This paper hypothesizes (1) the softer the subject, or (2) the purer the subject, or (3) the more a subject can be characterized as life-oriented, the greater the number of books that will be charged. Interaction and higher order (polynomial) combinations between the three characteristics are also hypothesized. A scale value for each…

Surveyors and professional librarians should look to the methodologies of other fields, such as the social sciences, for more satisfactory techniques. (Author)

The study, prepared for the Learning Resources Branch (LRB) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), includes a brief history of library statistical programs of the Office of Education and the National NCES, 1870-1978; the uses of library statistics by the Office of Libraries and Learning Resources (OLLR) of the Office of Education…

This paper discusses some of the more recent major user studies and examines their methods, findings, and conclusions. The appendix includes a brief bibliography of bibliographies of user studies. (Author/MF)

A user evaluation of library services and facilities revealed a dichotomy of the user population into director and non-director subgroups. (Author/PF)

Information needs and research systems of scientists in various disciplines. (LS)

The unique feature of this survey lies in its ability to define the type of user and the percent of library use based on the potential number of users in the service area. This survey classifies users by their educational level and compares the number of these users having a particular kind of education with the number in the community as a whole…

Based on data gathered during a full 5-day, 40-hour week of visiting time, this study determined various characteristics of visitors to the New York State Library (NYSL) main facility; e.g., traffic rates, user intent, and user status. Visitors exiting the library were counted, short interviews were conducted with 25 percent of the total visitors…

The general results of this statistical sampling of book readership at a college library revealed that three times as many book readers were reading nonlibrary books as library books inside the library. About one-half of the library books being read are classified as Social Science books. Business Administration majors read books in the library…

A survey of student life patterns and library use at the Community and Technical College of the University of Toledo was made. From the results of the student survey it is clear that student life patterns could not easily be "synchronized" with present library delivery service patterns. The knowledge gained about student life patterns…

Based on data from two experiments, this article attempts to assess degree to which people differ in interpretations of questions referring to library services and the implications for interpreting survey results. Sources of error in questionnaire research--sampling, response (question interpretation, response decision, category choices)--are…

The main concern is with identifying exemplar user need studies and discussing the possible value of their methodology for a broader range of library services. (Author/MF)

A summary and four papers from a symposium, held at the 1974 American Library Association Conference, dealing with the feasibility and desirability of measuring reference service. (PF)

In 1973, the Technological Institute Library, along with the other science libraries of Northwestern University, began a study of reference use. For each reference request received in the libraries, the date, time, duration, mode, class of question, and user type were noted. These statistics were tabulated and analyzed by computer. It was…

A user survey was conducted at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library and Study Center of New York University to collect specific data for resource planning after two and a half years of operation. A questionnaire given to a sample of students and faculty in each school provided data on library usage (how much and for what purpose), user satisfaction with…