ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


November 1990 /  965

Minority internship/scholarship 

in library and information science

By Curtis Kendrick

Form er Head, Circulation 
SU N Y Stony Brook

Joyce Clinkscales

Head, M usic Library 
SU N Y Stony Brook

Jacob Lipkind

A ssistant Head, Reference 
SU N Y Stony Brook

Amelia Salinero

Cataloger
SU N Y Stony Brook

and Hélène Volat-Shapiro

A ssistant Head, Bibliographic Services 
SU N Y Stony Brook

Institutional commitment to the general problem o f 
underrepresentation o f minorities in academia.

TP h e M inority In tern sh ip /S ch o larsh ip  in 
JK. L ib r a r y  a n d  I n f o r m a t io n  S c ie n c e s  

(M IL IS )1 program  is designed for minority2 u n d e r­
graduate students at th e State University o f N ew  
York (SUNY) at Stony Brook who have d em o n ­
strated leadership potential and are in terested  in 
pursuing a career in librarianship. Students ac­
cep ted  into th e M ILIS program  participate in a 
paid internship in th e library during th e ir senior 
year and receive a full scholarship from  SUNY at

lrſ h e  nam e and acronym for this program  w ere 
developed by D anna Bell, form erly special collec­
tions librarian at SUNY Stony Brook, now librarian 
for th e N ational Association for th e A dvancem ent 
o f C olored People.

2Asian Am erican, African American, Hispanic
Am erican, Native American.

Albany’s G raduate School o f Inform ation Science 
and Policy upon acceptance into its m aster’s p ro ­
gram.

Why MILIS is necessary

W ithin th e U nited States th e m inority popula­
tion is growing at a faster rate than th e population 
as a whole. Projections indicate a significant growth 
through th e first q u arte r o f th e next century in th e 
percentage o f th e college age population com pris­
ing m inorities.3

W hile th e proportion o f m inorities is expected to

H 9 8 6 -8 7  F act B ook on H ig h e r E d u c a tio n  
(Washington: American Council on H igher E d u ca­
tion, 1987).



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Novem ber 1 9 9 0 1 967

continue to grow over th e next few decades, th e 
proportion o f m inority librarians is decreasing. 
Between 1979 and 1984 th e re  was a 40% decrease 
(369 to 221) in th e n u m b e r o f m inorities graduating 
each year from  m aster’s program s in library and 
inform ation science.4 It is clear th a t th e profession 
is not doing an adequate job o f attracting m inority 
students to p u rsu e careers in librarianship. In  o rd er 
to grasp th e full extent o f this problem  it is helpful 
to observe how librarianship com pares w ith o th er 
disciplines. D u rin g  1986/87, 10.6% o f m aster’s 
degrees aw arded in all disciplines w ere aw arded to 
m inority students; in th e field o f librarianship only 
7.7% o f th e  m aster’s degrees w ere aw arded to 
m inorities.5

Why at Stony Brook and Albany?

T he M ILIS program  has afforded Stony Brook 
and Albany th e  opportunity to assum e a leadership 
role in a vital area w ithin th e  profession. After 
seeing th a t such a program  is viable, o th e r institu­
tions w ithin th e  SUNY system have expressed an 
interest in pursuing similar program s on th e ir own 
cam puses. T h e fact th a t Stony Brook and Albany 
are public institutions is im portant because m inor­
ity students are m ore likely to atten d  public institu­
tions than private colleges o r universities; 79% o f 
th e African American, 83% o f Asian Am erican, and 
77% o f Native Am erican students atten d  public 
institutions.6

Stony Brook has d em o n strated  an institutional 
com m itm ent to th e general problem  o f u n d e r­
rep resen tatio n  o f m inorities in academ ia. In  1987 
Stony Brook h osted a national conference en titled  
“T he Role o f Faculty in M eeting th e N ational N eed  
fo r A frican A m erican , A m eric an  In d ia n , an d  
Latino Scholars,” as well as a local conference 
entitled  “To F o rm  a M ore P erfect Cam pus: Ad­
dressing U n d errep resen tatio n  o f Blacks, H ispanics 
and A m erican Indians in G raduate E d u catio n .” 
F o rm e r provost Jerry Schubel co m m en ted  at th e 
local conference th a t “we cannot hope to hire 
black— or H ispanic o r A m erican Indian— faculty 
m em bers if th e re  are no black— o r H ispanic or 
Am erican Indian— graduate students. At a tim e

