College and Research Libraries By ROBERT W. ORR A Fe\V Aspects of College Library Service A NUMBER of college librarians today would rather measure the effective- ness of their library service in terms· of books worn out or lost than in the number of volumes ho'\rded for posterity. This atti- tude denotes a growing emphasis on service to readers. It means, furtherm?re, the ren- eral acceptance of the principle that \_!:he chief function of libraries is to encourage, by all appropriate means available, greater use of books. It is well that the protracted retention of the medieval viewpoint that libraries were museums intended for the safekeeping of books is fast disappearing. The character and complexity of the demands made on the modern college library constitute a per- petual challenge to the staffs to provide serv- ice adequate to meet these demands. Some of .the factors responsible are: (I) greater use· of library facilities in teaching, ( 2) more demands on the library by research workers who need easier access to the ever- increasing volume of research publications, 1 and ( 3) intensified efforts to stimulate read- ing in general, both on and off the campus. Basically, of course, the library should s'upport institutional programs/'(:haracter- istically, these programs for college libraries are principally teaching, research, and, in the case of land-grant collegy libraries/ ex- 1 Ca1"1son, William Hugh. "The Research Worker and the Library." College and Research Libraries 7 : 29I·300, October 1946. 2 The basic study about the libraries of the land - grant institutions is the section by Charles H. Brown cin U.S: Office of Education. Survey of Land-grant Colleges and Universities. Bulletin 1930, no. 9, v. z, p. 609-714, 1930. tension work It is not possible, for obvi- ous reasons, to outline a single program of service which would be applicable to all college libraries, but it is entirely possible and appropriate to discuss the opportunities . for service which are open to them ar Services rendered to undergraduate stu- dents pay the biggest dividends, potentially, of anything the library can do. Many stu- dents enter coll~ge without the remotest idea of how to use books or libraries or of the value to them of either. Yet they must be ta~ght the use # of both by the time of graduation to enable them to continue inde- pendently with an education just begun. The library in this respect renders an im- portant service to the institution in the achievement of its educational objectives. Undergraduate students go to the library for a number of reasons. 3 One of the chief reasons is assigned readings. Assigned reading rooms, generally, are operated on a closed-shelf basis. Many members of the faculty, especially the younger ones, often l prefer to have their books for assigned read- ings placed on open-shelf reserves. Li- brarians have · displayed timidity ·in doing this for fear the books would be stolen forth- with. Yet one library, on a trial basis, experimented with an open-shelf of re~erve books pertaining to marriage, admittedly a severe test. Only two books out of a shelf of sixty disappeared in a period of three s These reasons are noted in a study by H. V. Ga skill, Ral{lh M. Dunbar, and Charles H. Brown. "An Analytical Study of the Use of a College Library." Library Quarterly 4:564-87, October 1934. 340 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES months, a much lower rate of loss than that regularly suffered from the new book dis- play. Students should be encouraged to read for enjoyment and general informatiory Some , librarians believe this habit shou1d be in- stilled even if it is necessary to use detective stories as an initial inducement. As under- graduate students are not permitted to use the stacks, they must depend in their book selection upon the card catalog and displays of books. 'Fhese displays should range in character from collections of detective stories and other popular materials to sets of abstracting journals and encyclopedias. The displays will vary in extent from a single shelf of books to special seminars and large undergraduate -reading rooms,/ In conjunction with the book displays, bulletin boards should be used to display book jack- ets, book lists, posters about books .and authors, and · other materials. Even the front and editorial pages of the leading daily newspaper of the region will prove to be a star attraction if posted in a conspicuous place. Eternal vigilance must be exercised by the .library staff to guard against the possibility that undergraduate students may be slighted in favor of the faculty. It is easy enough to subscribe to the principle of equal con- sideration for both groups, according to their needs, but in practice it often does not work out that "\Vay. For example, the idea that a book should not be recalled from a professor for a student is untenable on any basis of fair and impartial service. Students are frequently justifiably sensitive about the privileges given to faculty which operate against their interests and convenience. Course in Use of Libraries The library s~ould offer a compulsory course of instruction to all freshmen in the use of books and libraries/ Compulsory is JULY, 1947 .. a harsh word, but no other basis of offering the work will attract even the majority of freshman students to such a course. Pref- erably, the course should carry credit. It is illogical not to give credit, as the potential value of the course in the lo·ng run far out- . ranks that of any other single course. The eourse should be taught by 'the library staff rather than by members of the English de- partment who are frequently 'unfamiliar with the bibliographies, reference books, and other materials in the scientific fields. Furthermore, if the library is prepared to do it, an elective credit course specializing in bibliographic research should be offered to upperclassmen, preferably in cooperation with the subject. departme~ts. Graduate students display little, if any, more knowledge than undergraduates of how to use books and libraries. It is not necessary here to argue the need for such ability. The library can make an important contribution to the graduate student's edu- cation by offering a course in bibliographic research open to all graduate students for either minor or major credi~ The course should emphasize knowledge and use of im- portant indexing and abstracting journals, practice in the preparation of bibliographies, and practice in correct citation of references to published and manuscript materials. The course should carry an hour's credit and should be taken during the first quarter, or semester, of the student's graduate ·work. Some libraries find it mutually helpful to offer a special library seminar every fall, and perhaps once each summer, to which new graduate students, as well as recently- appointed members of the faculty, are in- vited. Policies and services of the library can be discussed by the librarian, the refer- ence librarian, and the order liprarian. Brief information should be presented on the nature of the collections, policies fol- lowed in building up the collections, rules 341 ' and procedures of the library in general, in- terlibrary loans, photoduplication service, and the like. Usually one of the most bene- ficial features of such a seminar is the ques- tion-and-answer period which follows the brief talks by members of the library staff. Another service· to graduate students is editorial supervision of theses. This is a logic.al service for the library to perform for a number of reasons. The necessary authority to enforce standards for theses should be delegated to the library by the graduate college. A manual setting forth recommendations and rules relative to bib- liographic form, margin requirements, qual- ity of paper, titles of figures and tables, and other matters should be prepared. Well- written theses reflect credit on the institu- tion as well as on the author. The oppo- site is also true. Sometimes a graduate is rejected for employment because of a poorly- written thesis submitted as a part of his application. Faculty Use Varies Members of the faculty use the library in varying degrees depending, illogically enough, on their respective fields of major interest, and irrespective of their teaching and research activities. Nearly all, how- ever, need to be encouraged· to make greater use of the library. Frequently the library can render no more important service than to induce members of the faculty to read more in fields other than their own/' Because it is imperative that members of the teaching and research faculties keep up with current developments in their fields, the library should make every effort to as- sist them in gaining ready access to periodi- cals and books For example, procedures can be .worked out for routing recent issues of important periodicals on a short-time loan basis ,to departments and divisions of the college. Members of the staffs of these de- partments and divisions can then go to se~i­ nar or reading rooms to consult these ma- terials. Every feasible way should be utilized to inform readers of the availability of new books. ; A new book shelf should be main- tained' near the loan desk, where faculty and students alike may browse among the recent acqmsttions. A monthly list of re- cent accessions, arranged according to the classification scheme in use by the library, should be issued to all members of the fac- ulty on a mailing list basis. There should be close liaison between the \ library and the instructing staffs ~dv~n­ tage should be taken of every opportumty to encourage and assist faculty members in developing teaching methods which involve the use of library facilities by studenty Many instructors, for instance, welcome tfie chance to have a member of the library staff talk to their classes on library resources and their use in the preparation of student pa- pers and reports. Such talks may remove one cause of any hesitancy on the part of the faculty members in requiring extensive use of the library by their students. In the . assigned reading room the library can assist by providing ample numbers of materials, including photostats4 of items not available in the original editions. In this connection, it is quite appropriate for the library to keep a record of the circulation of assigned read- ing materials and to report 'to the faculty on books which are never, or seldom, used. Better service in the assigned reading room can be given if little-used publications are removed from the shelvey Assistance in Translating Assistance to readers who desire help with articles written in foreign languages is an- other logical service for the library For 'Orr, Robert W. "Photostats in a College Library." College and Research Libraries 7 !220·23, -July 1946. 342 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES example, the 'd~y is not far distant when research workers will have to find some means of reading the greatly increased vol- ume of Russian scientific literature which is in prospect. Not many of them will have the time or inclination to learn the Russian language, especially older members of the faculty. Unless special journals carrying translations of Russian articles are pub- lished, translators must be made available. As members of the library staff, these trans- lators co~ld assist nearly all of the depart- ments of the library with matters pertain- ing to the acquisition, processing, and cir- culation , of material published in Russian. Their assistance to members of the f~culty and to students for translating purposes could be available gratis when no more than a few minutes of time is required. Transla- tion of whole articles could be handled on a fee basis. It is quite possible, furthermore, that these specialists in Russian could also cooperate wjth the department of modern languages in teaching one or more courses in Russian. A great convenience to members of the faculty is the maintenance by the library of a campus messenger service for the purpose of delivering and picking up books from faculty offices. Unaccountably, there is on every campus a · psychological hazard which oftentimes deters members of the faculty from gojng to the library for books, even if the library is merely across the street. The availability of messenger service in. these i~stances may encourage faculty mem- bers to ask for and to return books to the library. If such a service is not possible, arrangements could be made for strategical- ly-placed deposit boxes in different build- ings into which books could be put for later pickup by the library. Off-Campus Service There are also off-campus readers who JULY, 1947 need library service. Inasmuch as the land- grant college is a publicly-supported insti- tution, the library has an obligation to be of what service5 it can to the peopie resid- ing in the · area served by the agricultural · extensiofl service. Largely, such service will depend on the resourcefulness of the library staff as well as their willingness tQ make the added effort involved. The li- brary can provide services to these people by the means of interlibrary loa.ns, book talks, and reviews over the radio, 6 and the assistance of an extension librarian. • There are certain general •library se~vices available to all readers at public service desks which are best discussed as such. In- terlibrary loan service, incoming and out- going, is one of them. Over-the-counter loan desk service is anot!ier. Reference service is a third, and there are others. The whole qu~stion of interlibrary loan service is in need of considerable study. This is attested to by the fact that very often it is referred to as the problem of interlibrary loans. Too often studies of this service take the form of discussions relative to details as · to the best form for requests, how much bibliographical ':data should be in'cluded in the request, and ·the like. What should be determined are such considerations as: ( 1) what types of ma- terials should be lent and to whom; ( 2) for what types of readers and for what pur- poses should lipraries request loans; and ( 3) what alternatives to interlibrary loans are there. Libraries should not bortow extensively to support institutional programs of research or instruction. Such material should be purchased. If the m