A survey of Australian academic reference librarians was conducted as part of an international collaboration seeking to identify the most important knowledge, skills and attributes now and for the next ten years. Librarians working in or managing reference-related services at university and vocational education and training institutions…

Student success is influenced by their ability to access, evaluate, and use resources. Traditionally, academic librarianship has provided students with these information literacy skills. The increase in distance learning options has created the need for libraries to provide both reference services equitable to those available onsite and access to…

This article provides a brief history of the development of library subject guides (often referred to as pathfinders) from the late 1800s to the present. During this period, subject guides have changed both their focus and format. The needs of academic institutions at the turn of the 20th century were very different than they are today, and…

Identifies issues involved with the convergence and/or integration of library, computing, and information technology services in Australian universities. Investigates the impacts of integration of services on university libraries and their clients and recommends strategies for the successful management of convergence and integration involving…

This review of the positive and negative impact of centralization of library collections and services on library staff and quality of services focuses on reference services. The move from decentralized to centralized library services at Louisiana State University is discussed as well as the effect of automation on that configuration. (Author/CLB)

This proceedings of the Brick and Click Libraries Symposium contains the following papers: (1) "Electronic Journals: Vendor Solutions to Access Issues" (Nona Barton); (2) "Tips on Funding" (Janice Borey); (3) "Why Are So Many Web Pages Still So Hard To Use?" (Jerry R. Brown); (4) "The Secrets of Full-Text Databases: The Overlap between a Same…

Presents a guide, intended as a handout, to help students and business researchers with basic citation forms when they need to cite electronic reference sources in their writing. Presents guidelines for both American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association styles. (SR)

An information services organization based on individual constituent groups, instead of defined physical collections and technologies, encourages a broader, more effective, and innovative use of varying information and technology services for academic libraries. Such a model also provides more focused and clearly defined positions and procedures…

Academic libraries today are complex institutions with multiple roles and a host of related operations and services developed over the years. Yet their fundamental purpose has remained the same: to provide access to trustworthy, authoritative knowledge. Consequently, academic libraries--along with their private and governmental counterparts--have…

Describes how the University of Toronto library addressed the problem of supporting the extensive learning of electronic-information resources required by reference and library instruction staff by organizing teams of learners who shared responsibility for leadership. Discusses responses from evaluation questionnaires. (Author/LRW)

Explores library-user infatuation with electronic resources, the rapid growth of electronic resources and their impact on traditional reference services, and reference services in an electronic society. Discusses a survey of 200 academic libraries investigating electronic resources and their impact on library personnel, especially on…

This paper reports on a study that analyses the questions asked and services offered at the information desk in the reference department at the Kent State University main library. A total of 460 questions asked during 52 hours of scheduled time at the information desk in Spring 1997 were categorized. The main types of questions were directional;…

Describes the importance of the Internet as an information resource for science and engineering librarians and outlines a strategy for introducing these resources to library school students enrolled in sci/tech literature and reference classes. Inclusion of Internet-based information can be accomplished by establishing student prerequisites,…

This proceedings of the 1986 conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries contains 60 papers--44 position papers, 7 research reports, and 9 idea briefs--dealing with the issue of transitions facing librarians and ways to respond to these transitions through both formal and informal means. Papers are organized under eight broad…

Presents the results of a survey of library schools regarding: (1) the content of basic reference courses; (2) the extent to which electronic retrieval has been integrated into general reference courses; and (3) faculty opinions on the potential impact of electronic retrieval on the role and responsibilities of the reference librarian. (20…