4L orene B. Brown, “A Crisis in Librarianship: 
T he D ecline in th e N u m b er o f M inorities E n terin g  
th e Profession Since 1979.” P ap er p re se n te d  at th e 
m eeting o f th e  Black C aucus o f th e  Am erican 
Library Association, Chicago, January 19, 1986.

'Digest o f  Education Statistics 1989. Table 217.
6“G eneral D ata on M inorities in H ig h er E d u ca­

tion,” in M inority Stu d en t E nrollm ents in H igher 
E ducation (G arrett Park Press, 1987). No figures

{›rovided for H ispanic enrollm ent in public col- eges an d  universities.

w hen th e p ercen tag e o f black graduate students is 
low er now  th an  it was te n  years ago, we m ust make 
stren u o u s efforts to  identify ta le n te d  stu d en ts 
early, and give th em  w hatever intellectual, em o­
tional o r financial enco u rag em en t they n eed  to 
continue th e ir education.”7 T he M ILIS program  is 
consistent w ith th e provost’s vision o f how  to form 
a m ore p erfect cam pus as it identifies talen ted  
students (the application/selection process), p ro ­
vides intellectual enco u rag em en t (the internship), 
em otional enco u rag em en t (the m entoring com po­
n ent), and p erh ap s m ost im portantly, financial 
en co u rag em en t (the scholarship).

Program background

In  July 1988 C urtis K endrick, h ead  o f th e C ircu ­
lation D ep artm en t, p re se n te d  to th e d irecto r o f 
libraries a proposal to im plem ent an internship/ 
scholarship program  aim ed at recruiting m inority 
u n dergraduates to th e field o f library and inform a­
tion sciences. Stony Brook does not offer a g rad u ­
ate degree in librarianship, so contact was estab ­
lished w ith R ichard Halsey, dean o f th e  School o f 
Inform ation Science and Policy at SUNY Albany, 
w hich resu lted  in Albany’s cosponsorship o f th e 
program . As cosponsor, Albany is responsible for 
identifying funds to grant full scholarships to p ro ­
gram  participants who are accepted into SUNY at 
Albany’s School o f Inform ation Science and Policy.

A ccepting responsibility for th e internship com ­
p o n e n t o f M ILIS, John B rew ster Smith, d irecto r o f 
libraries and dean at Stony Brook, appointed th e 
M ILIS C om m ittee and charged th e com m ittee 
w ith th e developm ent and m anagem ent o f all as­
pects o f th e M ILIS program . This included devel­
oping th e  program  structure (including a m ethod 
for reviewing th e  program ), publicizing th e  p ro ­
gram  and recruiting applicants, establishing selec­
tion criteria, reviewing applications, interview ing 
finalists, and subm itting recom m endations for in ­
terns to th e d irecto r o f libraries. T h e M ILIS C om ­
m ittee developed a tim etable for th e  p ro g ram ’s 
first year o f operation to make sure th a t publicity, 
recru itm en t and selection w ere accom plished and 
also to  develop th e  co n ten t o f th e internship.

Publicity and recruitment

Advertising th e  M ILIS program  and recruiting 
applicants w ere th e first tasks o f th e  M ILIS C om ­
m ittee. An attractive b ro ch u re was created  and 
displayed in various d ep artm en ts o f th e library, 
particularly in public services areas. Along w ith th e 
b ro ch u re th e  com m ittee designed application and

7J. R. S ch u b el, A ca d e m ic N ew s 6 (January- 
M arch 1988).



