College and Research Libraries BARBARA J. SMITH Background Characteristics and Education Needs of a Group of Instruction Librarians in Pennsylvania This paper summarizes a study conducted on a group of instruction librarians in Pennsylvania to describe their backgrounds and determine their percep- tions regarding the adequacy of their preparation and their needs for addi- tional training. The study revealed: (1) over 60 percent of the group has taken credit courses dealing with instruction; (2) the majority is trained as reference librarians and works in that area now; (3) they are professionally active and read appropriate journals; ( 4) they participate in appropriate continuing edu- cation activities; (5) they see previous teaching experience as important; and (6) they feel they are adequately prepared, but see benefit from additional ed- ucation. A SURVEY wAS coNnucrED in the spring of 1980 as part of a doctoral dissertation to de- termine education and training characteris- tics of a group of instruction librarians at se- lected colleges and universities in Pennsylvania. 1 The chief library administra- tors at these institutions were contacted; they identified a population of 145 librarians in- volved in bibliographic instruction. A ques- tionnaire was mailed to these librarians. Of the librarians who returned the question- naire, 12 did not meet the minimum require- ments of an MLS degree and two years' in- struction experience, producing a sample of 133 and yielding 120 eligible completed questionnaires and a response rate of 90 per- cent. Many of these librarians took the time to comment on the survey, reflecting profes- sional commitment and a lively interest in bibliographic instruction. Thirty-nine questions concerning the edu- Barbara]. Smith is assistant dean, University Li- braries, Pennsylvania State University , University Park. cation and training of these librarians, as well as their perceptions regarding the ade- quacy of their preparation, and their needs for additional training, produced data to an- swer the objectives of the study. These objec- tives were: 1. to determine if librarians engaged in biblipgraphic instruction received education and training, particularly in learning theory, teaching methodology, and/or instructional development; 2. to determine how and when education, training, and experience related to biblio- graphic instruction were gained; 3. to identify education and training needs of bibliographic instruction librarians as perceived by the population; 4. to gather limited demographic infor- mation about the population; and 5. to identify associations between the background of the respondents and their per- ceptions regarding (a) their need for further education and training, and (b) the ade- quacy of their backgrounds when they first engaged in bibliographic instruction. Several assumptions were made in design- I 199 200 I College & Research Libraries • May 1982 ing the study: (1) credit course work in learn- ing. theory, teaching methodology, or in- structional development (comprehensive curriculum development and evaluation), coupled with the MLS degree constitute ap- propriate background to engage in biblio- graphic instruction; (2) two years' experience in bibliographic instruction is sufficient to permit the librarians involved to make judgements as to whether their preparation was adequate; (3) concentration in reference work in an MLS program, or assignment to reference duties implies an awareness of bib- liographic instruction concerns; (4) member- ship and activity in professional library and education organizations imply an awareness of bibliographic instruction programs and their problems; and (5) regular reading of li- brary and education journals implies an awareness of bibliographic instruction and the problems associated with it. The academic institutions involved in the study were selected to include a contained geographical area with the assumption that close proximity would ensure an adequate re- sponse rate. And although the institutions are public, they offer the full range of academic programs, from two-year associate degrees to doctoral degrees, and are involved in con- tinuing education programs as well, provid- ing a diverse environment for bibliographic instruction. Location enrollments range from 300 to 32,000. These institutions were chosen, also, because their libraries were known to offer bibliographic instruction to their students. . Responses represent all institutions in- volved. Descriptive statistics and crosstabu- lations on selected questionnaire responses were employed in analyzing the data. Several studies have considered the educa- tion of academic librarians, but few have at- tempted