In 2013, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded a group of seven librarians from the Research Library Leadership Fellows program of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) a planning grant to examine the center of excellence (CoE) model for information services. Used in a variety of industries, CoEs are designed to attract the most talented…

This case study provides an illustration of the heuristic practices of a high-performing research department, which in turn, will help build much needed models applicable in the context of large urban districts. This case study examines the accountability, planning, evaluation, testing, and research functions of a research department in a large…

This study was conducted in order to ascertain the need for an information desk in a large research library with decentralized reference service where, on the basis of a preponderance of evidence in the available literature, a considerable demand for such a service would be expected. The desk was located in the center of the library's entrance…

The Perseus Digital Library (PDL), under continuous development since 1987, is one of the primary digital resources for the humanities. A summary of the PDL genesis and current status is given and the multifaceted and longitudinal evaluation effort is described. A brief synthesis of results is provided and reflections on the evaluation along with…

The principal service offered was a manual current awareness service, based on scanning primary and abstracting journals. Evaluation was by feedback slips for each reference, and by questionnaire at the end of the experiment. General observations on place and value of such a service in a university library are included. (6 references) (Author/SJ)

INCOLSA, Indiana's statewide library and information network was established in 1995 as the result of a voluntary merger of the state's 10 autonomous, mulitype library services agencies. An evaluation was conducted centered on services appearing under three major goals listed in the 1994 plan: (1) statewide information access and delivery; (2)…

The New York State Guidance Center for Women in Suffern, New York provides individual counseling and vocational and educational information. During the months covered by this report, the Center cosponsored a conference on continuing education for women in the two-year colleges of the State University, began a second series of career information…

The Ohio State Library developed a TWX Interlibrary Loan (TWXIL) pilot project in 1971 in order to: (1) produce information that would be helpful in the design and operation of a reference and information network, and (2) produce improvements in library services and sharing of existing resources through the strengthening and limited extension of…

This compilation of primarily narrative reports from 24 federal projects funded by the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) and administered by the California State Library covers the period 1985-1987, with further reports to be published approximately every other year. Each report--excerpted from a standardized summary report form--is…

The Northeast Academic Science Information Center (NASIC) program, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to the New England Board of Higher Education, experimented in using a regional organization to develop an intermediary role in the process of providing machine-readable bibliographic search services to the academic research…

The research project described was undertaken to study the impact of the use of a closed circuit television system to deliver information about drugs, chemicals, and poisons from a central resource location to health professionals in patient care areas. Evaluation techniques included questionnaires, interviews with users, and extramural…

This guide offers an overview of important areas in operating a disability-related information and referral center (I&R) and contains many design and management suggestions. The guide is written for individuals operating or designing a "grassroots" information and referral center with only a few employees but a fair number of…

Based on analysis of the current system and comparison with existing and possible alternatives, this report evaluates the effectiveness of the Indiana library cooperative network, a de facto network based on the activities of individual libraries, Area Library Services Authorities (ALSAs), the Indiana Cooperative Library Services Authority…

As Phase I of a comprehensive evaluation of the NASA-affiliated Langley Research Center's (LaRC) scientific and technical information (STI) program, an internal survey was conducted to obtain feedback from LaRC scientists and engineers concerning the effectiveness of the STI program. The first stage of the survey, which involved interviews with 64…

In response to the information need of prospective students, parents, and high school guidance counselors, the University of Wisconsin system initiated a service unique among multicampus systems in the United States. The Higher Education Location Program, or HELP, is a statewide, toll-free telephone counseling service designed to provide one…