968 /  C(?RL News

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, AGE 18-24

Year Minority Non-minority

1980 15.7% 84.3%
2000 19.3% 80.7%
2025 23.1% 76.9%

reco m m en d atio n  form s to be su b m itted  by th e  e n d  
o f th e  spring sem ester.8

O nce th e  b ro ch u re and form s w ere ready, a 
publicity distribution list was established, to be 
u p d a te d  each year, w hich includes m inority organi­
zations, university offices, particularly those serv­
ing u n dergraduates, local public libraries an d  L ong 
Island library associations. T h e 43 nam es on th e  
distribution list w ere sen t b ro ch u res an d  applica­
tion and reco m m en d atio n  forms along w ith a cover 
letter. Sim ultaneously, a publicity release was w rit­
te n  and d istrib u ted  to th e  cam pus new spapers early 
in th e  spring sem ester.

Selection of the first intern

O n e o f th e  charges to  th e  M IL IS co m m ittee was 
to reco m m en d  interns for th e program  to  th e  d ire c ­
to r o f libraries. T h e application form  developed by 
th e  co m m ittee was in te n d e d  to solicit an appli­
c a n t’s in terest in th e  M IL IS program  and in librari- 
anship, as well as any extracurricular work, volun­
te e r activities an d  special skills. A b rie f essay on th e  
applicant’s experiences w ith libraries an d  librarians 
was req u ired , prim arily to help th e  com m ittee 
assess th e  applicant’s w riting skills. E ach applicant 
was also re q u ire d  to  subm it th re e  letters o f reco m ­
m endation an d  a course transcript.

O n ce all th e  application m aterials w e re  r e ­
ceived, th e  M IL IS C om m ittee review ed th e  appli­
cations and, in p rep arin g  to co n d u ct interviews, 
developed th e  following selection guidelines.

D u rin g  th e  first year o f th e M IL IS program  th e  
co m m ittee interview ed one candidate and, after 
serious discussions an d  review  o f h e r file, reco m ­
m e n d e d  to  th e  d irec to r o f libraries th a t she b e 
invited to p articipate in th e  M IL IS program . In  
S e p te m b e r 1989 Bangsook L ee was ap p o in ted  th e 
first in tern  in th e  M IL IS program .

Program details

C ataloging an d  referen ce fo rm ed  th e  tw o m ain 
areas o f th e  internship, w ith a sem ester d ed icated  
to  each o f them . A fter consultation w ith th e  intern,

8F o r a copy o f th e  b ro ch u re and form s contact: 
Ju d ith  K aufm an, P erso n n el an d  D e v e lo p m e n t 
Librarian, Melville Library, State U niversity o f 
N ew  York, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3300.

th e  w in te r intersessio n  p e rio d  was d ev o ted  to  
m usic librarianship, a strong in te re st o f hers. T h e 
in tern sh ip  schedule re q u ire d  fifteen hours p e r 
w eek at a pay rate o f $6.00 p e r  hour, a wage 
approxim ately 35% h ig h er th a n  th e  wage norm ally 
provided to u n d e rg ra d u a te  stu d e n t assistants in th e  
library. T h e p u rp o se o f th e  h ig h er wage was to  draw  
a clear distinction b etw een  th e  in te rn  an d  stu d e n t 
assistants. W h en  th e  in te rn  “w o rk ed ” w ithin a 
d e p a rtm e n t, th e  goal was to  learn  how  th e  d e p a rt­
m e n t o p e ra te d  and th e  types o f problem s and 
issues th a t arose, an d  to  acquire a basic know ledge 
o f th e  th eo retical an d  practical aspects o f p articu lar 
areas o f librarianship.

W ith any new  program  th e re  is naturally som e 
co n cern  ab o u t how  th e  program  will affect o th e r 
library operations. It was also im p o rtan t for th e 
Stony Brook library adm inistration to keep SUNY 
at Albany inform ed. To m e et those needs, th e 
M IL IS  C o m m ittee co m m u n icated  regularly w ith 
th e  d ire c to r o f libraries ab o u t th e  p ro g ram ’s p ro g ­
ress an d  developed a syllabus for each sem ester 
(see A ppendices A an d  B).

