College and Research Libraries B y R O B E R T W . M c E W E N The North Central Association's 1943 Survey of College and University Libraries Mr. McEwen is librarian, Carleton Col- lege, North field, Minn. TH E N O R T H C E N T R A L A S S O C I A T I O N o f C o l l e g e s and Secondary Schools has j u s t called on all its member institutions in the field of higher education f o r reports on their l i b r a r y resources and holdings. Its c u r r e n t practice is to request of mem- ber institutions a report on one of three aspects of their p r o g r a m s every t w o years. I n 1943 libraries are being surveyed. In 1 9 4 5 reports w i l l be requested on college and university faculties, their training, t e a c h i n g responsibilities, research, etc. In 1 9 4 7 member institutions w i l l report on their financial and b u d g e t a r y situation and procedures. A committee w a s appointed in J u n e 1 9 4 2 to prepare the f o r m s to be used in this evaluation of the libraries of member institutions and of those institutions seek- i n g accreditation by the association. T h e committee consisted of the chairman, D e a n A . J . B r u m b a u g h , secretary of the C o m - mission on Institutions of H i g h e r E d u c a - tion, and f o u r librarians to represent the f o u r types of institutions in the associa- tion, as f o l l o w s : Group I institutions, offering two-year programs beyond high school graduation. Group II institutions, offering only bachelor's degrees in a single unitary organi- zation. Group III institutions, offering master's degrees and/or professional degrees in a total of not more than three separately organized units. Group IV institutions, offering doctor's degrees (Ph.D., Sc.D., Ed.D.), master's degrees, and/or professional degrees in a total of four or more separately organized units. E a c h of the f o u r librarians served also as chairman of a subcommittee of librarians and college presidents representing the designated type of institution. 1 L i b r a r i a n s suffer at least as m u c h f r o m the burden of questionnaires and reports as other officers in higher education. A c - c r e d i t i n g agencies and professional associa- tions are entitled to the data necessary f o r their purposes. B u t it is f e l t increasingly that there should be closer coordination between the v a r i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n s c a l l i n g on librarians f o r such data, that it should be possible to limit requests f o r data to w h a t can be supplied f a i r l y readily, and that some reasonable limit should be im- posed on the time required in p r o v i d i n g the 1 Members of these committees were as f o l l o w s : Group I : Leon C a r n o v s k y , U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago, chairman; President A . Andrews, Grand Rapids Junior College; W a v e L . Noggle, V i r g i n i a Junior. College. Group I I : Robert W . M c E w e n , Carleton College, chairman; President V . F . Schwalm, Manchester College; President A . J. B u r k e , St. Ambrose Col- lege. Group I I I : Julian S. F o w l e r , Oberlin College, chairman; President H. M. Gage, Lindenwood Col- lege; Clarence S. Paine, Beloit College. Group I V : Errett W . McDiarmid, U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois, chairman; Dean M. M. W i l l e y , U n i v e r s i t y of Minnesota; Charles H. B r o w n , Iowa State Col- lege. JUNE, 1943 20 7 data. T h e s e considerations have been constantly in the mind of the committee responsible for the new survey schedules of the N o r t h C e n t r a l Association. So far as possible, the information requested fol- l o w s the forms adopted by the U . S . Office of Education and employed by the A m e r i - can