The Public Library Services in Nigeria:

The article highlights the functions of the public Ii- brary. It acknowledges the contributions of some authors on the pat- tern and development to the literature of public library services in Nigeria and then analyzes the characteristics of the services. The concept and processes of Information and Referral (I & R) service are explained. There is a recommendation that public library should set up I & R service to enhance the awareness of public library ser- vices. The problems likely to militate against an efficient I & R ser- vice are examined. It avers that there are good prospects for an I & R service in Nigeria and urges the public libraries to embark on the service.     

Information and Referral in the Academic Library:

Information and referral (I & R), since its introduction as a concept of library service in the late 1960s, has received wthied eim apttoerntatinocne Ionf tIh e& pRu balisc a l ivbiraab ? e' sceotnticnegp.t Soifm aiclaard ermeciocg rneifteiorenn coef service has not occurred. Reasons for this may be linked to an attitude that "the public library serves and the academic library instructs." As the complexity of new information technologies engulfs the academic library, primary reliance on an instructional attitudc toward reference service is no longer adequate. The experience of I & R in the public library offers a more appropriate reference service model based on the direct provision of information that is often "value-added" to meet specific information needs of the user. Such lessons from the successful practice of I & R in the public library can provide a framework for academic library reference services as librarians reevaluate themselves in a changing academic library context.     

New I & R Teams in Library-Based Services:

This article presents a new library-based model for I & R called SENIOR CONNECTIONS which is operated by older volunteers and student interns from Schools of Library Science and Social Work with the guidance of library-staff I & R Coordinators. This I & R model combines professional informational skills (librarian) and human relations skills (social worker) plus the rich resources and capabilities of older volunteers. Students and volunteers participate in the I & R training program which is conducted jointly by faculty from both professional schools to develop a cadre of skilled volunteers and professionals. Serving as both an information center and helping service, SENIOR CONNECTIONS is targeted to promoting local access to information and resources for older residents. By utilizing the existing library staff, interns and volunteers, SENIOR CONNECTIONS operates as a service-effective and cost-efficient program.     

Evaluating I & R in Smaller Public Libraries

Small public libraries with few professional and support staff often exist in areas distant from urban libraries. If their communities do not have an effective Information and Referral (I & R) system, the library director may consider seeking a State Library grant to establish an I & R service in the community. Clear-cut goals and objectives, an awareness of the need for coordination and cooperation with other agencies, are all essential to a successful grant application. This article describes the outcome of a grant which made possible The Bridge, an I & R service for a county of 50,000 people. Evaluation after a year of operation shows that the essential goal of establishing and operating such a service has been reached. Suggestions for improvement are noted.     

Videocassettes and I & R:

As urban communities have expanded and changed over the years, so too have the services of public libraries evolved to reflect the needs of their constituencies. The last fifteen years have given rise to library-based community information and referral (I & R) services whose purpose is to direct the patron to resources and/or organizations which might help answer his/her questions or solve higher problems. Well-developed listening skills are essential for the delivery of I & R service, and providers might benefit from viewing various videocassettes concerned with this subject. For library I & R providers, these videos are often available in the film department where they work.     

Community Information in Schools:

Community Information and I & R services have not generally been implemented in school librarianship, although some elements of the idea have been presented by authorities for a number of years. This article defines the concepts, outlines results of field research conducted in Great Britain on I & R in schools, presents an 1 & R model for schools based on the British experience, makes suggestions for I & R file construction and maintenance, and reviews selected microcomputer data base management programs useful for I & R information control.     

CLIC! The Community Library Information Center:

The late '60s saw public libraries moving toward the establishment of information an a referral service through the creation of neighborhood information centers. The Prince George's County Memorial Library System, in Maryland, was one of those systems, establishing CLIC, the Community Library Information Center, in 1971. CLIC was housed in a neighborhood branch library, located within the Model Cities Area. Funded by the federal Model Cities (MNA) program, the service was designed to serve residents and human service providers in the Model Cities Area. Whcn the CLIC proposal was initially conceived, certain basic questions were generated: 1. Can an Information, Referral and Follow-Up (I. R & F.) service be established in a neighborhood branch library, dealing with a limited(geographically) clientele and a limited range of agency services? 2. Can the techniques of an I.R. & F. begun in a decentralized way (i.e. in a neighborhood branch library) be made applicable to and/or serve as a base for a subsequent centralization and dissemination throughout a large county? This article traces the history and discusses the various functions performed by the CLIC! service over the past IS years in an effort to provide answers to those questions.     

I & R in an Academic Library

Although not commonly acknowledge, Information & Referral (I & R) services are now an integral feature of many public academic libraries. Two such special services offered in Hclm-Cravens Library, Western Kentucky University, illustrate this development. The Grants Information Center, which evolved from a Foundation Center Cooperative Collection, identifies funding sources for a wide variety of research and developmental projects for acadcrnic and public pakons. The Library's map collection performs a similar function with respect to nonlibrary sources of caitographic information and map products. Both services enhance the library's contribution to the university and to its larger community.     

Focus on the Client:

The social service dimensions of organizing and delivering information and referral services (I & R) are explored. The overarching purpose of I & R is identified as assuring access to human services for persons in need. In striving to guarantee access, the information and referral service encounters three complex domains - the nature of the client and client need, the nature of social service provider agencies, and the social service system or network as a whole. Aspects of each domain limit the effectiveness of information giving and the utility of advances in information technology. Comprehensive I & R must include the additional functions of casework assessment, crisis intervention, case advocacy, systems advocacy, and participation in social planning/community problem solving. Several case illustrations are included. Interdisciplinary staffing is suggested to more effectively blend information and social service skills for the information and referral agency of the future.     