Cataloging component

A m elia Salinero, cataloger, developed th e  sylla­
bus for th e  cataloging c o m p o n en t o f th e  internship. 
In  o rd e r to go beyond th e  cataloging o f m ono­
graphs she engaged o th e r m em b ers o f th e  C atalog­
ing D e p a rtm e n t to  provide training in th e  catalog­
ing o f m aps an d  m usic m aterials. T h e Serials D e ­
p a rtm e n t also p articip ated  in o rd e r to  give th e 
in te rn  experience in serials cataloging.

T h e cataloging syllabus was organized into th ir­
te e n  weeks. T h e first two w eeks p rovided an over­
view o f library operations an d  an in tro d u ctio n  to 
th eo retical an d  practical aspects o f cataloging. T h e 
th ird  th ro u g h  fifth w eeks w ere d ed icated  to main 
en try , d escrip tiv e cataloging a n d  m o n o g rap h ic 
series fields. W eeks six and seven covered subject 
cataloging, followed by a w eek for a d d e d  entries. 
This total o f eight w eeks was designed to  com plete 
th e  training in th e  cataloging o f m onographs. O ne 
w eek d e d ic a te d  to  m aps cataloging, two weeks to 
m usic an d  tw o w eeks to  serials cataloging com ­
p le te d  th e  one sem ester cataloging co m p o n en t o f 
th e  internship.

Lois Mai C h a n ’s book, Cataloging a n d  Classifi­
cation: A n  In tro d u ctio n  (N ew  York, 1981), was



November 1 9 9 0 1 969

introduced in th e first w eek and used throughout 
the sem ester. W hile learning subject cataloging th e 
intern was introduced to th e  L ibrary o f  Congress 
Subject Headings to validate specific subject h e a d ­
ings and to th e L ibrary o f  Congress Classification 
Schedules to m atch classification num bers to sub­
jects. T he in tern  studied th e  Library o f Congress 
classification schem e arrangem ent for individual 
authors by following a prolific literary au th o r 
through th e  shelflist cards and noting th e different 
ordering possibilities according to type o f work: 
collected works, selections, individual works and 
works o f criticism  about th e author.

H ands-on work began in th e first w eek with 
general bibliographic and authority searching in 
th e O C L C  and R L IN  online databases. Beginning 
in th e second w eek th e in tern  filled out com plete 
cataloging forms for books w ith Library o f C on­
gress C atalo g in g -in -p u b licatio n  (C IP ). By th e  
fourth w eek th e  in tern  started  to help with actual 
online copy cataloging u n d e r appropriate supervi­
sion.

Although th e syllabus seem ed realistic and sen­
sible, th e n e e d  for flexibility soon becam e ap p ar­
ent. Schedule adjustm ents w ere m ade because th e 
intern progressed m ore rapidly than was antici­
pated, h e r needs to p rep are for tests and o th e r class 
req u irem en ts had to be given priority, and th e 
supervising staff had to accom m odate th e ir own 
professional responsibilities. D uring th e  first stages 
o f th e  cataloging co m p o n e n t Salinero w orked 
closely w ith th e intern, b u t th e am ount o f tim e 
spent working directly with th e in tern  d ro p p ed  off 
as th e  sem ester progressed. T he in te rn ’s desk was 
in front o f Salinero’s, so if questions arose they 
could easily be asked, b u t th e in tern  w orked m ore 
and m ore in d ependently as tim e w ent on.

Reference component

D uring th e  spring sem ester th e  M ILIS in tern  
was train ed  to assist at th e Main Library reference 
desk u n d e r th e direction o f Jacob Lipkind, assistant 
h e a d  o f th e  R eferen c e D e p a rtm e n t. She was 
train ed  to answ er directional questions, holdings 
questions for known titles, and some ready re fe r­
ence questions such as finding zip codes, plot

MASTER’S DEGREES AWARDED

All Disciplines Lib./Info. Science

Asian American 3.0% 2.4%
African American 4.8% 3.8%
Hispanic American 2.4% 1.3%
Native American 0.4% 0.2%

TOTAL 10.6% 7.7%

sum m aries, and th e addresses o f publishers or 
colleges. T he in tern  w orked at th e reference desk 
as a second or som etim es th ird  person, and re ­
ferred  m ore difficult questions to th e reference 
librarian on duty.

