Describes recent improvements in the Chicago Public Library's performance evaluation system that has made it more participative and effective. Discusses three areas of change: broadening the range and improving the relevance of the appraisal criteria; increasing the number of rating criteria; and requiring narrative commentaries on employee…

Describes guidelines issued by the Public Library Association which base evaluation of individual public libraries on community standards rather than national; identify eight basic roles of the library within the community; and provide a suggested process for libraries and communities to assess service needs and determine which activities to…

Discusses different types of security systems for libraries and explains the differences between electromagnetic, radio-frequency, and microwave technologies. A list of questions to assist in system evaluation is provided; and preventive measures used to curtail theft and protocol for handling situations that trigger security alarms are included.…

Reviews the history of proposals for accrediting public libraries nationally and examines four distinct proposals made from 1960 to 1988. The discussion addresses barriers to national accreditation of public libraries and the prospects for the success of the most recent proposal of the Commission for the Accreditation of Public Libraries. (23…

Reports the success rates of reference question answering as perceived by librarians and patrons in 36 public libraries. The discussion covers relationships between question answering success rates and factors such as time and effort spent on questions, reference resources and environment, communication difficulties, and type and source of…

Examines the value of the Public Library Association Planning Process and Output Measures. It is concluded that the planning process is wasteful, in that it ignores existing literature and addresses conditions that libraries cannot change. It is also argued that adoption of the output measures would be dangerous, as it involves serious egalitarian…

Three currently available technologies--telefacsimile, gateway software, and CD-ROM--are defined, and factors to be considered in selecting these technologies for use in public libraries are listed. Seven references are included. (MES)