College and Research Libraries


By R A L P H W . M c C O M B 

Closed Circuit Television in 
A Library Orientation Program 

THE Pennsylvania State University Li-brary m a d e use of closed circuit 
television f o r the first time in its orienta-
tion p r o g r a m in the fall of 1957. It h a d 
been deemed virtually impossible to pre-
sent a satisfactory p r o g r a m of lecture 
tours to three or f o u r t h o u s a n d students 
in the two days available. For some years, 
indeed, the library h a d n o t been able 
to secure any time d u r i n g the crowded 
o r i e n t a t i o n week because of the heavy 
schedule of o t h e r events, particularly 
h e a l t h e x a m i n a t i o n s r e q u i r e d of new stu-
dents. W h e n some of these e x a m i n a t i o n s 
were moved t o the s u m m e r months, 
however, t i m e became available a n d the 
library staff, working w i t h the orienta-
tion committee, developed a T V pro-
g r a m on an e x p e r i m e n t a l basis. 

Eight sessions were scheduled over a 
two-day period w i t h a b o u t .400 students 
in each session. T h e s e students were as-
signed to o n e large r o o m a n d several 
small classrooms to h e a r a n introduc-
tory talk by the l i b r a r i a n . Each r o o m 
c o n t a i n e d at least f o u r T V receivers. 
T h e talk was designed to give informa-
tion on the location of libraries a n d 
r e a d i n g rooms on campus, use of the 
card catalog a n d special services, along 
w i t h a cordial invitation to use the li-
brary, a n d some talk a b o u t the impor-
tance of book skills. At the e n d of this 
twenty-minute session, g r o u p s were taken 
by trained s t u d e n t guides on a t o u r of 
the library. A t t e n d a n c e was voluntary, 
b u t f r e s h m e n seemed t o take their sched-
ules seriously a n d it was estimated t h a t 
a b o u t 2,800 took p a r t . 

M r . McComb is Librarian, Pennsylva-
nia State University. 

P E R C E N T A G E O F S T U D E N T S V O T I N G T O R E T A I N 

( R ) , C H A N G E ( C ) , OR E L I M I N A T E ( E ) 

T H I S A C T I V I T Y 

MEN WOMEN 

R C E R C E 
% % % % % % 

T V T a l k 3 4 4 5 2 0 3 4 4 2 2 3 
3 4 3 8 2 8 2 5 5 2 2 3 

L i b r a r y V i s i t 5 3 3 7 10 7 2 2 3 5 L i b r a r y V i s i t 
6 1 2 9 10 5 5 3 5 1 0 

I n a n effort to evaluate t h e results, 
s t u d e n t counselors d i s t r i b u t e d two ques-
tionnaires, one immediately a f t e r orien-
t a t i o n week, the o t h e r two m o n t h s later. 
T h e results showed t h a t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 
87 per cent of the students r e p o r t e d at-
tendance at b o t h the T V p r e s e n t a t i o n 
a n d the library visit. I n the first ques-
t i o n n a i r e 60 per cent of the m e n a n d 54 
per cent of the w o m e n considered the 
p r o g r a m h e l p f u l ; in the second question-
n a i r e 52 per cent of the men a n d 56 per 
cent of the women a p p r o v e d the pro-
g r a m . W h y the a p p r o v a l went d o w n 
a m o n g the men a n d w e n t u p a m o n g the 
women is not explained, a l t h o u g h it 
could conceivably represent a superficial 
evaluation. I n a f u r t h e r analysis ques-
t i o n i n g w h e t h e r the p r o g r a m should be 
retained, changed, or eliminated, the fol-
lowing results were o b t a i n e d . 

T h e obvious conclusions are t h a t t h e 
library visit was voted m o r e u s e f u l t h a n 
the talk; 20-28 per cent favored elimina-
tion of the T V p r o g r a m while only 5-10 
per cent w o u l d e l i m i n a t e the library 
visit; 38-52 per cent favored a change in 
the T V presentation; 53-72 per cent fa-
vored r e t a i n i n g the library visit b u t 23-
37 per cent t h o u g h t it should be changed. 

(Continued on page 408) 

SEPTEMBER 1958 387 



Hi-fi & Music Review. Z i f f - D a v i s P u b l i s h i n g 
C o m p a n y , 6 4 E. L a k e S t r e e t , C h i c a g o 1. v . l , 
n o . l , F e b r u a r y 1958. M o n t h l y . $ 4 . 0 0 . 

The Historical Journal. C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y 
P r e s s , B e n t l e y H o u s e , E u s t o n R o a d , L o n d o n , 
N . W . 1. v . l , n o . l , 1958. S e m i a n n u a l . $ 4 . 2 5 . 

International Journal of Health Education. 3, 
r u e V i o l l i e r , G e n e v a , v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 1958. 
F r e q u e n c y n o t g i v e n $ 3 . 0 0 . 

Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behav-
ior. B e h a v i o r R e s e a r c h L a b o r a t o r y , M e t r o p o l i -
t a n S t a t e H o s p i t a l , T r a p e l o R o a d , W a l t h a m , 
M a s s a c h u s e t t s , v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 1958. Q u a r -
t e r l y . $ 1 2 . 

El Libro Espanol. I n s t i t u t o N a c i o n a l d e l L i b r o 
E s p a n o l , F e r r a z 13, M a d r i d , v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 
1958. M o n t h l y $ 5 . 0 0 . 

Mayor and Manager. 7 2 W e s t 4 5 t h S t r e e t , N e w 
Y o r k 36. v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 1958. M o n t h l y . 
$ 3 . 0 0 . 

