The academic library is changing. No longer simply a warehouse of information, the university library is a place for students and patrons to study, collaborate, socialize, and learn through social activities. This change in use reflects a paradigmatic shift from understanding the library as information repository to understanding the library as…

The University of North Texas Libraries provide extensive online access to academic journals through major vendor databases. As illustrated by interlibrary loan borrowing requests for items held in our databases, patrons often have difficulty navigating the available resources. In this study, the Interlibrary Loan staff used data gathered from the…

The academic library, given its often privileged position on campus, is the information source that can include directional as well as general campus facts among the myriad of print and e-resources for reference. Also, an academic library's audiences can be quite varied and include prospective students or parents seeking more general knowledge of…

This study investigates how graduate students experience their university websites, or the institutional "virtual face." The sample included graduate students admitted to online and blended higher education programs at Texas Tech University and the University of Memphis. A total of 42 students provided open-ended answers to questions…

Adolescents who receive current, accurate, reliable, and balanced sexual-health information are more likely to express healthier sexual attitudes and engage in healthier sexual behaviors than adolescents receiving limited or no sexual-health information. High school librarians have the potential to help meet sexual-health information needs of…

Library intranets require flexibility and efficiency and enhance the internal communication and collaborative nature of creating and organizing the institution's information. At the University of Houston Libraries, the focus was on public services, so little attention was given to the intranet--the tool every department relied on for quick access…

This guide identifies sources of information useful to libraries in meeting their users' needs on topics pertaining to Texas: books about the state's history, culture, and geography, and state agencies, and other bodies which provide information on specific topics. Included are books, both nonfiction and reference, telephone numbers, and…

A survey was sent out in the fall of 1988 to all 4-year college and university libraries in Texas; the overall response rate was 77%. The purpose of the survey was to: (1) compare funding patterns in state and private institutions; (2) compare appropriation increases with rising costs for books and journals; and (3) determine whether academic…

This guide for selecting library materials for residents of state institutions is designed to help the institutional librarian who has special groups to serve and who does not have access to standard acquisition tools. The first section lists what information is necessary to order materials, provides samples of filled-in order forms, and mentions…

Describes a Texas survey of fourth and eighth graders that examined whether children experience information overload, what strategies they used to reduce it, and what words described their feelings while overloaded. Results are analyzed by grade level, gender, and content, and the role of the school library media specialist is discussed.…

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…

In 2001, Texas Tech University Library surveyed faculty who taught distance learning courses. This article reports the findings of the survey. Implicit in the article is the belief that a clear understanding of the needs and expectations of faculty serves as a foundation on which librarians can build a solid program of support for distance…

This study describes how some school districts have implemented full motion, two-way interactive video in rural small schools and communities. A prototype and guidelines for future implementation are presented. Researchers studied 14 school districts in the Oklahoma Panhandle and eastern New Mexico and three sites in Texas where the technology has…

In support of educational excellence and equity, the Texas Education Agency views all state public education information resources and technology as strategic assets of the education enterprise. This plan is presented in support of the goals of enhancing instruction through technology, restructuring the data processing environment for…

The long range plan provides for the orderly establishment and expansion of programs needed to carry out the objectives of the Texas State Library. The following five major development goals were identified for the 1994-1997 period: (1) improve library services and increase library resources through financial support; (2) make materials and…