An online library system is an example of a complex computer system in that it supports a variety of users, both patrons and staff, and is made up of many intricate programs with complex relationships among them. Certain features are essential to a user friendly system: (1) users cannot get lost in the system; (2) users cannot enter illegal…

The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) implemented mail registration for all continuing students in spring 1986. In fall 1986, a comprehensive evaluation of the registration system was conducted to assess the impact of mail registration on student enrollment, to determine the impact of mailing class schedules to students' homes, to…

Concerned because California now annually administers an estimated $5.9 billion in funding for children's services programs, the Little Hoover Commission initiated a study on the state's provision for children's services. This report, on Phase I of the study, identifies the extent of the problem in 23 findings and provides a plan of action in 15…

Over 20 data bases available to social science educators are listed and described in this fact sheet. The data bases provide a wide variety of topics including American and world history, statistics, economics, philosophy, and social and political science. Educationally oriented data bases provide information on such topics as educational media,…

The papers presented at the 1982 Spring Meeting of the Nebraska Library Association include: (1) "Online Catalog Cooperation among LIRS [Library Information Retrieval System] Libraries" by Roxanne Sellberg; (2) "The New 'MLA Bibliography': One Bibliographer's Perspective" by Elaine A. Franco; (3) "Serial Cancellation…

Based on an October 1982 survey of 31 selected members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), this report presents library planning documents, general system descriptions and reviews, and examples of library specifications--all dealing with integrated library information systems (ILIS). An ILIS is defined as a fully interactive integrated…

A national study of users and non-users of public access online catalog systems (OPACs) was undertaken at 29 libraries, representing 15 computer systems, to provide data and interpretations useful to system designers and library administrators. The findings indicate that users have overwhelmingly positive responses to OPACs. Non-users have…

This report covers the background, scope, and findings of a multifaceted research project which focused on data collection and analysis related to online public access systems (OPAC's); the ultimate goal of this project is to improve information access through OPAC design and enhancement. To assist library decision-makers when planning for the…

Prior to describing methods employed to teach both library users and staff how to use the online catalog at Ohio State University (OSU), this paper presents a background of the development of the online catalog, now called LCS (Library Computer System), and a chronology of important points in the 17-year development, enhancement, and evolution of…

This report describes a survey of 942 California State University, Northridge, (CSUN) library patrons conducted from March 15 through April 15, 1987. The survey was administered by student interviewers who approached patrons exiting the two CSUN libraries and asked them questions from the survey questionnaire. Survey findings are briefly…

Various aspects of the theme, "AccessAbility: Overcoming Information Barriers," are considered in the conference papers collected in this document. They include: (1) "The Library Image: A Barrier to Accessibility" (Janice S. Boyer); (2) "The Educationally Disadvantaged Student: How Can the Library Help?" (Michael Poma…

Prepared by the reference faculty of the Ramsey Library at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, this guide is the primary text for Bibliography 101, a one-hour course designed to help undergraduate students acquire basic understandings of the range of information resources available, how information is organized, and how it can be…

This collection of materials on small computer applications in research libraries, assembled by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), includes documents from ARL and non-ARL libraries illustrating local, commercial, and word processing computer applications. Among the contents of the…

This set of materials assembled by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) contains seven examples of general use surveys and eight examples of user surveys on specific topics from a group of major research libraries. Among the items included are (1) a final report on a library user survey…

Cost estimates provided by cataloging vendors during January 1981 are analyzed to identify the costs of catalog conversion options and alternatives to the card catalog for six Minnesota regional library systems. Following an executive summary of the study is a discussion of its background, scope, objectives, data gathering methodology, and…