Discusses associations between levels of service point use, population information and library inputs, based on data from two London boroughs in respect of individual static service points. Outlines methods of deriving catchment area data using membership information or postcode data from a user survey. Describes a method for librarians seeking to…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to document how ARL member libraries are collecting, using, and modifying their data on reference service transactions. A total of 74 of 124 ARL member libraries responded to the survey. A…

This exploratory study focuses on the management of decline as characterized by shrinking resources and substantial reductions in operating budgets (retrenchment) in academic research libraries in Canada. The first of four major sections of the report addresses the management of retrenchment in Canadian research libraries, including the design of…

This report involved a survey of 199 postsecondary institutions in Canada to determine how many universities and colleges provide some type of library support for their off-campus and distance-education students; and to tabulate and compare the types of library support provided by those institutions. The report contains narrative, a series of 21…

A result of Australia's Community Information Sharing Service (CISS) study of community information services currently being provided by public libraries in New South Wales, this report (one of three) presents five general principles which can assist public libraries with decisions about their response to the issue of the provision of community…

Reports intensive survey of medical library users in Oxford teaching hospitals and university science departments that employed six survey techniques (interview, questionnaire, feedback form, direct observation, reference-tracing experiment, library record analysis). Three distinct user types (practitioner, researcher, practitioner-researcher)…

This first in a set of three reports presents the findings of Australia's Community Information Sharing Service (CISS) study designed to (1) collect data on public libraries in New South Wales which currently offer or contribute to a community information service; (2) analyze that data to assess the extent to which library involvement in community…

Glasgow Caledonian University Library (Scotland) conducted a pilot study to design a set of user chosen performance measures which can be used in British academic libraries for data collection. Members of 8 stakeholder groups were identified and given an 103-question survey, with each question to be rated on a 1-5 scale of importance. Stakeholder…

Huddersfield University Library (England) has undertaken a wide range of evaluative studies of its services and systems, using various data collection techniques such as: user surveys; exit interviews; online and CD-ROM analysis; benchmarking; user groups; staffing and staff development evaluation; suggestion sheets; student project work; group…

The challenge in survey methodology is to conduct studies as effectively and efficiently as possible. The University of Newcastle upon Tyne (England) has taken advantage of information technology (IT) developments to improve the conduct of in-house surveys. A surveying mechanism tied to the library OPAC (online public access catalog), accessible…