College and Research Libraries By J O H N C. A B B O T T and DAVID KASER The Coordination of Faculty Services Mr. Abbott is librarian of Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas; Mr. Kaser is assistant in gifts and exchanges, University of Michigan Library. TH E R E H A S B E E N considerable discus-sion recently about providing better library service and facilities to the un- dergraduate. Many universities are thinking in terms of undergraduate li- braries, either of the L a m o n t type or of the lower divisional variety developed at Iowa. Colleges, too, are developing their own adaptations of these plans. It does not appear, however, that equivalent at- tention is being given to another m a j o r component of academic library clientele: the faculty member. From the service point of view, the faculty member has been the forgotten m a n in library thinking for some time. T h e r e seems to be an assumption that he is mature, that he has fulfilled his re- search apprenticeship, and that he ought to know how to get what he wants out of a collection of books. T h e result is that he has been left largely to his own devices. H e has a few troubles, b u t he usually feels that many of these are the fault of the library. H e may be right. T h e fact is, however, that the average faculty member can get along only "pret- ty well" in a library. Certainly there must be more effective means for dealing with his needs t h a n those currently in use. U n d e r the functional system of library organization the two chief service areas are the reference and circulation depart- ments. A large share of the problems of the faculty member, however, are of a different nature f r o m those with which these departments are designed to deal. T h e faculty member comes to the library to do research, to see how he can relate class assignments to the library's re- sources, to plan a new course, to discuss the development of the library's collec- tions in his area of specialty. A half century ago he would probably have taken all these problems to the chief librarian, b u t today that position is filled by a busy administrator. T h e instructor is confronted instead with a battery of officers and underlings, each with his own separate area of responsibility. H e is f o r t u n a t e if he can find a single person who has competence in, interest in, or responsibility for, his field of interest. Yet why should this situation exist? T h e r e are probably more people with advanced subject training working in libraries today then ever before. Many specialists are being assimilated into the library's order, catalog, reference, and circulation departments, or into divi- sional or departmental libraries, where their subject training is often subord- inated, sometimes overwhelmingly, to their other duties. Undoubtedly such specialists could do much more to assist the faculty member if, for purposes of administrative facility, they were not tied to a particular department. It is the purpose of this paper to sug- gest that if these specialists could be released from their more general library duties and each given the responsibility of assisting the faculty member in their m u t u a l area of specialization, library- faculty relations could be greatly im- proved. As a staff officer, the province of such a specialist would cut horizontally across all conventional lines of library departmentalization, thus enabling h i m to give many services "between the JANUARY, 1956 13- l i n e s . " D e p e n d i n g u p o n l o c a l c i r c u m - s t a n c e s , h e m i g h t d e a l w i t h o n l y o n e a c a d e m i c d e p a r t m e n t , o r h e m i g h t b e c o n c e r n e d w i t h s e v e r a l r e l a t e d d e p a r t - m e n t s . I n s o m e i n s t a n c e s h i s f u n c t i o n m i g h t c u t across s e v e r a l d e p a r t m e n t s , b u t n o t f u l l y i n c l u d e a n y of t h e m . I n a c t u a l p r a c t i c e i t m i g h t b e m o r e s u i t a b l e t o call h i m t h e " H i s t o r i c a l S t u d i e s L i - b r a r i a n , " o r t h e " S l a v i c S t u d i e s L i b r a r - i a n , " o r s o m e o t h e r s i m i l a r t e r m m o r e p r e c i s e l y d e s c r i p t i v e of h i s d u t i e s . I n a d d i t i o n t o h i s a d v a n c e d s u b j e c t t r a i n i n g , t h i s s p e c i a l i s t w o u l d h a v e a n e x t e n s i v e k n o w l e d g e of t h e l i b r a r y , its c a t a l o g s , its c o l l e c t i o n s , a n d its p e c u - l i a r i t i e s — t h o s e e v e r - p r e s e n t i n d i v i d u a l i s - t i c e l e m e n t s w h i c h o n l y t h e h i s t o r y of t h e i n s t i t u t i o n c a n e x p l a i n . B e s i d e s h a v - i n g a w i d e f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h b i b l i o g r a p h i - c a l tools, h e w o u l d k n o w s o m e t h i n g of t h e h i s t o r i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t of h i s s u b j e c t , b e f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e b o o k t r a d e , a n d h a v e a b a s i c k n o w l e d g e of t h e p r i n c i - p l e s of b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l d e s c r i p t i o n . H e s h o u l d h a v e t r a i n i n g i n f o r e i g n l a n - g u a g e s . H e s h o u l d b e a c q u a i n t e d w i t h t h e e x i s t e n c e i n o t h e r l i b r a r i e s of re- s e a r c h c o l l e c t i o n s p e r t a i n i n g t o h i s s u b - j e c t . H e s h o u l d b e e x p e c t e d t o b e l o n g t o p r o f e s s i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n h i s spe- c i a l s u b j e c t a r e a as w e l l as t o t h e a p - p r o p r i a t e l i b r a r y a s s o c i a t i o n s . I n t h e w a y of r e s e a r c h a s s i s t a n c e , h e w o u l d n o t o n l y c o m p i l e b i b l i o g r a p h i e s f o r f a c u l t y m e m b e r s , as is a l r e a d y b e i n g d o n e i n s o m e a c a d e m i c l i b r a r i e s , b u t h e w o u l d a l s o a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e s a n d b o o k s , a r r a n g e f o r t r a n s l a t i o n s of a r t i c l e s w r i t - t e n i n l a n g u a g e s o u t s i d e t h e l i n g u i s t i c c o m p e t e n c e of t h e i n s t r u c t o r , s e a r c h f o r , c o l l e c t , a n d o r g a n i z e d a t a , c a r r y o n cor- r e s p o n d e n c e w i t h o t h e r r e s e a r c h l i b r a r - ies r e g a r d i n g m a t e r i a l s ; i n s h o r t , d o e v e r y t h i n g u s e f u l t o t h e r e s e a r c h e r w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of t h e a c t u a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h e d a t a . S i n c e h e w o u l d d e v o t e m u c h of h i s t i m e t o t h i s t y p e of w o r k , h e c o u l d p r e s u m a b l y d o it b e t t e r , m o r e a c c u r a t e - ly, efficiently, a n d r a p i d l y t h a n a n in- s t r u c t o r , w h o , b e c a u s e of h i s o t h e r aca- d e m i c o b l i g a t i o n s , c a n d e v o t e o n l y a f e w h o u r s a w e e k t o its a c c o m p l i s h m e n t . T h i s p r i n c i p l e h a s l o n g b e e n r e c o g n i z e d i n l e g i s l a t i v e r e f e r e n c e services a t b o t h t h e f e d e r a l a n d s t a t e levels. T h e o b l i g a t i o n s of t h e l i b r a r i a n i n t h i s t y p e of w o r k w o u l d e x t e n d w e l l be- y o n d t h e r e s e a r c h a s s i s t a n c e f u n c t i o n . S i n c e h e w o u l d b e a l m o s t as m u c h a m e m b e r of t h e a c a d e m i c d e p a r t m e n t as of t h e l i b r a r y staff, h e m i g h t , w e l l b e o b l i g a t e d t o a t t e n d a l l d e p a r t m e n t a l f a c u l t y m e e t i n g s , a c t i n g as a r e s o u r c e p e r s o n t o t h e f a c u l t y i n l i b r a r y p r o b - l e m s . H e m i g h t w e l l s e r v e o n d i s s e r t a - t i o n c o m m i t t e e s . I n t h i s c a p a c i t y h e w o u l d b e e s p e c i a l l y h e l p f u l i n t h e be- g i n n i n g stages w h e n t h e s u b j e c t of t h e d i s s e r t a t i o n is b e i n g assessed i n t e r m s of t h e a v a i l a b l e l i b r a r y r e s o u r c e s . I t w o u l d b e h i s d u t y t o k e e p i n f o r m e d r e g a r d i n g t h e a s s i g n m e n t s b e i n g g i v e n by i n s t r u c - t o r s . I n t h i s w a y h e w o u l d b e i n a posi- t i o n t o m a k e s u g g e s t i o n s t h a t w o u l d k e e p s u c h a s s i g n m e n t s r e a l i s t i c a l l y re- l a t e d t o t h e r e s o u r c e s of t h e c o l l e c t i o n s . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , h e w o u l d b e a b l e t o see t h a t t h e l i b r a r y a n t i c i p a t e d t h e de- m a n d s t h a t w o u l d b e m a d e u p o n i t . W h e n n e w c o u r s e s w e r e b e i n g c o n s i d - e r e d , h i s a d v i c e r e g a r d i n g t h e l i b r a r y ' s r e s o u r c e s i n t h e a r e a w o u l d b e v a l u a b l e . H e h i m s e l f w o u l d p r o b a b l y b e t h e n a t u - r a l p e r s o n t o t e a c h c o u r s e s i n b i b l i o g r a - p h y a n d t o l e c t u r e o n l i b r a r y u s e a n d f a c i l i t i e s . O n e of t h e m o r e i m p o r t a n t f u n c t i o n s of t h i s s p e c i a l i s t w o u l d b e as b i b l i o g r a - p h e r i n h i s s u b j e c t a r e a , w h e r e h e w o u l d b e c h a r g e d w i t h a m a j o r p a r t of t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e s y s t e m a t i c d e v e l - o p m e n t of t h e b o o k c o l l e c t i o n s . H e w o u l d i n f o r m f a c u l t y of a v a i l a b l e i t e m s l i k e l y t o b e of i n t e r e s t . F a c u l t y r e q u e s t s w o u l d g o t h r o u g h h i m f o r h i s sugges- t i o n s , if n o t a p p r o v a l . H e c o u l d w o r k closely w i t h t h e d i r e c t o r a n d t h e d e p a r t - m e n t i n l o c a t i n g a n d assessing s p e c i a l c o l l e c t i o n s t h a t m i g h t b e p u r c h a s e d o r 14 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES obtained for the library as gifts. H e would aid in filling in gaps in the col- lections that might be called to his at- tention by new instructors. I n short, he would keep his bibliographical acumen at all times at the faculty's disposal. Conceivably, over a period of time, as the faculty learned respect for his schol- arly integrity, it might choose to relin- quish to h i m the m a j o r b u r d e n of book selection. T h e r e are, of course, many other ways in which such a person could facilitate the faculty member's work with the li- brary's collections. He could see that a dictating machine is available to the faculty member who chooses to take his notes on tapes or wires or cylinders. T h e same could be true of typewriters, photo- copying devices, or whatever other me- chanical conveniences science is making available. H e could have student assist- ants search current periodicals, notifying faculty members when articles appear on subjects in which they have indicated their interests. H e could see that local indexes were maintained of subject ma- terials which do not receive that treat- ment f r o m usual indexing media. H e could keep informed as to the location of other research collections; and he should be free to travel to consult such collections when a particular research problem being pursued demands. Ex- perience and imagination would indi- cate other areas in which such a librar- ian could render valuable service to the faculty member. Of course the specialist's services need not be confined to the faculty. Certain- ly he frequently would be called u p o n by the library staff itself to assist in solv- ing complex classification problems and in answering reference questions that required special knowledge. If the un- dergraduate h a d needs that the refer- ence d e p a r t m e n t was unable to fill, the student could consult the specialist. Graduate students would consult him more often, but since they are expected to perform for themselves certain aca- demic "finger exercises" as part of their educational experience, they would re- ceive more guidance t h a n active assist- ance. Probably the specialist's services would not be too much in d e m a n d by students, however, because their concern with the library is unidimensional; they are interested in it only as a source of information. T h e faculty member not only shares this concern, b u t in addition has obligations regarding the selection of books and the coordination of his course work with the resources and services of the library. In addition to the better service and better book collections that would re- sult f r o m such a program, it would seem reasonable to expect several other fortu- nate developments. For example, it is probable, that such assistance would f u r t h e r stimulate productive research in the campus community. It should help to minimize f u r t h e r departmentaliza- tion of the collections, since in the per- formance of his duties the specialist would be providing many of the services that the faculty expects to gain u n d e r the departmental arrangement. It would help to raise the status of librarians among academic personnel. T h e crea- tion of such a position would make