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This article describes children''s use of networked technology in three branches of an urban public library. Direct observations of their use of computers and data gathered from brief interviews with them were recorded using personal digital assistants (PDAs). Findings suggest that (1) the largest proportion of children''s use of computers is for access to games, (2) use of computers for communication purposes (e.g., chat, e-mail, and word processing) is minimal, and (3) repeat use of the computers varies by branch. Grade level analysis reveals that middle school students access games less than elementary students do at two branches and that middle school students use the computers more than elementary students do for communication purposes. Overall, girls and boys use games, chat, and e-mail in comparable proportions. In other categories of use, there are gender differences but no consistent pattern emerges across branches. This investigation provides a first view of children''s unmediated use of technology in the public library, their reasons for using library computers, and provides baseline data for assessing the outcomes of technology programs and services developed by the library to serve the needs of this user group. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although outcome-based evaluation was routine in governmental and nonprofit agencies by 2002, it had not been systematically applied to the evaluation of children''s services in public libraries. At the same time, digital technology had grown commonplace in public libraries, with 94.5% of libraries providing Internet access to the public in the year 2000. This article examines various definitions and models of outcome-based evaluation; describes the lack of knowledge regarding children''s use of technology in public libraries, despite their majority status among users; and presents an original outcome-based evaluation model (the Project CATE model) developed to assess this use. Although this unique, dynamic, and interactive evaluation research model was conceived as a collaboration between the Saint Louis Public Library and the Florida State University School of Information Studies, it is designed to be transportable and applicable in a wide variety of assessment situations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A secondary analysis of a user survey administered in 13 public libraries examined user ratings of reference services by transaction type. Transaction type is defined dichotomously as self-generated (users transacting questions they have determined for themselves) or imposed (agent users in the library seeking information on behalf of someone else). Users with self-generated questions rated library services lower than did users with imposed questions. Both groups rated the library experience lower than their reference desk experience, and imposed queries were responsible for proportionately higher “first time” use of the reference desk. No significant difference existed between groups for ratings of finding useful information in the library, finding everything wanted in the library visit, frequency of library use, or levels of attained formal education. There were significant differences found for ratings of the reference librarian''s service behaviors, user satisfaction with reference service, and frequency of reference desk use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]