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The development of a low-cost mobile application for a library network is presented. These apps are needed to support the uses made by library users, to improve user loyalty, and to facilitate the recurrent access to multiple websites. The Valencian Public Reading Network is used as a case study to illustrate the approach. The starting point is an analytical process regarding the characteristics of the entity and the requirements of the mobile application. For the development of the application, different platforms for the construction of apps are compared. Then, the final product is evaluated in relation to efficiency and usability. The results indicate that the use of an app, which integrates information from a single point, improves performance in terms of search time and error rate. The main contribution of this work highlights apps as complementary services to websites for library networks in terms of centralisation of information and services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A proposal is presented of an assessment model for university and research libraries, applied in the Centro de Información en Ciencia, Tecnología y Diseño del Sistema de Bibliotecas of the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí. The assessment process was compromised by the misunderstanding and low interest on the part of those who have to implement it, the lack of appropriate data, and deficient dissemination channels. So, it is recommended that necessary data be collected, appropriate documentation provided and networking with users, authorities and the society in general ensured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analize the role of the university library as a provider of quality information services that collaborate with the basic functions of the University and its commitment with society: teaching well prepared professionals in vast areas of knowledge who possess the capacity of acquiring all the new information that is produced in their field and in their working environment. Skills and abilities in the search and retrieval of information is a must in the formation of our students, if we want them to be immersed, not only in the informational context and in the new methodologies of information, but also in the steady process of scientific research that a good university education implies, process that any country needs for getting a sustainable development. Our proposal of informational literacy includes required application forms, interviews with professors and instructors of classroom courses, an interactive manual for the development of competence in the use of digital resources the university offers, and one on line course presenting the manual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative analysis of the development of the library collection of the Instituto de Investigaciones en Matemáticas Aplicadas y en Sistemas (IIMAS) was carried out, based on the references used by the IIMAS researchers in articles published during the year 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The action lines followed by the Central Library of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México to face the increasing demand of their services are presented in detail from the year 2000 on, together with their results. An emphasis was put on improving the technological tools and the efficiency in their use. Reading and working spaces were extensively improved. Finally, steps were taken to position the library as a cultural centre: several spaces were rehabilitated for temporal exhibitions related to the history of the Central Library, the book culture and reading; and a electronic information point presenting the most outstanding authors in the library collections was developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the behavior of people when using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for information management in their organizations are being criticized for their predominating positivists points of view and for the intense use of quantitative methodologies. This study proposes the method of triangulation as a perspective for the inquiry of the complexity involved in the study of information management in organizations. The triangulation is a step took by the researchers to integrate some diverse data interpretations from different times and environments. In this way, triangulation pretends to integrate different methods, with the objective of getting a better perception of phenomena that are not normally perceived by the existing methods when applied in isolation. The methodology allows for the integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches and data, contributing to the existing research models in information management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed at analyzing and describing the cataloguing and indexing procedures in order to obtain the necessary subsides to the working up of a policy of documentary treatment. The partial results show that the cataloguers follow a systematized and consolidated methodology for descriptive cataloguing, but don't show methodology for subject cataloguing; the information retrieval presents failures relating to the search by subject; and the documentary language does not answer adequately the demand, due to the incompatibility between the terms used in the subject cataloguing and those used by the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of our study is to offer a methodological propose in studying the users' information needs for a library specialized in the natural stone. More precisely, we are referring to the implementation of the theoretical model Appreciative Inquiiy (AI), articulated by D. Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastva (1986). It is a new paradigm that means to value and to recognize the positive nucleus of an organization or a system, seeking the strong points and talents of the individuals that belong to the organizations. From this point of view, the research group, which has the main objective to create, plan and design a library specialized in the natural stone (TinoStone Library), is working on knowing the users' information needs. To do that, the research group is applying a mix collecting data methods, such as questionnaires, interviews, etc. But the newness of applying AI is the way the interviews are done: potential users are invited to imagine, to design and to create in a collaborative way, "the ideal library" in order to share and implement knowledge intentional and actively. It is about a cooperative searching for the best of individuals and the best of organizations, avoiding negativeness and critics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]