For decades, declines in library reference use have been inextricably tied to technological improvements. This article asserts that reference staffing models may be a significant predictor of a decline in reference questions. Using two years of data, collected from a large public university, the researchers determined user preferences among five…

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…

Examines two motivational models: a drive reduction model in which media use and satisfaction are directed by the gratifications people seek, and an exposure-learning model in which the gratifications are largely received as an accidental result of exposure to media. Concludes that both can be used effectively to represent media use and…

A study looked at the possibilities for a user-based information system which could provide usable structured information about educational technology and attempted to determine how best to supply information about educational process to users. The study had three phases. The first surveyed the literature and activities of centers concerned with…

The first section establishes a working definition of library science and outlines the existing publications patterns of library science information. The existing system of bibliographic organization is examined in detail and services provided in the U.S.S.R. are described as an example of a systematic attempt at world coverage. In late 1967,…

This article details an open card sort study administered to undergraduate students, graduate students, and librarians at the University of Colorado at Boulder in order to reveal perceptions of library research guides. The study identifies user group preferences for organization and content of research guides, as well as themes emerging from the…

The purpose of this project was to test the effect of an intensive acquisition effort in one region of the nation (Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont); and develop selection criteria, indexing strategies, and abstract formats congruent with user needs. The staff of The Center for Vocational and Technical Education (CVTE)…

Presents longitudinal case studies of four students in high school and after completion of college to compare their perceptions of the information search process in libraries. Library user studies are discussed, a model of the search process is described, and implications for the design of information systems are suggested. (36 references) (LRW)

The primary categories of H. S. Bhola's CLER Model (configurations, linkages, environments, resources) were used to organize and annotate textual information presented to 24 specialists in education and in other professions who were involved with diffusion and adoption of knowledge. The specialists considered the Bhola method more effective than…

The data presented represent the current status of an ongoing project to develop, test, implement, and evaluate a wide range of new and different ways to providing information to students about costs and aid. The data, examples, and recommendations reflect the state of the art in better information for student choice in December 1976. The report…

Presents Checkland's soft systems methodology, discusses it in terms of the systems approach, and illustrates how it was used to relate evidence of user survey to practical problems of library management. Difficulties in using methodology are described and implications for library management and information science research are presented. (8…

This overview of the ERIC system begins with a brief history of the system; a description of the types and numbers of materials contained in the database; sources of types of information for educators that are not processed by ERIC; and the various publications and reference materials produced by and for the system. The analysis of ERIC usage in…

The study tested the Andersen-Newman causal model of social service use as a means of determining patterns for social service use by Mexican American elderly. The model was shown to have applicability for identifying common and unique determinants of service use. Thirty-seven variables and data from a 1979-80 15-state survey were selected to form…

This paper examines the elements of user studies and presents them as unified concepts within a model of information-seeking behavior. Definitions of information-seeking behavior, information needs, information gathering, information giving, and source preference are discussed. Thirty-two references are cited. (EJS)