The increasing interdisciplinarity of scientific research creates both challenges and opportunities for librarians. The liaison model may be inadequate for supporting campus research that represents multiple disciplines and geographically dispersed departments. The identification of units, researchers, and projects is a first step in planning and…

Big data sets and powerful computing capacity have transformed scholarly inquiry across many disciplines. While the impact of data-intensive research methodologies is perhaps most distinct in the natural and social sciences, the humanities have also benefited from these new analytical tools. While full-text data is necessary to study topics such…

Usage statistics are an important metric for making decisions on serials. Although the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries have been collecting usage statistics, the statistics had not frequently been used to make decisions and had not been included in collection development policy. After undergoing a collection assessment, the…

Content-enriched metadata in bibliographic records is considered helpful to library users in identifying and selecting library materials for their needs. The paper presents a study, using circulation data from a medium-sized academic library, of the effect of content-enriched records on library materials usage. The study also examines OPAC search…

This manual describes the methods, procedures, techniques, and activities that were used to produce the Academic Library Survey of 2004 (ALS:2004). This manual is designed to provide guidance and documentation for users of the ALS data. Included in the manual are the following: (1) an overview of the study and its predecessor studies; (2) an…

Corporations employ data mining to analyze operations, find trends in recorded information, and look for new opportunities. Libraries are no different. Librarians manage large stores of data--about collections and usage, for example--and they also want to analyze this data to serve their users better. Analysts use data mining to query a data…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. ASCUE has a strong tradition of bringing its members together to pool their…

Briefly looks at the present use of computers in library reference service for bibliographic database searching, then surveys the future as indicated by recent developments and ongoing research. Cooperative online reference, local databases, and increasing ease of online information retrieval are discussed. Included are 40 references. (Author/JL)

Theory behind modern evaluative bibliometric techniques is reviewed at three levels: (1) policy application; (2) strategic analysis; and (3) tactical analysis. New techniques developed at each level and limitations of each approach are discussed. At all levels, the process begins with assembling data and then moves to a data-based evaluation. (SLD)