Academic library performance measures and undergraduates' library use and educational outcomes

This study investigated the relationship between an institution's academic library performance measures and undergraduates' library use and educational outcomes. The sample consisted of 7,958 undergraduates attending 36 colleges and universities representing four institutional types. Regression analyses determined the relationship between academic library performance measures and library use and self-reported gains in critical thinking while controlling for undergraduates' background characteristics and college experiences. Greater utilization of academic library services had a negative relationship with undergraduate library use at two institutional types. However, undergraduates attending research universities with greater academic library resources had higher self-reported gains in critical thinking. Regressions for the four institutional types explained 25% to 32% of the variance for library use and 22% to 27% of the variance for self-reported gains in critical thinking. The results provide a better understanding of how academic library resources and services affect both library usage and educational outcomes.     

Evolving educational objectives of library schools

Library school objectives are characterized in terms of research, teaching, and student recruitment. The absence of a theoretical framework for much of what is being taught, the small amount of research in library schools, and the shortage of library school teachers are cited as major problems of library schools. Increased interest in the problems of librarianship by researchers in other areas, higher salaries for library school teachers and beginning librarians, and increased financial support for research and scholarships are given as encouraging signs of progress toward the solution of these problems.     

Problem-based medical education: effect on library use.

Problem-based learning (PBL) is being adopted by U.S. medical schools. Information-seeking skills are central to the PBL curriculum, which emphasizes self-directed learning and the acquisition of problem-solving and lifelong learning skills. The purpose of this study is to begin exploring the relationship between the PBL curriculum and student information and library use. Medical students in PBL and conventional medical school curricula were compared on library and information-seeking competencies, behaviors, and perceptions. A survey was sent to second-year students in four medical schools, two schools with two curricular tracks (one PBL and one conventional), one PBL school, and one conventional school. The results showed certain significant differences (P less than 0.05) between PBL and conventional curriculum students, suggesting that PBL students were the more frequent library users, used information resources that supported the independent learning process, acquired information-seeking skills at an earlier stage in their medical education, and reported greater ease in using these skills.     

Measures of library use and user satisfaction with academic library services

Library use and user satisfaction are multidimensional concepts. However, traditional methods of evaluation do not include appropriate global measures of these concepts. Two indices of library use and user satisfaction have been derived from a number of characteristics collected by means of a questionnaire that combined individual variable-scores and expressed them as a final score. One form of index was based on a simple approach producing a weighted sum of individual values scored for all surveyed items. The second form, based on the theory of factor analysis, especially the principal components procedure, highlighted the most important items defining either library use or user satisfaction. Thus, the indices verified the presence of any correlation between user satisfaction and library use and evaluated library activities and services at the libraries of the National University of Rwanda. They could be used to compare various libraries sharing the same baseline characteristics and profiles.     

The preparation and use of library manpower

Trends in library education and manpower utilization in general are briefly surveyed, with special reference to the official ALA Policy on Library Education and Manpower approved in July 1970.The trends are marked by general upgrading of standards and content of library education, resulting in a longer period of formal education with more room for intensive specialization; different kinds of preparation for different levels of responsibility; and a serious exploration of the ways in which paraprofessional or supportive staff can be utilized to release the librarian for more professional responsibilities.The Policy Statement is analyzed to show its support of most of these developments. A key concept is that the demands of the position should be the test of professional quality, and not the diploma held by the applicant. The hope is that the changes suggested will improve the quality of library service and the preparation for it and that this general improvement will be applicable also to such special fields as medical librarianship.     

Innovative use of the home page for library instruction

The World Wide Web is providing the technological basis for many libraries to offer automated instruction for the first time. An increasing number of libraries are designing innovative instruction on their home pages. Reviewing these contributions, looking at the process of innovation, and observing the basic principles of instructional design, which include (1) setting goals; (2) determining organizational design; (3) evaluating; and (4) revising the program, will support librarians in their effort to create effective and innovative instruction on their home pages.     

The use of public library roles for effectiveness evaluation

This article examines the roles from the Public Library Association planning and measurement tools for their usefulness in evaluating public library effectiveness. It addresses four questions: What roles are chosen most often?, Can we distinguish among libraries based on their role choices?, Do libraries with different role choices perform differently?, and, Can performance differences form an empirical basis for role definitions? Data for this study came from the Public Library Effectiveness Study (PLES), a survey of 2,418 stakeholders in 84 public libraries nationwide. Respondents from the sampled libraries evidenced both uniformity and diversity in their choice of roles; the favorite roles were those historically associated with public libraries. The libraries could be divided into one group serving smaller populations and focusing on the more popular roles and another serving larger populations and aspiring to fulfill a greater variety of roles. The cluster with a greater variety of roles also performed better than did the other group on more than half of the effectiveness indicators tested. This study has implications for future revisions in standardized role statements and for future research Unking performance to organizational goals.     

How biomedical investigators use library books

Relatively few studies have been concerned with the use of biomedical books. This paper reports an investigation into use made of library books by biomedical investigators. Based on cancelled charge slips collected at the Yale Medical Library circulation desk, telephone appointments were made to interview those research investigators whose books had been returned the previous day. The interviewer obtained answers from the investigator to a questionnaire to discover how the investigator had learned of a book, if the book had been useful, and, if useful, how it had been used. During the six-month study period, 30.4 percent of researchers' volumes returned were monographs. Almost four-fifths of books borrowed supplied information wanted, and about four-fifths of books used had been printed in the previous decade. Nine-tenths of the use of books was research-related, the other tenth being for lecture preparation.     

Volunteers in the medical library: issues and suggestions for their use

The implementation of the use of volunteers in a medical library poses a unique challenge to the library administrator who must effectively utilize individuals who are often inexperienced with the highly technical informational needs of medical clientele. The benefits and difficulties of volunteer use are discussed along with specific issues that may occur--legal issues, the issue of volunteer use vs. paid employee, and the determination of the value of volunteers. A checklist of suggested uses of volunteers is included as well as an evaluation form that can be used to aid the library administrator and volunteer in evaluating the volunteer's performance and job satisfaction.     

图书馆借阅状态调适之我见

本文就馆员服务和读者借阅对馆内借阅状态的影响进行了分析,并提出了图书馆员应对自身的服务状态,读者的借阅状态及两者间关系的协调等因素进行控制,以及从改善图书馆内部管理制度,塑造馆员良好形象和强化读者行为等方面优化馆内借阅状态,使之获得良性循环。     

Quality markers and use of electronic journals in an academic health sciences library.

OBJECTIVES: Patterns of use of electronic versions of journals supplied by an academic health sciences library were examined to determine whether they differed from patterns of use among corresponding print titles and to relate the applicability of print collection development practices to an electronic environment. METHODS: Use data supplied by three major vendors of electronic journals were compared to reshelving data for corresponding print titles, impact factors, and presence on Brandon/Hill Lists. RESULTS: In collections where one-click access from a database record to the full text of articles was possible, electronic use correlated with print use across journal pairs. In both versions, Brandon/Hill titles were used more frequently than non-Brandon/Hill titles, use had modest correlations with journals' impact factors, and clinical use appeared to be higher than research use. Titles that had not been selected for the library's print collections, but which were bundled into publishers' packages, received little use compared to electronic titles also selected in print. CONCLUSIONS: Collection development practices based on quality and user needs can be applied with confidence to the electronic environment. Facilitating direct connections between citation databases and the corresponding journal articles regardless of platform or publisher will support scholarship and quality health care.     

图书馆微博使用特征及发展策略研究

对新浪微博认证的20个图书馆官方微博进行实证研究,通过微博发布数、关注数、粉丝数、注册天数、原创率等指标分析图书馆影响力,还运用内容分析法,研究图书馆微博的议题特征和时间特征,最后对图书馆微博的发展策略进行了探讨。     

Survey of library and information use by health-care students

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An investigation of the educational needs of health sciences library manpower. I. Definition of the manpower problem and research design

In order to plan adequately for education in health science librarianship and to be able to project future demands and needs we need to know a great deal more about existing manpower in health science libraries. This paper, the first in a series of reports on an investigation to gather this data, discusses the research methodology and the development of an inventory of the institution-program population upon which the survey is based. An analysis in terms of geographic location, type (educational, research, etc.), administrative control, and primary cognate area of these institutions is presented, and their distribution through the various Regional Medical Library areas is noted. Preliminary estimates are made, based on a questionnaire to the libraries, on the size of the library population, their relationship to reporting programs or institutions, exclusive of the hospital population which is being covered in an independent survey. A questionnaire to library personnel is underway which will establish, along with the other questionnaires, a basis for exploring the relationships which exist between institutions or programs, libraries and manpower.     

An investigation of the educational needs of health sciences library manpower. 3. Manpower supply and demand in health sciences libraries

An investigation of the manpower requirements of health sciences libraries and of educational programs appropriate to these manpower needs was begun in March 1968. To date, 4,727 libraries have been identified as being used by 14,000 health sciences institutions and programs. Of this total, 2,628 are hospital libraries; 1,328 are health sciences libraries and collections located outside of hospitals; and 771 are academic or public libraries.Within these libraries some 14,938 persons are directly involved, either full- or part-time, in the delivery of health sciences library services. Of the total work force, 5,861 persons are employed in hospital libraries and 9,077 are employed in health sciences libraries and collections. The ratio between professional and nonprofessional employees is 1:2; professional and nonprofessional status was assigned by the chief librarian. Survey data indicate a 7 percent manpower shortage in positions classified as professional, and a 3 percent shortage in positions classified as nonprofessional.