ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries In this issue: Toward Guidelines for Bibliograph­ ic Instruction in Academic Li­ braries ................................... 137 Inside W ashington........................141 News From the Field . . . . 141 Draft: Access Policy Guidelines . 167 P e o p l e ......................................... 172 Classified Advertising 173 ISSN 0010-0870 COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES news NO. 5 • MAY 1975 Toward Guidelines for Bibliographic Instruction in Academic Libraries The following document is the beginning of an effort by the ACRL Bibliographic Instruc­ tion Task Force to provide a useful statement on bibliographic instruction. The present edi­ tion begins with a general statement of guide­ lines for what constitutes an effective biblio­ graphic instruction program. The second por­ tion of the document is a model statement of objectives for bibliographic instruction for un­ dergraduates. The committee intends to expand this docu­ ment in the future to include other model state­ ments and concrete descriptions of segments of a quality library instruction program. These ad­ ditional statements will amplify the guidelines statement with which this draft begins. The contents of these statements will include (1) model written profiles of information needs of academic community groups, (2) model bib­ liographic instruction program goals and time­ table for implementation, (3) model evalua­ tion programs, including questionnaire forms and tests, and procedures, and (4) detailed statements on facilities, equipment, and materi­ als needed for bibliographic instruction. The task force welcomes comment on these statements, which should be directed to the chairman of the committee, Thomas Kirk, Box E-72, Earlham College, Richmond, IN 47374. Other members of the task force include: Eliza­ beth Butler, Juan R. Freudenthal, Stefania A. Koren, Anne B. Passarelli, Hannelore B. Rader, Dennis E. Robison, and Sara Lou Whildin. GUIDELINES FOR BIBLIOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES1 The Association of College and Research Li­ braries Bibliographic Instruction Task Force recognizes that it is a responsibility of an aca­ demic library not only to support the teaching function of its parent institution but also to ac­ tively participate in that function. A basic re­ sponsibility of an academic library is to instruct the community in the effective identification and use of information resources relevant to their needs and interests. To meet ACRL recog­ nized standards of library service, each academ­ ic library shall provide an effective program of instruction to its community as one of its ma­ jor public services. Effective instructional pro­ grams will be characterized by: 1. A written profile of the information needs of various segments of the academic com­ munity. 2. A written statement of objectives of in­ struction which: a. will include long-range and immediate goals with projected timetables for im­ plementation. b. will be directed to specific identified needs within the academic community and make provisions for various meth­ ods of instruction to all segments of the academic community who have a need to use library facilities and services. c. outline methods by which progress to- News Issue (A) of College & Research Libraries, vol. 36, no. 3 138 ward the attainment of instructional objectives can be measured. Methodol­ ogy must provide for measures of aca­ demic community learning, academic community attitudes, and cost effec­ tiveness of instruction. 3. Continuing financial support: a. clearly identifiable within the library’s budget programs and statements. b. sufficient to provide for the profession­ al and supportive staff, equipment, ma­ terials, and facilities necessary to at­ tain the delineated objectives. 4. Librarians and other qualified staff re­ sponsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the program: a. inclusive of persons with training in: various academic disciplines, the iden­ tification and use of library resources, teaching skills, preparation and use of audiovisual and other teaching materi­ als, preparation and use of evaluative instruments, clerical skills. b. in sufficient numbers necessary to at­ tain the delineated objectives. c. clearly identifiable and of a status simi­ lar to persons responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating the other major functions of the library. 5. Facilities, equipment, and materials avail­ able to accommodate the preparation of instructional materials and the presenta­ tion of various modes of instruction (in ­ dividual, small group, large group, lec­ ture, discussion, media, etc.); of sufficient number, size, and scope to accommodate the attainment of the delineated objec­ tives. 6. Academic community and library commu­ nity participation in the formulation of ob­ jectives and the evaluation of their attain­ ment. 7. Attainment of written objectives for a five- year period. The written statement of objectives identified in 2 is a significant element in an effective in­ structional program; it o f necessity must be unique to each institution and be the product of that institution. The statement of objectives which the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Task Force has prepared is appended and is intend­ ed to serve as a model which individual librar­ ies should review and adopt to their purposes. ACADEMIC BIBLIOGRAPHIC INSTRUCTION: MODEL STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES by ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Task Force While reviewing the model statement, a few points should be kept in mind: 1. The model statement’s primary purposes are to (a ) get academic librarians to focus on and articulate what their instructional objec­ tives should be and to design instructional pro­ grams to achieve these objectives and (b ) stim­ ulate research into whether existing programs are achieving these objectives. 