to describe the background of in- struction librarians. One exception is a study conducted by Roberts in 1978 concerning credit course instruction at ten State Univer- sity of New York campuses; 2 the librarians described are an elite group involved in credit instruction 'only, however. Bits and pieces of descriptions of instruction librari- ans are contained in several surveys and di- rectories compiled by various state and re- gional organizations, but none reviewed is particularly comprehensive. FINDINGS These librarians are not young. As table 1 shows, less than 3 percent are under thirty; more than half are forty or older; more than one-quarter are fifty or older. They have considerable experience. Seventy-five per- cent have been involved in bibliographic in- struction for six or more years; nearly a third for twelve or more years. As expected, given the ages of these librarians, they earned their professional degrees some years ago. Seventy-six percent received the MLS degree ten or more years ago; nearly half earned their degrees ten to fourteen years ago. Ninety-one percent of these librarians are as- signed to instruction activities less than half- time. Thirty-nine percent of the respondents hold or are working toward a second master's degree; 15 percent hold or have in progress a doctoral degree. TABLE 1 SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS (N= 120) Characteristic Frequency Percent Sex: M~ ~ ~ Female 72 61 No response 2 Age: 20-29 4 3 30-39 45 38 40-49 38 32 50 or older 31 26 No response 2 Years since MLS degree earned: 0-4 6 5 5-9 23 19 10-14 56 47 15-19 18 15 20 or more 17 14 Years assigned to bibliographic instruction: 0-2 8 7 3-5 21 18 6-8 27 22 9-11 27 22 12 or more 37 31 Bibliographic instruction assignment: • Full-time 3 3 Half-time 8 7 Less than half-time 109 91 Graduate degrees held: MLSt 120 100 Additional master's 47 .39 Doctorate 18 ·15 Note: Rounding errors account for column totals ~ 100 percent. •Ninety-eight percent of the librarians are full-time employees. tlndividuals not holding this first professional degree were eliminated from the study . Formal education and training in appro- priate areas are present in the backgrounds of a majority of these librarians. As table 2 shows, 61 percent indicated they had taken a credit course in learning theory, teaching methodology, or instructional development; 52 percent did so while earning their under- graduate degrees. Only 17 percent indicated they received such education and training as part of the course work in their MLS degree programs. Only 13 percent indicated course work related to instruction was part of a sec- ond master's degree, 4 percent as part of a doctoral degree. Indications of education and training of a general nature related to bibliographic in- struction are set out in the data in table 3. Only 12 percent of the respondents pa.rtici- pated in appropriate in-service training pro- grams, which is more a negative comment on the libraries than the librarians involved. It is interesting to see that fully 55 percent of the respondents concentrated in reference work while pursuing their professional degrees. The amount of self-education as measured by journal reading is considerable. Ninety-eight percent of these librarians regularly read one or more library journals. Fifty-nine percent regularly read one or more education jour- nals. (Regular reading was defined in the questionnaire as reading every issue of a jour- nal.) Many continue to build their back- grounds by participating in instruction- related continuing education activities. The data show that 54 percent participated in one or more such activities in the past two years. The amount of related experience and pro- fessional activity is also considerable, as shown in the data displayed in table 4. TABLE 2 CREDIT CouRSE WoRK IN LEARNING THEORY' TEACHING METHODOLOGY' OR INSTRUCfiONAL DEVELOPMENT (N= 120) Course Work Frequency Percent Undergraduate deftree 62 52 Master's degree in ibrary science 20 17 Additional master's degree 16 13 Doctoral degree 5 4 Degree and nondegree course work* 73 61 •N= 119. Librarians in Pennsylvania I 201 TABLE 3 INSTRUCfiON-RELATED EDUCATION AND TRAINING (N= 120) Type of Education and Training Frequency Percent In-service programs* 14 12 MLSdegree concentration: r Acquisitions 0 0 Administration 4 3 Cataloging 2 2 Reference 65 55 Other 20 17 No concentration 28 24 No response 1 Self-education as indicated by number of library journals read: 0 3 3 1 8 7 2 25 21 3 or more 84 70 Self-education as indicated by number of education journals read : 0 50 42 1 27 23 2 18 15 3 or more 25 21 Number of continuing education activities in past two years: 0 56 47 1 16 13 2 18 15 3 15 13 4 or more 15 13 Note: Rounding errors account for column totals > 100 percent. •N=119. rconcentration in reference is the only response indicating appropriate background was received . Twenty-eight percent of the respondents have taught credit courses in bibliographic instruction; 23 percent had college level teaching experience before they became in- volved in bibliographic instruction; and 47 percent had prior elementary- or secondary- level teaching experience. Over half of the respondents have the major part of their non- instruction time assigned to the complemen- tary area of reference work. Table 4 also shows that only 14 percent of the respondents have published, and that less than one- quarter have engaged in studies dealing with bibliographic instruction. These librarians are involved in professional organizations to a large degree, however. Seventy-nine per- cent indicated membership in two or more professional library organizations; 32 per- cent in two or more professional education organizations. Forty-one percent held office in a library organization in the past two 202 I College & Research Libraries • May 1982 TABLE 4 RELATED EXPERIENCE AND PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY (N= 120) Experience or Activity Frequency Percent Taught credit courses in bibliographic instruction Complementary noninstruction assignment in reference work* College level teaching experience 33 62 28 23 52 23 Elementary- or secondary-level teaching experiencet Articles published or accepted Studies conducted or in progress* Professional organization activity in past two years: Library organization membership 0-1 2-3 4-5 6or more Library organization office hel,d Yes No Nota member Education organization membership 0-1 2-3 4-5 6or more Education organization office held Yes No Nota member Note: Rounding errors account for column totals > 100 percent . •N= 119. tN= 118. years; only 11 percent did so in ~n education organization. The level of current continuing education activity is encouraging. As shown in table 5, 54 percent of the respondents indicated they participated in one or more such activities in the past two years. Nearly one third (30 per- TABLE 5 TIMING OF APPROPRIATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING (N= 120) Activity Frequency Percent Continuing education activities in the past two years: 0 ~ ~ 1 16 13 2 18 15 3 15 13 4 or more 15 13 Course work: Before instruction assignment 52 After instruction assignment 9 Both 11 No response 48 Note: Rou ndin g errors account for column totals < 100 percent. 72 13 15 56 47 17 14 29 24 26 22 68 57 21 18 5 4 47 41 69 58 2 2 82 68 29 24 8 7 1 1 13 11 84 70 23 19 cent) indicated they engaged in three or more related activities in the same time period. Al- though only seventy-two respondents (60 percent of the total group) reported they had taken credit courses in learning theory, teaching methodology, or instructional de- velopment, 72 percent of them indicated that this occurred before they were assigned to bibliographic instruction. As shown in table 6, 54 percent of the li- brarians in this study reported they gained relevant education and training through self- study (commonly referred to as independent TABLE 6 PERCEPTIONS OF PRIMARY MEANS BY WHICH APPROPRIATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING WERE GAINED (N= 120) Means Frequency Self-study 63 In-service programs 1 Conferences 1 Workshops 2 Credit courses 34 Other 11 No response 8 Percent 56 1 1 2 30 10 study). That only 3 percent indicated that conferences and workshops were the primary means of acquiring the background in ques- tion was unexpected. The data further show that 30 percent of the respondents saw credit courses as their primary means of prepara- tion. Several factors were identified which could influence whether or not librarians gained the necessary education and training. As the data in table 7 show, libraries con- tinue as they have in the past; they make few demands on librarians to qualify for biblio- graphic instruction. 3 Only 7 percent of the respondents indicated they had to meet any special requirements beyond the MLS degree to participate in an instruction program. Furthermore, only 12 percent indicated their libraries provided in-service training for them. Eighty percent of the respondents see their library administrations as supportive of bibliographic instruction programs yet only 19 percent indicated they received financial support for appropriate education and train- ing. Of the twenty-three librarians who re- ceived financial support, 52 percent indi- cated the funding they received supported more than half of their expenses. It must be kept in mind that participation in biblio- graphic instruction programs continues to be Librarians in Pennsylvania I 203 part-time, however. The present study rein- forces that belief; 91 percent of the respond- ing librarians reported being assigned to in- struction less than half time. It is important to note that 62 percent of the librarians in this study perceived themselves as ade- quately prepared initially to engage in bib- liographic instruction. Although 62 percent of these librarians in- dicated they felt tpey were adequately pre- pared to take on bibliographic instruction ac- tivities when they were first assigned to instruction (see table 7), the data in table 8 show that only 7 percent indicated they would not benefit from additional education and training. Forty-three percent chose in- structional development as an area of need; nearly one third (32 percent) indicated addi- tional work in teaching methodology would be beneficial, while only 9 percent felt that they needed additional work in learning the- ory. Although professional organizations view their conferences as serving a major continu- ing education function, it is interesting to see that only 1 percent of the respondents saw conferences as the best means of providing education and training for bibliographic in- struction. Twenty-eight percent viewed pre- vious teaching experience as the best means TABLE 7 F ACfORS AFFECTING THE ACQUISITION OF APPROPRIATE EDUCATION' TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE Factor Presence of entry requirements Presence of in-service programs* (N = 120) Perception that administration is supportive* Presence of administrative financial support for continuing education activities* Amount of administrative financial support for continuing education activities: Less than half Half More than half No response Amount of personal funding for continuing education activities: Less than half Half More than half No response Assigned less than half-time to bibliographic instruction Major noninstruction assignment in reference* Perception that adequately prepared Note: Rounding errors account for column totals < 100 percent . ·N=119. Frequency 8 14 95 23 7 4 12 97 24 4 36 56 109 62 74 Percent 7 12 80 19 30 17 52 38 6 56 91 52 62 204 I College & Research Libraries· May 1982 TABLE 8 PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO ADDITIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (N= 120) Perception Frequency Percent Area of need: Learning theory 11 Teaching methodology 38 Instructional development 51 Other 10 None needed 8 No response 2 Best means of preparation: Self-study 8 In-service programs 22 Conferences 1 Workshops 28 Credit courses 20 Other 2 Previous teaching experience 32 No response 7 Best means of delivery of future education and training: Self-study 6 In-service programs 24 Conferences 5 Workshops 38 Credit courses 37 Other 3 No response 7 Note: Rounding errors account for column totals < 100 percent. 9 32 43 8 7 7 19 1 25 18 2 28 5 21 4 34 33 3 to prepare, a perception supported in the lit- erature. 4 Twenty-five percent selected work- shops. When asked what means of delivering appropriate education and training to librar- ians was best for the future, 34 percent indi- cated workshops, while 33 percent chose credit courses. These findings as summarized in table 8 compare favorably to a study on modes of delivery for continuing education conducted by Stone. 5 As shown in table 9, there is evidence of a strong relationship between librarians' as- sessments that they were adequately pre- pared when first assigned to bibliographic instruction, and their assessment that their primary means of gaining appropriate knowledge and information was by having taken credit courses in learning theory, teaching methodology, or instructional de- velopment. Only 2 percent of instruction li- brarians who participated in appropriate course work saw themselves as inadequately prepared while the 32 percent who chose self-study methods viewed themselves as in- adequately prepared. Self-study results in only an even chance of being prepared. In table 10, evidence of a positive relation- ship between (1) an assessment of having un- dertaken adequate preparation and (2) prior elementary or secondary teaching experience is shown. Of the 49 percent of instruction li- brarians who considered themselves pre- pared to engage in bibliographic instruction activities, 41 percent had had prior teaching experience. Those who indicated they saw themselves as inadequately prepared are nearly evenly divided between those with prior teaching experience and those with none. The results show that those who have had teaching experience tend to see them- selves as prepared, however. The data in table 11 suggest that those who indicated they had taken credit course work dealing with instruction are more likely to se- lect instructional development as an area of need. Those who have not had such course work are more likely to select teaching meth- odology. TABLE 9 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AssESSMENT oF ADEQUATE PREPARATION AND PRIMARY MEANS OF PREPARATION Means Self-study Credit courses Totals Percent Frequency Note: Missing values = 8. Adequate Percent 32 34 66 Preparation Inadequate Percent 32 2 34 58 30 Note: Cross-tabulations producing marginal frequencies of ten or less were deleted . Note:x 2 = 17.35 dj= 1 p > .01. Percent 64 36 100 Totals Frequency 56 32 88 Librarians in Pennsylvania I 205 DISCUSSION AND CoNCLUSIONS The data in table 12 indicate that the pres- ence of previous elementary- or secondary- school teaching experience results in the choice of instructional development as an area for further education and training. Ab- sence of prior teaching experience tends to result in an expression of need in teaching methodology. On the whole the librarians in this group have acquired education and training appro- priate to their assignments. The education and training were not gained as part of their professional degree programs but were Teaching Experience Present Absent Totals Percent Frequency Note: Missing values = 2. TABLE 10 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AssESSMENT oF ADEQUATE PREPARATION AND ELEMENTARY OR SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHING EXPERIENCE Adequate Preparation Inadequate Percent Percent Percent 41 27 68 8 23 31 49 50 99 53 54 Not e: Rounding errors account for total percent < 100 percent. Note: Cross-tabulations producing marginal frequencies of ten or less were deleted . Note:x 2 =10.6 dj=1 p > .01. Course Work Present Absent Totals Percent Frequency Note: Missing values = 2. TABLE 11 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEED FOR ADDITIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING AND CREDIT CouRSE WoRK IN LEARNING THEORY, TEACHING METHODOLOGY, OR INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT Need Teaching Instructional Methodology Development Percent Percent Percent 19 37 56 24 20 44 43 47 100 38 51 Note: Cross-tabulations producing marginal frequencies of ten or less were deleted. Note: x2 = 3.53 dj= 1 p < .01 . Experience Present Absent Totals Percent Frequency Note: Missing values = 4. TABLE 12 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NEED FOR ADDITIONAL EDuCATION AND TRAINING AND PruoR TEACHING EXPERIENCE IN ELEMENTARY oR SEcoNDARY ScHooLs Need Teaching Instructional Methodology Development Percent Percent Percent 12 33 45 32 23 55 44 56 100 38 49 Note: Cross-tabulations producing marginal frequencies of ten or less were deleted. Not e: x2 = 9 .35 dj = 1 p > .01. Totals Frequency 73 34 100 Totals Frequency 50 39 89 Totals Frequency 39 48 87 206 I College & Research Libraries· May 1982 gained in undergraduate degree programs, in credit courses, or by self-study. A test of as- sociation between means of preparation and adequacy of preparation revealed that tak- ing credit courses is perceived to be a more ef- fective means of preparation than self-study, however. A majority of the librarians specialized in reference work in their professional training programs, which compares favorably with findings in the literature. 6 They tend to be- long to professional organizations; only 2 percent reported "not a member," which compares favorably to other findings. 7 No record of instruction librarians' pub- lishing and research activities is available. Because the librarians in this study work in an academic environment, a higher rate of activity was expected than the 15 percent re- sponse to a record of articles published or ac- cepted for publication and the 25 percent in- dication of research activity. A total of 98 percent indicated they read one or more library journals regularly; a to- tal of 59 percent read education journals reg- ularly. The evidence in the literature is not clear, but the response is somewhat higher than expected, especially for education jour- nals. Perhaps this latter finding is explained by the fact that all institutions in the study are involved in teacher training. They did not attempt to update their instruction skills as much as expected, but 54 percent did par- ticipate in one or more continuing education activities in the past two years. In light of the fact that their instruction assignments are less than half-time, this record of activity should be viewed favorably. The perception that teaching is the best means of preparation to engage in biblio- graphic instruction was supported. Forty- seven percent had prior elementary- or secondary-school teaching experience; 23 percent had prior college-level teaching ex- perience. Seventy-five percent have been in- volved in bibliographic instruction six or more years. Only 28 percent reported having taught bibliographic instruction credit courses, however. Although these librarians are assigned to instruction less than half-time, 52 percent of them have major assignments in reference work, an area of activity that is closely asso- ciated with instruction by ·.the profession. And although 76 percent of these librarians received their professional training ten or more years ago, before the recent decade of activity in bibliographic instruction, their record of training in their undergraduate de- grees and elsewhere before their involvement in instruction appears to offset the fact that instruction had not been covered in their pro- fessional degree work. Administrative support for the improve- ment of the skills of the librarians involved compares with the conclusions drawn in the literature: it is minimal. 8 Administrators are willing to assign them to instruction but are not willing to find the funds to provide the opportunity for improving skills. By and large these librarians feel they are prepared to carry out their instruction re- sponsibilities, but they are nearly unanimous (only 7 percent not agreeing) in their percep- tion that they could benefit from additional education and training in instruction-related areas. In particular they are interested in be- coming more competent in instructional de- velopment (43 percent) and teaching meth- odology (32 percent). Workshops, credit courses, and, to a lesser degree, in-service programs are seen by these librarians as the best means of acquiring ap- propriate additional education and training for themselves in the future. IMPLICATIONS Lack of specific administrative support for upgrading instruction librarians' skills is again demonstrated in this study. Biblio- graphic instruction programs and their im- provement remain, apparently, labors of love for the librarians involved. It appears that the profession needs to reexamine its stance on instruction, given the evidence that library administrators do not support these programs in concrete terms. Espousing bib- liographic instruction at conferences and in the literature while the workplace lacks spe- cific continuing support frustrates the librar- ians and shortchanges the students. The profession should take note that in this study the value of conferences is challenged. They are not perceived as' a useful means of providing continuing education in this area. This strikes at the heart of the profeS$ion's justification for holding conferences. Again, the view that previous teaching ex- perience is the most effective means to pre- pare to teach is supported. Although the needs of bibliographic instruction programs are not being addressed by the library schools, 9 if programs are developed to meet Librarians in Pennsylvania I 207 this need, teaching practicums should be an integral part of the requirements designed to assure competency for librarians who will be called upon to function as skilled profession- als responsible for instruction. REFERENCES 1. Barbara J. Smith, "Education and Training Characteristics of Librarians Engaged in Bib- liographic Instruction in Eighteen Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania" (D.Ed. disserta- tion, Pennsylvania State Univ., 1981). 2. Anne Roberts, A Study of Ten SUNY Campuses Offering an Undergraduate Credit Course in Library Instruction (Washington, D.C.: Coun- cil on Library Resources, 1978), ED 157 529. 3. Sara L. Whildin, "Library Instruction in Penn- sylvania Academic Libraries: A Survey Sum- mary," PLA Bulletin 31:8 (Jan. 1976). 4. Roberts, "A Study." 5. Elizabeth W. Stone, Continuing Library and Information Science Education (Washington, D.C.: American Society for Information Sci- ence, 1974). 6. Roberts, "A Study." 7. Perry D. Morrison, The Career of the Academic Librarians: A Study of the Social Origins, Edu- cational Attainments, Vocational Experience, and Personality Characteristics of a Group of American Academic Librarians (Chicago: American Library Assn., 1969), ACRL mono- graph no.29. 8. Melissa Cain and Lois Pausch, Library Instruc- tion Programs in Illinois Academic Libraries: A Directory and Survey Report (Chicago: Illinois Library Association, 1978). See also Patricia Senn Breivik, "Leadership, Management, and the Teaching Library," Library Journal 103:2045-48 (Oct. 15, 1978). 9. Vida Stanton, "The Library School: Its Role in Teaching the Use of the Library," in John Lu- bans, Jr., ed., Progress in Educating the Li- brary User(NewYork: Bowker, 1978).