Examines bibliographic relationships within the context of a global bibliographic database. Results of this research indicate that a core of works of similar character constitute the bibliographic population of American academic and research libraries (OCLC, Online Computer Library Center members). The size of a bibliographic family seems to be…

Description of the conversion of San Diego State University Library's Asian collection from catalog cards to online catalog through OCLC discusses technical problems involved in creating databases with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean vernacular characters. Ambiguities created by romanization and decision to convert the collection only in romanized…

From the library's viewpoint, collection growth and the need to frequently update index terms make automation almost inevitable. But this triumph of technology over print is hard on scholars, who find microforms and printouts difficult to read and who cannot browse a database like a shelf or card catalog. (SJL)

Presents the results of a survey of academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) concerning the availability and accessibility of OCLC (via dedicated or dial access terminals) for use by reference personnel. The methodology of the survey is described and data are presented in five tables. (JL)

Academic libraries customize, support, and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces. The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end-user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in…

At the meeting of the Association of Research Libraries in Chicago, the principal program element focused on the future of card catalogs, a topic of special concern to large research libraries, whose catalogs are becoming cumbersome, expensive to maintain, and complicated by changes in cataloging rules. Papers by William Welsh and John Rather of…

In 1981 and 1982, the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and four other organizations participated in a coordinated study of public online catalog users and nonusers. Standard, self-administered questionnaires were used to gather data from 8,094 users and 3,981 nonusers in 31 research, academic, community college, public, and governmental libraries…

In this research project, subject terms from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Schedules and Relative Index were incorporated into an online catalog as searcher's tools for subject access, browsing, and display. Four features of the DDC were employed to help searchers browse for and match their own subject terms with the online catalog's…

Reports the results of a study performed to determine preferred and effective usage of search keys utilized by OCLC users. The study used the research library facilities of Ohio State University to examine information retrieval behavior for acquisitions and cataloging information. (RAA)

Utilization of the card catalog in the main library (Sterling Memorial Library) of Yale University was studied over a period of more than a year. Traffic flow in the catalog was observed, and was used as the basis for scheduling interviews with a representative sample of catalog users at the moment of catalog use. More than 2000 interviews were…

This essay focuses on use of the Library of Congress Subject Headings system in online catalogs for the retrieval of information by subject. Among the topics addressed are differences among catalog forms (card, microform, and computer); user interface with different forms of catalog; the types of subject indexes employed in present online…

Description of Research Libraries Information Network, an automated technical processing and information retrieval system, notes subsystems (acquisitions, cataloging, message, print, tables), functions, design, and benefits to participating libraries. (Request complimentary subscription on institution letterhead from Editor, "Perspectives in…

Reports on a project to provide contextual information about the derivative bibliographic relationship by studying a sample of works from a research library catalog. The research design, the proportion of works that were part of bibliographic families, the constitution of bibliographic families, and directions for further research are presented.…

This collection of materials on small computer applications in research libraries, assembled by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), includes documents from ARL and non-ARL libraries illustrating local, commercial, and word processing computer applications. Among the contents of the…

Research conducted at Fisher Library, University of Sydney, which measured user failure to locate known items in catalog or on shelves, yielded overall failure rate of 35.9 percent (26.2 percent at catalog; 46.1 percent at shelf). User errors caused two-thirds of failures at catalog and more than half at shelf. Fifteen references are provided.…