Molecular Physics. T a y l o r a n d F r a n c i s , L t d . , R e d 
L i o n C o u r t , F l e e t S t r e e t , L o n d o n , E . C . 4 . v . l , 
n o . l , J a n u a r y 1 9 5 8 . Q u a r t e r l y . $ 1 3 . 3 0 . 

New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 
D e p a r t m e n t o f S c i e n t i f i c a n d I n d u s t r i a l R e -
s e a r c h , P . O . B o x 8 0 1 8 , W e l l i n g t o n , v . l , n o . l , 
F e b r u a r y 1958. B i m o n t h l y . 30s. 

New Zealand Journal of Science. D e p a r t m e n t of 
S c i e n t i f i c a n d I n d u s t r i a l R e s e a r c h , P . O . B o x 
8 0 1 8 , W e l l i n g t o n , v . l , n o . l , M a r c h 1958. Q u a r -
t e r l y . 2 0 s . 

New York Review. 2 7 9 E a s t H o u s t o n S t r e e t , N e w 
Y o r k . S p r i n g 1958. F r e q u e n c y n o t g i v e n . $ 2 . 0 0 . 

Nuova Mezzogiorno. E d i t r i c e T e c n i c a , A r t i s t i c a 
e S c i e n t i f i c a , V i a M a n t e g n a , 6, M i l a n o . v . l , 
v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 1958. M o n t h l y . L 8 . 0 0 0 . 

Ohioana. M a r t h a K i n n e y C o o p e r O h i o a n a L i -
b r a r y A s s o c i a t i o n , 1 1 0 9 O h i o D e p a r t m e n t s 
B u i l d i n g , C o l u m b u s 15. v . l , n o . l , s p r i n g 1958. 
Q u a r t e r l y . $ 2 . 5 0 . 

The Pacific Sociological Review. U n i v e r s i t y of 
O r e g o n , E u g e n e , v . l , n o . l , s p r i n g 1 9 5 8 . S e m i -
a n n u a l . $ 3 . 0 0 . 

Pakistan Journal of Scientific and Industrial Re-
search. P a k i s t a n C o u n c i l o f S c i e n t i f i c a n d I n -
d u s t r i a l R e s e a r c h , N o . 3 / 4 / D / I V , N a z i a m b a d , 
K a r a c h i , v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y 1958. Q u a r t e r l y . 
R s 4 / -

Pall Mall Quarterly. P a l l M a l l P r e s s , 123, P a l l 
M a l l , L o n d o n , S . W . 1. v . l , n o . l , s p r i n g 1958. 
$ 3 . 0 0 . 

Research Management. I n t e r s c i e n c e P u b l i s h e r s , 
I n c . , 2 5 0 F i f t h A v e n u e , N e w Y o r k 1. v . l , n o . l , 
s p r i n g 1958. Q u a r t e r l y . $ 7 . 5 0 . 

Revista Brasileira de Politica Internacional. I n -
s t i t u t o B r a s i l e i r o d e R e l a t e s I n t e r n a c i o n a i s , 
A v e n i d a T r e z e d e M a i o , 2 3 , R i o d e J a n e i r o , 
v . l , n o . l , M a r c h 1958. Q u a r t e r l y . C r $ 3 5 0 . 0 0 . 

Revista Latinoamericana de Microbiologia. 
A p a r t a d o P o s t a l 1 8 8 6 2 , M e x i c o 4 . v . l , n o . l , 
M a r c h 1 9 5 8 . Q u a r t e r l y . $ 6 . 

Semiconductor Products. C o w a n P u b l i s h i n g C o r -
p o r a t i o n , 3 0 0 0 W e s t 4 3 d S t r e e t , N e w Y o r k 36. 
v . l , n o . l , J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 1958. B i m o n t h l y . 
$ 5 . 0 0 . 

Space Technology. M c G r a w - H i l l P u b l i s h i n g 
C o m p a n y 3 3 0 W e s t 4 2 d S t r e e t , N e w Y o r k 3 6 . 
v . l , n o . 2 , A p r i l 1958. Q u a r t e r l y $ 3 . 0 0 . ( N o . 1 
n o t a v a i l a b l e f o r e x a m i n a t i o n . ) 

Texas Quarterly. U n i v e r s i t y of T e x a s P r e s s , A u s -
t i n 12. v . l , n o . l , F e b r u a r y 1958. $ 4 . 0 0 . 

Theology and Life. L a n c a s t e r T h e o l o g y a n d 
S e m i n a r y o f t h e U n i t e d C h u r c h o f C h r i s t 
( E v a n g e l i c a l a n d R e f o r m e d ) L a n c a s t e r , P e n n -

s y l v a n i a . v . l , n o . l , F e b r u a r y 1958. Q u a r t e r l y . 
$ 2 . 5 0 . 

35 MM Photography. 4 6 - 4 7 C h a n c e r y L a n e , L o n -
d o n , W . C . 2 . v . l , n o . l , M a y 1958. M o n t h l y . 
$ 5 . 0 0 . 

Closed Circuit Television 
(Continued from page 387) 

O r a l comments by s t u d e n t guides a n d 
counselors, a l t h o u g h n o t t a b u l a t e d , were 
m o r e f a v o r a b l e t h a n t h e q u e s t i o n n a i r e 
results a n d certainly encouraging. I t 

should also be n o t e d t h a t to a consider-
able e x t e n t the success of the library 
t o u r may have been m a d e possible by 
the i n t r o d u c t i o n p r o v i d e d by T V . 

408 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES