The question "What is the role for research in library and information science?" lies at the heart of an ongoing project sponsored by the Office of Library Programs in the U.S. Department of Education. The project, which was begun in 1986-87, is designed to identify researchable issues that could help libraries attain or maintain a leadership…

This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit contains a collection of representative documents on performance review procedures in academic and research libraries. The kit comprises: (1) performance appraisal forms from the Stanford University Libraries; (2) a rating scale evaluation form and an essay evaluation form for professional…

While there is general agreement regarding the educational and cultural advantages of exhibits, research and academic libraries often adapt the operating guidelines and procedures of exhibit planning and installation from museums and other non-library institutions. To discover procedures and policies developed specifically for research libraries…

A mail survey of 1,682 graduate students and 758 faculty in the Colleges of Natural Science, Engineering, and Pharmacy, and in the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin was conducted during February 1983 to ascertain the characteristics of the science and technology libraries user population, the type and frequency of library use,…

This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit on Bibliographic Instruction (BI) in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) examines current developments as well as anticipated trends based on a SPEC telephone survey of 25 ARL libraries with active BI programs. Two themes which ran through the mid-1985 interviews were the use of new…

This report summarizes research undertaken at the Sterling C. Evans Library, Texas A & M University to assess the impact that end user information retrieval systems may have on library staff and users. Two systems, BRS/After Dark and Search Helper, were made available in the library for end user searching at no cost. A total of 260 users…

The Management Review and Analysis Program (MRAP) provides resources and guidelines for a research library to use in conducting an internal assessment of management practices. The MRAP self-study project has two components: a procedural methodology for conducting the analysis, and a conceptual framework provided to assist in evaluation. The study…

The Office of University Library Managmenet Studies has completed its second year of activity, pursuing its commitment to improving research library management. While the first year of operation focused on the Columbia Study, the second year emphasized the development of a new management tool--the Management Review and Analysis Program. This…

The third year of operation for the Office of University Library Management Studies demonstrated more extended programs and activities in the management arena and widespread involvement of member libraries. While the Management Review and Analysis Program moved into a fully operational context, the Office established a new Systems and Procedures…

Reports the design, methodology, and results of a research project which examined the effectiveness of bibliographic displays produced by online catalogs. A means of testing displays against several hundred thousand records at a reasonable cost and using that to test several display possibilities is described. (CLB)

Describes the background, goals, methods, and results of a needs assessment study at the New York Public Library. This structured, phased self-examination was designed to form a consensus about the institution's long term needs and priorities. (CLB)

Report on current state of research in academic and research librarianship in Federal Republic of Germany highlights projects concerning acquisition of books; work procedure investigations; personnel requirements; cost accounting; investigations of library use (user research, user education); public relations work; librarianship; and subject…

This is the final technical report (in three parts) of a 15-month long project to study the costs and value of library functions at five major research libraries. Twenty-one services or service aspects were studied, and numerous measures of the importance or benefit of the service to the users were made. These measures were studied together to lay…

Examines the economic behavior of academic research libraries, arguing that academic research libraries seek to maximize universities' utility by expanding library collections. Findings are consistent with those from a previous study using a different ranking system and sample data and reconfirm that library collections contribute significantly to…

Discusses serials-related functions in academic research libraries, considers the operation of a separate serials department versus integration of serials functions within a general technical services department, and describes an analysis of advertisements for serials positions that was conducted to determine the need for serials specialists and…