The Metropolitan Cooperative Library System in California is a group of 17 autonomous community libraries which have joined together to provide better services to their patrons. This survey of the reference resources and services of the system was conducted by personal interviews at each of the member libraries. The focus is upon reader oriented…

A sample of library-output statistics measuring circulation, reference, and in-library use was collected from 76 libraries and tested for redundancy, correlation, and variation using time-series analysis to test the Relative Fidelity of Measurement Model (RFM). The 275 sample statistics correlated in an unpredicted pattern. Twenty-three sources…

An appendix to a study that attempts to measure the service capabilities of public libraries, either in relation to the needs of their communities or to the standards adopted by the profession. (Author)

The basic rationale for this study was that attempts to measure the service capabilities of public libraries, either in relation to the needs of their communities or to the standards adopted by the profession, are hampered by the lack of criteria of quality or effectiveness. It was recognized that new measures were needed to gauge effectiveness…

The Detroit Main Library's reference and research facilities have been used by increasing numbers of non-residents, although there has never been reciprocal financial support from suburban areas. Costs have increased and the city tax base has declined. In order to continue to operate as a metropolitan research library and to solve financial…

Proposes and investigates feasibility of using three new variables in addition to simple activity counts in measuring reference services: (1) user questioning regardless of where activity occurs; (2) treating individual user and question as unit of analysis; and (3) examination of questioning in context of other library use. (11 references) (EJS)

Presented by a library science student at the University of California at Berkeley, this description of Moffitt Undergraduate Library includes financing and budget, the building (physical description), book collection, staff, library technical operations, and user services. The report begins with a framework for the idea of an undergraduate…

Describes a study that measured the use of government publications in an academic library before and after the merger of the government publications department and the reference department. The implications of the findings that the merger resulted in declines in government publications use and the quality of reference service for government…

A study was conducted to observe the behavior and problems of the users of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) dictionary library catalog. The study group's activities included: (1) a literature search and the abstracting of catalog use surveys; (2) personal interviews with representatives of library units to obtain information about…

A survey of school media centers in Minnesota elementary and secondary schools was undertaken to determine the extent of the progress they have made towards meeting the Information Power guidelines for automation. Two hundred schools were selected to receive an eight-page questionnaire, and 57% responded. The results show that Minnesota library…

This collection of papers is based on projects done in conjunction with a senior level/graduate course, "Applications of Operations Research Techniques in Systems Engineering." These seven papers describe research studies which utilized user surveys and/or statistical methods to analyze various library operations. The papers are…

A survey of 29 Michigan community and junior college learning resource centers was conducted in the spring of 1979 to examine the status of resources and services, their scope and use, and the staffing and budgets necessary to support these resources and services during the 1977-78 academic year. The survey report compares the data from this…

Reflections of a school librarian on the impact of technological innovation in libraries. Highlights the librarian role in user education, accessioning new titles, weeding, library automation and how to avoid misleading collection use statistics, the Internet and online resources, Internet use policy, and the importance of time in adjusting to new…

The eighth in the current series, this volume contains responses from 91 libraries to all items in the Colorado Public Libraries Annual Report, summary statistics for seven ranges of population served and the state, and an index by data element. This edition uses, except for a few cases, the same populations figured from the 1990 U.S. Census.…