Describes sources of information at the New York State Library that pertain to hearing impairment. Topics addressed include New York State's role in the development of deaf education; background on the state library; and library services aimed at special populations. A selected bibliography of 45 relevant items in the library collection is…

Discusses the need for a common discourse about interdisciplinary needs in order to meet library users' needs. Considers why and how interdisciplinary activities emerge, what form they take, and where they are located in institutions. Also discusses knowledge representation. (Contains 78 references.) (Author/LRW)

Presents information on deafness and deaf people that is helpful to librarians communicating with deaf patrons. Communication modes and preferences are discussed, including speaking and facial expression, speech reading, lipreading, and sign language; and methods of optimizing conditions for good communication are described. (11 references) (LRW)

Discusses the relationship between public libraries and the labor movement. Highlights include the literature of labor and libraries; historical background; labor education; the role of the AFL-CIO/ALA (American Federation of Labor (AFL)-Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO)/American Library Association (ALA)) Joint Committee on Library…

Introduces the concept of the virtual library and explores how the increasing reliance on computers and digital information has affected library users and staff. Discusses users' expectations, democratization of access, human issues, organizational change, technostress, ergonomics, assessment, and strategies for success and survival. Contains 35…

Discusses operational, organizational, and technological developments that are transforming the workplace; describes the concept of knowledge worker and the information utility model; considers how these factors provide opportunities for library administrators and other information resource management professionals to improve user services; and…

Discusses remote library users in an academic environment. Highlights include user needs and expectations; user satisfaction; service to remote customers in nonlibrary environments, such as industry; the distance-learning context; student demographics; distance learning and library services; course design; and a case study at De Paul University.…

Discussion of customer expectations of library service quality and SERVQUAL as a measurement tool focuses on two studies: one that compared a survey of Chinese university students' expectations of service quality to New Zealand students; and one that investigated national culture as a source of attitudes to customer service. (Author/LRW)

This description of the development of the Art and Architecture Thesaurus from 1979 to the present explains the processes and policies that were used to construct a language designed to represent knowledge in art and architecture, as well as to be a surrogate for the image and object being described. (EAM)

Provides an overview of past and present library services to, and policies about, deaf people. Unique characteristics of the deaf community are discussed; recent developments in deaf studies, communication techniques, and laws affecting library services to deaf people are reviewed; and the roles libraries can play in providing services are…

Presents guidelines and a self-assessment questionnaire that were developed by the New York Library Association for libraries serving users with hearing impairments. Areas covered by the documents include policy statements, materials, services, programing, cooperation with other agencies, facilities, and staff development. (LRW)

Suggests that preliminary findings from research on intellectual access to digital images indicate a need for improved browsing tools, image manipulation software, feedback mechanisms, and query analysis. Discusses problems of image retrieval identified in current research, reports on an evaluation project in process, and proposes a framework for…

Argues that providing end users with more information does not really address their problems and, in fact, does not even identify them. Topics discussed include the growth of information technology, reasons for the decline in the number of reference librarians, roles of libraries, and the importance of information intermediaries. (MES)

Discusses adult learners and higher education provided in a distance-delivery format; case studies centered on adult learners; library service and support needs; distance adult learners' expectations of library service support; potential resources for distance adult learners; and selected online learner resources. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the stages of transformation that occurred in AT&T's information services and how end-users participated in the process. Topics include moving from traditional to electronic services; users' needs and expectations; library staff; vendor partnerships for outsourced services; and evaluating service quality. (Author/LRW)