L i b r a r y Association. In passing, it may be said that several members of the committee, including the w r i t e r , expressed the opinion that the present U . S . Office of Education form is unnecessarily compli- cated and is in urgent need of revision and simplification. T h e committee hopes that its w o r k marks a step t o w a r d such uni- form report forms in higher education as are under consideration by the A m e r i c a n C o u n c i l on Education. Data Needed F o r the purposes of the N o r t h C e n t r a l Association, in evaluating college and uni- versity libraries and their programs in member institutions and as a basis for consideration of requests for accreditation, it w a s agreed that some index to the f o l l o w i n g w a s needed: 1. T h e quality of the book collection with reference to the academic program of the institution concerned. 2. T h e adequacy of the list of periodicals currently received. 3. T h e expenditures of the library for salaries, books, periodicals, and binding and rebinding. 4. T h e use of the library collections. T o this end a revision of the checklist of books and the list of periodicals currently received w a s the primary task of the com- mittee. Brief additional schedules call for the pertinent data on expenditures and use. T h e most difficult task of the committee was the preparation of a new checklist of books. T h e N o r t h C e n t r a l Association took an important f o r w a r d step some f e w years ago in deciding to base its ac- creditation on the acknowledged aims and curricular objectives of each institution. T h e application of such a principle to the study of book collections might seem to imply procedures that w o u l d be quite im- possible. T h e principle is quite right. Each college or university should hold the books needed for its o w n curricular pro- gram, which is the expression of its institu- tional aim. B u t how, then, could any list of books be prepared which might serve as a fair checklist of the holdings of all insti- tutions and which might provide data for comparative and evaluative studies? Evaluating Book Collections Perfection is hardly to be expected in such matters. B u t the committee reached certain conclusions, based partially on previous practice, which w e believe pro- vide a dependable measure of book collec- tions. I t w a s decided, first of all, to return to the principle of using reference titles only as the basis of the checklist. T h e assump- tion of the 1934 N o r t h C e n t r a l checklist that there w o u l d be a high correlation be- tween holdings in the reference collection and library book holdings in general was statistically established. Reference books have an additional value for such use. T h e y are more likely to be free from any partisan bias than the general run of books in a library. T h e 1939 revision of the N o r t h C e n t r a l checklist has proved less satisfactory than the 1934 checklist. T h e revision in 1939 departed from the principle of using refer- ence titles only and w a s based on the premise that great emphasis should be laid in such an evaluative schedule on current and recent acquisitions. T h e principal 254 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES s o u r c e o f t h e 1 9 3 9 c h e c k l i s t w a s t h e S h a w s u p p l e m e n t o f 1 9 3 1 - 3 8 . T h e s a m p l i n g m e t h o d e m p l o y e d i n s e l e c t i n g t h e t i t l e s f r o m t h e S h a w s u p p l e m e n t r e s u l t e d i n t h e i n c l u s i o n o f b o o k s r e g a r d e d b y m a n y l i - b r a r i a n s a n d c o l l e g e p r o f e s s o r s a s q u i t e u n i m p o r t a n t . T h i s c r i t i c i s m r e f l e c t s a n a p p a r e n t l y w i d e s p r e