Survey of 56 public reference librarians from New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania reveals that they perceive reference service as comprising question answering (34 percent); locating information (30 percent); service (17 percent); providing materials (7 percent); aiding readers in library use (4 percent); telephone referral (2 percent); 100 percent…

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…

Aspects of providing such services are described, including (1) published standards; (2) outreach programs to meet specific needs of the deaf, elderly, and disadvantaged; (3) adaptation of equipment to meet special needs of the elderly; and (4) examples of programs integrated into the structure of public libraries of varying size. (MBR)

What does it mean to be literate in the 21st century? Fifty years ago a high school graduate with some basic reading and writing ability could get a well-paying blue-collar job. Today a person at the same level might have trouble finding good work and may be considered illiterate in some circles. The past half-century has brought us not only…

This paper describes the theoretical design and practical implementation of a set of performance indicators in a public library system in London (England). Bromley Libraries has 15 branch libraries and serves 300,000 people. The need for improved management control by assessing performance and monitoring progress, library restructuring, and…

This report reflects the results of an evaluation of the definitions used in the annual Public Library Statistics (PLS) program, a joint federal-state information collection project, and is intended to raise specific issues for discussion among the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Federal State Cooperative System (FSCS), and…

This report reflects the results of an evaluation of the coverage in the annual Public Library Statistics program, a joint federal-state information collection project. It is the first phase of a broader project of the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to evaluate the overall statistics available from the annual…

The need for library services standards to reflect the growth in cooperation and interdependence among libraries and for accountability and their intended purpose, impact on directional changes, and on services improvement are discussed as well as the implications of their being based on scientific inquiry. Listed are 24 sources. (RBF)

This is the fourth in a series of reports evaluating the Public Library Statistics (PLS) program, an annual census of public libraries in the United States. The census includes, in addition to a full count of public libraries and their outlets, a variety of statistics about the services provided by and, the financial condition and the staffing…

The briefing and forum on children and youth services was the second public event organized by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science under the Omnibus Children and Youth Literacy Initiative, which was endorsed at the White House Conference on Library and Information Services in 1991. This report contains transcripts of the…

Intended for use by librarians and library administrators, this document presents information derived from the 1981 Annual Report/System Membership Applications submitted by public libraries in Texas. Statistics are included on library populations served; library holdings; library circulation; library services; interlibrary loan transactions;…

This document is a manual designed to improve library services to young adults. Information is divided into three parts: (1) "Applying the Planning and Role Setting Process to Library Services for Young Adults"; (2) "Evaluating the Results: The Measurement Process"; and (3) "The Output Measures." Part 1 discusses the Public Library Association…