College and Research Libraries Topic A COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES These words are written as planning is underway for two library confer- ences in New York State to occur within a month of each other. They have as their subject, librarians and collective bargaining-a topic of dominat- ing interest in many of our libraries. ACRL itself will give national atten- tion to the subject this summer in its preconference institute, planned for San Francisco in June: "Collective Bargaining in Higher Education: Its Im- plications for Governance and Faculty Status for Librarians." As a prelude to the forthcoming ACRL institute, this issue of College & Research Libraries features a group of articles related to the subject of the conference, with the hope that they will stimulate thought and gener- ate interest in the meeting. Dwight R. Ladd's opening article, "Myths and Realities of University Governance," based on his address at the ACRL meeting in July 1974, pro- vides a context for the later articles as he points out the fallacies of our in- stitutions of higher education considering themselves self-governing and operating within an environment of consensus. Two articles from Michigan and Pennsylvania show how academic li- brarians' rights and privileges have been established or reaffirmed as a re- sult of the collective bargaining process. Reports from California and New York discuss and question the role of the professional association in an era of collective bargaining. Both articles agree that there is a role for both professional organizations and unions. The report from California looks upon the professional organization as providing a "managerial work- shop" for librarians in their career development; whereas, the report from New York looks to the professional association to communicate librarians' needs to the union as a pressure group. Although the earlier articles concentrate on librarians and collective bar- gaining, Michael Simonds' contribution to this issue directs its attention to clerical employees in two Philadelphia university libraries and their atti- tudes toward their work and their unions. This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Midwest Academic Li- brarians Conference, a "nonorganization" of college and university librari- ans. This issue concludes with H. Vail Deale's record of MALC's second decade, which supplements his earlier account from 1964. We join with others in the profession in wishing MALC a happy anniversary and con- tinued success in its "commitment to communication." R.D.J. /95 Wl\v not handle your foreign affairs domestically? There is no need to rely on one subscription agency for your domestic periodicals and another for your foreign. The F. W. Faxon Company is an international subscription agency handling peri- odicals from coast to coast and then around the world. You can place one order for all your periodi- cals- for serials, annuals, newspapers, govern- ment documents- domestic and foreign- and receive one annual invoice with a complete listing of all your titles. Our Foreign Department handles translations and keeps up-to-date with the changing status of foreign currencies. They maintain files and records on the publication frequencies of any irregular foreign "bill later" titles. All foreign orders and correspondence are sent air mail. We maintain excellent business re- lations with over 2,000 foreign publishers. We presently list over 8,000 foreign titles and are constantly adding more. Use Faxon's expertise. You'll find there's no language barrier at Faxon. Library Business is our only Business- since 1881. roo F. W. FAXOn COmPAnY, InC. 15 Southwest Park, Westwood, MA. 02090 Tel. 800-225-7894 (toll free) 617-329-3350 (collect in Mass. and Canada only)