods are used to evaluate the reference collections of two New Jersey Area Reference Libraries, an older, traditional single unit public library and a newer unit in a system of nine libraries. Three sectors of the reference collection are tested: reference books, abstracting and indexing services and serials.…

Explains the Palladian Alliance Project of the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) that is designed to provide member institutions with an effective means to enhance information access through electronic resource sharing of indexes and journals. Planning, individual library needs, evaluation of possible sources, and implementation are…