CLR Case Studies--

Impact of Cleveland Public Library Initiatives

• With the advent of electronic resources, circulation and walk-in use continue to increase.
• Library managers have found that dial-in capabilities have brought in new users. From database borrowing records they know that many people register for library cards (required to use the full range of online services), but never check out books.
• Local companies are using the Cleveland Public Electronic Library to identify what they want and use their own means to acquire documents. Special librarians are impressed by the depth of scientific and technical collections available.
• Individuals in business and professions increasingly are calling to ask how to use the electronic library. Mason notes that individuals have called her for help when all the dial-in lines are busy because they say "this [information] is vital to my business."
• The electronic library offers new opportunities for cooperation. For example, the Cleveland Law Library, a membership library that is part of the CLEVNET group, will be putting local court information into electronic form and mounting it on the World Wide Web, complementing Cleveland Public Library's ongoing project to put decisions of the 8th District Court and Ohio Supreme Court online.
• The ability to search abstracts in the EBSCO journal index has created a hunger for information. Users feel empowered by this capability. For example, library users have found abstracts for articles in Afro-American newspapers and were able to follow news stories even if the full text of the articles was not available online.