The primary goal of this study was to identify gaps in curriculum coverage and required skills for research support services (RSS) in university libraries in the Punjab province of Pakistan. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used to meet its objective. To collect data for the quantitative strand, across-sectional survey with a…

"is facebook down" trended on Google on October 4, 2021, when Facebook became temporarily globally unavailable. Web users proactively seek information when they encounter issues online. System status dashboards are one way libraries can leverage this behavior to share changes to resources or services and improve transparency, reference…

Emanating from the ground-breaking Library Impact Data Project, the aim of the Roving Librarian project first initiated in 2011 was to offer personalized help outside of the traditional library to library non-users in social or academic settings using Android and the iPad tablets. It was thought that the portability and flexibility of these…

In Japan, only a few public libraries provide e-mail reference services. To help public libraries start e-mail reference services, the authors investigated reference questions received by libraries via e-mail and traditional face-to-face services. The authors found that research questions are more frequently observed among e-mail questions and…

What types of information sources do masters and doctoral (M and D) students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) use most, how do the patterns of use differ across subject disciplines and faculties, and to what extent does the Library and Information Services (LIS) keep or provide access to the journals that are mostly used by M and D…

Identifies deficiencies in reference services offered by archives and examines factors preventing effective use of archival resources, including changing clientele, organization of collections based on the principle of provenance, and the uniqueness of archival collections. Suggestions for improving public service, including user studies and…

This paper discusses the establishment of a research service in the Norwegian parliament. The first section presents some general assumptions regarding a research service in parliament. The second section describes the first initiative, a mandate in the 1970s to establish a commission to clarify the need for such a service. The third section…

This paper discusses one person's experience with the library and research services of the Australian Federal Parliament. The first section describes the multiple functions and roles of politicians, as well as their various information needs, e.g., the need for information on bills, for overseas travel, for writing speeches, and to develop special…

Examines whether library reference staff are cognizant of newspapers as a potential source of reference information, and explores what happens when library staff members make referrals--often a sign that they do not know the answer to the question themselves. Discusses results of a recent study of public libraries in Canada which revealed that…

Describes how the Computer Database Advice Centre (CDAC) at Ealing College of Higher Education identifies potential user groups, assesses their information needs, and formulates demonstration seminars. Included is a preliminary evaluation of CDAC performance and usefulness, which is based on the demand for seminars and a user questionnaire. Costs…

Provides an overview of Internet resources relevant to reference work in world history. It also presents URLs to select sites representing different uses of the World Wide Web in presenting information for the subject of World History. (Author)

Presents a description of PLEXUS, an expert system on gardening designed as a referral tool for public libraries by the University of London. Highlights include determining user characteristics, developing the problem statement, the use of semantic categories, and search strategies that modify the original problem statement using Boolean…

Describes an investigation that assessed the effectiveness of Australian indexing and abstracting services in their bibliographic control of the literature of library and information science. Conclusions about the coverage of the literature are presented, and methods for improvement are suggested. (CLB)

Discusses kinds of problems public librarians encounter in the process of providing legal and health information. Data are compared from two surveys of reference librarians who provide legal and health information services in Ontario (Canada) public libraries, and implications for collection development are suggested. (17 references) (LRW)

Systematically examines the provision of health information in Ontario's larger public libraries. The survey, which elicited a 90 percent response rate, showed that health requests accounted for about 8 percent of all reference questions. The major problems faced by public librarians in providing health information were incomplete or unclear…