Lists four areas identified by participants at the 1987 Resources and Technical Services Division Serials Section program as mandatory considerations in the study of serials automation within the context of linking public and technical library services. Four conference papers to be published in this and subsequent issues are introduced. (MES)

Reports results of a 1987 survey of the British membership of Aslib on the use of information technology in libraries and information centers. Responses are analyzed in four areas: (1) hardware; (2) software applications and packages; (3) online searching; and (4) new technologies for communications, document delivery, and information storage. (2…

An Association of Research Libraries (ARL) telephone survey indicated that staff associations in many large academic and research libraries have developed into distinct action-oriented groups. This appears to be due to a combination of factors including increased staff interest in the library decision-making process, the emergence on changed forms…

Discusses funding for library research (1964-84), including previous findings; problems in analyses of funding; activities of major research funding agencies (Higher Education Act of 1965 Title II-B, National Science Foundation, National Library of Medicine, Council on Library Resources); and funding by professional organizations. Problems and…

This overview of the status of online databases in the United Kingdom describes online users' attitudes and practices in light of two surveys conducted in the past two years. The Online Information Centre at ASLIB sampled 325 users, and Chadwyck-Healey, Ltd., conducted a face-to-face survey of librarians in a broad cross-section of 76 libraries.…

Growth and changes in "RQ" (1960-1985) are examined and detailed in both text and tables (cover/size, pagination, editor, articles, advertisements, physical features, association interests, reviews, columns, government publications). Development of columns, government publication news, thematic articles, authors of "RQ"…

Explores alternative measures--Ph.D.s produced by the institution, number of faculty, number of interlibrary loans, number of publications attributable to the institution--to be used to test applicability to research libraries of the Cobb-Douglas production function, which relates three variables--production, labor, and capital investment.…

Fifty-five Association of Research Libraries member academic libraries were surveyed to determine trends in use of commercially available online numeric databases. Databases searched, searchers, users, publicity, library role in relation to numeric databases, and librarians' attitudes toward and knowledge of databases are examined. The…

Offers definitions for four general categories of research--practical, bibliographical, scholarly, scientific--and discusses connections of research to librarianship, the introduction of scientific research methodology in librarianship, activities related to scientific research, users of research, faculty status, professional organizations and…

Papers presented at a roundtable session at the 1986 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference consider current research in reading. They include: (1) "Bibliopsychology--The Contribution of a Study of Temperament" (R. O. Linden, Japan), which examines research on the impact of communication media on the…

Members of Special Libraries Association (SLA) were surveyed to determine whether they participated in continuing education activities, and, if so, the types of programs they preferred. It was found that they are active participants in continuing education programs, especially those dealing with online database searching and those sponsored by…

Two articles describe National Shelflist Count project organized 13 years ago under auspices of American Library Association's Resources and Technical Services Division to collect and publish comparative data about strengths and growth of major North American research collections. History, limitations, usefulness, and recommendations of 1983 task…

Describes a practical study to demonstrate trend analysis and several related statistical instruments that can be applied to library research, presents possible topic for full study, and substantiates author's view on future of libraries. An overall analysis of variance is presented and examples of data analysis are appended. (13 references) (EJS)

This document includes four papers on library school and other training aspects which were presented at the 1986 conference of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). In "Meeting the Challenge of the High Tech Information Age--The Recent Development of Library and Information Science Education in the People's Republic of…

Examination of the challenges for serials management posed by rapid changes in technology places particular emphasis on issues relating to the bibliographic control of and access to serial publications. Problem areas are identified as organization for serials work, staffing, and the multiplication and specialization of serial publications.…