Search

Numerous publications on patron-driven acquisition (PDA) for print books and similar materials have reported that patron-requested materials circulate more. Tying circulation to selector may be failing to address the complex of factors that contributes to items' circulation. In the present study, the authors revisit a PDA program's data and to determine whether PDA print books' circulation advantage persists when the potential interactions of several additional variables are taken into account. As with prior studies, library patrons were significantly better predictors of circulation than were librarians or approval plans. However, librarians proved to be significantly better predictors than were approval plans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been a flurry of interest in programs for collection development through patron-initiated requests. However, some librarians have been concerned that such methods run the risk of producing idiosyncratic collections with poor usage and poor use value. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries have operated such a program through the Interlibrary Loan Department over a five-year period. The following study assesses the relative performance of the program's interlibrary loan-acquired monographs in terms of prices paid per rates of annual circulation, relative use at the topical level, and annual rates of circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians, faculty, and professional researchers, and students already encounter difficulties in locating journal articles for the field of archaeology, yet, in the current budgetary climate, librarians needing to reduce subscription costs may be tempted to cancel smaller, discipline-specific indexes in favor of large multi-subject indexes with broad coverage. This study examines and compares the coverage provided to 208 archaeology and archaeology-related journals and magazines by six multi-subject indexes and by anthropology's primary index, Anthropological Literature, over a twenty year period (1988-2007). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a prior edition of this study, we examined whether the established online communication studies indexes-Communication Abstracts, ComIndex, and ComAbstracts-provided a good avenue of access to the journal literature that researchers in the field cite and whether, where the current journal literature was concerned, that avenue of access might be equal or superior to that provided by large, multisubject online indexes. In this iteration of the study, we similarly address EBSCO's new product for communication studies, Communication & Mass Media Complete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians, faculty, professional researchers, and students often encounter difficulties in locating pertinent journal articles for the field of archaeology. This article examines the coverage given by 13 discipline-specific and subject-oriented indexes available online over a 50-year interval to 89 archaeology journals originating in the United Kingdom and in Ireland. The coverage provided by the individual indexes and several of the larger issues surrounding the coverage of the field are discussed, and a few recommendations are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study of the utility of several popular search engines and of two newer search engines with respect to librarian-selected lists of Web resources and Internet searching behaviors. This study addresses whether said resources are returned where Internet searchers could reasonably be expected to find them and whether the search engines employed serve as acceptable substitutes for the expert advice of librarians. Search engines included in the study were Google, MSN.com. Yahoo, Lycos, AskJeeves, Icerocket, and Acoona. Searches for the study were based on the topics/titles of the "Internet Resources" columns from College & Research Libraries News for 2004. Finally, the paper addresses methodological concerns and proposes possible directions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians, faculty and professional researchers, and students often encounter difficulties in locating pertinent journal articles for the field of archaeology. This article examines the coverage given to ninety-three archaeology journals originating ill the United States over a fifty-year interval by twelve discipline-specific and subject-oriented indexes available online. The coverage provided by the individual indexes and some of the larger issues surrounding the coverage of the field itself are discussed, and several recommendations are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of widely available large, multi-subject, online databases calls into question the necessity for small, discipline-specific indexes to support research. This study attempts to determine whether the online Communication Studies indexes provide access to the journal literature that researchers in the field actually cite and whether, where the current journal literature is concerned, that access is in any way superior to that provided by large, multi-subject, online indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ever-increasing electronic information, space on library shelves continues to be a problem. This article discusses one library's efforts to find space on overcrowded library shelves by moving selected resources to off-site storage and at the same time promoting use of electronic resources, namely the electronic journals that make up the JSTOR database. Issues explored include in-house use of bound periodicals, circulation statistics, interlibrary loan requests, and computer printing vs. photocopying for print titles available through JSTOR. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]