How do college students "really" conduct research for classroom assignments? In 2008, five large Illinois universities were awarded a Library Services and Technology Act Grant to try to answer that question. The resulting ongoing study has already yielded some eye-opening results. The findings suggest changes ranging from simple…

The contributions in this volume represent a decade of OCLC's user behavior research findings that articulate the need for the design of future library services to be all about the user. Highlights include: (1) People associate the library with books and do not consider the library in relation to online resources or reference services; (2) People…

From 2000 to 2012 the number of Internet users rose from less than 0.4 billion to 2.4 billion. Scholarly, evidence-based Internet research is of critical importance. The field of Internet research explores the Internet as a social, political and educational phenomenon, providing theoretical and practical contributions to understanding, and…

Issues 256 through 265 of "Fast Facts" from the Library Research Service present data collected from libraries in Colorado and throughout the nation. Topics addressed in these "Fast Facts" from 2008 include computer usage by public library patrons, Colorado summer reading programs, children's' use of public libraries, and the…

In K-12 classrooms, as well as on the college and university level, the incorporation of digital games has played a vital role in the educational system. While introducing teachers to new fields, these digital games have been designed and implemented for the classroom and have shown positive results at a variety of educational levels. Cases on…

This document is one of ten kits distributed annually by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC), a clearinghouse operated by the Association of Research Libraries, Office of Management Studies (ARL/OMS) that provides a central source of timely information and materials on the management and operations of large academic and research…

Twelve reports on the spatial patterns present on the campus of Illinois State University are divided into three sections. Following an introduction, the first section focuses on behavioral patterns such as seating choices made in the university cafeteria or the classroom. Section II deals with the measures people take to save time. A microstudy…

To update a 1977 study of indirect cost rates in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions, the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) contacted several member libraries and the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in 1980 for current information and documents. A number of ARL members…

A brief introduction by Frank H. Spaulding, president of the Special Libraries Association, is followed by highlights of the findings of the appointed presidential task force on the value of the information professional and an executive summary of task force activities and reports. In addition, an introduction by Allen B. Veaner provides…

Data on the basic components of teleconferencing and descriptions of its uses in education, business, and industry are provided in 17 individual reports. These reports include overviews and case studies of educational telephone networks, teleconferencing transmission systems and equipment, visual systems for teleconferencing, slow scan television,…

A result of the Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) November 1975 Services Survey, this kit presents statistical studies developed from management information sources such as circulation records or generated expressly for a particular study. While academic and research libraries maintain statistical records measuring library efficiency or…

Articles in this monograph examine key issues in combined drug and alcohol use. The first chapter discusses clinical and research evidence about the physical and psychological effects of various drug and alcohol combinations. Chapter Two presents findings about usage patterns of alcohol and drugs. The impact of alcohol use in a treatment setting…

This collection of library documents, which illustrates current techniques for conducting user studies in order to facilitate specific public services planning and priority-setting efforts at the member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), contains excerpts from: (1) four general user studies conducted at the University of…

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…

To gather information about the nature of photocopy services in academic libraries and issues relating to their management, a survey was mailed to each of the 117 members of the Association for Research Libraries (ARL). The survey focused on two components of photocopy services: the self-service copiers placed at strategic locations within the…