2. The objectives are those for an entire pro­ gram of bibliographic instruction in an academ­ ic institution. 3. The objectives are intended to cover bib­ liographic instruction programs for undergrad­ uates. Some objectives are no doubt applicable to any level of student, but these objectives in their totality are intended to speak specifically to the needs of undergraduates. 4. The objectives do not suggest one method of instruction nor should they be used for eval­ uating a particular instruction unit. 5. An attempt has been made to write the enabling objectives (E ’s) as behavioral objec­ tives.2’ 3 In any institution’s revision or individ­ ually written objectives, the objectives should be specific and measurable. 6. The arrangement of the terminal objec­ tives and the related enabling objectives is not intended to suggest a sequence for an instruc­ tional program nor is it intended to suggest an order of significance. The task force has de­ bated extensively whether the objectives should include aspects of what has commonly been called orientation in what is supposed to be a statement on bibliographic instruction. While the task force is absolutely convinced News Items for inclusion in C&RL News should be sent to Mary Frances Collins, Assistant Director of Libraries for Technical Services, University Library ULB-35A, State University of New York at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12222. Adver­ tising (including classified ads) should be sent to Leona Swiech, Advertising Office, American Li­ brary Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Production and circulation matters are han­ dled by ALA Central Production Unit, at the above address. News editor: Mary Frances Collins, Assistant Di­ rector of Libraries for Technical Services, State University of New York at Albany, Albany. As­ sociate News editor: Anne Dowling, Assistant Li­ brarian, Acquisitions Department, Library, State University of New York at Albany. Editor: Rich­ ard D. Johnson, Milne Library, State University College, Oneonta, New York 13820. President, ACRL: H. W illiam Axford. Executive Secretary, ACRL: Beverly P. Lynch. College & Research Libraries is published by the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association, 17 times yearly—6 bimonthly journal issues and II monthly (combining July-August) News issues—at 1201-05 Bluff St., Fulton, MO 65251. Subscription, $15.00 a year, or to members of the division, $7.50, included in dues. Second-class postage paid at Fulton, Missouri 65251. © American Library Association 1975. A ll material in this journal subject to copyright by the Ameri­ can Library Association may be photocopied for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educa­ tional advancement. 139 that orientation is not sufficient, neither are we convinced that meaningful instruction can be divorced from orientation to a particular li­ brary. 7. The task force believes th at the primary role of bibliographic instruction is to provide students with the specific skills needed to suc­ cessfully complete their assignments. But in ad­ dition, bibliographic instruction should also serve the more general function of preparing students to make effective life-long use of the library regardless of specific course work. Indi­ vidual librarians or library staffs must use all of their skills to develop an instruction program that achieves these or revised objectives in the context of the students’ course and library use. The model statement is composed of a series of terminal objectives ( T l , T2, T3a, T3b, etc.) written during 1973. These objectives have re­ ceived the careful attention of the task force and other librarians involved in library instruc­ tion. Since October 1973, the task force has been working on the enabling objectives ( E l, E2, etc.) which are listed under each terminal objective. The final version was approved by the committee at its meeting during the Amer­ ican Library Association conference in July 1974. OBJECTIVES General objective: A STUDENT, BY TH E TIME HE OR SHE COMPLETES A PROGRAM OF UN­ DERGRADUATE STUDIES, SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAKE E F F IC IE N T AND E FFEC TIV E USE O F TH E AVAILABLE LIBRARY RESOURCES AND PERSON­ NEL IN TH E ID ENTIFICA TION AND PROCUREMENT OF MATERIAL TO MEET AN INFORMATION NEED. T L The student recognizes the library as a primary source of recorded information. E l. Given a list of information needs and services which can be best handled by a variety of campus units, the student correctly identifies the library as the best unit for at least 85%° of the appropriate listings. For example, given a list of 25 information needs or services of which 14 are best han­ dled by the library, the student cor­ rectly suggests the library for 12 of those 14 items. T2. The student recognizes the library staff, particularly the reference staff, as a source of information, and is comfortable seeking assistance from staff members. * An asterisk beside a number indicates that the task force does not recommend the exact value indicated; it is only suggestive. T E l. Given a map of the library, the student is able to locate key service points (e.g., circulation, reserve, periodicals). The student can identify the location of information and/or reference area(s) of the library. E2. The student can identify the mem­ bers of the reference staff by sight and locate their offices. E3. (If applicable) the student can identi­ fy by name the member(s) of the ref­ erence staff best qualified to assist him in his subject major. E4. The student asks the reference staff for assistance whenever library-related information is needed. E5. W hen asked about library services, the vast majority of students will respond positively to questions such as: “Are there people within the library who are willing to give assistance in locat­ ing needed information?” “Do these people give competent assistance?” . The student is familiar with (or has knowl­ edge of) the library resources that are available to him. a. The student knows what library units exist on his campus and where they are located. The student knows what ma­ jor information resources and collections are available in these units. E l. While seeking information from the library, students will use most campus library units which contain substantial material relevant to their topic. E2. While using the library, students will use a variety of collections within the central library: docu­ ments, pamphlet file, microfilm, etc., as appropriate to their topic. b. The student understands the procedures established for using these facilities. E l. A student can sign out a li­ brary item correctly (as defined by each institution). E2. The student can interpret library forms (e.g., overdue notices, search forms, hold requests, etc.). c. The student knows about the off-cam­ pus information facilities available and how to approach their resources. E L A student will ask the reference staff for advice about the possibili­ ties of other information resources outside the “official libraries” of his college or university when those sources do not meet his needs. E2. A student who has need of ma­ terials which the library does not Continued on page 169 3 140 In terested in W here You Stand? The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has established quantitative criteria which determine eligibility for ARL membership. The criteria are based on ten of the statistical categories used by the association in its annual statistics. Each year medians are estab­ lished for these categories. To qualify for automatic invitation to membership, a university library must have maintained for a three-year period an average of over 50 percent of the current medians of the first eight categories, and an average of over 40 percent of the last two. With the publication of the 1973-1974 statistics, the median figures and the minimum number required for the current year for each statistical category are now available as noted below: Median 1973-1974 1,553,192 78,671 65 191 $1,172,990 $1,865,171 $3,243,492 19,343 231 44 Required Minimum Nos. 776,596 39,335 32 95 $586,495 $932,585 $1,621,746 9,671 92 18 Categories Volumes in library Volumes added— gross Number of professional staff, FTE Number of total staff, FTE Expenditures: materials & binding Expenditures: salaries & wages Total operating expenditures Number of current periodicals Number of Ph.D.s awarded Fields in which Ph.D.s are awarded — Association of Research Libraries Newsletter No. 76 (December 30, 1974). 169 4.4.4 Display space. 4.4.5 Special fee-based services (e.g., access to computerized bibliographic data bases). R e f e r e n c e s 1. Coal and Objectives of the American Library Association, as adopted by the Council of the American Library Association. January 24, 1975. 2. “A National Program for Library and Infor­ mation Services.” 2d D raft (Rev.) Pre­ pared by the National Commission on L i­ braries and Information Science. September 15, 1974. Washington, D.C. Guidelines Continued from page 139 have will request that they be bor­ rowed from another library. T4. The student can make effective use of the library resources available to him. a. He knows how to use institutional hold­ ings records (such as the card catalog and serials holdings lists) to locate ma­ terials in the library system. E L Given a map of the library, the student can correctly identify the location of the library’s catalog (e.g., card catalog, book catalog, public shelf list) and other hold­ ings lists in 3* minutes. E2. The student will correctly identi­ fy and explain the purpose of se­ lected elements on a sample cata­ log entry in 5* minutes. The se­ lected elements will include: the author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of publication, series title,* bibliographic notes, tracings, and call number. E3. Given a topic or list of topics, the student will accurately list the items found in the catalog on those topics in a specified period of time. The topics will include items which require the student to use the U.S. Library of Con­ gress Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalog of the Li­ brary of Congress. The student will also have to demonstrate his knowledge of form subdivisions, and subject filing rules such as * An asterisk beside an item indicates that the task force does not recommend it; it is only suggestive. historical subdivisions are filed in chronological order. E4. Given a list of materials, the stu­ dent, in a specified time, can cor­ rectly identify and locate those materials which the library owns. The list shall include incomplete citations, citations which are listed under entries other than the “main entry.” It will also include: Book ( individual author) Book (corporate or institutional author) Journal ( recent issue) Journal (older or discontinued title ) Newspaper U.S. Document Pamphlet Non-book materials Microform Other, as appropriate to the institution This list will include items which require the student to demon­ strate his knowledge of selected filing rules such as: initial articles are ignored in filing, abbreviations are filed as if spelled out, Me is filed as if spelled Mac, numerals are filed as if spelled out. . He knows how to use reference tools basic to all subject areas. E L Given a map of the library, the student can correctly identify the location of the reference depart­ m ent (and its catalog) in a spe­ cified time period. E2. In a specified time period, the stu­ dent can identify major reference tools ( encyclopedia, dictionary, index) in an unfamiliar field using a guide to the literature such as W inchell’s Guide to Reference Books. E3. In a specified time period, the student can list five periodical titles (and the indexes which cov­ er them) in an unfamiliar subject field using a directory such as Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory. E4. In a specified time period, the stu­ dent will list five titles available on an unfamiliar topic using a bibliography such as Subject Guide to Books in Print, Biblio­ graphic Index, Library of Con­ gress, Books: Subjects. E5. Given a topic with which the stu­ dent is unfamiliar, in a specified time period, he will locate a gen- b 170 eral introduction to that topic and at least two references to further information using an encyclopedia. The topic as stated should re­ quire the use of the encyclopedia’s index to locate relevant materials. E6. Given a sample entry, the student will correctly identify selected ele­ ments of a typical periodical in­ dex entry in a specified period of time. These elements will include: title of article, title of journal, volume, date, author, pages. E7. Given a list of topics and a list of indexes ( such as Readers Guide, SSHI, ASTI, PAIS), the student will select the index which best covers each topic. At least 85%* of the students’ selections should be correct. E8. Given the author and title of a book, the student will locate a review of that book in a specified time period using a book review index such as Book Review Di­ gest, and Book Review Index. E9. Given a specific topic of current interest, in a specified time period, the student will locate two news­ paper articles on that topic using a newspaper index such as the New York Times Index. *E10. Given the name of a witness who has appeared before a Congres­ sional Committee, the student can locate a complete citation to that testimony using CIS Index in a specified time period. *E11. Given a topic of recent concern to the federal government, the stu­ dent can locate citations to infor­ mation issued by both the Execu­ tive and Congressional branches using the CIS Index and/or the Monthly Catalog. *E12. Given a specific need for statisti­ cal information on the U.S., the student can locate the requested statistics and identify the agency publication from which the statis­ tic was taken using Statistical Ab­ stract of the United States in a specified time period. c. The student knows how information is organized in his own field of interest and how to use its basic reference tools. d. The student can plan and implement an efficient search strategy using library, campus, and other resources as appro­ priate. e. The student is able to evaluate ma­ terials and select those appropriate to his needs. E l. Given a topic within his major field of interest, in a specified time period, the student will com­ pile a quality bibliography using an efficient search strategy and keep a diary of his search. A * An asterisk beside an item indicates that he task force does not recommend it; it is nly suggestive. t o N ew Science Editor for Choice Choice wishes to announce the ap­ pointment of Joseph Helfer as assistant editor for science and technology. Mr. Helfer received his undergraduate edu­ cation at Bard College and his master’s degree in physics from Wesleyan Univer­ sity. He has most recently been on the staff of the Connecticut State Depart­ ment of Environmental Protection. He replaces Kenneth I. Werner, who has re­ signed to accept a position as science acquisition editor with Cambridge Uni­ versity Press. 171 librarian and/or classroom faculty member will judge the quality of the bibliography on the following factors: (1) 80% of the entries shall meet one or more of the following criteria: (a) be written by recognized authorities in the field. (b) be represented in stan­ dard bibliographies on the topic. (c) appear in a recognized journal in the field. (2) bibliographic format will con­ form to accepted standards in that subject field. A librarian will judge the efficien­ cy of the search strategy as evi­ denced in the diary. The diary should evidence: (1) The student clearly defined his topic before or during the initial stages of the search. (2) The student considered and effectively used alternative search terms throughout his search. (3) The student consulted an encyclopedia or handbook or other general source to ob­ tain standard data or infor­ mation on his topic early in his search. (4) The student searched for and used available bibliographies on his topic. (5) The student searched rele­ vant indexes, or abstracts to update his information. (6) The student used the subject card catalog. (7) The student used bibliogra­ phies an d /o r footnotes in relevant materials found dur­ ing his search. (8) The student used book re­ views, biographical aids or other sources to help him evaluate materials. (9) The student made accurate complete bibliographic notes and avoided repeated searches to locate or check citations. (10) The student located materials ACRL Membership March 31, 1975 ................. ............... 13,545 March 31, 1974 ................. .............. 11,520 March 31, 1973 ................. ............... 13,687 of interest to him outside the library. (11) The student consulted li­ brarians and faculty mem­ bers for aid and suggestions whenever appropriate. REFERENCES 1. Bibliographic instruction is defined here to mean instruction in the bibliographic ap­ paratus available in the library and their effective and efficient use. While an orienta­ tion program which covers a particular physical facility is necessary at each aca­ demic institution, the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Task Force is concerned pri­ marily with the use of the bibliographic structure housed in the library. 2. General objective is the overall goal of the program; terminal objectives break the gen­ eral objectives down into specific meaning­ ful units; and enabling objectives define the specific knowledge or skills which are neces­ sary to achieve the terminal objectives. The terminology comes from the Commission on Instruction Technology’s report in To Im ­ prove Learning v.2 (Bowker, 1970), p.944. 3. Julie S. Vargas, W riting W orthwhile Be­ havioral Objectives (N ew York: Harper, 1972), 175p.