A survey was conducted of adult patrons leaving 70 Illinois public libraries on 1 day in April 1983 to determine patrons' success in using the library that day, their level of library usage in the past year, and what changes, if any, they would like to see in their local libraries. Responses were received from 62 (89%) of the libraries in the…

Presents the third annual annotated bibliography of new reference tools published or received in 1990-91 that were nominated by librarians as their favorites. Twenty-five items are reviewed for types of questions that could be answered by the source, comments from patrons and staff, and the librarian's opinion as to quality. (LRW)

Lists eight journal articles written by Charles Bunge that address the measurement of library reference effectiveness. Topics include determining goals; gathering data to determine effectiveness through user satisfaction; assessing reference output; costs and benefits; interpreting data; and the use of computerized forms to gather data. (LRW)

A survey of users of the teachers' library at the San Diego County Department of Education was conducted to assess the level of effectiveness of the library's collection and services in four general areas: (1) professional literature and curriculum collection, (2) publications from the professional resource and development service, (3) textbook…

Sixteen articles, books, and reports published between 1978 and 1983 and cited in "Resources in Education" and "Current Index to Journals in Education" are listed in this bibliography on online public access catalogs (OPACs). Emphasis is on the movement toward computer-based alternatives to library card catalogs and user…

An attempt was made to determine who uses data from the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) and for what purposes. The study objective was to learn if HEGIS is a necessary and useful data base for determining the condition of higher education and developing policy. The quality of the HEGIS data perceived in terms of accuracy,…

Total Quality Management (TQM) brings together the best aspects of organizational excellence by driving out fear, offering customer-driven products and services, doing it right the first time by eliminating error, and maintaining inventory control without waste. Libraries are service organizations which are constantly trying to improve service.…

Issues relating to subject control in online catalogs are addressed in 15 articles. Practical topics such as the importance of public service/technical service communication in subject cataloging are interspersed with such research issues as the promise of artificial intelligence in improving subject retrieval. An overview bibliography of subject…

Discusses the applicability of for-profit customer service concepts to nonprofit library public service. Highlights include 10 elements of successful library customer service for children and youth; creating appropriate physical environments; understanding the customer; body language; organizational restrictions on staff; customer feedback;…

This consumer guide presents updated information on many of the systems and software programs that are currently available to and used by vocational evaluators. Software included in the book was selected through contacting all known developers for information and product samples for review. The guide is organized in four sections. The first…

Describes a specialist bibliographic database of literature in the field of artificial intelligence created by the Turing Institute (Glasgow, Scotland) using the BRS/Search information retrieval software. The subscription method for end-users--i.e., annual fee entitles user to unlimited access to database, document provision, and printed awareness…

This bibliography on users' machine-assisted information seeking behavior was compiled by the American Library Association's Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS). Includes adoption of technology; digital library services; hypertext; interface design; models and theory; relevance; resource…

Presents an annotated bibliography of materials relating to school library media specialists in the following areas: the school library media specialist and the curriculum; library services and automation; teacher and student satisfaction and the library environment; challenged library materials; the principal and the media specialist; and…