The purpose of this study was to explore patronage and usage of the children's section of a public library. Patrons of the children's section of a public library in a small Northern Arizona city were observed for a total of 24 h over 12 sessions. Analytic induction was used to formulate categories based on field notes made during these…

An historical discussion of three types of film--teaching, information, and entertainment--is presented. The numbers of films in each category, especially the last, which includes the animated, unnarrated, iconographic, underground, and avant-garde, has grown substantially. Libraries have quickly accepted all except the revolutionary philosophies…

The emphasis of this look at today's public libraries and their future is on the policies of these libraries rather than their funding. (NH)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of Melvil Dewey's work in the American public library, both in Dewey's day and today. Using the writings of Melvil Dewey, as well as writings about him, this study examined what changes Dewey made and influenced as they specifically related to services provided to library users. This included…

This study analyzes the use of external links on Ohio public library World Wide Web sites, focusing on methods used to facilitate access to Internet resources. The categorization of links was analyzed, with specific focus on the organization, scope, and presentation of links arranged topically. This study suggests that the public libraries of Ohio…

Describes results of an exploratory survey that examined public library electronic mail reference services and the patrons who used them. Discusses results of print questionnaires and Web-based questionnaires that investigated user satisfaction and classified email reference questions received by public libraries. Library questionnaire and web…

A discussion with the staff of the Internet Public Library (IPL), which began as a project at the University of Michigan, highlights its role in supplementing local public library services; classification; collection development policies; and the impact of legislation, copyright, and universal service on IPL. A sidebar presents IPL user…

A review of relevant library literature suggests that public library service to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people is poor. Offers ten suggestions to improve library services to these groups and discusses user studies; access, including classification and cataloging; library holdings; and social responsibility versus professional neutrality.…

Because the general alphabetic arrangement of fiction in libraries is of little use to the ordinary reader, whose criteria for selecting books often relates to book content, a multi-dimensional and inexclusive fiction classification scheme was developed as a model for both book description and search strategy. Based on analysis of 160 actual…

This report presents an American Library Association (ALA) Book Fellow's observations of schools and libraries in Sweden's Vasterbotten County in the fall of 1988. The narrative report discusses Sweden's cultural policy, comprehensive library service, library classification system, databases, audiovisual services, and education policy, as well as…

This paper discusses the legal obligations owed by librarians to the users of their facilities, focusing on the viewing of pornography on the Internet in the public library. The meanings commonly ascribed to the word censorship are presented. Australian federal law that governs the classification of films, videos, computer games, and publications…

The following subject categories are included in this list of bibliographies: Aids in book selection, cataloging and classification, censorship and intellectual freedom, publicity, selected list of basic and inexpensive materials on Michigan, non-book materials, organization and administration of the media center, library for the blind and…

Discusses the training of professional and paraprofessional staff who do reference work in public, academic, and school libraries. The source-centered teaching approach versus teaching the search process is discussed, user needs are considered, and the use of Dewey Decimal Classification to teach the organization of the collection is described.…

Introduction: This study investigated unmonitored referrals in a nationwide, collaborative chat reference service. Specifically, it examined the extent to which questions are referred, the types of questions that are more likely to be referred than others, and the level of user satisfaction with the referrals in the collaborative chat reference…

With a grant from the U.S. Office of Education, the System Development Corporation undertook a study to assist the federal government in defining its relationship to public libraries over the next decade. The first objective was to analyze the public library as an information-providing agency and to identify the major problems and issues of the…