Discusses problems encountered in conducting research in German academic libraries. Highlights include a lack of trained librarians with subject expertise who focus on helping users; numerous library catalogs rather than one integrated catalog; and an emphasis on collection preservation that includes closed stacks and restricted circulation. (LRW)

A study investigated the circumstances and views of 16 individuals 8 years after participation in one agency's conversion from a sheltered workshop to an exclusively community employment service. Most participants associated the agency's changeover with long-term, personal benefits, including community employment opportunities, increased income,…

Analysis of user surveys at Texas A&M University indicated service is rated highest at the reference desk with 80.4% satisfied, while 55.3% found what they needed at the information desk and 55.3% in the database room. Although the information desk referred 62.5% to other sources, only 46.4% were satisfied with the referral. Includes survey…

Examines the effectiveness of "social presence" as a predictor of learner satisfaction in a text-based medium based on the GlobalEd inter-university computer conference. Results suggested social presence as a strong predictor of satisfaction, and participants felt a higher sense of social presence by using emoticons (i.e. icons that express…

Reports end-users' ratings of the relative importance of 40 relevance criteria as used in their own information-seeking situations, and examines relationships between criteria that they rated most important. A model of relevance with three constructs that contribute to the concept of relevance was proposed using 11 criteria that survey respondents…

Describes how the free-of-charge Consumer Health Information Service (CHIS) of the Preston Medical Library of the University of Tennessee Medical Center (Knoxville) helps answer the community's health care questions. Discusses challenges related to public policy, time factors, and information retrieval; a user satisfaction survey; and the role of…

Describes changes in the interlibrary loan process at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) that has empowered patrons to directly request materials through a shared online union catalog and circulation system. Staffing issues, patron satisfaction, and turnaround time are discussed. (LRW)

Explored experiences of 18 women, ages 35 to 60. Diversity in the sample was achieved in marital status; presence or absence of children; education; income; age; and sexual orientation. Resulting grounded theory conceptualized an emotional process with 3 parts: assessing circumstances; clarifying personal values; and adjusting behaviors and life…

Students, peers, teachers, principals, and parents (total N=180) responded to a questionnaire concerning a pullout program for gifted students in Israel. The questionnaire focused on the identification of the gifted, the level of parent involvement, teaching styles in the program, problems related to separation from home schools, relationships…

For this study, 188 students from 4 social work programs completed a questionnaire about their motivation and performance in field practicum. Achievement motivation included task value, intrinsic motivation, perception of task difficulty, confidence, and self-efficacy. Students were more satisfied with field education and rated their social work…

In this article, the author suggests it is possible for older persons to renew community connections with storytelling and, through this means, to ask some compelling questions. The answers to these questions provide a sense of meaning and purpose for a life well lived.

This study explored the experience of 26 married mothers who had developed family-friendly careers. Family-friendly careers were defined as careers that required less than 30 hours per week and were structured to allow the participants to spend "significant" amounts of time with their families. Guided interviews were used to obtain in-depth…

We investigated associations between both youth-therapist and parent-therapist alliances and retention, satisfaction, and symptom improvement among 65 youth and their parents receiving usual community-based outpatient mental health services. Parent (but not youth) alliance was significantly related to more frequent family participation, less…

In this article we describe the ways in which primary schools involved in the 'Transforming the School Workforce: Pathfinder Project' in England addressed the opportunity to restructure their working practices. The Project was established in 2002 by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) primarily to help fund pilot schools to make…

Sweden's law giving all employees the right to study leave was introduced in 1974. This article is a report of qualitative interviews carried out with 19 manual workers from five trade unions in an industrial town. Respondents had attended a wide range of academic, vocational and trade union courses in recent years. Few had experienced any…