Showing papers in "College & Research Libraries in 1985"

Ratings of Journals by ARL Library Directors and Deans of Library and Information Science Schools.

Abstract: A study of the perceived prestige of a core group of library journals by directors of ARL libraries and library school deans reveals a prestige hierarchy for each group. Although in rough agreement on the rating of two-thirds of the journals, the deans and directors differ significantly on the ratings of the remaining one-third. The subset of ARL directors in institutions where librarians have faculty status as evidenced by tenure does not rate journals substantially more like library school deans than do ARL directors as a whole, and library school deans are shown to agree much more as a group on their ratings than the ARL directors.

Production of Scholarly Articles by Academic Librarians and Library School Faculty

Abstract: Onze periodiques de bibliotheconomie en langue anglaise, choisis parmi les plus diffuses, ont ete examines de 1979 a 1983 dans l'optique de determiner les affiliations des auteurs qui y publiaient. Les bibliothecaires les plus actifs dans ce domaine appartiennent aux bibliotheques universitaires. Un tableau des quinze ecoles de bibliothecaires les plus productives des Etats-Unis a ete fait: il place en tete les ecoles de Chicago, de Columbia et d'Indiana

The Yale Survey: A Large-Scale Study of Book Deterioration in the Yale University Library

Abstract: A large-scale survey of the physical condition of books and the nature of the collections in the Yale University Library system that evaluated more than 36,500 volumes was carried out. Results have been tabulated, compared by computer, and analyzed to provide statistical information on the fifteen distinct collections surveyed in thirty-six separate strata. Environmental conditions were also monitored. These studies, along with the analyses of binding materials and methods, were used to formulate probable reasons for deterioration levels as well as documenting these levels. Several questions of particular interest were compared in two-way intersections, and a brief analysis was made of publication dates in relation to age and condition of a selected group of books. It was found that 37.1 percent of the books sampled overall had brittle paper (i.e., broke after two double folds) and that 82.6 percent of the books overall had acidic paper (i.e., a pH of below 5.4). These and other results should help Yale and libraries elsewhere to identify their preservation needs and develop appropriate programs.

A Proposed Method for Eliminating Titles from Periodical Subscription Lists

Abstract: A method is outlined for determining what periodical titles should be reviewed for cancellation by a university library A list of candidates for elimination is gathered from titles with low citation counts as found in Journal Citation Reports Reasons for starting with these lists are based on general findings in the use and citation studies' literature It is recognized that some little-cited journals may be retained, and the principal reasons for retention are discussed

Publication Requirements and Tenure Approval Rates: An Issue for Academic Librarians

Abstract: One hundred and thirty-eight members of the Center for Research Libraries responded to a survey designed to test the hypothesis that where tenure-track librarians are required to do research and publish, an inadequate research and publication record would be the most frequent cause for the rejection of the librarians' tenure applications. The hypothesis proved valid, but only for a small percentage of the librarians . The study revealed a generally high tenure approval rate (81. 5 percent) for academic librarians compared to the national average for other academic faculty (58 percent).

1985 to 1995: The Next Decade in Academic Librarianship, Part I

Abstract: This article is based closely on a working paper commissioned by the Academic and Research Libraries Personnel Study Group of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a divi. sian of the American Library Association. Its purpose is to \"explore the implications of the changes to be expected within the foreseeable future (1985-95) in the environment, mission, functions, and operations of academic libraries (from junior colleges to large research universities) on librarians and librarianship.\" [Letter of January 25, 1984, from Page Ackerman, chair of the study group, to the author.] The author has been asked to maintain a focus on working librarians, not chief administrators. Current views and forecasts about the future of academic librarianship cover a very wide spectrum, from the apathetic to the desperate and frenetic. Fortunately, calm and reasoned considerations can also be found; it is believed that these form a sound basis for future programs and actions by ACRL. Although we are passing through an era of very rapid technical change, the author has chosen to focus upon certain constants in scholarship and education. In planning for the future, the author counsels care and thoughtfulness coupled with reasonable dispatch and avoidance of promises of panacea.

