An examination of the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center's (SPEC) file of 72 annual reports from Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions found that administrators were using annual reports for several purposes: as communication links with library users, the university administration, and the general university community,…

The diverse histories of the public libraries in the towns of Bonne Terre, Desloge, Farmington, Flat River, and Leadwood (Missouri) are presented. Each library is examined individually from its inception through its first few years of existence. Emphasis is placed not only on the tasks undertaken by the newly formed libraries but also on the…

Prepared for the members and staff of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS), this report responds to the April 1985 charge to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services Preliminary Design Group to: (1) make recommendations on the kinds of appointments which should be made by the President, Senate,…

The linkage of information structure with methods of library instruction should be of primary concern in discussing the retrieval of information by students. Librarians can help students to locate information, document concepts, and assess sources. (Author/LS)

In June 1975 a clinical librarian project was initiated in the Gastroenterology Programme of McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC). The objectives of the project were to assist patients in participating more knowledgeably in their own health care and to assist health professionals in applying the latest information from the biomedical…

The development of automated information services in academic libraries and the growth of AUSINET (Australian Information Network) are described. The current organization of online services and their integration into the pattern of user assistance are noted, and the effects on the user/librarian relationship, on the use of primary and secondary…

This collection of 34 papers and speeches presented at the conference covers a wide range of topics pertaining to the role of libraries in contemporary society, including issues in library education, library/community relations, library planning and policy-making, technological trends, library services, and library administration. While several…

A group of students in the course dealt with the fundamental question of the public library's role in satisfying societal needs. Each of the students set out to explore the family, social, occupational and political world of an important social group. Members of two of the groups - the urban Negro and the blue collar worker - appeared to be either…

New York State has a longstanding commitment to library and media service to the blind and visually handicapped; in fact, the service is generally known to be the first such program organized by any state. Going back to 1896, it was another of the innovations of Melvil Dewey. This report describes the present state of library service to the blind…

The question to be examined in this essay is whether the practice of scientific libraries (including special libraries and documentation) can rely on well-founded and developed theoretical works or studies as regards the conception of development, the requirements of the scientific and technical revolution, its place in the social division of…

The concept paper prepared by the American Geological Institute (AGI) Committee on Geoscience Information is evaluated and areas which need more detailed plans if the geoscience community is to be persuaded of the need for a library network are discussed. For example: the concept plan does not display adequate awareness or concern for the role of…

A brief review of the recent years of civil dissent and conflict in the U.S. and the underground press movement is presented as an introduction to this proposal that the university library of the State University of New York at Buffalo establish a system to acquire and house alternative materials. The author, assistant reference librarian,…

Regional conferences on the Right to Read Effort were held with the purpose of having reading specialists address librarians concerning the peoples' right to read. One paper of this volume surveys reading in America, outlines problems of extending the right to read to all, and indicates possible means of action. Another entry views the library as…

Following a brief review of the current Louisiana library system at all levels (both public and private), needs, goals, objectives, and implementation suggestions are made in the following areas: personnel; library materials; service to the disadvantaged, the blind and physically handicapped, and the health and correctional institutions;…

Examines the information-gathering habits of individuals, the communications environment of modern society, and the role of the public library in these contexts. (CWM)