M ost o f th e reference training occurred during 
th e  first five to six weeks o f th e  sem ester, as d e ­
scribed in th e syllabus in Appendix B. D uring th e 
training p erio d  Lipkind w orked intensively with 
th e intern. To provide concrete training and to help 
im prove reference collections and services, the 
in tern  also p articipated in some special projects, 
including inventorying and updating th e  college 
guide and financial aid collections, and d e te rm in ­
ing and noting call num bers for titles indexed in 
referen ce sources.

Music librarianship component

T he in tern  elected  to participate in a special unit 
on music librarianship during th e four intersession 
weeks. This p a rt o f th e program  was supervised by 
Joyce Clinkscales, h ead  o f th e Music Library, who 
designed it in consultation w ith th e M ILIS C om ­
m ittee, w hich w anted th e in tern  to have both learn­
ing and working experiences, including a special 
project. Because o f th e  short period o f tim e in­
volved, th e focus was lim ited to reference and 
bibliography so th a t th e  com m ittee’s goals could be 
m et. In  o rd er to foster a critical attitude and an 
analytical approach tow ard reference materials, 
th e  in tern  was assigned selected reviews and essays 
to read  and discuss w ith th e  supervisor. A survey o f 
basic reference sources included sets o f sim ulated 
referen ce questions w hich th e in tern  answ ered by 
searching through p rescribed groups o f sources. As 
h e r project she chose to assess th e library’s holdings 
o f p rin te d  music for th e  ch am b er music com bina­
tion o f flute and violoncello (instrum ents w hich are 
im portant in th e M usic D e p a rtm e n t program ). She 
com piled a list o f com positions held by th e  library 
and identified a substantial n u m b e r o f additional 
works which th e library will purchase to enhance 
holdings in this area. An effort was m ade to expose 
h e r to o th e r facets o f m usic library work besides 
referen ce and bibliography. She w orked with a 
cataloger to learn some o f th e special aspects o f 
music cataloging. In  addition, Clinkscales helped 
h e r gain an overview o f th e types o f m aterials and 
services in music libraries, th e various adm inistra­
tive structures possible, and th e different types o f 
music libraries th at exist.

T he formal structure o f th e com ponents o f th e 
M ILIS program  provided th e supervising librari­
ans, th e M ILIS C om m ittee, th e library adm inistra­
tion, and th e in tern  w ith a clear delineation o f th e 
aspects o f librarianship to be surveyed by th e  p ro ­
gram. T h ere was a natural tension, however, b e ­
tw een th e n eed  to adhere to th e program  and th e



9 7 0 1 C& RL News

n e e d  to b e flexible. Because m uch o f th e program  
involved one-to-one instruction, supervising li­
brarians h ad  latitude to em phasize certain facets 
over others, to adjust th e am ount o f tim e sp en t on 
particular areas, or to reorganize th e stru ctu re o f 
th e  com ponents to resp o n d  to day-to-day reali­
ties.

Mentoring

T h e design o f th e  M IL IS program  called for 
one librarian to serve as m e n to r to th e in tern  for 
th e  academ ic year. T h e m e n to r’s role was to  m eet 
regularly w ith th e in tern  in o rd e r to provide infor­
m ation and guidance about m atters related  to 
work assignm ents and th e  in te rn ’s academ ic and 
professional careers. Specific responsibilities, as 
defined by th e M ILIS C om m ittee, w ere to assist 
th e  in tern  w ith preparations for th e  G raduate 
R ecord Exam ination and w ith th e  application to 
SUNY at Albany; to encourage th e  in tern  to  read  
professional journals and o th e r selected m ateri­
als; to encourage h e r to im prove any areas o f 
weakness, such as writing, m athem atics, o r com ­
p u te r literacy; and to work w ith o th e r librarians to 
develop a special project for th e intern.

