Proposes two general classes of user tasks-recognition tasks and tasks requiring inference-for which performance measures were developed. The measures include graphical object recognition, textual object recognition, action recognition, free-text gist determination, multiple-choice gist determination and visual gist determination. Results from two…

Includes four articles that discuss multimedia educational database systems and the use of metadata, including repurposing; the evaluation of digital library use that analyzes the retrieval habits of users; the Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL) and digital collection project; and the collection of the Division of Parasitic Diseases, Centers for…

Discusses three papers presented at the 1994 ALA (American Library Association) annual convention in Miami Beach (Florida) that deal with investment information in academic libraries and their use by faculty, doctoral students, undergraduates, MBA (Masters of Business Administration) students, and individual investors. (Author/LRW)

Intended to provide a guide to the most useful, practical, and relevant methodologies developed and implemented over the past 20 years for assessing a library's effectiveness, this bibliography provides citations to 72 selected studies evaluating the use, collections, and services of academic libraries. The citations are organized into three major…

Describes a study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, to determine the utilization of federal, state, local, and international documents. Highlights include circulation versus in-house use, status of borrower, gender, classes of documents used, microfiche use, date of publications used, and comparisons with previous use studies. (29…

Discussion of libraries' vertical files focuses on a study conducted at the University of Northern Iowa that compared the use of a World Wide Web subject collection and a traditional print vertical file and the effort required to maintain them. Results show a clear patron preference for the World Wide Web files. (LRW)

Reference materials used by librarians responding to reference requests and by patrons at the Iowa State University Library were analyzed to determine which subject areas of the collection received greatest use, and whether subject areas and types of materials used by librarians differed from those used by patrons. (19 references) (MES)

A study of the use of print materials in the Capital University (Ohio) Library's Reserve Department revealed 29% of the faculty use its services for classroom instruction. Two factors that contribute to the department's heavy faculty and student use are class design and use of reserve materials in courses. (AEF)

Presents an analysis of questionnaire-generated data on the administration of international governmental organization (IGO) depository library collections. Topics discussed include restrictions to public access, separate or integrated collections, classification practices, and usage by categories of users. A directory of IGO depository collections…

Distributed on a random basis to 3,000 patrons, this survey was conducted to provide the administration of the Edmonton Public Library with a comprehensive evaluation of the service the library provides to the public. The results, which were tabulated using frequency distribution tables and which make up the major part of the report, are presented…

Describes The Library of Virginia's Digital Library Project that has made many of its state library collections available via the Internet and World Wide Web. Highlights include digitization decisions; the HTML Web gateway; the online catalog; microfilm digitization; users and use statistics; and future projects. (LRW)

Discussion of allocation of library acquisitions budgets, especially for monographs, focuses on the proportional use statistic (i.e., a value that compares circulation and holdings in a subject area). Topics addressed include economics; benefits that libraries provide; use of the collection by patrons; computers as aids to resource allocation;…

Explores the working relationship between Indiana University's Main Library Media Services department and the Instructional Media division. Examines the video collections, users and usage patterns, circulation by subject, and video/film classroom usage. Discusses a plan for the electronic delivery of visual media directly to classrooms, library,…

This paper reports on a study in which data on audiobook borrowers' backgrounds, borrowing practices, and desires were collected, in order to assist library staff in making informed collection development decisions and being responsive to patron needs. Participants were patrons of the Salem Public Library (Ohio). An anonymous questionnaire was…

The eighth in the current series, this volume contains responses from 91 libraries to all items in the Colorado Public Libraries Annual Report, summary statistics for seven ranges of population served and the state, and an index by data element. This edition uses, except for a few cases, the same populations figured from the 1990 U.S. Census.…