Discusses the results of an analysis of the reference process in which behavioral outcomes were distinguished from the causal factors that inhibit the delivery of reference service. Data on reference services in 16 libraries are analyzed and presented in five figures and three tables. A 26-item reference list is included. (JL)

This self-study--part of a series of studies conducted at Michigan State University Libraries--was undertaken to make recommendations for improvements in public services. The study team was directed not to limit its analysis to immediate concerns, but also to take a long-term view of the development of library service. Task forces were organized…

Describes the development and application of a structural equation model, which allows librarians to qualitatively measure library users' perceived quality, satisfaction, and loyalty with a library and the degree to which elements of library services, collections and environments contribute to perceptions. Reports results of a survey of users at…

In recent years there has been a push for libraries to develop and use systematic measures to determine the effectiveness of library service. Materials availability, or fill rate, is one of many output measures used in libraries. This technique measures the degree to which library customers are able to acquire the materials they want during their…

One in a series of reports on public service studies by academic libraries that are being administered by the Office of Management Studies (OMS) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), this report on the self study of the Michigan State University Libraries includes a brief description of the overall project and an executive summary of the…

Library effectiveness--in particular, user satisfaction--is difficult to measure because it is a vague, subjective concept that is different for every person who enters the library. Library assessment traditionally has been measured by: (1) how well it has been meeting its stated goals and objectives; (2) the library processes, which include…

This study describes two surveys of the users of the Public Documents and Maps Department of the Duke University Library. The information gathered in the course of this inquiry is reported: (1) in a profile of the users of the department's reference service, and (2) in a comparison and analysis of the evaluations of reference encounters by both…

This four-part report provides and analyzes quantitative and qualitative data about the Cuesta College Library. Part I presents enrollment trends for full- and part-time students, full- and part-time faculty numbers for 1981 through 1984, a profile of the learning resources budget, and inventories of instructional stations, learning materials, and…

This study, commissioned to investigate how well the collection and services of the Regina Public Library meet the educational and recreational needs of the children of Regina, has tried to answer these questions: For what purpose do children in Regina use the public library? How well are the informational and recreational needs of library users…

Produced as part of a formal library review process, this publication reports the results of a 1981 survey of approximately 1000 undergraduates, postgraduates, and academic staff at the Australian National University (ANU) to determine their use of and satisfaction with facilities, materials, and services provided by ANU's library system. A high…

This report describes a spring 1982 survey of faculty and student users and nonusers of library audiovisual collections at the State University of New York (SUNY)-Buffalo. User frequency, the composition of user patronage, preferred media formats for learning, and users' perceptions of audiovisual services offered are described. A brief history is…

A survey of the teaching faculty at Central State University (CSU) in Edmond, Oklahoma, was conducted in February 1981 in order to determine faculty attitudes toward present and possible future services of the CSU library and to determine classroom assignment patterns which impact on the library. Specific factors surveyed included attitudes toward…

The purpose of this study was: (1) to examine the opinions of a selected group of public and private high school students regarding their perceptions of the level of accessibility to their school libraries (accessibility defined as times when students think they were allowed to be in the library); (2) to determine whether or not students feel the…

This self-study of the Ezra Lehman Library at Shippensburg State College presents the analyses and recommendations of two library task forces--one on organization, communication, goals and objectives, and one on user relations. The responsibility of the first group was to develop implementable recommendations for necessary or desirable changes in…

This technical report contains the survey forms and statistical detail of a study of Massachusetts libraries, the purpose of which was to assess the current state of library services and library cooperative activities in Massachusetts and recommend strategies to develop an action plan for the improvement of library services. In particular, the…