Humor in the Classroom: Implications for the Bibliographic Instruction Librarian

Abstract: As the theoretical foundations of bibliographic instruction are examined increasingly in the context of learning theory and teaching methods, comparisons with the classroom environment found in academic settings are inevitable. The specific role of humor in the college classroom and its effect upon both learning and the communicative climate has been of interest to educational researchers, producing a concomitant body of literature. Characteristics peculiar to the bibliographic instruction classroom suggest that humor may have special benefits when employed by the librarian involved in user education. However, research studies indicate the need to take a second look at assumptions about the results of humor in the college classroom, particularly in the context of bibliographic instruction program objectives.

Factors Affecting the Use of Information for Academic Library Decision Making

Abstract: This paper reports on a study of academic librarians' perceptions of information processing and organizational climate. After providing a brief review of related research and literature on the topic, the paper discusses findings that include a significant relationship between the climate dimension of democratic governance and information dissemination; a high dependency of academic librarians on internal oral sources as input for decision making; and the minimal selection of information resources based on clientele information or empirical research as input for decision making. The paper concludes by suggesting that decision making is likely to be ''short-circuited'' in the academic libraries investigated and offers some recommendations for how information can be better exploited for increased decision-making effectiveness.

PR: The State of Public Relations in Academic Libraries.

Abstract: eecher' s statement is particularly true in the United States, yet our libraries today are beset ~!!i.§~ by the same budget shortages that threaten many other vital public service agencies. Faced with financial woes, librarians have joined representatives from other types of institutions across the nation in telling their stories through public relations (PR) as a means for increasing public awareness of and support for their services. A review of the literature on library . PR suggests that public libraries adopted this response to financial problems long before academic libraries.2 However, no surveys have been conducted to gather statistics that would support or refute this assumption. In 1979library PR consultant Alice Norton found only three college libraries with full-time PR positions. This situation may have reflected legislative restrictions against funding PR positions or campus structures assigning responsibility for academic library PR to existing public information offices. In 1981 Sally Brickman cited three reasons for academic libraries to reach out for public attention: (1) to inform users about collections and services; (2) to demystify academic libraries and make them more user-friendly; and (3) to generate funding to meet the skyrocketing price of books and journals during a period of budget cutbacks. Libraries are often considered the heart of the university. Even so, many campus communities are unaware of their library's resources and fail to challenge its potential. 7 Citing the combined need to provide better user information, to build a positive image, and to project that image to users and potential support groups, Carroll urges academic libraries to join the communications era of the 1980s. To fill the information gap surrounding library PR programs, a survey was conducted to characterize and determine the scope of the current state of academic library PR. Forty-eight library directors at universities with student enrollments of nine to twelve thousand were surveyed. A

Use of Citation Data for Periodicals Control in Libraries: A Response to Broadus

Abstract: obert Broadus' paper on the use of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) for reducing periodical subscriptions is interesting, but like other papers on this topic it misses a crucial practical issue. Stephen Bensman's paper is equally interesting; some of the comments below apply to it also. Librarians want to know (1) what periodicals to cancel if they are short of funds and (2) what additional titles to buy. For both purposes, apart from new titles in the case of (2), they are concerned with titles at the fringe of use. While citation rank lists may not correlate badly with local use of all periodicals held, the correlation grows weaker as one goes further down the lists. This is inevitable if only because the number of citations or uses at the fringes is small or very small. It is a matter of chance whether a little-used or little-cited title receives, in any one year, zero, one, two, three, four, or five uses or citations, although the rank order may be dramatically affected. Broadus admits that JCR are only a rough guide for identifying low-use periodicals. I doubt if it is of much use even as a rough guide. Not only may little-cited periodicals be retained for various reasons, as he says-among them special local interest; but some highly cited periodicals, which would not be picked out by his procedure, may easily be very little used in a local library, because they are marginal to its interests. One library's (or database's) core is another's fringe. The rank order of periodicals requested from the British Library Lending Division shows a low stability over time.' 2 There was between 1975 and 1980 only 55 percent overlap in the top one thousand titles, and between 1980 and 1983 (a shorter period) only 60 percent. It would be interesting to study the stability of rank lists of periodicals in order of use in a few academic or special libraries; my guess is that stability would be little if any better than at the British Library Lending Division, since the clientele changes, and subject interests and emphases of existing users change (my personal rank list of periodicals in order of use changes from year to year). Over large numbers of users, individual changes might perhaps be expected to be submerged in an overall consistency, but the Lending Division evidence suggests that this does not happen. If there is instability of use over quite

