Reference librarians are constantly balancing their reference duties against other duties, for example, collection development and departmental liaison. The author works as a reference librarian at Texas A&M University-Commerce Libraries in Commerce, Texas. The university has approximately 11,000 students, a large number of whom are…

Declining reference statistics, diminishing human resources, and the desire to be more proactive and embedded in academic departments, prompted the University of South Florida Library to create a taskforce for re-envisioning reference services. The taskforce was charged with examining the staffing patterns at the desk and developing…

Describes features of existing software packages for circulation control (borrower and item files, data capture and verification, issue, return, renewal, loan conditions, reservations, overdues, updating, and management information), and serials control (ordering, recording receipt, reader access, binding and financial control, listings, and…

Describes a method of analyzing serials collections in special libraries that combines evaluative criteria with database management technology. Choice of computer software is discussed, qualitative information used to evaluate subject coverage is examined, and quantitative and descriptive data that can be used for collection management are…

Landman Library is two-thirds of the way through a three-stage process of migrating to the Koha open-source integrated library system (http://koha-community.org). We are an academic library with roughly 143,000 volumes, six professional librarians, and three support staff. The migration to open source was driven by the desire to access our own…

Four articles address issues of collecting, compiling, reporting, and interpreting statistics generated by automated library systems for administrative decision making. Topics include using a management information system to forecast growth and assess areas for downsizing; statistics for collection development and analysis; and online system…

Discusses applications of Lotus Notes groupware developed by MCI Communications Corporation librarians. The development of administrative databases used for reference request tracking, interlibrary loan, book ordering and other purposes, and corporate wide databases used to disseminate internal and external information are described. The strengths…

In the fall of 1993, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Office of Management Services conducted a survey to determine the status of automation activities within preservation departments in member libraries. The survey was sent to 68 ARL libraries that have established preservation departments under the management of a preservation…

Discusses management needs for timely, appropriate, and comprehensive library acquisitions information, noting that the requirement for summary and exception reporting mandates online automated acquisition systems. (Author/FM)

Gives an overview of MEDLARS II as an example of a major bibliographic processing system that supports on-line access to a number of very large files, has efficient throughput, and is operated on a single large-scale computer. (Author/PF)

This overview of the use of computers in educational film library management provides brief discussions of some current issues and problems, descriptions of seven operating systems, and a case study of the selection of a computer system for the facility at the University of Minnesota. Described are basic computer systems; advantages of their use…

Discusses computers in terms of what they are, costs and availability of hardware and software, the identification of processes the computer is to perform, and factors involved in the acquisition and installation of a hypothetical automated circulation system. Five references are listed. (CHC)

Provides an overview of the facilities for management information in library management systems. Highlights include the relationship between transaction processing systems, management information systems, and decision support systems; a review of previous work; enquiries and standard reports relating to library operations; report generators; and…

Cutbacks in funding and personnel required the Mankato State College Library to gain more effective control over its serials collection. The task was to integrate the various data, some unrecorded, on standing orders and serials holdings and to produce for the library directors specialized lists of many types: all titles ordered from a specific…

Describes Case Western Reserve University's (CWRU's) digital library project that examines the networked delivery of full-text materials and high-quality images to provide students excellent supplemental instructional resources delivered directly to their dormitory rooms. Reviews intellectual property (IP) management requirements and describes…