Argues that the involvement of national libraries is necessary for the universal availability of publications. Acquisition, document supply, document retention, and retrieval of older materials all require planning and management by national libraries to facilitate transfer of materials to countries worldwide. National libraries may need to…

Discusses the issue of centralization or decentralization of academic library collections, and describes a statistical analysis of book circulation at the University of Southwestern Louisiana that yielded subject area clusters as a compromise solution to the problem. Applications of the cluster model for all types of library catalogs are…

Describes specific activities for promoting the services of the school library during School Library Media Month in April. Illustrations of and instructions for making promotional buttons, bookmarks, book jackets, banners, flags and puzzles are provided. (EM)

Describes the Online Multiple User System (TOMUS), an integrated, turnkey library system with online catalog, cataloging, and authority control modules available; circulation, acquisitions, and serials control models are being designed. The experiences of four different libraries with the system are described. (EM)

Focuses on failure of libraries to study or publish comparative costs of cataloging before and after automation. Discussion covers current situation; coping with change; MARC and Anglo-American Cataloging Rules Revised solutions (Library of Congress (LC) revisionary practices, Dewey classification changes, LC subject headings); and question of…

Addresses overall contribution of nation's university libraries to nation's library network--public, schools, academic, special, and national libraries of defined geographical area--with special emphasis on Nigeria. Highlights include dual roles of university and national libraries, cooperative schemes for materials acquisition and regional…

This overview of literature pertaining to philosophies and crosscurrents of cataloging highlights literature of 1905, cataloging codes, serials and textbooks on cataloging, cataloging aids, and selected themes 1905-1985 (cataloging for small library, union lists and catalogs, classification, catalog use studies, subject retrieval systems,…

Technical services staff at Library of Congress (LC) currently number approximately 1,500. In addition to cataloging library materials for LC collections and producing centralized cooperative cataloging, LC's Processing Services staff work to develop standards and formats for machine-readable bibliographic data that can be used in libraries and…

Discusses a formula for determining number of microfiche readers needed in public libraries based on a Los Angeles County Public Library study weighing library size, user population, and information disseminating activity. Data on number of microfiche readers available to public in randomly selected Canadian public libraries are presented.…

This discussion of online public access catalog (OPAC) user assistance includes results of focused-group interviews of 70 OPAC users at six libraries. Importance of printed materials, library staff assistance, users' problems relearning OPAC searching, computer-assisted instruction, multiple-dialog modes, informative system error messages, and…

This review of the process of retrospective conversion (recon)--conversion of existing bibliographic records into machine-readable form--notes options and services (bibliographic utilities, commercial vendors); new technologies (microcomputer and optical-disc-based systems); collaboration and a coordinated recon strategy; cooperative efforts; and…

This article examines the role of authority control in an online environment. Topics covered include a definition of authority control, the relationship between authority control and catalogs, current school of thought regarding the need for authority control, and other models of data administration. Twenty-three references are cited. (Author/EJS)

Discussion of planning, installation, and results of an online catalog at University of Maryland Health Sciences Library highlights Integrated Library System, speed and patron perceptions of online catalog, searching power, ways in which catalog can bypass physical and organizational boundaries, and effect on staff and users of the library. (EJS)

Comparison of access through the traditional catalog and online systems focuses on functions of the library card catalog--to provide access to all of author's work including works whereby author is identified in nonidentical ways, and to present to user all editions and translations as representations of a given work. (EJS)

Discussion of college students' dependency on the library card catalog as a problem in bibliographic instruction covers student attitudes toward card catalog; catalog shortcomings (portions of books are not indicated, subject headings don't always match user's terms, availability not indicated); a positive teaching approach; and online…