Sketches author's views of the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), a cooperative library owned by over 100 academic and research libraries, and considers possible future directions. Growth and expansion, center services and collections, challenges to be met (commitment, resource sharing, goals), and CRL as model for academic world are discussed.…

Analyzes traditional roles and services of academic libraries, summarizes new communication links, and suggests major policy areas to be considered by university officers: centralized financial and technological planning, integration of information services with academic programs, access to scholarly resources, electronic publishing, copyright and…

Explores alternative measures--Ph.D.s produced by the institution, number of faculty, number of interlibrary loans, number of publications attributable to the institution--to be used to test applicability to research libraries of the Cobb-Douglas production function, which relates three variables--production, labor, and capital investment.…

Discusses the development of a research library at Rice University, whose first and only library building is less than 40 years old, highlighting the founding of the University in 1912, the Fondren Library building, library collections and cooperation, fee-based services, automation and the future, and problems and prospects. (EJS)

Results of survey evaluating physical condition of 36,500 volumes and nature of collections in Yale University Library system reveal that 37.1 percent of books sampled overall had brittle paper and 82.6 percent had acidic paper. Sampling methodology, survey instructions, abbreviations for publishing countries, and methods of statistical analysis…

Data on the holdings of university and other research libraries include library ranking, volumes held and added, current serials holdings, and spending for materials and salaries. (MSE)

Patron use of periodical indexes was studied by interviewing patrons on random basis as they used periodical and newspaper indexes. A questionnaire was designed to gather information on citation elements, how patrons locate magazines in library, and how they use university's serials holdings list. Seven references and questionnaire are appended.…

Non-technical factors contributing to Triangle Research Libraries Network development are outlined: history of cooperation, common interests, Title II-C and other funding, core of advocates, and organizational structure. Contribution of these factors to overcoming obstacles (lack of funds, divergent interests, balance of power, desire for quick…

Profile of the British Library of Political and Economic Science (founded in 1896) notes scope of the library, library collections, growth and facility accommodations, aids to users (catalogs, guides), new tools for research, interlibrary cooperation, and library support for the curriculum of the school. Seven references are listed. (EJS)

Interlibrary loan statistics for Association of Research Libraries' university libraries were analyzed from 1974-75 through 1982-83 to determine extent to which interlibrary loan activities have grown and to consider implications of growth. Annual percentage growth in lending and borrowing activities for photocopies and originals are reported. Ten…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to explore to what extent preservation activities have been integrated into research library operations by examining the many facets of mature preservation programs and determining how much…

ARL is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). ARL reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and users; higher education…

Based on Bernhard Fabian's "Buch, Bibliothek, und geisteswissenschaftliche Forschung (The Book, the Library, and Humanistic Research)," this study is a commentary on the relationship between library and user. Discussing the characteristics and requirements of research in the humanities, it stresses the interrelationship between…

This survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members gathered data on library support staff classification specifications in ARL libraries, the process for classifying these positions, and salary and title comparisons with similar positions outside of the library. It also asked when the last classification study was performed within the…

Pedagogical research and empirical studies show that student learning is encouraged by a number of general characteristics displayed by teachers (Ramsden, 1992). One of them is enthusiasm for the subject and for teaching it. User-education in research libraries is often highly repetitive and contact time with students is limited. So the question…