Eight studies by experts in the field of information retrieval examine aspects of public use of such automated systems as online catalogs in libraries. Ward Shaw discusses "Design Principles for Public Access," outlining desirable characteristics of an information retrieval system. Allen Avner and H. George Friedman, Jr. treat problems…

THIS VOLUME PRESENTS THE RESULTS OF A NINE-MONTH TEST OF A PROTOTYPE SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (SDI) SYSTEM DEVELOPED FOR THE ARMY TECHNICAL LIBRARIES. DURING THE PILOT TEST ONE THOUSAND DOCUMENTS WERE CATALOGED, INDEXED, AND DISSEMINATED TO TWENTY-FIVE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL PERSONNEL. MATCHING OF THE INTEREST PROFILES OF THESE…

ALTHOUGH IT EMPHASIZES ACADEMIC LIBRARIES, THIS STUDY ALSO INCLUDES THE NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL LIBRARIES, LARGE PUBLIC LIBRARIES, AND SPECIAL LIBRARIES THAT SERVE CANADIAN SCHOLARS, STUDENTS, AND RESEARCH WORKERS. WITH THE DATA OBTAINED FROM A QUESTIONNAIRE ON LIBRARY STATISTICS AND HOLDINGS, VISITS TO THE LIBRARIES, INTERVIEWS WITH LIBRARIANS…

AS THE EDUCATOR FACES DECISIONS ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGY, HE NEEDS PRACTICAL RESEARCH ON WHICH TO BASE HIS DECISIONS. A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO RESEARCH, RATHER THAN A PIECEMEAL ONE, IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE. SUCH AN APPROACH COULD EMPLOY SIMULATION TECHNIQUES, WHICH DIFFER FROM CONTEXTUAL ONES PRIMARILY IN SCOPE AND CONTROL, AND WHICH CAN DEAL WITH A WIDE…

This report presents a proposed program plan for developing an integrated library network in the State of Washington. The need for such a plan arises from the requirements of Title III of the Library Services and Construction Act and from the increasing demands placed upon libraries and the resulting need to use available resources better. The…

This progress report on a pilot project involving the reclassification of 1,000 titles in the Providence Public Library using data processing techniques covers the period January 1, 1968, to March 31, 1968. The major activities and accomplishments, problems, significant findings and events, dissemination activities, staff time, and future…

The braille production system in the United States is described. Aspects treated are the following: the need for braille (the braille system), the market for braille (size and characteristics), sources of braille (producers and braille book source information), and present methods and costs of producing braille. Technological advances are…

The New England Library Board presents the oral and written testimony given to the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) at a hearing in Boston, Massachusetts, October 3, 1973. Witnesses include college, university, state, public, special, regional, and school librarians, as well as library trustees; educators; a mayor;…

The Southwestern Library Interstate Cooperative Endeavor (SLICE) project was an "experimental effort to determine the feasibility of a multi-state library coordination agency" involving the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The success or failure of the project's specific objectives are outlined in…

The Ohio College Library Center (OCLC) is a nonprofit computerized library processing center operating out of Columbus, Ohio. Six years after its incorporation, OCLC is now mainly in the business of operating a shared cataloging system and producing catalog cards designed to meet the needs of each of its member libraries. OCLC also maintains a…

Alternative approaches to the building of monographic bibliography files for an on-line data management system using minicomputers at the University of Minnesota Libraries' Twin Cities Campus center are described. Secondary and primary sources of the Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) II records are considered--including Blackwell-North America,…

The 1973-74 program of the Council on Library Resources, a private operating foundation devoted to the solution of library problems, is reported. The council's board of directors, committees, officers, and staff are listed. Summaries are given of the council's activities in the following areas: (1) libraries and the developing technology, (2)…

An automated project for converting a library collection from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress classification was compared with a manual reclassification project. The Joint University Libraries (JUL) of Vanderbilt University, George Peabody College for Teachers, and Scarrit College served as an example of manual reclassification. The JUL…

The feasibility of developing cooperative arrangements for sharing exotic foreign language serial titles among the health sciences libraries of California was investigated. Preliminary circulation counts indicated that 74 percent of the 77 titles counted had circulated twice a year or less and that the health sciences libraries do maintain…

This report presents the results of the initial phase of the File Organization Project, a study which focuses upon the on-line maintenance and search of the library's catalog holdings record. The focus of the project is to develop a facility for research and experimentation with the many issues of on-line file organizations and search. The first…