Academic Library Services: The Literature of Innovation

Abstract: Innovation has the potential for increasing the effectiveness of information service. As a result of this interest in innovation, organizational theorists have begun to explore the effect of organizational design upon flexibility, creativity, and productivity of organizations. A review of existing literature, however, provides no comprehensive theory of organizational innovation. Research on organizational design and innovation in libraries could contribute to the systematic study of the impact of organizational structure. Studies by Howard and Luquire indicate that traditional library organizations may inhibit change as well as the reexamination of values and service. Further study is needed to determine how libraries can most effectively manage innovation in the rapidly changing environment ahead.

The Effectiveness of Book Selection Agents in a Small Academic Library.

Abstract: Small academic libraries typically rely more heavily upon classroom faculty as book selectors than do large academic libraries in which librarians and book jobbers are the principals involved. Given the various constraints that small academic libraries face, it is important for them to rationalize the entire collection development process and also to employ the most effective agents as book selectors. This article describes a study of the relative effectiveness of classroom faculty and librarians as book selection agents in a small academic library.

Book Selection Policies in the College Library: A Reappraisal

Abstract: Historically, faculty have been largely responsible for book selection in academic libraries. Not until the 1950s and early 1960s did university libraries, because of expanding budgets and publication output, alter this practice by adding staff bibliographers. Meanwhile, colleges still retain the older tradition of faculty control of book selection and book funds. Changing conditions make this practice increasingly suspect. It is time for librarians in colleges to follow the lead of their university colleagues by taking control of book funds and establishing authority over the selection process.

Cooperative Collection Development for Rare Books among Neighboring Academic Libraries.

Abstract: Coordination in rare book acquisitions occurs on a unilateral basis when one librarian does not select certain books because a neighboring collection has extensive holdings in the same area. Few attempts, however, have been made to cooperate in rare book collection development on a multilateral basis whereby librarians jointly agree to select books in assigned subject areas. This article studies the characteristics of a multilateral cooperative selection program for small rare book collections and describes the success of such a program at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

Defining the Academic Librarian

Abstract: From his perspectives as a former director of libraries and as a dean of the School of Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the author discusses the types of knowledge that should define the academic librarian. Four types are mentioned: (1) a background in the history and development of higher education, (2) an appreciation for the history of scholarship and learning, (3) an understanding of how knowledge is obtained in various disciplines, and (4) an ability to evaluate research findings. Widespread ignorance about the nature of colleges and universities-their history, mission, and politics, often leads to counterproductive action.

Circulation Service Desk Operations: Costing and Management Data

Abstract: The University of Oklahoma Libraries' Department of Access Services conducted a cost study of circulation service-desk operations. Service-desk tasks were flowcharted to identify important components. Work sampling observations were used to determine the percentage of staff time occupied in particular tasks. Observations were made at random by uninvolved observers. Using the percentages obtained, pay rates, indirect costs, and overhead, total costs were computed on a task-by-task basis. Also, several tabulations of the same data were used to identify idle time and peak-use periods. This information then served as a basis for reorganization of work assignments and revision of staff scheduling. Improved efficiency and service, without any staffing increase, were the result.