Because Bangsook L ee had w orked as a stu d en t 
assistant in th e  Music Library and h ad  indicated 
an in terest in music librarianship as a career, th e 
M ILIS C om m ittee asked Clinkscales to serve as 
m entor. T he in tern  and m en to r m et at least every 
two weeks during th e  earlier stages o f th e  p ro ­
gram , and som ew hat less frequently as th e year 
progressed. M eetings w ere scheduled during th e 
in te rn ’s work tim e. As w ould b e expected in any 
form al or inform al m entoring process, in addition 
to counseling, th e  m e n to r’s central function was 
to provide inform ation and encouragem ent. T he 
in tern  was in terested  in academ ic librarianship, 
b u t n e e d e d  to know w hat o th e r types o f careers in 
librarianship w ere possible. She w an ted  help in 
identifying and evaluating graduate schools th a t 
she m ight w ant to consider in addition to SUNY at

Albany. Predictably enough, she te n d e d  to becom e 
overw helm ed at tim es by th e com plexity o f library 
operations and n e e d e d  reassurance th a t she w ould 
gradually absorb th e  basic p ro ced u res and th a t it 
was not necessary to u n d erstan d  everything before 
beginning library school. In  th e  m e n to r’s opinion, 
th e tim es scheduled specifically for review and 
discussion o f th e  in te rn ’s activities proved valuable. 
M any o f th e  m atters discussed w ere relatively 
m inor and m ight never have b e e n  bro u g h t up had 
it b e e n  left to  th e  in tern  to re q u e st m eetings w hen 
she felt she n e e d e d  them . R egular m eetings also 
provided feedback on th e  program . T h e m en to r 
re p o rte d  on th e  in te rn ’s progress during m eetings 
o f th e  M ILIS com m ittee.

Evaluation and certificate o f completion

T he ag reem en t b etw een  SUNY at Stony Brook 
and SUNY at Albany requires th a t D ean  Smith 
from  Stony Brook re p o rt on th e progress o f each 
in tern  to D ean  H alsey at Albany. This progress 
re p o rt may serve as a recom m endation for th e 
in te rn ’s application to  th e graduate program . It 
should b e n o te d  th a t th e  interns are expected to go 
th ro u g h  th e  form al application p ro ced u re to Al­
bany, including taking th e  G R E  test. F u rth erm o re , 
th e  interns are not com m itted to attending Albany; 
if an o th er institution b e tte r m atches th e ir needs, 
th ey  may apply to th a t institution.

In  late F eb ru a ry  1990 th e  M IL IS C om m ittee 
re p o rte d  to th e  d irecto r o f libraries on th e progress 
o f Bangsook Lee. T h e re p o rt was quite favorable 
and focused on th e  activities in w hich th e  in tern  
h ad  engaged in during th e  program . This rep o rt 
was forw arded to Albany to b e review ed along with 
th e  rem a in d er o f L e e ’s application. (The in tern  was 
a c c e p te d  in to  th e  SUNY at A lbany G ra d u a te  
School o f Inform ation Science and Policy as well as 
two o th e r library schools.)

Finally, during th e  last w eek o f classes, th e 
M ILIS C om m ittee held  a luncheon in h o n o r o f th e

MILIS SELECTION CRITERIA

Criteria Measurement Instruments

Academic performance GPA, coursework, recommendations

Enthusiasm Extra-curricular, volunteer or work activities 
content of essay, recommendations, interview

Communication skills Writing style, interview

Interest in/capability for librarianship Content of essay, recommendations, interview

Sense of responsibility Recommendations, coursework, GPA, work 
experiences



November 1 9 9 0 1 971

intern at which she was p resen ted  with a certificate 
o f com pletion o f th e M ILIS program .

Future enhancements

Since this was th e first year o f th e M ILIS p ro ­
gram th e M ILIS C om m ittee had to limit its energy 
to the most essential com ponents o f th e program . 
However, th e com m ittee discussed several o th er 
activities th a t w ould enhance th e internship con­
siderably and will probably be im plem ented in 
future years. T he com m ittee has already received 
approval from th e library faculty to introduce fu­
ture interns at a library faculty m eeting early in the 
internship in o rd er to acquaint th e library faculty 
with th e intern and also to em phasize th e im por­
tance o f th e program  to th e  faculty. (A nother li­
brary group, th e Library Staff Association, invited 
this year’s in tern  to atten d  th e  annual w inter holi­
day party, b u t she was unable to attend.)