Introduction: Research matters

The Library Research Round Table of the American Library Association (ALA) is pleased to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this special anniversary issue of Library & Information Science Research. The Library Research Round Table (LRRT), as stated in ALA's Handbook of Organization (Barber & Hodges, 1998), has as its mission:To contribute toward the extension and improvement of library research; to provide public program opportunities for describing and evaluating library research projects and for disseminating their findings; to inform and educate ALA members concerning research techniques and their usefulness in obtaining information with which to reach administrative decisions and solve problems; and expand the the oretical base of the field. To serve as a forum for discussion and action on issues related to the literature and information needs for the field of library and information science. (p. 129)     

An International Collaboration: Establishing an Education Collection in a Library in Qatar

ABSTRACT

Texas A&M University has a history of international collaboration, cooperation and global outreach. Texas A&M University at Qatar provides engineering students in the Middle East with an education, and ultimately, a degree comparable to that found on our home campus in College Station. The Texas A&M University Libraries have provided curricular and research support in all of these endeavors, and currently maintain library facilities in Santa Chiara, Bodrum, and Doha, Qatar. In 2004, a noteworthy collaboration between the Colleges of Education at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and Qatar University (QU) in the development of a primary teacher preparation program at Qatar University offered another opportunity for the TAMU Libraries to support our campus community. As the education librarian at the Texas A&M University Libraries, I participated in this collaboration by recommending materials, equipment and supplies for a resource library collection and an instructional materials preparation room. This article describes the collection development involved in the establishment of the resource library, the trips to Qatar to set up the library, and the cultural and logistical challenges encountered in the endeavor.     

JOB LINK: The Library/County Connection That Counts

JOB LINK, an innovative 1 & R mutation at Nassau Library System, is a computerized job-listing service for youth. It is the library system's contribution to the collaborative efforts of the county government, business, education and non-profit community organizations, to address a paradoxical problem: the labor shortage for entry-level and service jobs which exlsts concurrently with youth unemployment. Businesses call in their job openings to a central phone number at NLS, where the information is put into a computer and immediately made available via terminals and modems in each of the 54 libraries in Nassau County. Nassau Library System may have developed a service with implications for other counties and states, indeed, the nation. It has also by the way, made the library a household word!     

《现代图书情报技术》评介

1980～1998年,《现代图书情报技术》共出版85期,发文1026篇,期均发文12.1篇,篇均 5.1页．在1026篇发文中,59.5%的发文有引文,篇均引文2.9条,期刊自引率9.4%。作者合著率35.2%。发文8篇和8篇以上的作者有10人。经过多年努力,已形成明显的办刊特色,为中国图书馆学优秀期刊、情报学核心期刊。     

Recent literature on government information

This column was prepared from a manual scan of library and information science journals, and manual or automated searches of sources including ERIC, PAIS International in Print, America: History and Life, Historical Abstracts, R. R. Bowker's Books in Print, Library Literature, Current Contents: Social and Behavioral Sciences, Government Reports Announcements & Index, EPIC, and the electronic discussion group GOVDOC-L. Citations are to items published or indexed from November 1994 through April 1995, including articles, books, reports, government publications, and chapters or essays in collected works. Reviews and short news articles are omitted. Each publication is cited once under its primary topic, and annotated if the content cannot be adequately determined from the title.     

Outreach Services for Public Library I&R:

This study demonstrates that public library Information and Referral services can reach a greater number of disadvantaged persons through outreach. A project was designed to determine which outreach methods were effective in motivating lower income persons to use I&R. Methods evaluated were: personal contact, publicity, advertising, informative pamphlets, and workshops. Results indicate that personal contact with agencies and community groups is effective in motivating target populations. as measured by a large increase in agency referrals as the users' source of information about l&R. Although traditional publicity techniques have little effect, workshops and informative pamphlets were useful in reaching subgroups of the target population. By using a good mix of outreach methods, low income calls as a percent of total inquiries increased twofold.     

Conceptualizing the information seeking of college students on the autism spectrum through participant viewpoint ethnography

Due to increased numbers of diagnoses, targeted programs and initiatives, more students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college (Heflin & Isbell, 2012; Zager & Alpern, 2007) but academic librarians and their staffs have not been trained to optimally serve this growing population. Utilizing wayfinding, think aloud protocol (TAP), retrospective think aloud protocol (RTAP), and a wearable camera, the actions, thoughts and feelings of a student with ASD and a neurotypical peer are evidenced as they navigate their campus library in search of materials. The library website, virtual maps to resource locations, and library workers served equally as enablers and barriers to both students in their information seeking. This study demonstrates that participant viewpoint ethnography is a viable research methodology for both neurotypical college students and those with autism.     

Planning Reference Service Points:

The Sterling C. Evans Library at Texas A&M University is presently involved in a large scale building expansion program which includes the creation of a reference area for the new branch library and the expansion of the two existing reference points in the main library. These three reference areas are actually quite distinctive and reflect different service needs. The authors propose that the decision-making model Evans Library is using to plan possible solutions for these needs can serve as a guide for managers in special, public or academic libraries of varying sizes. The model takes into consideration clientele, staffing, physical arrangement and ergonomics.