Research Libraries in an International Setting: Requirements for Expanded Resource Sharing

Abstract: Resource sharing has expanded significantly in the past decade. While the benefits have been obvious, the mounting costs of lending and borrowing are causing serious concern. Higher costs and the physical deterioration of library research collections are likely to influence not only national but also international resource-sharing agreements. In this article the roles and structures of several European national lending systems are described. The purpose is to find useful models to guide future developments both at home and abroad. The author suggests that a new basis for measuring the performance of interlending systems needs to be established in . order to ensure equity and to limit resource sharing to specialized materials that support the research efforts of faculty and doctoral students.

Purposes and Uses of Residence Hall Libraries.

Abstract: This paper describes a study of student use and perceptions of their residence hall libraries at Indiana University. A telephone survey of students in residence centers and a user survey conducted in the libraries were the two methods used to collect the data. The responses indicate that students do, in fact, use their residence hall libraries. Most frequently, they use the magazine and newspaper collections. Records and audiocassettes, class-related materials, and study space are also frequently cited iiS popular uses. Because there are other libraries on campus that serve the academic needs of students, it seems reasonable to develop residence hall library collections to fulfill the supplemental, leisure-reading needs of student residents.

Inventory Costs: A Case Study.

Abstract: Comprehensive inventories are seldom undertaken in large academic research libraries because it is believed that the benefits derived do not justify the costs incurred. Procedures and statistics for a manual inventory and an inventory coordinated with the conversion to an online circulation system at the University of Kansas main library are presented. Results of this two-phase inventory suggest that such a project can be cost-effective in a large library.

The Knowledge Business: Economic Issues of Access to Bibliographic Information.

Abstract: Les technologies de l'information contribuent a creer une industrie de l'information. Une des tendances de ce developpement actuel fait de l'information une marchandise a laquelle une valeur financiere est attachee. Cette pratique change les habitudes du bibliothecaire, habitue a delivrer gratuitement une information. Ainsi, les tarifs d'un centre de documentation ou d'une bibliotheque doivent etre etablis soigneusement

The Tenure Rate of University Library Directors: A 1983 Survey

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the current length of service among library directors at ARL and non-ARL libraries as well as to compare the findings with similar investigations completed in the early 1970s. In addition to tenure data, the survey $ought responses on gender, ethnic background, position titles, internal promotion, professional experience, degrees, and retirement and resignation information. The results indicate that the average tenure period for university library directors has been slowly rising since the mid-1970s. This contrasts with earlier predictions that library directors would serve for shorter terms in the future because of continued difficult internal and external problems.

Memory Skills: Whose Concern?.

Abstract: Educators are now concerned that modern generations of students are not yet prepared with the memory skills for processing aural and visual information, let alone the information contained in books. Research on various memory skills when tried with various media may reveal effective ways to transfer not only fleeting aural and visual information but the time-honored printed word as well. The question is, \"Which strategies are the most effective in processing which media?\" Since a great deal of memorizing takes place in libraries, librarians are in a good position to study this question and, perhaps, to contribute to what little is known about the effectiveness of individual memory strategies during the transfer process. The author suggests that librarians extend their interests beyond material and electronic processing to include the processing of information in human memory.

Collection development at the Center for Research Libraries: policy and practice

Abstract: L'une des tâches du Centre pour les bibliotheques de recherche (CRL) est de collecter les fonds difficilement accessibles pour ces bibliotheques des Etats-Unis. L'etude generale des activites de ce centre montre neanmoins qu'il collecte des fonds deja constitues par d'autres bibliotheques: une meilleure gestion partagee de ces collections permettrait a ce Centre de realiser des economies

Managing the Coexistence of Hierarchical and Collegial Governance Structures

Abstract: Dual structures of governance, that is, the collegial and the hierarchical, are in place in many university libraries today. The problems from a managerial perspective of managing the coexistence of these governance structures may include accountability, lack of organizational flexibility, time requirements, communication between the structures, some lessening of librarians' interest in the function of line management, the potential for goal conflict, and a lack of appreciation for librarians' position in their bargaining group. While there is no one solution to these problems, it is imperative that university libraries operate in such a manner as to be judged effective or the mandate of the library stands in some danger of being at least partially distributed.