ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

PUBLICATIONS

Notices

• Accessible Storage of Nonbook Materials (102 pages, 1984), written by Jean Weihs and illustrated by Cameron Riddle, offers suggestions for making nonbook materials accessible for browsing, while ensuring safe, orderly storage. This annotated list of containers, devices, and methods for intershelving, covers the full range of audiovisual materials. The book is available for $19.50 from Oryx Press, 2214 North Central at Encanto, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1483. (Prepaid orders: no charge for postage and handling). ISBN 0-89774-084-X.

•The ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries, 1984(112 pages, June 1984), is the result of a national mail survey to a stratified random sample of 1,400 U.S. libraries conducted by Mary Jo Lynch, director of ALA’s Office for Research, and assisted by Margaret Myers and Jeniece Guy of the ALA Office for Library Personnel Resources. The report contains information on salaries paid to academic and public librarians in specific library positions. Consistency in many data categories between this survey and its 1982 predecessor facilitates comparative study. Featured are 39 tables, including tables of scheduled salary ranges, and salaries actually paid for 13 library positions in specified regions of the United States. Appendixes include an annotated bibliography of salary surveys providing information on library workers and a comprehensive essay entitled “Employee Benefits: Basic Concepts and Current Issues.” The book is available for $40 from ALA Publishing, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. ISBN 0-8389-3301-7.

• Alternative Library Literature, 1982/1983: A Biennial Anthology, edited by Sanford Berman and James P. Danky (338 pages, 1984), contains articles and other writings which provide non-traditional view of library and information issues. This collection of 67 reprints, including original cartoons, has selections arranged in ten sections: People, Work, Women, Nukes/Peace, Censorship, Alternatives, Service/Advocacy, Kids, A/V, and Just for Fun. The book is available for $29.95 from Oryx Press, 2214 North Central at Encanto, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1483. (No charge for postage if prepaid). ISBN 0-89774-132-3.

•American Public Opinion Index 1982 (751 pages, 1984), does not offer survey results, but directs the user to the proper source. The book contains 2 sections, a topical index of opinion questions, and in the back, citations of sources. Information about each poll’s size (state, national, or local) and method is easily found. The reference’s cross listings are complete and helpful. This index is available for polls conducted in 1981,1982, and 1983 for $125 from: Opinion Research Service, P.O. Box 70205, Louisville, KY 40270. ISBN 0- 913577-01-4.

• College and University Business Library Statistics, 1979/80 and 1980/81, edited by Tracey Miller and Karen Sternheim (40 pages, 5th ed., May 1984), has been published by the UCLA Graduate School of Management Library. Statistics covered include the size of library collections, library expenditures, bibliographic instruction, personnel, and library services. Rank order table and data analysis follow the tabulated data. This publication is an ongoing effort of the College and University Business Librarians’ Roundtable of SLA’s Business and Finance Division. Copies may be ordered for $10, checks payable to the Regents of the University of California, from Mrs. Attait Meleika, UCLA, 11360B University Research Library, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

•Currier & Ives: A Catalogue Baisonne (1,029pages in 2 volumes, July 1984), is an inventory of the lithographs of Nathaniel Currier, James Merritt Ives and Charles Currier with an introduction by Bernard F. Reilly, Jr., Library of Congress. Included are ephemera associated with their firm and details on more than 7,000 prints. In the back is a subject index, an index of artists and lithographers, a chronological index, geographical index of views, and an index of illustrations. The catalog may be ordered for $250 from Gale Research Co., Book Tower, Detroit, MI 48226. ISBN 0-8103- 1638.

•The Directory of Government Document Collections and Librarians (702 pages, 1984), edited by Barbara Kile and Audrey Taylor, lists thousands of libraries in the U.S. with federal, state, local, international, and foreign documents holdings, and identifies individuals in the documents field, including librarians, educators, government officials, and association executives. A main entry section provides descriptions of libraries and collections. Staff names, collection categories, and subject specialities are indexed. Copies may be ordered for $40 from Directory, Congressional Information Service, Inc., 4520 East-West Hwy., Suite 800, Bethesda, MD 20814. ISBN 0-88692-001-6.

•The Guide to the OCLC Database and Special Collections Therein(88 pages, 1984), edited by Philip Schieber and Virginia G. Voedisch, describes 267 special collections supplied by 137 OCLC member institutions. The book contains brief, informative descriptions of the cataloging formats for materials in the OCLC database, national programs OCLC is participating in, and database vignettes about William Shakespeare and J.S. Bach. One complimentary copy has been sent to each OCLC member library. Other copies are available prepaid from OCLC, Dept. 630, Box ONB, Columbus, OH 43265.

•Library of Congress Acquisitions: Manuscript Division, 1982 (53 pages, 1984) describes the manuscripts received by LC in 1982 in seven different categories. Some of the acquisitions are additions to the Blair Family collection; others include the Civil War papers of General Orlando Poe, a series of letters of President Grover Cleveland to Chief Justice Melville W. Fuller, and the papers on Archibald MacLeish, Margaret Mead, and Abraham Ribicoff. This paperback edition is available free upon request from the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Washington, DC 20540.

•Nonbibliographic Machine-Readable Databases in ARL Libraries, SPEC Kit #105 (100 pages, June 1984), contains SPEC survey results, two committee and task force reports, two examples of manuals and descriptions, two documents on the use of nonbibliographic databases, and a list of selected resources. SPEC Kit #105 is available for $15 prepaid from: SPEC Center, Office of Management Studies, ARL, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036.

•Objective Performance Measures for Academic and Research Libraries, by Paul B. Kantor (76 pages, 1984), grew out of a study by Kantor and the Committee on ARL Statistics on the use of performance measures as a way to supplement ARL data on resources and expenditures with some quantitative library functions. These performance measures include: availability of library materials, accessibility, and delay analysis of specific activities. The manual contains detailed instructions and worksheets so that libraries can adapt the measures to their own needs. Copies are available for $25 (prepaid) from the Association of Research Libraries, 1527 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20036.

What is an academic research library?

A new ACRL publication, Quantitative Criteria for Academic Research Libraries, attempts to answer this question. Compiled by Kendon L. Stubbs, of the University of Virginia Library, under contract to the National Center for Education Statistics, this report is based on statistical data submitted by almost 3,000 academic libraries as part of the 1978-1979 HEGIS survey.

Using cluster analysis of library characteristics (e.g., volumes held, volumes added) to find institutions which are quantitatively similar to one another, Stubbs identified four clusters of libraries. For the 127 libraries in the highest cluster which share research library characteristics, using factor analysis Stubbs derived component score coefficients for 12 statistical variables (volumes held, volumes added, etc.). These coefficients are weights for the 12 variables, which when multiplied by the data for that variable from an individual library and then summed up, provide a component score for that library.

Stubbs computed component scores for the 2,943 libraries for which he had data. He was able to identify a cut-off score, above which a library could be said to show the characteristics of a research library. He also derived approximate dividing lines for each of the variables as of 1978-1979, stating that libraries whose statistics fell above those lines for that year could be described as research libraries (see table). In an appendix of over 100 pages, component scores are given for each of the 2,943 libraries, allowing each institution to be measured against the statistical research library model derived by Stubbs.

Copies of Quantitative Criteria for Academic Research Libraries (ISBN 0-8389-6788-4) are available (prepaid only) at $15 for ACRL members and $19 for non-members from ACRL/ALA, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2795.

TABLE 1

Approximate Dividing Lines for Academic Research Library Variables, 1978-79

Variable	Dividing Line
Volumes held	445,000
Volumes added, gross	18,000
Expenditures for library materials	$530,000
Expenditures for binding	$22,000
Total salaries and wages	$810,000
Other operating expenditures	$88,000
Total expenditures	$1,450,000
FTE professional staff	21
FTE nonprofessional staff	33
Total FTE staff	54
Circulation	170,000
Total reference, directional, and group transactions	900

•Preservation of Library Material: A Report of the Collection Preservation Committee (1984), published by the University of Toronto, outlines some problems of collection conservation and preservation. A survey of the collections using a computergenerated random sampling scheme is described. Proposals for restoration and maintenance, and a summary of recommendations and estimated cost are included. The report is available for $5 (prepaid) from: M. Davison, Chief Librarian’s Office, University of Toronto Library, 130 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5.

•The RLG Preservation Union List (1st ed., June1984), a set of 48:1 reduction diazo microfiche with accompanying explanatory documentation, contains citations for microform master negatives and printing masters for over 25,000 works held in RLG member libraries. With the information provided, librarians may order service copies of archival quality microforms, subject to copyright restrictions, from institutions participating in the Union List. The list also contains entries for materials scheduled for filming at various institutions. Complimentary copies of the Union List are available as long as supplies last, on request to: Christina Schmehl, RLG Publications Clerk, Research Libraries Group, Jordan Quadrangle, Stanford, C A 94305.

•Security for Libraries: People, Buildings, Collections, edited by Marvine Brand (120 pages, June 1984), describes useful techniques and information to make the library safe as a study place and workplace and to provide for collection protection. The practical aspects of individual, building, and collection security in academic, public, and school libraries are emphasized. Copies may be ordered for $12 from ALA Publishing, 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611.

•The Union List of Serials of the Boston LibraryConsortium has published a new microfiche edition that contains over 65,000 titles. This latest edition succeeds the October 1982 edition and is maintained fully online; it now includes a Keyword Index and the holdings of the MIT Libraries, which had been published separately before. This edition is the first to be produced on the union list system of the F. W. Faxon Company. The price per copy is $50 (or $40 if payment accompanies your order), checks payable to the Boston Library Consortium, from: Union List, Boston Library Consortium, Room 339, Boston Public Library, 666 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02117.