College and Research Libraries Letters To the Editor: I have just read with interest your and Mary Jo Rudd's article on "Coping with informa- tion load" in the July 1986 issue of College & Research Libraries. My disagreement is not with the thrust of your article but with a statement that you twice make as an example. On page 318 you mention Stephen Stoan's (Stephen K. Stoan, "Re- search and library skills: an analysis and interpretation", College & Research Libraries, 45:99-109 (March 1984) discussion of ''several library classification and storage policies that have unintended consequences for user information, information acquisition, and pro cessing efficiency." The next sentence reads: "The classification of journals, for example, makes browsing of related journals for information a much more time-consuming task." [Emphasis mine] Related in what way? If by similarity of content, then surely a classification scheme which brings history journals together and separates them from physics jour11als will do more to facilitate browsing of related journals than will the chance collocation of titles imposed by the alphabet. My own library, that of the State University of New York at Buffalo, arranges its periodicals in alphabetical order so that the following journals are shelved together: The American Journal of Computational Linguistics, The American Journal of Correction, The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The American Journal of Education, and The American Journal of Human Genetics. While it is possible that the penologist and the sociologist might find matter of interest in each other's journal, the probability of a community of interest is some- what lower for the linquist and the penologist, not to mention the geneticist. How are browsers served when a journal changes its title (a habit that too many are prone to have) so that different volumes are separated on the shelves? With classification, all vol- umes would be brought together no matter how much the name changed. Later in the article you re-iterate your point, again using it as an example: "Librarians must be cautious, Stoan warns, to avoid making changes in library policy that might hinder the research process; e.g., arranging journals by classification largely eliminates brows- ing." This time the implication is very clear that the example comes from the Stoan article, as in fact it does although Stoan does not refer to "related" journals. His words are: "A related and less obvious library policy that can arouse resentment is the classification of journals, which substantially eliminates browsing on the assumption that no one would look at a journal without first consulting an index." (Stoan, p .108) It is the idea, not its source, with which I disagree, though I think that your insertion of "the word 'related' weakens your point that classification of journals hinders browsing . I recently surveyed the ARL libraries to determine their arrangement of periodicals. Some 85% of those responding classified either their entire or at least the larger part of their collection of periodicals. None of them planned to declassify while some of the non- classifiers were considering classifying all or parts of their collections. The mere fact that so many libraries classify periodicals does not, of course, make it a good policy; however, it does raise the possibility that such an approach does have value, either for efficient man- agement of the library as an institution or for the users it serves or both. JUDITH HOPKINS University at Buffalo, New York 613 614 College & Research Libraries November 1986 To the Editor: This letter is a response to Judith B. Barnett's recent letter regarding the article "Tis for Temporary" whiCh appeared in the July 1986 issue of College and Research Libraries. Ms. Barnett states the AAUP, American Association of University Professors, "publishes de- tailed statistics on academic personnel, including part-time and temporary positions." My co-author, Cecilia Rothschild, and I did examine articles from the AAUP journal Academe during our research, but, while the articles did mention figures on temporary or part-time teaching faculty, statistics on librarians-the point we addressed in our discussion-were not provided. In fact, "librarians have specifically been excluded for the purpose of the survey (Annual AAUP Survey of Faculty Compensation) which is to collect information on instructional staff," according to Maryse Eyrnonerie, an AAUP consultant who has corn- piled the survey since it began in 1958/59. Iris Molotski of the AA UP Washington office also stated the AAUP keeps no statistics by discipline for any faculty group. Ms. Rothschild and I are presently investigating the content of the "National Faculty Survey" compiled by Appalachian State University and Oklahoma State University's "Faculty Salary Survey by Discipline" for any pertinent statistics. We are not, however, optimistic that these sources will contain data on academic librarians whether