a d o p i n i o n t h a t t h e S h a w s u p p l e m e n t i s l e s s d e p e n d a b l e a s a " b a s i c l i s t " t h a n i t s p r e d e c e s s o r . T h e c o m p i l e r s o f s u c h l i s t s m u s t i g n o r e t h e c o r r e l a t i v e c r i t i c i s m t h a t c e r t a i n i m p o r t a n t t i t l e s a r e o m i t t e d — t h a t w i l l a l w a y s b e t r u e . Procedures Used I t w a s f e l t t h a t t h e c h e c k l i s t s h o u l d i n c l u d e n e w a s w e l l a s o l d e r t i t l e s . R e f e r - e n c e t i t l e s i n t h e o r i g i n a l S h a w l i s t , t h e S h a w s u p p l e m e n t , t h e M o h r h a r d t l i s t , a n d t h e M u d g e - W i n c h e l l l i s t , 1 9 3 8 - 4 0 , w e r e c l i p p e d a n d m o u n t e d o n c a r d s . D u p l i c a - t i o n s w e r e d e l e t e d a n d c e r t a i n s e r i e s e l i m i n a t e d w h i c h w o u l d h a v e i n v o l v e d i m p r o p e r b a l a n c e i n e v a l u a t i n g h o l d i n g s . T h e c a r d s w e r e t h e n e x a m i n e d a t e a c h o f t h e f o u r i n s t i t u t i o n s r e p r e s e n t e d b y m e m - b e r s o f t h e c o m m i t t e e . T i t l e s w h o s e i m - p o r t a n c e w a s q u e s t i o n e d w e r e s o m a r k e d . M e m b e r s o f t h e f a c u l t y a s w e l l a s r e f e r e n c e l i b r a r i a n s w e r e r e q u e s t e d t o a s s i s t i n t h i s e v a l u a t i o n . A t a s u b s e q u e n t m e e t i n g o f t h e c o m m i t t e e t i t l e s w h o s e i m - p o r t a n c e h a d b e e n q u e s t i o n e d b y m o r e t h a n o n e i n s t i t u t i o n w e r e e x a m i n e d a g a i n b y t h e c o m m i t t e e . J u d g m e n t s a s t o t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f a n y s p e c i f i c r e f e r e n c e b o o k w e r e i n v o l v e d i n i t s o r i g i n a l s e l e c t i o n f o r a n y o f t h e l i s t s u s e d a s b a s e s i n t h e w o r k o f t h e c o m m i t - t e e . I t w a s t h e j u d g m e n t o f t h e c o m m i t - t e e t h a t f u r t h e r j o i n t j u d g m e n t b y a n u m b e r o f s u b j e c t s p e c i a l i s t s a s w e l l a s l i b r a r i a n s a t f o u r i n s t i t u t i o n s w o u l d p r o - v i d e a m o r e d e p e n d a b l e c h e c k l i s t t h a n c o u l d b e s e c u r e d b y t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f a n y s a m p l i n g p r o c e d u r e t o t h e t o t a l l i s t o f t i t l e s i n c l u d e d i n t h e b a s i c l i s t s . A l l t i t l e s i n t h e n e w c h e c k l i s t a r e a r - r a n g e d a l p h a b e t i c a l l y t o s i m p l i f y c h e c k i n g i n t h e l i b r a r i e s o f m e m b e r i n s t i t u t i o n s . T h e y a r e a l l k e y e d , h o w e v e r , w i t h r e f e r - e n c e t o t h e c u r r i c u l a r d e p a r t m e n t f o r w h i c h t h e y a r e i m p o r t a n t . A c o l l e g e o r u n i v e r s i t y w i l l b e g i v e n c r e d i t f o r a l l t i t l e s o n t h e l i s t h e l d b y i t s l i b r a r y , b u t w i l l n o t b e p e n a l i z e d f o r t h e a b s e n c e o f s p e c i a l i z e d r e f e r e n c e t i t l e s i n fields i n w h i c h t h e i n - s t i t u t i o n d o e s n o t o f f e r c o u r s e s . Use of One Checklist T h e o n e c h e c k l i s t w i l l b e c h e c k e d b y i n s t i t u t i o n s o f a l l f o u r t y p e s . T h e r e w a s d i s c u s s i o n b y t h e c o m m i t t e e o f t h e a d e q u a c y o f a n y o n e l i s t t o c o v e r t h e b o o k c o l l e c t i o n s i n u n i v e r s i t i e s , j u n i o r c o l l e g e s , t e a c h e r s c o l l e g e s , a n d l i b e r a l a r t s c o l l e g e s . S h o u l d n o t a c h e c k l i s t f o r u n i v e r s i t y l i - b r a r i e s , f o r e x a m p l e , t e s t h o l d i n g s o f s p e - c i a l s u b j e c t b i b l i o g r a p h i e s , s o c i e t y s e r i a l p u b l i c a t i o n s , a n d s p e c i a l i z e d d i c t i o n a r i e s a n d h a n d b o o k s n o t n e e d e d i n o t h e r t y p e s o f i n s t i t u t i o n s ? T h e d e s i r a b i l i t y o f a m o r e s p e c i a l i z e d a p p r o a c h s u c h a s t h i s w a s a d m i t t e d , b u t i t w a s n o t d e e m e d p r a c t i c - a b l e w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s o f t i m e a n d e x p e n s e i n v o l v e d . I n a n y c a s e u n i v e r s i t i e s m a y r e a s o n a b l y b e e x p e c t e d t o h o l d a l a r g e r p e r c e n t a g e o f t i t l e s o n s u c h a l i s t a s t h e c o m m i t t e e h a s d e v e l o p e d a n d w i l l b e c o m - p a r e d w i t h o t h e r i n s t i t u t i o n s o f t h e i r o w n t y p e i n a n y e v a l u a t i o n . I n m a n y c a s e s t h e l a t e s t e d i t i o n o f h a n d b o o k s , y e a r b o o k s , a n d s i m i l a r r e f e r - e n c e t o o l s i s l i s t e d , a n d c r e d i t i s g i v e n o n l y f o r h o l d i n g t h e l a t e s t e d i t i o n . I f s e p a r a t e c h e c k l i s t s w e r e p r e p a r e d f o r t h e f o u r t y p e s o f i n s t i t u t i o n s , c r e d i t m i g h t b e JUNE, 1943 311 22 7 a l l o w e d i n i n s t i t u t i o n s b e l o n g i n g t o G r o u p I , a n d p e r h a p s G r o u p I I a s w e l l , f o r r e c e n t a n d u s a b l e e d i t i o n s o t h e r t h a n t h e l a t e s t . Y e t i n s u c h c a s e s s o m e e d i t i o n m u s t b e s p e c i f i e d , a n d t h e h o l d i n g o f t h e l a t e s t e d i t i o n i s f e l t t o b e v e r y i m p o r t a n t f o r G r o u p I V i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d a d v i s a b l e i n e v e r y c a s e . A h a n d b o o k o f c h e m i s t r y a n d p h y s i c s p u b l i s h e d t e n y e a r s a g o m a y s t i l l c o n t a i n u s e f u l a n d d e p e n d a b l e t a b l e s a n d f o r m u l a s , b u t c o l l e g e s o f f e r i n g c o u r s e s i n t h e s e f i e l d s n e e d t h e l a t e s t e d i t i o n . T h e r e v i s i o n o f t h e c h e c k l i s t o f p e r i o d i - c a l s c u r r e n t l y r e c e i v e d i n v o l v e d a s t u d y o f t h e c h e c k l i s t i n u s e b y t h e a s s o c i a t i o n , b a s e d o n t h e L y l e l i s t o f p e r i o d i c a l s f o r a c o l l e g e l i b r a r y . T i t l e s w h i c h h a v e c e a s e d p u b l i c a t i o n w e r e , o f c o u r s e , d r o p p e d f r o m t h e l i s t . I n s o m e c a s e s , t i t l e s b e l i e v e d b y m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m i t t e e t o b e a d e - q u a t e s u b s t i t u t e s f o r s u c h w i t h d r a w n p e r i o d i c a l s h a v e b e e n i n c l u d e d . A f e w n e w t i t l e s h a v e b e e n a d d e d . M e m b e r s o f t h e f a c u l t y a n d l i b r a r y s t a f f s a t t h e f o u r i n s t i t u t i o n s r e p r e s e n t e d b y t h e c o m m i t t e e p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e d e c i s i o n i n s u c h c a s e s . L i b r a r i e s w i l l n o l o n g e r b e a s k e d t o r e - p o r t o n t h e b i n d i n g o f p e r i o d i c a l s . T h e e n t i r e l i s t i s i n o n e a l p h a b e t i n o r d e r t o r e d u c e t h e t i m e r e q u i r e d t o c h e c k i t . S i n c e s o m e f o r e i g n p e r i o d i c a l s n o t n o w b e i n g r e c e i v e d i n t h i s c o u n t r y a r e o n t h e l i s t , l i b r a r i e s a r e a s k e d t o c h e c k w h e t h e r t h e