This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit examines the current state of online services based upon the experiences of a select number of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries in the United States and Canada. Many of the kit documents were obtained during a survey of eight private institutions conducted for Duke…

Reviews arguments for and against fees for online services and describes a supply side model in which the library absorbs the costs of online searching. The implementation of this policy at an academic library is evaluated and detailed guidelines for implementing such a policy are provided. (CLB)

Outlines the evaluation criteria used by the reference department at the Williams Library at the University of Mississippi in selecting databases and hardware used in CD-ROM workstations. The factors discussed include database coverage, costs, and security. (CLB)

Reviews experiences with online searching at the Nazareth College library. Topics discussed include user expectations; actual and perceived search quality; the impact of laser printers; growth in online searching; increases in other reference services; the use of CD-ROM technology; and costs and pricing policies. (LRW)

This document reports the findings of a study group charged with reviewing the current and future prospects for database searching and electronic access to information in the Library of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Specific points of interest include factors influencing the demand for these services, costs of providing the services,…

Documentation supplied in this kit demonstrates how research libraries provide services to visiting scholars as distinguished from other categories of external user. A "visiting scholar" is most often defined as a faculty member affiliated with an institution of higher education but the term may also include independent scholars and persons…

Describes a study of the current usage and status of CD-ROM products. Results of a survey of academic and research libraries that covered products owned or subscribed to, how they are paid for, numbers of workstations, usage, and cost are reported. The years 1984-85 and 1989-90 are compared. Cancellation of print sources is also addressed.…

This report is based on information from the 1990-91 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Academic Libraries survey, a U.S. Department of Education vehicle for collecting data from all postsecondary institutions in the United States. The data in this report represent colleges and universities with accreditation at the higher…

Wisconsin's Interlibrary Library Loan Task Force was created in 1994 to identify and discuss effective patterns and methods of sharing resources among libraries of all types in Wisconsin and to determine the direction that different organizational levels should take in resource sharing, and to evaluate existing state-wide resource-sharing…