Discusses the need for the library profession to learn not only how to identify information needs, but also to create new services and delivery patterns around them. The existing literature on information needs and information seeking behavior is briefly reviewed, and a research agenda for the 1990s is summarized. (51 references) (Author/CLB)

With the advent of the microcomputer, end users need personal information systems that work both at the office and at home and in the external world. The librarian's role could extend from being an information service provider to being a professional counselor on personal information management. (41 references) (MES)

Discusses a paradigm for academic librarianship that requires greater sensitivity to and identification with needs of library users. Centrality of library academic community is questioned, noting insistence of librarians on independent status of library and failure of bibliographic instruction programs to make issue of critical thinking top…

Explains the concept of diagnosing information needs as part of the role of the school library media specialist. Topics discussed include the diagnostic process, i.e., the reference interview; information psychology; theories of information transfer; a model for diagnosing information needs; and implications for practitioners and for research. (19…

Results of this examination of the information needs and gathering behavior of social scientists, especially historians, suggests that existing library and information services may be based on a misunderstanding of their needs. Factors that need to be studied are identified, and research models are suggested. (CLB)

Describes the user education program developed at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (Mexico). Topics include the faculty-librarian partnership; information needs of library users, both faculty and students; library facilities; electronic classrooms; faculty training; and educational models and learning processes. (LRW)

Summarizes the results of a study that identified researchable issues related to the role of libraries in the information society. Specific research questions are presented within the categories of access to information; information needs and users; libraries and education; library models; the role of public services librarians; and education and…

Examines issues relating to information technology that will affect the future of school librarians. Topics discussed include teaching versus learning; the need for new sets of skills; becoming systems analysts; matching technology with users' information needs; management information systems; and shifting models regarding the role of school…

Places the cost considerations associated with public library automation in a framework of public finance comfortable to most administrators, discusses the importance of experience with use patterns in the electronic library in opening up new and innovative financing methods, and stresses the role of the library in the information industry. (JL)

The main objective of this research was to develop a suitable model for a Thai university library in information provision to tenant firms in the first Thai technology park. Such a model, which was based on Australian data, was fine-tuned to meet local Thai social and economic conditions. The research process investigated many issues with tenants…

The Fourth International Research Forum in Information Science (IRFIS 4) focused on two themes: user-oriented research in information science and experimental and practical investigations of the mediation and use of information. An opening speech by Bjorn Tell reviewed information research policy in the United States, France, England, Japan, the…

Information can play a vital role in assisting inner city residents to cope with major survival problems. The provision of supportive information increases the effectiveness of all types of advocacy. The limited success achieved by recent library outreach programs in the inner city is partially due to the absence of a commitment to advocacy by the…

Discussion of outsourcing information services in corporate libraries and the need to identify library services that are not outsourceable. Focuses on client/service provider interactions and a framework for an expanded model of the information counselor role that integrates information diagnostic and repackaging services. (Author/LRW)

Reviews the traditional academic library services offered to faculty researchers and describes patterns of the academic research process. A more active librarian role in the research process is proposed, to be accomplished through understanding research in the information transfer process and the role of the researcher. (17 references) (CLB)

The director of the Queens Borough Public Library (Jamaica, New York) examines the role of the public library in helping to prevent illiteracy and discusses innovative ways libraries can serve adult readers and learners, using the Queens model as an example. Includes a sidebar by Audrey Gorman "Toward a New Definition of Literacy." (AEF)