The purpose of this Guide is to highlight for academic librarians the important articles, books, Web sites, and reviews that come to the attention of the editors. The articles, notes, and reviews summarized below are from within and without the library profession and although international in scope are limited to English language publications,…

The purpose of this Guide is to highlight for academic librarians the important articles, books, Web sites, and reviews that come to the attention of the editors. The articles, notes, and reviews summarized below are from within and without the library profession, and although international in scope, are limited to English language publications,…

Attribute sampling can be used to audit academic library collections, clarify cataloging and access problems, evaluate allocation strategies, and make collection development decisions. Attribute sampling involves randomly sampling the physical collection and catalog records to conduct relationship tests between them. Guidelines are provided for…

Argues that evaluating a library's collection is not an acceptable substitute for evaluating the collection development process and its developers. With increasing materials costs, overselection can be much more serious than underselection. Several useful methods for evaluating collection development incorporate statistics regarding proportional…

Collection development for interdisciplinary areas is more complex than for traditionally well-defined disciplines, so new evaluation methods are needed. This article identifies variables in interdisciplinary fields and presents a model of their typical information components. Traditional use-centered and materials-centered evaluation methods…

Faculty often overestimate the scholarly communication experiences, critical-thinking abilities, and information-seeking skills of the undergraduates to whom they assign papers. A stratified methodology is suggested for teaching information retrieval skills in the classroom. A strong curriculum-integrated approach could ease the burden on students…

Outlines process involved in the development of a librarian-produced microcomputer-based training course for academic library student assistants: decision-making, developing the lesson, programming, keeping user informed, debugging, and implementation. Development of basic training course for student assistants at University of Evansville…

Model for evaluation of library reference services examines four elements of reference process: librarians' performance on requests for factual information; knowledge of library policies, procedures, or services; provision of bibliographical instruction; and performance of interviewing techniques. Reference service questionnaire, criteria for…

Provides guidelines for the appropriate use of tables, their organization and content, and the relationship of tables to text to assist librarians with the presentation of research results and numerical data. (seven references) (Author/CLB)

Describes a methodology which analyzes courses described in university catalogs in order to produce a database used in the compilation of a collection development policy statement. Each step of the analysis is described, and tables are used to track sample data through the entire process. (CLB)

Illustrates that proper use of location information in the NUC and OCLC databases can reduce costs and improve interlibrary loan efficiency. (Author/RAA)

Rampant inflation in serials' pricing is forcing many academic libraries to initiate serials cancellation projects. If libraries plan carefully and involve faculty throughout the process, serials can be canceled without excessive damage to the collection or to the library's relationship with the rest of the college. (six references) (LAE)

Suggests ways to develop staff training programs for library automation projects. Tips fall into five concept areas: trainers, trainees, program content and design, training environment and schedule, and followup. It is noted that the guide is appropriate for libraries automating for the first time or for those making changes to established…

Reports on a pilot project for collaborative collections management by the University of California and Stanford University Libraries to provide shared access to physical science translation journals; and suggests 12 steps for successful resource sharing with a focus on both human and technical systems. (Author/AEF)

Concerned with the nontechnical aspects of flow-charting library procedures, this article pays special attention to the communication process that takes place during such an analysis and suggests how flowcharts can describe, as accurately as possible, what takes place in a given library task. (Author/RAA)