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The WLN Conspectus is examined in three articles that, together, give an explanation of the conspectus and an examination of how it has been used in two different venues.

The development and use of a fiction assessment conspectus is explored in three article.

The Krueger Method, one of the first conspectus geared to use by smaller, non‐automated libraries, is examined in the following three articles. Together, they show both the beginnings of the conspectus and the use to which it is being put nearly fifteen years later.

We, in Illinois, have devoted much time and energy in the last several years to promoting the theories and methods of collection analysis, collection management, and cooperative collection management among our libraries. The conspectus approach to collection management is one we have devoted a great deal of time and effort to teaching and promoting—often using the carrots of grant funding, followed by the sticks of mandated collection analysis.

With the evolution of the WLN‐based Illinois Conspectus over the last decade, it is not unusual for some of us Illinois librarians to consider that earlier Illinois product, The Krueger Manual, to be an antique relic of a long outmoded, once‐exciting, cutting‐edge Illinois experiment. However, there are libraries and library consortia in Illinois and around the country who are quite oblivious to the demise of the Krueger Method. They not only use it, but have evolved it and updated its processes and analysis software. Perhaps more significant is the encouraging frequency with which the client‐centered analyses tools included in the Krueger Manuals are beginning to show up in new assessment projects of all kinds.

Cooperative reference is defined as “a process through which information assistance is provided, at least in part, by referring the user or the user's questions to library/information personnel at another institution, according to a system of formally established protocols.”

The Illinois Valley Library System (IVLS) has long been committed to coordinated cooperative collection development as an efficient, effective resource sharing mechanism. IVLS is a multi‐type, regional cooperative with 90 member libraries and headquarters located in Pekin, Illinois.

The Chatsworth Township Library is located in the small Central Illinois village of Chatsworth. It has a total yearly budget under $20,000 and a population of 1,444 (1993). The library's primary role, established by a Citizens Survey, is to serve as a popular reading library for all ages. These were established facts when I became the librarian there in 1989. What's more, the Board of Trustees was concerned about the low circulation figures and wanted to generate more interest in library usage.