ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries July/August 1989 / 577 using the Mac’s “Start up” program and by em bed­ ding a script into H yperC ard’s Hom e stack th a t goes to th e desired card upon opening. Thus, the Call N um ber D irectory stack is enacted merely by turning on the m ain pow er switch to the term inal. This is an im portant program m ing feature in an environm ent w ith m any public term inals, each of­ fering different files w ith different passwords and protocol. Similarly, the m achine can be shut down at the click of a well-scripted butto n enabling Ap­ ple’s ResCopy tool. T he fam iliar m enubar at th e top of the M acin­ tosh screen is easily hidden through “openStack” scripting and, w ith no keyboard in use, essentially off-limits. F u rth er, since the stack is “browsing” only in the public mode, and since a password is re­ q u ire d before any m odifications can occur, the stack is protected from tam pering. T he autom ated Call N um ber D irectory—turned on in the m orning and off in the evening—has an introductory screen th a t states its purpose and invites patrons to click away. Simple scripts can be w ritten th a t keep track of p atron use by counting in invisible fields. Peak pe­ riods can be sim ilarly identified by com paring these use statistics w ith th e M ac’s internal clock. Use Installed w ith no fanfare or announcem ent, the term inal has attracted atten tio n —if for nothing o th e r th a n curiosity. A M acintosh in an IBM- dom inated area demands attention despite its com­ petitively small screen size and lack of color. The presence of even im perfect graphics compares fa­ vorably to the lack of same in th e online and CD- ROM term inals. T he Reference and Inform ation Desk staffs have been gradually introducing p a ­ trons to th e te rm in a l’s fu n c tio n — p a rtic u la rly w hen faced w ith the general question of “How do I find books by call nu m b er in this library?” More­ over, the program is now being introduced through the C enter for Bibliographic Instruction—an of­ fice w hich ad m in isters BI to all new students through a required one-credit course—to fam iliar­ ize a new generation of library users w ith the pro­ gram. In th e m eantim e, however, some patrons prefer to bypass the system in favor of asking a quick ques­ tion of a staff m em ber. Despite an inherent “Short C u t” in the program (which allows users to skip some screens once com fortable w ith the system), some patrons simply are confounded by the num ­ ber of questions th a t m ust be answered before find­ ing out the correct floor or location. Indeed, the term inal is sometimes abandoned m id-stream . Al­ though scripts are w ritten to bring the program back to its introductory card after a certain am ount of inactivity, program m ers can make the “Payoff” of the location as exact as possible (down to th e ex­ act shelf) to keep the users’ attention. Future In a m ulti-institutional database environm ent like W SU’s online catalog, th e H y p erC ard Call N um ber D irectory could eventually be expanded to include all system-w ide libraries’ collections. W ayne State University Libraries are currently ex­ ploring the possibilities of adding features to the ex­ istin g p ro g ra m : la r g e r sc re e n , c o lo r m o n ito r, touch-screen response. Eventually, these features m ay evolve into an autom ated Inform ation Kiosk th a t includes tours (with floor plans culled from the Call N um ber D irectory), instruction (a required H yperC ard BI program is in th e final stages of de­ v e lo p m e n t), a n d general c am p u s in fo rm a tio n . M eanwhile, th e H yperC ard stack is a noticeably innovative alternative to an otherwise m undane transaction. For further inform ation about the H yperC ard Call N um ber D irectory, please contact: W illiam P. Kane, Purdy L ibrary, W ayne State University, D etroit, MI 48202; (313) 577-6439. The academic reference librarian: Serving graduates in their job search By L aura W indsor Reference Librarian Texas State Technical Institute Academ ic reference lib rarian s w ill encounter reference questions each q u arter or semester from those students w ho are on the verge of graduating, or have already graduated. They can range from “Do you have any books on how to w rite a re ­ sume?” through “W ho’s hiring in the field of elec­ tronics?” to “Do you have some sort of list of com­ panies in th e im port-export business?” Most of us will show them adequate reference sources, but our role in a stu d e n t’s quest for em ploym ent is 578 / C&RL News m any times seen as m inim al, since most institutions have a placem ent office. Librarians may assume it is not their responsibility to assist job hunters other th an pointing them tow ard the right source after being asked questions like those above. I found myself taking on more responsibility in this area when a student nearing graduation in our Laser Electro-Optics Technology (LET), asked me if I would give a presentation to the Laser Club on the various reference sources useful to job hunters. I said I would be glad to but then realized I wasn’t sure w h a t o th e r in fo rm a tio n th ey already h ad about job hunting, and w hether they even knew w e had a placem ent office on campus. I decided th a t before talking to them , I needed to get myself informed as to the functions of other campus units. I discovered th a t it is of great benefit to students if the library is involved in the employment pro­ cess, if not directly then at least indirectly. This can be accomplished by finding out w h at the place­ m ent office does and does not do for students who are job hunting. Services will vary greatly from in­ stitution to institution. Some placem ent offices will keep a file for the student w ith copies of letters of refe re n c e , an u p d a te d resu m e, c e rtific a te s of awards and accomplishments, etc.; and upon a student’s request send m aterial out to prospective employers. Others may only post job announce­ ments received in the mail and leave the rest up to the students. In my case, I was surprised to find out th at the Placem ent Office at Texas State Technical Insti­ tu te does not function like a trad itio n al one. I called to ask since: 1 ) I w anted to give a good pre­ sentation to the Laser Club; and 2) I was becoming overwhelmed w ith questions about company ad­ dresses, interview ing, resum e a n d cover lette r w riting from other students as well. I had already decided to compile an annotated bibliography to aid job seekers as well as the library staff in re­ sponding to this type of need, and knew it w ould be beneficial to be able to give students inform ation about the Placem ent Office. I found out th a t the Placem ent Office here only provides placem ent for part-tim e work study stu­ dents on campus. W hen I asked w hat graduating students w ere supposed to do they informed me th a t each program on campus is responsible for as­ sisting those students in their area. Each program designates an instructor as a placem ent officer who is responsible for assisting students in their program to find jobs. After speaking w ith a few program chairs, I found out th a t they usually send out a packet of in­ fo rm atio n to prospective g rad u a tes a b o u t tw o quarters before graduation. Included is inform a­ tion on how to w rite resumes, whom to contact in the departm ent for inform ation on job availability and advice, and w hat upcom ing events w ould be good for them to get involved in—job fairs, etc. Most instructors make themselves available to get students moving in the right direction. Once I had this inform ation I was more confident about giving a presentation to the Laser Club. D uring the presentation one thing I emphasized was to check w ith their program instructors and not hesitate to ask for assistance. They are m ore in touch w ith current industry needs and can steer students in the right direction. The annotated bib­ liography listed general reference directories useful in locating inform ation on specific companies, or on companies in specific industries. Of course, m any students are limited to one geographic area. I found myself answering lots of questions on w hat people should do if they are lim ited to where they would move because: 1) they w an t to stay close to home; 2) their spouse already has a steady job in a certain area; 3) they need a job near the institution w here they w ant to continue their education; or 4) various other reasons. For those students I gave the following advice w hich some felt was beneficial. • I f you are lim ited to a particular area you can use the telephone directory yellow pages for that area. Most libraries have telephone directories for m any cities either on microfiche or in paper copy. If not, the librarian can probably tell you where in the area this w ould be available. Look up appro­ priate subjects and obtain the names of companies in the area th a t would be likely to employ people in your discipline. Phone num bers as well as a street address will be given. You can then look in a zip code directory for the zip code in order to request an application, send a letter of application and re­ sume, or just call to inquire about job openings. •U se the Gale Directory o f Publications to get the address of the largest newspaper in the area you are interested in. T hen, even if your library doesn’t subscribe to it, you can w rite and request a Sunday paper. Include enough money to cover the cost of the paper. Some larger newspapers will even give a free trial subscription to prospective residents of the area. The other items I listed on th e bibliography were specific to TSTI. •C h e c k th e “C u rren t Job Openings” section near the reference area. In this section of the li­ brary we keep publications like the Career Oppor­ tunity Update, the Federal Jobs Digest, the N a­ tional E m ploym ent Opportunities Newsletter, and other publications w ith job listings or job inform a­ tion. W e feel the publications are used m ore since they are all in the same area rather th an kept with the rest of the periodical collection. •C h e c k the T S T I Periodicals by Technology List. This list was compiled by the periodicals li­ brarian; beneath the nam e of each technology pro­ gram on campus is a list of the periodicals w e have th a t pertain to th a t particular program . Most of the students are already fam iliar w ith this list b u t I reiterated it since job leads can often be found in the classified sections of these periodicals. •C h e c k th e Employers o f T S T I Graduates. This is a listing by technology program of current em ­ July/August 1989 / 579 ployers of TSTI graduates. The library solicits the information from each program and tries to update it each year by contacting the various programs for the information. It is helpful in letting students see where former graduates of their technology pro­ gram are now working. The list varies in quality and is mainly dependent on the effort of each pro­ gram to supply the information to us. Of course, the student can also gain this information from his or her program, but it has proved convenient to have this compilation at the library also. Overall, I think the presentation to the Laser Club w ent very well. I could tell they were grateful someone took the time to talk to them because so m any of them asked questions and commented on how they really appreciated my time. I’m looking forward to giving this type of presentation more of­ ten. Students or faculty do not usually request such a service, but it is obviously needed. The success and extent of this service rests with the librarian. I feel it is worthwhile because after all, when we give library instruction classes one of our goals is for the student to view th e lib ra ry as a n inform ation place—not just a study hall during their years of college, but as a resource place anytime, now and in the future. And w hat better way to solidify this concept than helping them pursue a career? Life­ long learning exemplified! ■ ■ S c i e n c e c o l l e c t i o n s in c o m m u n i t y c o l l e g e lib r a r ie s By Kate Bradley Acquisitions Librarian Bellevue C om m unity College, Washington Using the conspectus to assess curriculum support. A s a community college library in the Pacific Northwest we had an opportunity to participate in the L ibrary and Inform ation Resources for the Northwest (LIRN) regional assessment project. Be­ cause of staff turnover at the time, Bellevue Com­ m unity College did not become involved in the ini­ tia l stages of LIRN . E arly reports from other community college libraries performing the LIRN assessment did not encourage belated participa­ tion. For community colleges the m ain advantage of doing the assessment was th a t librarians gained hands-on familiarity with their collections, becom­ ng aware in m any instances th a t major portions ofi the library were badly outdated, requiring exten­ sive weeding and replacement. The deficiency of the LIRN project has to do with the nature of com­ m unity colleges in Washington state and the rela­ tionship of the libraries to the colleges. As education costs rise and acceptance into the state universities becomes increasingly competi­ tive, the function of community colleges has gradu­ ally shifted from two-year vocational/technical training to undergraduate preparation for transfer to four-year institutions. In the spring of 1988, “among bachelor’s degree recipients at public re­ gional institutions, about 48 % were students who transferred credits from a Washington community