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Availability studies are used to estimate the proportion of items in a library collection that are available to users, and the proportion of items in a library collection that are unavailable to users as a result of system and/or human errors. Sanjeet Mann of the Armacost Library at the University of Redlands used a series of availability studies to more accurately understand and troubleshoot the e-resources access errors that keep undergraduate students at the university from obtaining the full text of electronic resources. In this presentation, Mann shared the details of his process, his results, and the implications of those results for improving local search systems as well as a conceptual model of e-resource availability errors based on the results of his research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2004, the Social Sciences and Humanities Library at the University of California-San Diego implemented restaurant-style pagers to notify waiting patrons that the reserve collection materials they needed were available. The authors describe the university libraries' process for implementing the pagers and the success staff has had with pagers over the past four years, list other libraries that use pagers, suggest other library uses for pagers, and offer guidance to institutions that might consider this service enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the fall of 2015, two librarians at San Diego State University initiated a project to enhance the visibility of some of the library’s numerous electronic resources. Promotional materials were created to highlight some of the main features and functionality of seven specific databases to which the library subscribes. Although there are many factors of this project that warrant further research, the authors can definitively state that usage for six of the seven electronic resources featured in their promotional project did increase when they were advertised to a wider campus population via the library’s website. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Statistical analysis and comparison of library print and online holdings are used to reduce shelf area and inform index back-file purchases. Nikki DeMoville of California Polytechnic State University’s Robert E. Kennedy Library combined Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) JR2 Access Denied usage reports, holdings information, and print circulation data to identify journals exhibiting a high desirability for online access and low print circulation. In this presentation, DeMoville shared how further combination of this data with ScienceDirect quote lists for back-file journal packages and Web of Science metrics could be used to support the efficient de-selection of print journals, allowing the library to recover the maximum amount of physical space while also acquiring backfile access to those titles most frequently needed in electronic format. The presentation detailed the workflows and comparative methodology used to reach collection management and development decisions for journal coverage, with an emphasis on before and after metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An interview with music librarian Blair Whittington of the Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale, California is presented. He discusses why the music and art collections at Glendale Public Library were housed at Brand Library. Whittington reveals the other collections and materials at the library, as well as their various music recordings. Moreover, he also offers tips on how to obtain a card to access the library.

This article describes a year-long application of critical information literacy theory for social-science-related library workshops. Each of these workshops had a customized section that included working with special collections and university archives. The students who participated ranged from incoming freshman to seniors at Stanford University. The curriculum development method for these workshops is based on principles of collaborative co-design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on international series and electronic resource management, including information on vendor and publisher services and topics related to library schools and continuing education. The article presents abstracts from several journals including the July 2011 issue of "Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community," the June 2011 issue of "Serials Review." Topics include the awarding of the SAGE travel grant to librarian Patrick Carr to attend the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) International conference in England on September 14-16, 2011, a basic serials cataloging workshop at Pepperdine University on August 3, 2011, and the New York Public Library's (NYPL) online catalog changes implemented by software company Bibliocommons.

Current economic challenges have had a profound impact on collection development, as a good budget has become one which merely remains flat in comparison to the many budgets which have been severely cut. While inflation has steadily eroded collection budgets for many years, the Great Recession exacerbated economic woes as both academic endowments and state tax revenues declined drastically. The Health Sciences Libraries of the University of Southern California address these difficult times by communicating and collaborating with colleagues, customers, and vendors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers of Zygmunt Haupt, Polish emigre writer and painter, are now fully processed and open to researches in the Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information is presented about conferences at the American Library Association's annual meeting in Anaheim, California in Summer 2008. The forums include "Next Steps in Next Generation Catalogs, A Report on Presentations and a Discussion, "International Authority Issues: The Time Is Now for Non-Roman Scripts in the Name Authority File," and "Removing the Fence: Merging Print and Electronic Serials Workflows."

The utility of every imaginable application which incorporates a gazetteer hinges on the simple fact that the resulting system will only be as useful, complete, or accurate as the underlying gazetteer itself. A major issue confronting gazetteers utilized in systems today is that they are not complete and measures of their accuracy are largely unknown. In this paper we describe a methodology which addresses this problem by automatically generating highly complete and detailed regional gazetteers from Internet sources. We utilize information extraction and integration techniques to automatically obtain geographic features and associated footprints and feature types from freely and widely available online data which could be applied to create a gazetteer for nearly any area. We discuss the distinguishing characteristics of the generated gazetteer and extend previous work to define measures which can be used to assess the completeness and accuracy of gazetteers. Using these measures, the generated gazetteer is evaluated against the Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer and the Los Angeles Comprehensive Bibliographic Database. Our results indicate that a gazetteer created by our methods will be at least as complete as any gazetteer currently available for certain feature classes, while falling short in others. We conclude by offering suggestions to address these shortcomings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in San Jose, California is a unique dual-use library serving the students of San Jose State University and the community of San Jose, California. The reference collections of the two libraries are merged and interfiled to promote ease of access for both populations served. Economies of scale were realized through collaborative collection development activities for major reference purchases between the two institutions. This article describes the planning and creation of the King Library's merged reference collection and reviews the literature of collaborative collection development and merged or interfiled collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs related to library service in the U.S. The American Library Association held its annual meeting in San Francisco, California in June 2001. Blackwell's Book Services released Blackwell's Online Bookshop (BOB) in a U.S. version. A report from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) focuses on the economic and logistical issues associated with creating a shared library depository.

The article discusses a study conducted by researchers from University of California at Berkeley to examine the costs of digital image distribution for educational purposes. The researchers examined the experimental project, the Museum Education Site Learning Project (MESL). The primary cost centers in the digital network distribution of images and text through the MESL Project were identified, defined and explored by the researchers.

Presents the Margaret Herrick Library and the Academy Film Archive housed in the Center for Motion Picture Study in California. Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927; Aim at assisting the organization advance the arts and sciences of motion pictures; Research and reference collection of film-related paper materials; Major collections.

Focuses on the Viticulture and Enology Collection at the Shields Library of the University of California in Davis. General description and development of the collection; Information about the early imprints of the collection; Classified areas of the collection; Description of the Viticulture and Enology Collection of the library.

The article presents information on the Slavic literature collected by the Davis-Shields Library of the University of California, Davis, California. The Shields Library collects primary and secondary works on Russian language and literature, and works from and about Russia and Slavic-speaking countries in the social sciences and sciences. Emphasis is mostly on current imprints. Materials are primarily in Russian. Shields Library's collection is a Russian rather than a Slavic collection, although other Slavic languages are represented.