College and Research Libraries Catalog Use Study Calalog Use Study [sponsored by] Amer- ican Library Association, Resources and Technical Services Division, Cataloging and Classification Section, Policy and Re- search Committee; director's report by Sidney L. Jackson; edited by Vaclav Mos- tecky. Chicago: American Library Associa- tion, 1958. 86p. $2.25. There have been studies of catalog users before, but nothing quite as broad in scope as this one. The Catalog Use Study was undertaken to identify the demands made on the catalog by its actual users, to meas- ure the adequacy with which the catalog is meeting these demands, to isolate areas in need of more thorough investigation, and to produce a reliable interview form and re- lated tools. A few statistics will give an in- dication of its magnitude: during a twelve- week period, 5,494 interviews were conduct- ed at 39 libraries, which included 2 gen- eral research, 15 college and university, 6 spe- cial-subject (5 serving professional schools), 10 public, and 6 high-school libraries; 137 interviewers were used; and an advisory committee of 34 authorities was utilized. The present report, a summary and in- terpretation of the findings, was written by the project's director, Sidney L. Jackson of the Brooklyn Public Library, and edited by Vaclav Mostecky of Catholic University. Sponsors of the study were the Norman Bas- sett Foundation, the United States Steel Foundation, and the former Division of Cat- aloging and Classification of the ALA. With such a wealth of data to work with, it is not surprising that this report occupies eighty-six pages of text and includes eighteen statistical tables. In fact, it is evident that a laudable and successful effort was made to restrict the presentation to the most sig- nificant findings and correlations revealed by the study. However, most of these find- ings, and the recommendations arising from them, will come as no surprise to those familiar with the results of other studies of catalog users. For this reason, it is probable that a major function to be served by the Catalog Use Study will reside in its furnish- ing massive statistical support for thoughts previously expressed as personal impressions or as results obtained from smaller samples. Perhaps the most significant finding is the one dealing with the effectiveness of the catalog in succeeding in identifying desired items for the user, items which were actual- ly in the library and for which cards were filed somewhere in the catalog. The re- sulting "batting averages" were 67 to 83 per cent success for known-item searches and 80 to 87 per cent for subject searches. Further- more, the leading cause of the failures that did occur was found to be incomplete or in- correct information on the part of the user. Such library controversies as filing arrange- ment and selection of main entry were found to be of relatively minor importance to users. On these grounds, the study states that there is "strong evidence that the cat- alog is a reliable and reasonably efficient tool." This conclusion furnishes heavy am- munition against charges that the card cat- alog should be abolished as a complete fail- ure and impossibility. On the other hand, it does not take into account the people who for various reasons do not use the cat- alog; in restricting the study to actual cat- alog users, we may be looking at a group which is somewhat more skillful than aver- age, due to natural processes of selection and evolution, and we can only speculate as to what makes a person a non-user. Other important results of the study: oral citations were the major source of references sought in the catalog; inexperience and un- familiarity with the catalog were frequent causes of difficulty; the number of search failures increased directly with the size of the catalog; divided catalogs failed only about half as often as dictionary catalogs; the subject part of the catalog was more dif- ficult to use, even for librarians, than the author-title parts; and cards under a given subject heading were usually selected by the patron according to date of publication rather than alphabetical position. Recom- mendations dealing with deficiencies in pa- trons and librarians as well as the catalog are provided to guide our efforts for im- provement. Again, we have seen most of these recommendations before, such as im- proving library instruction to students, pro- viding explanatory material and staff as- sistants at the catalog, examining the subject heading structure, supplementing catalog 84 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES use with printed bibliographic tools, and putting more cross-references, title cards, and analytics into the catalog, but the study provides us with statistical, in addition to logical, bases for its arguments. One other finding and recommendation deserves special comment: the average li- brary staff member turned out to be no more capable in using the catalog than was the average patron! The ensuing recom- mendation is, naturally, that "librarians serving the public at the catalog should be trained specifically in the use of that cat- alog." But this does not dispose of the bas- ic question which must arise in the minds of administrators, librarians, and educators alike: why weren't the formal schooling, the on-the-job training, and the working expe- rience sufficient to give the library staff member a clear edge over the average user? A number of shortcomings in the research methodology employed are discussed in a frank chapter entitled "Problems of Meth- od." In particular, the non-random nature of the sample, both in terms of libraries and patrons, is pointed out, but the feeling is that the great number of interviews ob- tained will compensate for it somewhat. Other weaknesses would include the use of library staff members as interviewers, and having these interviewers consciously select their respondents according to their own in- dividual judgments as to the representative- ness of the sample being obtained. Several improvements to remove weaknesses and in- consistencies in the interview questionnaire, which consisted of forty-five check-off or short-answer items, were suggested. A chrono- logical, or open-ended, type of interview form was rejected early in the study, but is worthy of further consideration if other studies of this type are conducted. Evidence for this is presented in the six "case studies" included in Appendix D of the report; these analyses were based on comments written on the backs of the questionnaires by the inter- viewers, and provide a richness and depth of understanding which often eclipse that of the statistically-tabulated data. The authors state that an outside group would still not be able to surmount these herent in the nature of the study. This view methodological difficulties believed to be in- becomes untenable when we stop to con- sider the complex studies pursued by mark- et researchers, pooling and sampling survey- ors, and other sociological investigators. As long as we keep insisting that our problems are somehow "different" from those being successfully attacked by such specialists, the quality of our research will be kept inferior to what it otherwise might become. Nevertheless, the Catalog Use Study rep- resents a monumental effort to improve the card catalog by considering the needs and habits of its users. Those who subscribe to this sensible approach will profit from a careful reading of the report.—Robert S. Meyer, University of California. F o r Every College Librarian A Study of Factors Influencing College Stu- dents to Become Librarians. By Agnes Lyt- ton Reagan. Chicago: Association of Col- lege and Research Libraries, 1958. viii 11 Op. (ACRL Monographs, Number 21). This monograph should be read by every college librarian who has a genuine interest in students and a manifest belief in the worth of librarianship. Since every college librarian should have these two qualities, this would mean a wider reading than this monograph probably will receive. Conse- quently, it is also recommended for reading by every librarian—school, public, or spe- cial—who is interested in securing new and excellent personnel for the library profes- sion. The study by Dr. Reagan, submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Li- brary Science at the University of Illinois, is a well-organized and scholarly attempt to identify and study factors in institutions of higher education which may influence students in their choice of librarianship as a career. The background, description, and meth- odology of the study are presented in com- pact form. A review of the literature on the subject of recruiting as related to librarians covers some seventy-five publications. Steps in the procedure followed in the collection and treatment of data included: (1) the com- pilation of information on the educational backgrounds of recent graduates and stu- JANUARY 1959 85