employed in permanent or temporary positions. We reassert our conclusion that temporary librarians ''constitute an unrecognized segment of the professional library workforce.' ; As stated in our article, .we are pursuing the topic; our survey of all California college and university libraries will be distributed this fall. To the Editor: DONNA ZUFAN PONT AU San Jose State University The recent exchange of correspondence between Mssrs. Hill and Harnptrnan and Ms. List (July 1986) reminds many librarians of the faculty status debate that virtually raged about a dozen years ago. While this issue had somewhat dis.appeared from the literature, the fact that the exchange took place demands a response. In none of the definitions I could locate did the term librarian appear in defining faculty . Interestingly enough, neither did historian, biologist, or engineer. Historically, the term means one who teaches. My con- cern is not whether the librarian does nor does not have faculty status, nor what faculty status entails. My point is that being a faculty member ignores your academic discipline-a faculty member is just that. What's more, at more and more institutions the decision on faculty status rests with university, not library administrators. So the idea of "real faculty" is often not an issue at all. After all, when I see a faculty member I fail to see signage which designates chemist or economist or librarian. BOYD CHILDRESS Auburn University Now ina Second Edition! THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS AND PARTIES SECOND EDITION GEORGE E. DELURY PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION- Selected by Library Journal as one of the "Best Reference Sources of 1983" "This new encyclopedia provides informative and con- cise political profiles for 169 nations and 8 indepen- dent countries .. .. There will probably be high use of this new set in both public and academic libraries; hence, frequent revisions are recommended." - ARBA 1984 "This impressive new work finally provides the depth of information lacking in such widely used reference sources as the Europa Yearbook or Political Parties of the World .. .. It should receive heavy use in public and academic libraries." -Library Journal (12115/83) "The entries are clear and well -formatted with larger than usual type, good leading, and adequate margins. These informative, detailed studies will be most useful in academic and large public libraries, but they are interesting and clear enough to be used by high school students as well ... a useful and valuable source. Rec- ommended ."- Booklist/RBB (August 1984) Coups, revolutions, elections, constitutional reforms and wars have made great changes in the structure of world governments. Since 1983, over 100 political systems have been toppled, reformed, or replaced . This Second Edition of the WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS AND PARTIES tracks these shifts and changes in major new articles by leading experts. Every article in the Encyclopedia has been substan- tially revised and updated. And, every chapter contains an extensive bibliography. Among the more than 100 contributors are: Dr. William G. Andrews, State University of N.Y, Brockport Dr. Donald Barry, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Dr. Thomas Callaghy, Columbia University, New York Dr. Naomi Chazan, Harvard University, Cambridge Dr. Mark Delancey, University of South Carolina, Columbia Dr. Neil Elder, University of Hull, Hull, England Dr. Rene Lemarchand, University of Florida, Gainesville Dr. Andrew Parkin, Flinders University, Australia Dr. Bernard Reich, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Dr. Riordan Roett, Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced Inter- national Studies, Washington, D.C. Dr. Hewson Ryan, Tufts University, Massachusetts Dr. Gordon Smith, London School of Economics, England Dr. Alastair Thomas, Preston Polytechnic, England Dr. William S. Turley, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Illustrated with hundreds of charts and tables. Bibliog- raphy. Index. 1,440 pages in two volumes. 8 112 x 11. $17 5. 00. ISBN: 0-8160-1539-2. ~FACTS ON FILE, INC.® 460 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 • ACQUISITION PERSPECTIVES 3. We provide each customer a list - ing of books not immediately available from the publisher. This monthly open order report assures you we have re- cently taken effective action toward s earliest possible delivery of your or- ders . Publisher stock status and addi- tional information are available on a continuous cn mputer printout or on individudl 3 x 5 slip" lor easy filing . We cancel only publisher-documented out-of-print or out-of-stock-indefinite- ly titles. Eliminate your claiming and begin receiving your open order reports from Book House. CALL TOLL-FREE TODAY 1-800-248-1146 In Canada & Michigan CALL COLLECT (517) 849-2117 OCLC Vendor No. 17397 SAN 169-3859 • the BSOK B USE JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN 49250