School-community partnerships make a difference in student achievement. Synthesizing 35 years of research to provide insight into "what works in schools," Robert Marzano (2003) concluded that community involvement is a critical factor. Though community involvement takes many forms, generally organizations such as libraries, museums, parks, zoos,…

The majority of the Houma people live in the southern portions of Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes in south Louisiana. This author grew up in the Houma community that had formed in lower Plaquemines Parish, about thirty miles north of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The Houma community there was centered near the town of Venice with extended…

Community visioning is based upon principles that maximize group participation in a creative problem-solving process. The process itself is structured to solicit and use the full range of interests and expertise within a given community to develop an implementation plan that specifically addresses the needs of the community and that fosters change…

Market research techniques appear to offer relatively simple, inexpensive means for libraries to generate useful data about their "consumers" and their operations. (Author)

Reviews general trends in teaching basic elements of community analysis, highlights some of the courses in which these elements are introduced, comments on cases of in-depth treatment where they appear, and notes selected problems associated with the teaching of the subject. (Author/PF)

A qualitative, community study of 58 parentally bereaved children and their 35 surviving parents illustrates how families take advantage of forewarning of death to foster connections between children and dying parents and prepare for youngsters' continued attachment to dying parents after the death. Children and parents displayed strong yearnings…

Differences between old-timers and newcomers and their effects on community social dimensions have been the object of much research. These studies have shown how extensive in-migration of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds, values, and perspectives contribute to heightened social conflict in some communities. Popular media accounts…

Often in green communities, homeowner understanding is left out of the project. We evaluated the impact of a new environmental education program installed in a green community, Town of Harmony, Florida. Consisting of educational kiosks, website, and brochure, we evaluated whether Harmony residents' environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors…

Nassau County (New York) library system conducted a study to ascertain the level of library service in governmental and nongovernmental departments, agencies, offices and organizations in Nassau County; to determine what additional library services were needed; and to recommend how they could best be achieved. (Author/PF)

This study has been undertaken to determine the library needs of Auburn, Massachusetts, and to analyze the existing library services. The community analysis includes use of the 1970 U.S. Census, interviews and other available data and the survey of the library includes samples of the circulation, registration, and shelf list, and analysis of the…

Three community studies were catalysts for researchers and residents to generate discussions on: (1) strategies and ethics of community research; (2) problems of ethics, including considerations for a code and comments on community involvement; and (3) recommendations for establishing a technical research consultation service'' in the Society for…

Discusses the importance of community study in academic librarianship and describes the kind of analysis an academic community needs for short- and long-range planning. (Author/PF)