The purpose of this research was to look at the currency of the collection of a small public library and to determine the relationship between the amount of usage of the collection and the currency of publications in the collection. A 10% systematic sample was taken of the circulating nonfiction adult shelf list of the Franklin Public Library…

This packet is designed to guide users through the steps that ultimately lead to the assignment of collection responsibilities for individual member libraries of the North Bay Cooperative Library System, Santa Rosa, California. An initial profile of the member libraries examined the subject distribution of books owned, availability of books owned,…

Defines mechanical and expert selection of library materials and investigates the usefulness of mechanical selection in three test cases involving popular novels, German literature, and contemporary poetry. The cost of mechanical selection is examined and more quantification in selection practice is recommended. Data are presented in eight tables,…

Evaluating library collections by comparing them to bibliographies has a long history in research libraries. This evaluative study examined all 107 titles within the "Women in Botany" section of the Herbarium Library at The Ohio State University (OSU). The Herbarium is not part of the OSU Library system, but functions as a satellite to…

Describes a survey of Illinois school library collections in astronomy, space, and the solar system; general biology and ecology; and human anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. The survey produced statistics on funding needs; provided a collection assessment tool; and determined whether libraries had resources for supporting state goals for science…

Discussion of library collection assessment highlights a collection analysis that was conducted in the Birmingham (Alabama) public school system during the 1990-91 school year to determine the age of the materials and whether the collection met the needs of the curriculum. Past efforts are reviewed, and the collection assessment survey and…

Introduction to the second part of a two-part series on collection development invites the reader to evaluate current collection development practice while considering changes, in light of recent innovations in library automation, resource availability, and format. Three major themes discussed in as many articles are briefly reviewed. (SD)

The analyses reported here on the growth and change of medical school libraries are based on the annual statistics of 67 U.S. and Canadian medical school libraries, 1975-89, and 4 primary statistics from "parent," main campus libraries, all of them members of the Association of Research Libraries. The results show that medical school…

Designed to serve both as an activity report on Office of Management Studies (OMS) progress during 1987 and a catalog of OMS services and products, this annual report focuses on the management of technology in a scholarly environment. Programs and services are reported in five sections: (1) Applied Research and Development (the Institute on…

Seven articles on library reference services highlight reference obsolescence in academic libraries, major studies of unobtrusive reference tests, methods for evaluating reference desk performance, reference interview evaluation, problems of reference desk control, online searching by end users, and reference collection development in…

Discusses the needs of multicultural students and examines the responses of three academic libraries in addressing those needs by developing support services. Examples of programs in library instruction, reference service, collection development, and academic program support are included; setting priorities is discussed; and the potential role of…

This report describes a study of the Jackson-George Regional Library (JGRL) System, which serves a 2-county area in Mississippi with a population of 131,918. The purpose of the study, which built on the planning and administration goals identified in "Planning for Progress: The Long Range Plan of the Jackson George Regional Library," was to…

The following papers were presented at a joint conference of the Mountain Plains Library Association, the North Dakota Library Association, and the South Dakota Library Association in September 1987: (1) "Catalog Backlog Project" (Kay Juricek, Tedine Roos, and Carol White); (2) "How Are We Doing? Using a Materials Availability…

Discusses the use of quantitative collection development and use studies as research tools to evaluate the quality of children's library collections. Four studies, conducted in school and public libraries, that involve analyzing data with statistical tests are reviewed to show how data already being collected can be developed into research…

The Lancaster County (Pennsylvania) public library, which receives many school districts' interlibrary loan requests, experienced a 100% increase in periodical article requests. Working cooperatively, school and public librarians developed a LSCA Title II grant to study magazine usage to make cost-effective decisions about improving timely access…