An experiment at the College of Charleston (South Carolina) library examined whether using Blackwell's Library of Congress Machine Readable Cataloging with books without the CIP upgrading would be worthwhile in terms of cataloging productivity and efficiency; it also looked at additional costs involved with the CIP upgrading. (AEF)

Examines access problems that occur when the citations from indexes for articles in series differ from the way the items are cataloged. A search was conducted in the online catalogs of various libraries and a comparison made between the bibliographic entries found to citations both in electronic indexes and in authors' references. (AEF)

When the Higher Education Library Information Network of Rhode Island transferred members' bibliographic data into a shared online public access catalog (OPAC), 10% of the University of Rhode Island's monograph records were missing. This article describes the consortium's attempts to retrieve records from the database and the effectiveness of…

To determine if users of the library at Auburn University (Alabama) used the cross-references provided by the series title authority file in online catalog searches, this study performed a transaction log analysis of 2,793 searches and found that cross-references are used. The number of redirects rose as the number of cross-references in the…

Thirty-one public library users were observed searching the Web and/or a Web-based on-line catalog. Four user categories were identified, distinguished by number of search approaches employed. Results indicate experience and motivation, elements of situational goals and mental models, work in tandem to determine search approaches, Web sites…

Describes ArchiVISTA, an optical disk image retrieval system that provides access to cartoons and caricatures in the National Archives of Canada. Planning, evaluation, design and image capture, and retrieval are explained, as well as how the system developed from earlier efforts of bibliographic control and imaging technology. (10 references) (EAM)

Considers issues and concerns relating to the integration of archival and manuscripts records into library bibliographic and retrieval systems. Differences in the nature of library and archival materials are discussed, library functions and archival functions are compared, and archival uses of authority files are described. (six references) (LRW)

Describes a study that investigated the information-seeking behavior of users searching a card catalog and a comparable online catalog. The purpose was to explore whether a theory of human remembering, retrieval by reformulation, might be useful in explaining search behavior in bibliographic databases. (61 references) (CLB)

Issues related to library online systems are discussed in six articles. Topics covered include staff education through vendor demonstrations, evaluation of online public access catalogs, the impact of integrated online systems on cataloging operations, the merits of smart and dumb barcodes, and points to consider in planning for the next online…

Describes guidelines for an online public access catalog (OPAC) workstation that will support the terminal, printer, and other peripherals. Workstation dimensions, lighting, wire management, printer and paper, acoustical treatment, seating, storage for books and coats, wastebasket, and interior decoration are addressed. Flexibility and simplicity…

Describes a study that examined the time lag between the receipt of depository publications and the availability of the Government Printing Office's cataloging records made available on Monthly Catalog tapes. Findings are reported for high cataloging priority titles, monographs versus monographic serials, paper versus microfiche publications, and…

Describes the use of office automation equipment at Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) Library Services and its impact on the reference services offered. Functions discussed include the use of electronic mail for 24-hour library access, online searching, online access to other library collections, and coordination of online searching done by CAS…

Discusses the microform collection at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) Library in terms of support, materials, access through the OPAC, marketing and access tools developed by staff, and training manuals developed for staff and students. (JKP)

Examines the intrinsic value of browsing a library collection, either in the stacks or on an online catalog. The value and cost of classification and shelf-listing is discussed, based on data compiled during studies conducted at Cornell University that timed catalogers while they performed the shelf-listing component of cataloging. (Author/LRW)

Presents results of experiments conducted on four versions of the Science Library Catalog (SLC), a Dewey decimal-based hierarchical browsing system implemented in HyperCard without a keyboard. The SLC approach helps children overcome problems with typing, spelling, vocabulary, and Boolean logic. (70 references) (AEF)