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An effort to determine the feasibility of formulating a series of criteria for assessing research collections in Federal libraries is delineated in this report. The direction of the investigation was based on a four-stage approach: (1) review the literature for relevant information; (2) enumerate and describe available guides and criteria, and evaluate their possible usefulness as components of, or contributions to standards for measurement; (3) formulate test standards; and (4) test their application in a selected number of libraries. Part I of the report is devoted to a discussion of the topics mentioned above. Part II is a bibliography including references selected from the hundreds reviewed as being most applicable and pertinent to evaluating library collections. (This report is a supplement to LI 002 141.) (Author)

Because advances in medical science can lead to rapid changes in current health knowledge, a library collection of medical science materials can become dated rather quickly. This factor, as well as the many variables of library use and operation which impact the availability of current materials on the library shelves--loan periods, weeding habits, book display, and others--make assessment of the available collection an important task. To test a model that would provide information about the currency of the medical science collection available on the browsing shelves of a small to medium-sized public library, books in six subject classes within the medical science collection of the Parma-Snow Library, a branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (Ohio), were examined for date of publication over a period of 4 weeks. Approximately 43% of the titles examined in this period were found to be greater than 5 years old. Additionally, only 2% of the sample was published within the past year. This type of finding, determined by using very simple techniques requiring a minimum of staff time and resources, provides a collection manager with valuable information about the status of the browsing collection and signals areas of the collection which need attention to assure that current information is available to the browsing patron. (A copy of the data analysis worksheet and a 23-item bibliography are included as well as 21 end notes.) (Author/MAB)

A survey was conducted to gather data about Ohio's prison libraries and the librarians who are responsible for them. These libraries are areas of challenge and opportunity for librarians, and there will be continued growth in this field as more and more prisons are built. However, few professionals are aware of the concerns and challenges facing prison librarians. Mail questionnaires containing 36 questions were sent to the head librarians at each of Ohio's 21 adult prisons in operation at the time the survey was conducted, and 12 were returned for a return rate of 57%. Descriptive statistics were applied to give meaning to this data and to help develop a profile of Ohio's prison libraries. Staff and inmate library use, librarian safety issues, library collection size and contents, circulation statistics, interlibrary loan services, space available and handicapped access, work hours, funding, censorship, and staffing are among the topics covered. When appropriate to do so, the results of this survey are compared with those of a 1988 national survey of prison libraries. From the findings of the survey and of the literature review that preceded it, several recommendations for further study are made. A copy of the questionnaire used in the survey is appended. (Contains 31 references.) (KRN)

This study profiles bookmobile libraries operating within the state of Ohio. Details of the services offered to the public by these libraries were gathered through a questionnaire soliciting information about individual programs. The questionnaire was completed by 35 librarians in Ohio--in each case, the librarian most responsible for the day-to-day operation of the bookmobile. Data collected covers: stops and stop selection; staffing; collections; services and programming; and characteristics of the bookmobile, age and make; and budgets. Among major conclusions is the finding that bookmobile libraries in Ohio are decidedly lacking in their ability to offer patrons adequate reference service. Catalogs of the bookmobile's collection, as well as the collection of the host library, are not available, and only a very small percentage of bookmobiles in Ohio are accessible to the handicapped. Cover letter and survey instrument are appended. (Contains 20 references.) (Author/TMK)

Early in 1969, the Sacramento State College Library began a series of bibliographies designed to aid its patrons in making more effective use of existing library resources. This publication, Number 7 of that series directed specifically to areas involved in the college's developing ethnic studies programs, cites materials published between 1905 and 1969 concerning the Native American. The publications cited are available in the Curriculum Library and the young people's collection of the Sacramento State College Library. Call numbers are indicated, as are broad grade level usages for the fiction and nonfiction books. A total of 58 fiction, 152 nonfiction, 20 textbooks, and 45 curriculum guides is included. "The curriculum guides and textbooks, while usable for kindergarten through grade 8, will be most helpful with the intermediate grades." (LS)

The biographical sketch of Henry E. Huntington includes a description of the establishment of the Huntington Library and the purpose and scope of its collection. Although this is a free and public library, its use is restricted to qualified scholars having legitimate research needs. Photographic techniques were developed at the Huntington Library in order to make the collection available to scholars who were unable to travel to San Marino. Photography serves to preserve original copies of manuscripts which are in the process of disintegration or from which the writing is slowly disappearing and it saves wear and tear on the documents by reader use. The use of microfilm and microprints is compared and photographic analysis of a document is discussed. (Other papers from this Institute are available as LI 002962-LI 002966 and LI 002968 through LI 002976). (NH)

The 1967 investigation to examine and assess the Hamline University Library's role in Hamline's educational program and to identify directions for its contributions to this program in the future are summarized in this study. The results of this study showed that the Hamline University was not meeting the information needs of the faculty and students. Based on the prediction that informational material will continue to increase in amount and diversity and that user needs will follow the same trend, it was apparent that, if the library continued to operate in the traditional mode, its contribution to the educational program would become progressively less significant. Thus, it was recommended that the library increase both services and resources by adding a switching center service. This service would establish a detailed specification of user information requirements and attempt to satisfy these requirements either through the collection at the Hamline University library or by tapping the collections and services available at other information centers. With these arrangements the library could provide information support for all aspects of the educational program. The workability of the switching center system was demonstrated. (Author/NH)

The University of New Mexico libraries contain one of the finest collections of Luso-Brazilian materials available in the United States. The more than 10,000 items in that collection, which is especially strong in history and literature and divided almost equally between Portuguese and Brazilian subjects, are listed for the benefit of students, researchers, and librarians. Included are publications issued in Portugal, Brazil, or the Portuguese dependencies; publications in the Portuguese language or translated from the Portuguese language regardless of place of publication; and publications about Portugal, Brazil or the Portuguese dependencies regardless of language or place of publication. Arrangement is by broad subject, with complete bibliographical information. An alphabetical author index is provided. (Author)