Seventy-two libraries participated in the development of a cost model for library catalogs, considered alternate forms of catalogs (including various combinations of card, computer output microfilm, and online), and prepared input data for computer runs to arrive at costs. Card catalogs appeared to be the least costly. (FM)

This survey of 57 members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) examines technical and management issues in providing remote access to their online catalogs, as well as with instructions and services for remote users. It is noted that most ARL libraries have not yet conducted studies to project the extent of use of remote access, although…

Though recent technological developments have promised solutions to the costly problems of expanding card catalogs and changing cataloging practices, at the University of California libraries the problems have been compounded by a desire to stay compatible with the changing conventions of the Library of Congress and by an increasingly stringent…

Designed for use by study coordinators, library supervisors, and data collectors, this manual is the basic reference and training document from the 1982 field survey of public online catalog users and nonusers in 31 U.S. research, academic, community college, public, and governmental libraries. The field survey was coordinated by the Research…

Discusses the need to reevaluate bibliographic instruction in academic libraries for an expanded online environment based on experiences at Moorhead State University (Minnesota). Topics addressed include the addition of databases to local online catalogs; student searching; search patterns; database characteristics; student search skills; library…

This report on the Automated Library Information Control System (ALIS) of the National Technological Library of Denmark focuses on the circulation control functions of the integrated, distributed processing system, which also functions as an online catalog for a bibliographic database of approximately 120,000 records with library location codes.…

This is a general descriptive and comparative report on alternative forms of library catalogs. The specific problems and factors associated with library catalogs are introduced briefly and then treated with respect to the following physical forms: card catalogs, book catalogs, microforms, and on-line catalogs. Whenever possible, examples of…

A study of five Texas academic libraries provided information on OPAC use by Korean college students to assist system managers select OPACs. The study determined that academic level and age influence preference for the type of OPAC system, that more specific search instructions are needed, and that system menus were the most commonly used source…

Considering alternative physical formats for the public card catalogs currently used in the University of California at Los Angeles libraries, a study group at began by investigating six possibilities: 1) cards; 2) photographically-produced catalogs; 3) typeset-printed catalogs; 4) computer-produced catalogs; 5) microform or video catalogs; and 6)…

In 1981 and 1982, the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and four other organizations participated in a coordinated study of public online catalog users and nonusers. Standard, self-administered questionnaires were used to gather data from 8,094 users and 3,981 nonusers in 31 research, academic, community college, public, and governmental libraries…

In this research project, subject terms from the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) Schedules and Relative Index were incorporated into an online catalog as searcher's tools for subject access, browsing, and display. Four features of the DDC were employed to help searchers browse for and match their own subject terms with the online catalog's…

This review of the research on subject access to library collections focuses on the problems of and prospects for improved online subject access to library collections. Summaries of the general findings of studies on library catalog use and catalog users and some reasons for the frequent failure of subject searches in library catalogs are followed…

Research programs of the University of California (UC) Institute of Library Research (ILR) for the period July 1975 to June 1976 included: (1) error analysis of the UC Union Catalog Supplement (UCUCS), (2) error analysis of on-line bibliographic data bases, (3) planning data for UCUCS-2 conversion planning, and (4) document delivery support for…

An online catalog was introduced at Georgia State University in September 1985. Prior to its introduction, a study was conducted at Pullen Library to prepare for bibliographic instruction for catalog use. In the summer of 1985, 50 patrons were observed and interviewed as they used the library's card and/or computer output microfiche (COM)…

As a continuation of research into online public access catalog systems (OPAC's), this study focused on the actual use of OPAC's and on refinement of the methodologies used in carrying out transaction analysis studies. Current patron use patterns were obtained via machine-readable catalogs from four online public catalog systems: The Library of…