The purpose of this study is to gain a finer-grained picture and better understanding of the travel patterns of library users, and the activities, demographics, and other factors that affect library access. Previous studies of physical accessibility of public libraries, which have focused on library users' single-destination trips and their travel…

This article describes an ecological study in Eastside, a particular area of Rotherham, a town in the north of England, UK. The purpose of the study was to collect information about literacy practices in a community setting, focusing on a library. The researchers used an ecological approach to data collection. The methodology included approaches…

Despite the potential value of leveraging organizational memory and expertise, small organizations have been unable to capitalize on its promised value. Existing solutions have largely side-stepped the unique needs of these organizations, which are relegated to systems designed to take advantage of large pools of experts or to use Internet sources…

With the rise in the number of types of digital media and the time youth spend on these platforms, researchers theorize that interacting with digital media can provide significant motivation for youth to participate, create, and become active learners. The Consortium on Chicago School Research, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T.…

Telephone interviews were conducted with 901 adults to determine whether people who vote use libraries more than non-voters. Respondents were asked if they had visited a public library within six months of their interviews, or if they had read any part of a book borrowed from a public library within that time period. Area probability techniques…

The first in a planned series on how to improve the productivity of public libraries, this overview identifies analytical techniques that can save time and energy. Four references are listed. (MES)

This report is a part of Phase I of the Detroit Metropolitan Library Project and contains suggestions for methods and procedures for Phases II and III of the Project in which patron use and costs of patron services at the Main Library are to be measured. The report includes recommendations for new instruments for measuring patron use and…

This study determined the percentage and kinds of use of children's magazines in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Public Library and developed a user profile. Observation in the children's room, conducted for 31 hours over a six-week period, found that: (1) a little over six percent of the people who enter the children's room use or check out a…

Survey which examined censorship requests in Alberta public libraries revealed that: more than one community challenge occurs in average week; in one out of three cases, impugned book was removed from shelves; high proportion of libraries reported no written censorship policies. List of 41 challenged titles is appended. (11 references) (EJS)

Two sophisticated--autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), straight-line regression--and two naive--simple average, monthly average--forecasting techniques were used to forecast monthly circulation totals of 34 public libraries. Comparisons of forecasts and actual totals revealed that ARIMA and monthly average methods had smallest mean…

Improvement in the research climate in children's librarianship is needed. There must be a determined demand for research, financial and job support for researchers, improvement in the research techniques for studying children, and implementation of actual research projects. Particular concerns include research on reading, school/public library…

An evaluation of 275 titles of adult individual biography selected at random reveals no essential correlation between a quality estimate and any of several measures of circulation. The titles were evaluated for their quality by determining whether or not each title was found listed in eight reviewing journals, five book selection tools, and five…

This report describes a study which was made by the Central Library of Rochester Public Library to determine how Central could best serve the needs of young adults and encourage them to be library users after financial cutbacks forced the closing of their Teen Lounge. Data were gathered in the period from August 1977 to May 1978 through staff…

Results of this study evaluating library reference service indicate a statistically significant difference at the .05 level between obtrusive and unobtrusive evaluation methods. Library staff answer a greater proportion of questions correctly when they are aware of being evaluated. The 30 questions used, a report form, and references are included.…

Discusses difficulties involved in locating sources of statistical information on public libraries in Canada and describes a study conducted to identify and evaluate various sources of such information. An 18-item bibliography is provided. (CHC)