Twenty-nine questions to be asked before deciding on a book catalog are presented with comments based on the experience of the Baltimore County Public Library. The assumption made throughout this paper is that the work will be done by computer. (Author/NH)

Discusses some of the reasons for closing the card catalog or keeping it open, and suggests several alternatives, i.e., computer output micro catalogs, online catalogs, and book catalogs. Instructions are also given on how to use the AACR2 rules. Six references are listed. (LLS)

Asserts that despite growing awareness of frontline public service concerns in accommodating Spanish speakers, little care is invested in the technical processing side of the library's responsibility to Spanish speakers. Examines the usefulness and accessibility of online public access catalogs for monolingual Spanish readers, focusing on records…

Describes minimal-level, or provisional, authority records that are constructed from headings in bibliographic records as part of a computer validation process. Two types of references that can be generated automatically for authority records are explained: (1) those based on other data in the bibliographic record, and (2) those derived from the…

This experiment searches an online library catalog employing author surnames, plus one or two title words of books in citations of eight scholarly works whose authors selected the title words as being recallable. Results of searches yielded a single-screen miniature catalog (minicat) 99% of the time. (Author/LRW)

Research library catalogs serve as authoritative sources of access. The increasing practice of including Web sites in the catalog, resources not under the library's control, raises new issues of the catalog's accuracy and reliability. An analysis of ARL libraries' catalogs examined the persistence of cataloged URLs. Error rates ranged from a low…

The Knowledge Bank is The Ohio State University's institutional repository, which houses various works by students, faculty, and staff. One of the text collections in the Knowledge Bank is electronic honors theses. Training students to submit their theses was initially given in the form of in-person workshops. Turnout for these workshops was…

A questionnaire survey conducted at the State Library of Victoria indicates that users in general, and not just scholars, value the standard elements of bibliographic data found in the Library's catalogues, and consider all these elements useful for finding, identifying and selecting items. Rather than making do with less, users wanted more…

School library websites enhance and explain the services provided by the library. Most schools have a library website. Jurkowski (2004) reviewed thirty-four school library websites and ranked the most common features: website links, databases, policies, Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC), and websites by subject. These features give patrons a…

With changing user expectations, many libraries are moving toward digital content. Accessible from anywhere at any time, digital content provides users with efficient, on-demand information experiences. Accordingly, librarians are presented with challenges and opportunities to build, manage, and implement outreach strategies that promote their…

The results of a study carried out under the auspices of the Council on Library Resources are described. (Author)

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE IF DIVIDING A TRADITIONAL DICTIONARY CATALOG TO CREATE A SEPARATE FILE FOR SUBJECT ENTRIES WOULD RESULT IN MORE EFFECTIVE USE OF LIBRARY CATALOGS. A SET OF SEARCH QUESTIONS WAS DEVELOPED AS THE DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENT. TWO CATALOGS--THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS' DICTIONARY CATALOG AND THE UNIVERSITY OF…

The general conclusion of this study indicates a wide, if uneven, use of college catalogs in academic libraries. (Author)

This paper reports a study of computer filing which utilizes the arranging possibilities of the computer and of careful format design to considerable advantage. (Author/NH)

Illustrates the best form for library catalogs through a retrospective examination of the nineteenth century Rudolph Continuous Indexer. (RAA)