M oving o u tsid e th e  library, th e  co m m ittee 
would like th e in tern  to atten d  a professional m e e t­
ing o r conference, if problem s o f expense and 
tim ing can be solved, in o rd er to be exposed to 
w ider professional issues. A likely candidate is th e 
annual conference o f SUNYLA, th e State U niver­
sity o f N ew  York Librarian Association which is 
held in late spring. A nother proposal is a trip to 
SUNY at Albany to witness firsthand w hat th e 
cam pus and classes are like.

F rom  th e  inception o f th e M ILIS Program , 
Stony Brook’s library adm inistration has suggested 
that external funding for th e program  m ight be 
possible. As a higher education program  focused 
on m inority students it may be possible to identify 
corporate or governm ent sponsorship. To date th e 
M ILIS C om m ittee has not actively p u rsu ed  exter­
nal funding, b u t now th a t th e program  structure is 
established this and o th er enhancem ents may be 
explored.

Conclusion

T he American Library Association’s Office for 
Library Personnel Resources has identified th ree 
main difficulties in recruiting m inorities to librari- 
anship: 1) problem s in identifying candidates; 2) 
lack o f scholarship money; and 3) com petition with 
o th e r m ore rew arding occupations. T he M ILIS 
program  responds to th e first two o f these.

Although th e re  has b een  a lot o f discussion 
w ithin th e profession about th e problem  o f recru it­
ing m inorities to librarianship, these discussions 
have not resulted in any m easurable im prove­
m ents; in fact, th e situation is deteriorating. As 
im plem ented at Stony Brook, Albany, and else­
w here w ithin th e  SUNY system, th e  M ILIS p ro ­
gram can have a positive effect on recruiting mi­
norities to th e profession. If successfully im ple­

m en ted  on a national level, such program s may 
have a dram atic effect on th e n u m b e r o f minority 
students entering th e profession. T he direct finan­
cial and experiential support provided to M ILIS 
interns serves to increase th e n u m b e r o f minority 
librarians. Additionally, th e increased visibility o f 
th e library on cam pus resulting from th e M ILIS 
program  as well as librarianship itself may attract 
o th e r m inority students to consider career options 
w ithin th e field.

I f  th e re  is a n eed  for m ore m inority librarians 
th e n  it is tim e for th e profession to provide th e 
support necessary to build up applicant pools. 
T h ere may be o th e r ways o f accom plishing the 
same results b u t th e M ILIS program  has th e b e n e ­
fit o f being easy to adm inister at a relatively low 
cost. Randall has stated th at “perhaps th e key factor 
in th e success rate o f recruiting racial and ethnic 
m inorities into library and inform ation science 
program s is th e degree to which financial aid is 
available.”9 By providing a scholarship th e M ILIS 
program  may enable m inority students to pursue 
graduate studies which they otherwise may not 
have b een  able to afford. F u rth erm o re, th e in tern ­
ship com ponent o f th e program  provides a student 
w ith an experience working in an academ ic library 
th a t is m ore substantial than th e traditional student 
assistant job. Finally, th e M entoring com ponent o f 
th e program  may result in relationships th a t last 
throughout a professional lifetime.

Appendix A

Fall Sem ester Syllabus: Cataloging

W eek
1-20 Overview o f internship program . 

O rganization o f th e University
Libraries.

Introduction to theory o f cataloging. 
Bibliographic and authority searching. 
Introduction to O C LC  and RLIN .

3 Main entry and call num bers (mostly
literature).

4 D escriptive cataloging (Fields 250-
504) excluding serials.

5 Series no record kept and added
entries in th e ir two possibilities 
(Fields 440, 490, 830).

6-7 Subject cataloging.
8 A dded entries (700 fields).

9Ann Knight Randall, “Minority R ecruitm ent in 
Librarianship,” in William E. M oen and Kathleen 
M. H eim , eds., Librarians f o r  the N ew  M illenium 
(Chicago: American Library Association, Office 
for Library Personnel Resources, 1988), 17.