the profession more attractive to capable persons with strong subject backgrounds. I n addition to being an excellent train- ing g r o u n d for higher administrative responsibility, it would also be an area in which capable people not interested in administrative work might rise to the top of the profession. It is not supposed that full acceptance of this service could be established over- night. In some areas there would be skepticism. Advances would have to be made a step at a time; there would have to be adaptations to fit local conditions. For example, the local library would probably find it impracticable to estab- lish immediately a department of sub- (Continued on page 40) JANUARY, 1956 15- that the Library of Congress p r i n t e d catalog does not by any m a n n e r of means include all the references in the Library of Congress card catalogs, a precedent which might well hold for the published National U n i o n Catalog. And for entries u n d e r a variety of forms, the editors must do their best a n d allowance must be made in the published work for a certain a m o u n t of inconsistency. I t would be easy to spend millions of dollars in editing the catalog, b u t this must be avoided. A bird in the h a n d is worth two in the bush. T h e i n t e n t of this p a p e r is to urge the acceptance of a limited program for the publication of the National U n i o n Catalog. I n essence the publication would be com- plementary to the Library of Congress print- ed catalog, as well as to the various other accepted bibliographies. It would not be a complete a n d perfect bibliography, but it would be a tremendously valuable biblio- graphical tool, both for the location of copies a n d for the compilation of bibliogra- phies of various kinds. W i t h the proposed expansion of the Library of Congress Au- thor Catalog into a u n i o n catalog, b e g i n n i n g next year, the time has come to reproduce the retrospective National U n i o n Catalog to the best of o u r ability. If general agree- m e n t can be reached on this proposal, we could ask the Library of Congress to study the costs involved, to estimate the size of the subsidy, if any, that would be required, to make possible a publication at a low enough price so that the whole project would be- come feasible. Future Program (Continued from page 12) provide readers with information on de- velopments in the audio-visual field. A number of readers have already ex- pressed favorable comments on this new feature. Librarians in practice can assist in improving the journal by writing and by encouraging their staff members to write. If there is any single criterion to guide writers, it is to present new ideas. Contributors should follow the basic style of the journal in presentation, foot- note citations, and tabular organization. We are counting on your full coopera- tion.—Maurice F. Tauber, Editor. Faculty Service (Continued from page 13) ject specialists, but the functions of the specialist might well be performed im- mediately under the office of the direc- tor, or out of a subject divisional li- brary, or out of a departmental library. It is believed, however, that once the service is created the confidence and sup- port necessary to its success would soon be established in sufficient degree to make the innovation successful. Certainly the librarian convinced of the efficacy of his calling will not cringe at improving or increasing services. Let the faint-hearted but look back over the progress of the last half-century and see how far he has come already. He should note also that special libraries have al- ways given most of the services discussed above. Indeed, the coordination of fac- ulty services entails little more than the adaptation of certain special library practices to an academic situation. Use of TAAB (Continued from page 18) which TAAB service provides. In conclusion, it might be said that the TAAB method has the virtue of be- ing cooperative, comprehensive and competitive. It is cooperative in the sense that libraries and booksellers derive mu- tual benefit in a new and imaginative way. Comprehensiveness is achieved by the large-scale attention given by book- sellers to an individual library's wants. It is competitive because of the number of dealers involved and this tends to en- courage low quoting on items desired. T h e method has much to recommend it. 40 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES