ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Publications

RECEIVED

(Selected items will be reviewed in future issues of College & Research Libraries.)

• The Council for the Advancement of Small Colleges has prepared as one part of its Planning and Data System a module on library costs and services, which “provides for the collection, display, and use of data for analyzing and comparing services, costs, policies, and productivity.” The user’s manual for the module, Managing Costs and Services in College Libraries, is available from the Council, One Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20036. Price: $5.

• The Microform Revolution in Libraries, by Michael R. Gabriel and Dorothy P. Ladd (JAI Press, 1980, $24.50), gives an overview of the field—history, kinds of microforms, types of publications in microform, acquisition and equipment needs, performance as compared with hard copy, future prospects, and establishing a microform facility in the library.

• Steve Sherman’s ABC’s of Library Promotion (2d ed., Scarecrow, 1980, $12) is described as an “action-oriented manual of public relations for librarians.” There are individual chapters on various techniques and kinds of libraries, including one on college and university libraries.

• In Current Concepts in Library Management (Libraries Unlimited, 1979, $18.50 U.S. & Canada, $22 elsewhere) editor Martha Boaz has brought together eleven original essays, by leaders in public, school, academic, and special librarianship, addressing the practical aspects of administering various types of libraries and information centers as well as serving as a primer in the field to assist library school students.

• Practical Approval Plan Management, by Jennifer S. Cargill and Brian Alley (Oryx Press, 1979) has been prepared to “explore the variety of practical considerations that must be made when dealing with the routine operation of an approval plan.”

• Collection Development and Management at Cornell, by Hendrik Edelman and Dan C. Hazen, is an interim report for 1977-79 on the university library's project funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Copies available without charge from the University Librarian, 201 Olin Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

• Ian R. M. Mowat has edited User Education in Academic Libraries, which includes papers presented at a November 1978 seminar at the University of Strathclyde, organized by the Scottish Group of the University, College, and Research Section of the Library Association.

• Ian Malley is the author of Education in the

Use of Libraries and Information—A Bibliography. Part 1: Pre-1900-1954. Price: £1.50. The two volumes above are published by the Library, Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough LEU 3TU, Leicestershire, England.

• Geoscience Information: A State-of-the-Art Review, edited by Anthony P. Harvey and Judith A. Diment (Broad Oak Press, 1979, $35), includes papers presented at the first International Conference on Geological Information held in London in 1978. Address of publisher: Broad Oak Press, Ragstones, Broad Oak, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 8UD, England.

• A. Robert Rogers The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources (2d ed.. Libraries Unlimited, 1979, $19.50 U.S. & Canada, $23 elsewhere) covers philosophy, religion and mythology, the visual arts, the performing arts, and language and literature.

• Mary Anne Warren's The Nature of Woman: An Encyclopedia & Guide to the Literature (Edgepress, 1980, $20) “attempts to bring together in one volume an overview of the considerable literature, particularly from philosophy and the social sciences, on the nature of women.” Following the alphabetically arranged encyclopedia section, the author includes a listing of anthologies, sourcebooks, and periodicals; a bibliography; and a glossary. Address of publisher: Edgepress, Box 69, Point Reyes, CA 94956.

• David Kaser brings a historical perspective to the “fee for library service” controversy in his new volume, A Book for a Sixpence: The Circulating Library in America. Issued as number 14 in the Beta Phi Mu Chapbook series, it is available from the College of Library Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506. Price: $9. ■■

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION IN NEW ENGLAND ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

More than one-third of the professional staff at a sample of New England Academic libraries participate in bibliographic instruction programs, according to a survey conducted by the Bibliographic Instruction Committee of the ACRL New England Chapter. A report of the survey has been prepared by Joan Stockard of the Wellesley College Library.

The 115 libraries responding to the survey offer a total of 370 bibliographic instruction programs or an average of 3.2 programs per library. Among the 35 percent of professional staff members who are involved in bibliographic instruction at these institutions, nearly 6 percent were “full time instruction or orientation librarians” and nearly 65 percent had bibliographic instruction as a specific part of their job descriptions.

The most frequently reported target audiences for bibliographic instruction at the reporting institutions were class-level groups (e.g., sophomores or graduate students). The second most frequently reported targets were course-related groups. The instructional format mentioned most often by respondents was the group meeting scheduled for one session. Tours come in second in this category.

In-house bibliographies, sample reference works, and library handbooks constituted nearly half of the “significant” support materials that the responding libraries reported using for bibliographic instruction. The use of workbooks was minimal, and audiovisual materials accounted for slightly less than 16 percent of the supporting materials mentioned.

Less than half (43 percent) of the responding libraries reported that they formally evaluated their bibliographic instruction programs.

A detailed report on the survey may be borrowed by interlibrary loan from the Wellesley College Library. ■■