972 /  C& RL News

9 Maps cataloging.
10-11 M usic cataloging.
12-13 Serials cataloging.

Appendix B

Spring Syllabus: R eference

W eek
1 Goals and organization o f th e R efer­

ence D ep artm en t.
T o u r and organization o f R eference

Room collections.
T o u r o f G overnm ent D ocum ents,

M icroforms and Maps sections o f 
th e R eference D ep artm en t.

T o u r o f all o th e r main library areas and 
o th e r frequently asked for (non­
library) offices in th e  building.

2 Audio to u r o f th e library.
H andouts on library d ep artm en ts and

services.
A uthor/title catalog, subject catalog, 

serials file.
3-11 Introduction to the Stony Brook

Library: A  Self-Paced W orkbook f o r  
L B R  150 (LBR 150 is a university 
course taught by referen ce librari­
ans): reading and com pleting 
review questions.

3-6 O bserving at th e referen ce desk.
Overviews o f D ocum ents, Maps,

M icroforms, Interlibrary li›a n , 
database searching and biblio­
graphic instruction given by ap p ro ­
priate librarians.

3 L ibrary o f  Congress Subject Headings. 
Serials holdings list and Long Island

Union L ist o f  Serials.
R eference desk procedures.

4 R eference use o f O C L C  and R LIN . 
C D -R O M s located in th e R eference

Room.
5 Selected heavily used periodical

indexes and abstracting services. 
R eference desk books and files and

Long Island section.
6 M ajor literary criticism and book

review sources.
M ajor biographic sources, business 

sources and college guides.
7-14 Assisting w ith reference questions at 

referen ce desk, review o f m aterial, 
discussion o f questions, and special 
projects. ■  ■

Off-campus library services 
conference—presenters alert

T he C entral M ichigan University Libraries 
and C M U ’s E x ten d ed  D eg ree Program s and 
C red it C ourses is sponsoring its fifth confer­
ence for th e  reporting, exam ination, and dis­
cussion o f issues surrounding th e  provision o f 
library services to students taking courses 
away from  th e ir central cam puses, corpora­
tions o r o th e r institutional training sites. T he 
conference will b e held in A lbuquerque, New 
M exico, O c to b e r 3 0 -N o v e m b e r 1, 1991. 
International in scope and participation, p re ­
vious conferences have attracted  Am erican, 
Canadian, British and Australian librarians, 
college and university faculty, adm inistrators 
and governm ent officials.

Proposals for presentations including p a ­
pers, panel discussions, and workshops are 
sought for such topics as: program  planning/ 
needs assessm ent; student, faculty, and ad ­
m inistrative services; inform ation access and 
delivery; library u ser education; uses o f te c h ­
nology; copyright, accre d itatio n /licen su re; 
in tem al/ex tem al m arketing; interinstitutional 
cooperation/ resource sharing; sources o f ex­
tern al funding; and grant proposal writing.

Persons in terested  in participating in th e 
program  are invited to send a titled  proposal, 
an abstract o f not m ore th an  500 words d e ­
scribing th e  presen tatio n  and its delivery for­
m at, and a biographical statem en t o f approxi­
m ately 50 words for each p re se n te r by N o­
v em b er 15, 1990. Send proposals to  (or for 
m ore inform ation) contact: Virginia W itucke, 
O ff-cam pus Library Services, C en tral M ichi­
gan University, 8550 L ee Highway, Suite 125, 
Fairfax, VA 22031-1515; (703) 849-8248.

Copyright update

T h e A CRL C opyright C om m ittee is plan ­
ning a program  on th e developm ent and im ­
p lem entation o f in-house library copyright poli­
cies. I f  your library has such a policy, please 
send a copy, along w ith a b rie f description o f its 
developm ent and applications, to  one o f th e 
following C om m ittee m em bers:

D eb o rah  Fairbanks, Acquisitions D e p a rt­
m ent, University Libraries, University o f F lo r­
ida, Gainesville, F L  32611; (904) 392-0355; fax, 
(904) 392-7251. C heryl LaG uardia, R eference 
D ep artm en t, University o f California Library, 
Santa Barbara, CA 93106; (805) 893-4316; fax, 
(805) 893-4676.