As background for defining public library adult services in the 1980s the perceived role of the public library in the United States since its inception is summarized and changing definitions are analyzed. Data collection and analysis plans for the Adult Services in the Eighties Project are described. (EM)

The problems confronting the interlibrary loan (ILL) librarian and the costs of ILL services, based on a survey of twenty libraries, are reported. (NH)

Reference librarians must, if they hope to survive, retool in preparation for becoming the interface between the patron and computer-based information systems. This involves sharpening the interview technique and understanding where to plug into the information flow process. (4 references) (Author)

The results of a survey of seventy-six academic library members of the Association of Research Libraries revealed that the reference departments in many academic libraries are operating without a formal policy statement. A draft outline of a reference service policy manual produced at the University of Massachusetts library is included. (NH)

Describes results of a survey of heads of interlibrary loan at Association of Research Libraries (ARL) academic libraries that was conducted in 1988. Highlights include location; personnel organization; staffing patterns, including librarians, nonprofessionals, and student assistants; and services offered, including document delivery and the use…

Describes a survey of public librarians that examined their understanding and use of bibliographic instruction and their beliefs about the role of instruction in reference services. No consensus was found, but respondents' views seemed to be mediated by training in bibliographic instruction, library size, and the library's policy on user…

Provides a definition of reference books based on their organizational structure and describes an empirical study which was conducted in three libraries to identify types of book organization and determine their frequency in reference departments and stack collections. The data are analyzed and shown to support the definition. (EM)

Examines the commitment to bibliographic instruction in academic research libraries by comparing the existing instructional practices, clienteles, staff involvement, and support structure in those libraries having bibliographic instruction coordinators with those in which the instructional programs are still managed directly by reference…

A survey of students' knowledge of the library should be a prerequisite for the design of library instruction programs. (JAB)

A study to determine which reference works are most widely held, the age breakdown of reference holdings, and the relationship between size of school and size of reference holdings in a sample of schools with centralized media programs in Illinois. (Author/LS)

Reports results of survey investigating aspects of weeding of materials in reference collections at 377 U.S. colleges and universities: existence of written policy or unwritten weeding practice; extent of weeding; frequency; what happens to discards; effect of shelf space, staff time, and use of materials on weeding decisions. (5 references) (EJS)

Report on a survey of 462 public librarians highlights existing bibliographic practices in managing nonbook media in library collections; attitudes about nonbook media as information sources (cost, informational value, storage and use); and attitudes about bibliographic access to nonbook media (integrated catalogs, classification schemes). Eleven…

This study explored the relationship between expanded information and referral (I&R) services and traditional reference services in public libraries in North Carolina. Results show librarians feel I&R services should be limited to those closely related to traditional reference services. Other I&R services typically provided by social…

Discusses objectives for public library services to the disabled in terms of material, equipment, facilities, services, and staffing, and reports selected results of a 1979 survey of public library service to the physically impaired. (FM)

Provides a composite picture of interlibrary loan policies of 832 academic, special, and public libraries published in American Library Association's second edition of "Interlibrary Loan Policies Directory" (1984). Loan policies for books, periodicals, microforms, dissertations, theses, government documents, audiovisual materials, and…