A descriptive model of how scientists and engineers search for and obtain information directly from their colleagues is outlined. The model emphasizes (and case studies illustrate) three decisions which users make in such searches: (a) whether to store the information need in hopes of an accidental or working encounter, (b) whether to satisfy the…

In 1968, a two-year pilot project, called the Minnesota Interlibrary Teletype Experiment (MINITEX) was undertaken to test the feasibility of sharing the University of Minnesota's library resources with patrons of outstate libraries. This report presents the definitive evaluation for the MINITEX project. The four elements in the design of the…

The 1967 investigation to examine and assess the Hamline University Library's role in Hamline's educational program and to identify directions for its contributions to this program in the future are summarized in this study. The results of this study showed that the Hamline University was not meeting the information needs of the faculty and…

In order to provide meaningful unit cost information, the librarian needs an accurate concept of what data should be measured and why. The dimension which has been conspicuously absent in library statistics is interpretation of the data which is reported, and the correlation of one set of data with another to reach a defensible conclusion. For the…

To increase a deep continuous stream of library research, the following steps are recommended: (1) expand present research activities in library schools, libraries, and professional associations; (2) add evaluative measures to library "demonstrations" set up as a part of state plans for library development; (3) sponsor experimental…

Retrospective searches provided by a NASA Regional Dissemination Center (RDC) were found to be of substantial value to researchers during a six-month experimental period at the University of Denver's Research Institute (DRI). The purpose of the experiment was to gain a better understanding of the usefulness of an RDC to a user organization. DRI…

The author, on a fellowship awarded by the Council on Library Resources, visited several college, university, and public libraries to study their library instruction programs. He observed approaches to the subject using audiovisual techniques, Pathfinder series, computer-assisted instruction, peer reference service, independent study, seminars,…

A survey was conducted to provide an analysis of faculty homework expectations on which to base a viable pattern of library service. Students were surveyed in winter quarter 1974 about their life patterns and use of services, with particular attention given to homework assignments and library use. Faculty were given the results of the survey,…

Librarians store, protect, and provide the knowledge our modern society needs, but it is frequently difficult to justify the services a reference librarian provides. The work load of a reference librarian varies greatly with periods of frantic activity separated by much longer inactive periods. The role is principally passive, waiting for library…

A national probability sample was made to survey the costs, the characteristics of materials loaned and borrowed, and the present and future magnitude of interlibrary loans for academic libraries. From a sample of 80 libraries it was found that the cost of a filled loan request varied between two and seven dollars and that lending cost per…

An eight-question survey was mailed to every fifth home in Plainedge, New York, on January 10, 1974. The questionnaires were color coded according to election districts to aid in determining if there were any differences in attitudes toward, or use of, the library, in relation to location, or possible correlation with census tract data relating to…

In order to correct the existing breach between the educational researcher and the educator, it is advocated that Action Research replace the "common sense" approach used by most educators. The history of Action Research is traced and a comparison between formal educational research, Action Research, and the "common sense" approach is made.…

The results of a project designed to perform a technical audit and a user audit of the Shared Cataloging Support Sub-System of the New England Library Information Network (NELINET) are summarized in a two volume report. This portion, Volume I contains the narrative text; Volume II (LI 004 446) contains various tabulations of collected data.…

The purpose of the report was to examine the readability of the Occupational Information Access System (OIAS) QUEST questionnaire and the validity of independent client use of the questionnaire as an information gathering device. Readability formulas rate the QUEST questionnaire "easy" or "fairly easy" and they rank the…

Information transfer requirements were investigated and analyzed for the time period 1970 to 1985. Demands for information transfer services were identified and isolated in the order of their apparent relative importance, using the market potential of a particular information need as a major criterion. Relative potential payoff, and functional…