College and Research Libraries () Guest Editorial Leadership: An Imperative We Must Not Ignore The classic essay by Arthur McAnally and Robert Downs was one of the first articles I accepted as editor of C&RL. That essay greatly heightened the profession's consciousness about the pressures under which many library administrators labored. This article was par- ticularly significant to me because I was about to assume the director of libraries position at the University of California-Berkeley. Their advice gave me pause for thought and empha- sized for me the importance of leadership. During the 1970s academic librarians paid a great deal of attention to improving the qual- ity of management in their libraries. The Management Review and Analysis Project (MRAP), developed by the Association of Research Libraries, provided libraries with the ability to examine issues of library structure, communication, and governance. The MRAP techniques could be used to draw a blueprint for the future. MRAP was only one effort to address the problems of disaffected staff, overly paternalistic administrators, and librari- ans' reluctance to change. In my opinion, librarians are now better managers and staff are better-prepared participants in planning and decision making. During the 1980s managerial competence issues have been somewhat subordinated to another related concern: organizational leadership. The writings of Warren Bennis and Tom Peters, Rosa beth Kantor, and Peter Drucker all draw attention to concerns about orga- nizational leadership. The phenomenal success of the Japanese in developing products and in penetrating foreign markets coupled with the failure of American institutions to keep pace has only added a sense of urgency to the issue. Lee Iacocca, with his energy, charisma, and bulldog persistence, seemed to almost single-handedly turn around the Chrysler corporation. For many he became a folk hero. They asked themselves, Why can't the seemingly faceless corporate executives be more like Lee? The library profession has also focused on leadership-related questions; it is searching for its own versions of Lee Iacocca. One can't attend a conference without hearing com- plaints about the lack of leadership or pleas that something be done, and fast. During my career I have been privileged to work with a number of individuals who merit the accolade "leader," but I must admit that they have been too few. At present, the profession enjoys the commitment of many individuals who have recently moved or are on the brink of mov- ing into leadership positions, but I fear their ranks are still too thin. We need to expand further the pool of potential leaders, and to accomplish this we must make a more tangible commitment to staff development and leadership training-and "tangible" means hard dollar commitments. Staff development is one activity on which we can't afford to skimp. Most academic librarians realize that our future is quite clouded. Some are quite pessi- mistic; certain officials I know have likened research libraries to dinosaurs who have long outlived their usefulness. Others of us view the future with great optimism. If we will only seize the opportunity, librarians can serve a central information-providing role in academic environments. But we need strong leaders to pave the way. 273 274 College & Research Libraries May 1989 As one who has been privileged to have been associated with a group of fine universities, I have come to understand how they operate, how tradition shapes their policies and pro- grams. I believe the pressures under which university officers-presidents and particularly academic vice-presidents-operate have become enormous during the last decade. Librari- ans experience many of the same pressures. For example, the pace of organizational life has accelerated, and the rapidity of technological change often exceeds the ability of organiza- tions to absorb these technologies in ways that are not at least temporarily destabilizing. To manage these changes and to better position libraries so that they remain major players in the campus information infrastructure, the next generation of librarians will require not only competent managers, but professionals who exhibit a full range of leadership quali- ties. RICHARD M. DOUGHERTY New from the Preservation of Library Materials Section (PLMS) of the Resources and Technical Services Division, American Library Association Preservation Education Directory 1988 ed. Compiled by Susan G. Swartzburg, Rutgers University, for the PLMS Education Committee. $5.00 32p. ISBN 0-8389-7225-X • a list of the accredited library schools offering courses on the preservation and conservation of library and archival materials • an essential reference tool for anyone interested in pursuing formal library preservation training • provides information on conservation programs in North America and other organizations that provide training in preservation & conservation. A Core Collection in Preservation. Compiled by Lisa L. Fox, SOLINET, for the PLMS Education Committee. $5.00 24p. · ISBN 0-8389-7224-1 • annotated bibliography of books, reports, periodicals, and articles cover- ing the entire spectrum of library and archival preservation • a working resource for administrators, librarians, archivists, curators, conservators, and others working to preserve our documentary heritage. Order from RTSD Publications, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. Staying up-to-the-minute with the fast-breaking research that is shaping our future has never been easier with ... OWKER A& I PUBLISHING' -OF-THE-ART OAt ~ ENVIRONMENT ABSTRACTS ~ ~GY INFORMATION ABSTRACTs~ ~ACID RAIN ABSTRACTS~ ROBOTICS ABSTRACTS .::::::=~======== ---ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ABSTRACTS--- ~ CAD/CAMABSTRACTS ~ ~TELEGEN (BIOTECHNOLOGY) ABSTRACTS~ ~TELECOMMUNICATIONS ABSTRACTS~ ... because every month Bowker's eight carefully compiled journals abstract and index thousands of articles on environmental studies. energy. acid rain*. robotics. artificial intelligence. CAD/CAM. biotechnology. and telecommunications. The information found in each publication is drawn from over 1,700 international scientific. economic, technical , academic, and trade journals plus scores of leading general-circulation newspapers, magazines, and wire services. More than just journals. Better still, our journals are part of a sophisticated document retrieval system that lets you order comprehensive microfiche collections carrying the full text of over 80% of the articles we cite. And you can order microfiche or paper copies of individual articles on a per-document basis as well. In addition. all eight databases arc available online from the top online services. What's more. Bowker A & I Publishing's journals bring together the ··grey"' or elusive literature-- conference proceedings. government studies. scientific association reports. even patents --that often is neither indexed or available in any readily accessible medium. So whether you 're looking for the latest findings on gene products. ozone depletion. nonconventional fuels. U.S. acid rain policy. robot locomotion, human-machine interfaces. or any of hundreds of other crucial high-tech issues. don't bury yourself in indexes or burden yourself with serials orders. *Acid rain is ahstrac lcd a nd indexed ~ve ry two mo nth s. Look to Bowker A & I Publishing to keep you current with the literature. You'll not only make a small research breakthrough yourself ... you'll make a big one easier for your patrons, too. Call Now For a Free Sample Journal! TO ORDER •• OR FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR INTEGRATED SYSTEM OF MONTHLY JOURNALS, ANNUAL INDEXES, MICROFICHE, AND ONLINE DATABASES •• CALL TOLL-FREE 1·800·521·8110 ,(IN NY, AK, OR HI CALL COLLECT 1-212-483-8111). 8 0 w K E nr ~ IIPUBliSHING IHE ABST AA Clt NG AND tNOlXt NG DIVISIO N Of A A BO WKER R.R. Bowker, 245 West 17 Street. New York . NY 10011 ACQUISITION PERSPECTIVES 6 • Book House is in its fourth genera- tion of automation. Our custom soft- ware allows us the flexibility to accept orders generated through your com- puterized system or in the mail. Our policy is to develop a working com- patibility with the automated system in your library to facilitate receiving orders, transmitting open order reports and invoices electronically. Let's explore interfacing your auto- mation with ours. 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 H liSE JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN 49250