y w e r e r e c e i v e d u p t o t h e t i m e w h e n d e - l i v e r y b e c a m e i m p o s s i b l e . S p e c i a l i z e d s u b j e c t f i e l d p e r i o d i c a l s a n d a n u m b e r o f o u t s t a n d i n g C a t h o l i c p e r i o d i c a l s h a v e b e e n i n c l u d e d i n t h e o n e a l p h a b e t i c a l p e r i o d i c a l l i s t . T h e h o l d i n g o f a n y s u c h p e r i o d i c a l w i l l r e c e i v e c r e d i t a t a n y i n s t i t u t i o n , b u t f a i l u r e t o r e c e i v e i t w i l l n o t p e n a l i z e a n i n s t i t u t i o n i n w h i c h t h e p e r i o d i c a l i s n o t d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d t o i t s p r o g r a m . A n a d d i t i o n a l s c h e d u l e p r e p a r e d b y t h e c o m m i t t e e w i l l p r o v i d e d a t a n e e d e d b y t h e a s s o c i a t i o n r e l a t i v e t o l i b r a r y b u d g e t s a n d s t a f f . T h i s s c h e d u l e c o n s t i t u t e s a s t u d y o f s a l a r i e s , b o t h a c a d e m i c a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l e d u c a t i o n , a n d e x p e r i e n c e o f p e r s o n s e m - p l o y e d a s l i b r a r i a n , a s s i s t a n t l i b r a r i a n , d e - p a r t m e n t h e a d , o r h e a d o f d e p a r t m e n t a l o r s c h o o l l i b r a r i e s i n m e m b e r i n s t i t u t i o n s . T o t a l a m o u n t s s p e n t f o r e a c h o f t h e p a s t f i v e y e a r s f o r s a l a r i e s , b o o k s , p e r i o d i - c a l s , a n d b i n d i n g a n d r e b i n d i n g a r e c a l l e d f o r . Measures of Use T h e f i n a l s c h e d u l e d e a l s w i t h m e a s u r e s o f u s e o f l i b r a r y c o l l e c t i o n s i n m e m b e r i n s t i t u t i o n s . I t s f o r m r e p r e s e n t s t h e j u d g - m e n t o f m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m i t t e e t h a t w e d o n o t h a v e a t t h e p r e s e n t t i m e c l e a r a n d d e p e n d a b l e m e a s u r e s o f t h e u s e m a d e o f o u r l i b r a r i e s . I n s t i t u t i o n s a r e a s k e d t o r e p o r t o n t h e m e a s u r e s e m p l o y e d b y t h e l i - b r a r y i n c h e c k i n g o n i t s o w n u s e b y s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l t y a n d o n t h e r e s u l t s a v a i l a b l e t h r o u g h s u c h m e t h o d s a s t o t h e u s e o f t h e c o l l e c t i o n s i n t h e p a s t y e a r . M o s t i n s t i t u t i o n s w i l l p r o b a b l y r e p o r t h e r e t h e t o t a l n u m b e r o f t w o - w e e k l o a n s m a d e t o s t u d e n t s a n d a s i m i l a r f i g u r e f o r f a c u l t y l o a n s , a s c a l l e d f o r b y t h e U . S . O f f i c e o f E d u c a t i o n f o r m . S u c h f i g u r e s m a y r e p r e - s e n t t h e m o s t a d e q u a t e s t a t i s t i c a l r e p o r t o n u s e a v a i l a b l e . B u t t h e i r s i g n i f i c a n c e i s s o l i m i t e d b y a h o s t o f f a c t o r s , s u c h a s t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y t o s t u d e n t s o f o t h e r l i b r a r i e s , t h e a d e q u a c y o f t h e c o l l e g e l i b r a r y ' s o w n c o l l e c t i o n s , a n d t h e c h a r a c t e r o f t h e c u r - r i c u l u m a n d o f t h e m e t h o d s o f t e a c h i n g , t h a t t h e c o m m i t t e e f e l t i t u n w i s e t o m a k e s u c h f i g u r e s t h e b a s i s f o r a n y c o m p a r a t i v e s t u d i e s . T h e s c h e d u l e a s p r e s e n t e d e n - c o u r a g e s i n d i v i d u a l i n s t i t u t i o n s t o r e p o r t s e l f - s u r v e y s w h i c h m a y b e m u c h m o r e s i g n i f i c a n t . 256 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES