ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 808 / C& RL News sible for th e p ro je c t scans th e p a p e r for p e rtin e n t articles. T he file nam e is w ritten by th e title for each selected article and th e keywords are u n derlined. If ad d itional te rm s a re necessary th e s e are w ritte n dow n as well. T h e n u m b e r of keywords varies from article to article b u t we aim for a m axim um o f 3 -6 . As a ru le each a rticle is assigned to on e file. H o w ­ ever, at tim es th e n a tu re o f an article is such th a t it m ay b e in c lu d e d in add itio n al files. A s tu d e n t em ployed 8 -1 0 hours p e r w eek takes th e anno tated new spapers and inputs th e data via P ro-C ite o n to a 3 Vă-inch disk. O nce a w eek th ese files are m erged with th e m aster file on th e Bernoulli cartridge. T he m aste r file is th e n copied. As knowledge o f th e database has spread, library p a tro n s o fte n ap p ro ach th e m ain r e fe re n c e desk specifically req u estin g an ew sp ap er search. O thers are id e n tifie d d u rin g th e refe re n c e interview . In e ith e r case a b rie f search req u est form is com pleted and th e p a tro n is asked to re tu rn in 24 hours for th e results. W ith th e datab ase and e q u ip m e n t located two floors above th e re fe re n c e desk we have found th e one-day delay necessary. T h e searcher retains a copy o f th e search for statistics b u t also fre q u e n tly n o tes search te rm s a n d resu lts for possible fu tu re re fe re n c e . W h e n several m em b e rs o f an E nglish class req u e st inform ation on th e sam e topic this last step has b e e n p a rticu la rly useful. T h e p rin to u t received by th e p a tro n contains all th e inform ation in th e P ro -C ite rec o rd . W ith tru n c a tio n and B oolean searc h in g possible on P ro -C ite , o u r suc­ cess ra te has b e e n a ffe c te d m ore by th e c o n te n t o f th e datab ase th a n anything e ls e . Two areas o f difficulty have arisen over th e past fo u r years: d o c u m e n ta tio n a n d term inology. C u r ­ re n t d ocum entation covers th e technical aspects of th e database (record form at, m erging, e tc .). W e are p re p a rin g to w rite form al guidelines for th e index­ ing process itse lf such as th e selection o f keywords, a n d th e inclusion c rite ria for articles. O u r seco n d p ro b le m a re a is also b e in g resolved. B ecause w e rely on keyw ord access to th e index it is im p o rta n t to m ain ta in keyw ord u n iform ity. H ow ever, th e papers have varied th e ir term inology over tim e and th a t is re fle c te d in th e d a ta b a se. An ex cellent ex­ am ple o f this is an im p o rta n t local highway project. At tim es this has b e e n r e fe rre d to as th e R oute 460 bypass, th e R oute 460 corridor, and th e d ire c t link. To resolve th ese variations a list o f keywords will be p ro d u c e d for each file. U niform ity o f term s will be re-established, typographical errors corrected, and a new list o f keyw ords p ro d u c e d . T h e in d ex e r will b e able to re f e r to th e th e sa u ru s w hile selectin g keyw ords to assure consistency. T e rm s will be a d d e d , d e le te d , o r c h a n g e d as necessary. T hose records having term s which are d e le te d or changed will b e e d ite d . O u r new spaper index utilizing Pro-C ite provides tim ely access to local p a p e rs. By giving a u n iq u e twist to P ro -C ite’s capacity to handle large am ounts o f bibliographic inform ation, w e have m e t b o th of th e objectives id e n tifie d four years ago. Students and support staff on the reference desk By Lynn W estbrook CoordinatorforReferen.ee a n d Instruction Undergraduate L ibrary, U niversity o f M ichigan As y et a n o th e r library school dissolves, th e n e e d for quality p rac tic u m op p o rtu n ities for stu d e n ts at th e rem aining institutions grows. As various groups w ith in ALA w re stle w ith th e th o rn y p ro b le m o f rec ru itin g a diverse popu latio n o f g rad u a te library science s tu d e n ts , th e n e e d for m ean in g fu l jobs during graduate school becom es a significant piece o f th e p ro b le m for m any p o te n tia l s tu d e n ts w ho cannot afford to shelve books while g etting a library science d e g re e w h e n th e y co u ld b e doing la b o ra ­ tory w ork w hile g e ttin g a ph arm acy d eg ree. T hese situations share acom m on, if partial, solu­ tion w hich provides m ajor benefits for those lib rar­ ies able to p rac tic e it. By c re a tin g and publicizing a w ell-crafted refe re n c e and/or BI training program , lib raries p rovide fo u r c o n trib u tio n s to th e p ro fe s­ sion: e x c elle n t p rac tic a l e x p e rien c e for stu d e n ts w ho can get c o u rse c re d it for lib rary work; th e o p p o rtu n ity for w orking libraiy science stu d e n ts to gain th e type o f expertise which will give th em a real boost in th e ir first jo b h u n t; th e o p p o rtu n ity for u n d e rg ra d u a te s to e x p e rien c e a n d c o n s id e r th e possibility o f lib ra ry science as a profession; and valuable assistance for th e ir own d e p a rtm e n ts. CoordinatorforReferen.ee “ When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it. William Thomson, Lord Kelvin ACRL University Library ACRL Academic Library Statistics 1987-88 Statistics, 1978/79-1987/88 compiled by Robert E. Molyneux (Diskettes) Reports statistics on collections, prepared by Robert E. Molyneux personnel, and expenditures for 100 Machine-readable diskettes accom­ non-ARL university libraries. “Deci panied by a detailed user guide, con­ sion makers need valid and reliable tain data from the five editions of a data. The title provides such data series of academic library data pub­ for academic libraries,” Library lished by ACRL (1978-79,1981-82, Journal said of the last edition. 1983-84,1985—86,1987-88). The data 1989. 80p. isbn: 0-8389-7288-8. are presented in three formats: ascii, $49.95; ACRL member $29.95 sas data sets, and “dip” (data inter­ change format) which can bring the data into Lotus 1-2-3. The package Special offer! contains four - 5.25" 360K Buy both the ms dos print book and the machine readable diskettes and two ms-dos 3.5" 720K data for only $99.95—a ten dollar floppy diskettes. savings ($66.95 for acrl members). 1989. isbn: 0-8389-7310-8. $59.95; Use order number 0-8389-7311-6. acrl member $47.95. Association of College and Research Libraries c /o ALA Publishing Services, Order Deparment,50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; 312-944-6780 A Division of the C all toU-free: 800-545-2433 (U.S.): 800-545-2444 (111.); Am erican Library Association 800-545-2455 (Canada), fax: 312-440-9374 8 1 0 / C& RL News A t th e U niversity o f M ichigan’s U n d e rg ra d u a te Library, this type o f p ro g ram has b e e n in p rac tic e for years for th re e groups o f students. E ach year as p a rt o f th e P e e r In fo rm atio n C ounseling program (a m in o rity s tu d e n t s u p p o rt service) a b o u t nine u n d e rg ra d u a te stu d en ts are tra in e d to w ork on th e re fe re n c e desk w ith fu ll-tim e staff.1 In addition, ea ch s e m e s te r th e re fe re n c e d e p a rtm e n t accepts up to fo u r library science stu d e n ts w ho w ork a m inim um o f six h ours p e r w eek on th e re fe re n c e desk (plus projects) for course credit. Finally, each y e a r a b o u t five lib rary science stu d e n ts are r e ­ c ru ite d to serve as p aid refe re n c e assistants on th e referen ce desk. T his p a s t y e a r th e g e n e ra l tra in in g m aterials w e re e xpanded, s u p p le m e n te d , a n d revised in a v ariety o f areas. A T ra in in g M odules T askforce exam ined, codified, and stre n g th e n e d th e r e f e r ­ ence train in g program u se d to p re p a re all students for th e ir w ork on th e desk. T h e resu ltin g m aterial covers six tw o-hour sessions as well as a supplem en­ tal series o f subject-oriented seminars. In addition, a new tra in in g p ro g ram was c re a te d in th e a re a o f bibliographic instruction. Available only to library science stu d e n ts, this se v en -p a rt p ro g ram is of­ fe re d w hen at least tw o se lf-se lec ted stu d e n ts are willing to com m it to th e work entailed which culm i­ nates in each stu d e n t teach in g at least tw o o f th e basic psychology classes, th e m ost com m only ta u g h t BI session. Finally, th ro u g h contacts w ith th e School o f L ibrary a n d In fo rm a tio n Science, m aterials w ere p re p a re d to assist in rec ru itin g stu ­ d e n ts to th e SILS p ro g ra m and th e n , w h e n p o s­ sible, to th e U n d e rg ra d u a te Library. By d istrib u t­ ing d escrip tio n s o f th e jobs a n d field experiences available to p o ten tia l stu d en ts, it is h o p e d th a t n o t only will m ore stu d e n ts c onsider library science as a possible profession b u t th a t those w ho do choose to com e will at least co n sid er th e advantages o f graduating with practical experience.2 L ib raries in d iffe re n t situations m ay find som e possibilities for sim ilar program s. I f stu d en ts, w h e th e r u n d e rg ra d u a te o r n o n -lib rary science graduate, are h ire d for non-desk w ork in th e re fe r­ en c e d e p a rtm e n t, c o n sid e ratio n m ay b e given to th e ir p o te n tia l re c ru itm e n t into th e profession. A reasonable cost/benefit ratio m ight be obtained, for example, b y tra in in g th e m to w o rk th e q u iete r shifts on th e desk while an on-call librarian uses th a t tim e 1For m ore inform ation on th e P e e r Inform ation C o u n selin g p rogram , see B arb ara M acA dam and D arlene Nichols, “P e e r Inform ation C ounseling at th e U niversity o f M ichigan U n d e rg ra d u a te L ib ra ry ,” Jou rn a l o f A cadem ic L ib ra ria n sh ip 14 (M ay 1988): 80-81. 2F o r copies o f th e training program outlines and re c ru itm e n t m aterial, contact th e author. for o th e r duties. P e rh ap s th e y will g e t a little less shelving d o n e each w eek, b u t th e tra d e -o ff m ight b e w o rth it as th e r e m ight b e less tu rn o v e r am ong shelvers w ho are now m o re satisfied w ith th e ir work. Support staff m ight also b en efit from such an arrangem ent. Institu tio n s w ith strong e ducation d e p a rtm e n ts may find it possible to arrange for u n d e rg ra d u a te s w ith a m ed ia/lib rary c o n c en tra tio n to have a prac- ticum in th e library. As th ey w ork on th e refe re n c e desk, th e s e stu d e n ts m ay develop an appreciatio n for o r even an in te re s t in library s c ie n c e . L ibraries th a t firmly refuse to allow stu d e n ts on th e re fe re n c e desk, alone o r w ith professionals, m ay co n sid erth e advantages o f th e m icrocom puter c e n te r m odel for stu d e n t w o rk ers. In this scenario stu d e n ts do n o t answ er all re fe re n c e questions; instead th ey are carefully tra in ed on a single type of tool. F o re x a m p le , any lib ra ry w ith an o n lin e c a ta - log m ay well find th a t d u rin g th e b usy aftern o o n hours or in th e ru sh o f M onday night work, it can be invaluable to have a w e ll-tra in e d s tu d e n t at th e w orkstations w ho can do an y th in g from fixing th e p r in te r to explaining th e basics o f a title se a rc h . R e fe re n c e areas w ith C D -R O M s, W ilsearch, a n d In fo T rac m ay fin d th a t by tra in in g a few self- se le c te d technical services su p p o rt staff m em bers each year, th ey have a reg u la r core o f p eo p le eager to assist th e public for a few hours each w eek during th e b u sie st p a rt o f th e term . T h e ir supervisors in such areas as cataloging, acquisitions, a n d serials may find th a t this variety o f experience allows them to keep th e ir s tu d e n t w orkers and s u p p o rt staff longer. A nd th e p rofession at large may find th a t a few m o re good m inds have b e g u n to c o n sid e r library science as aprofessional career. C a re fu l d e p lo y m e n t o f lim ite d reso u rc es is a given in every w ell-m an ag ed re fe re n c e d e p a rt­ m ent. C o n trib u tin g to a n d re c ru itin g th e b e s t for th e p rofession is an o fte n in tan g ib le goal. W ell- c ra fte d , ongoing d e v e lo p m e n t p ro g ram s fo r s u p ­ p o rt staff are difficult to c re a te a nd m aintain.3 No single e ffo rt will m e e t all o f th e s e n eed s, b u t an e n tre p re n e u ria l outlook in refe re n c e train in g may b e o f significant value. 3F o r fu rth e r rea d in g on train in g , see: Sheila C re th , E ffective O n-the-job Training: D eveloping H u m a n Resources (C hicago: A m erican L ibrary Association, 1986); Painlessly Preparing Personal­ ize d T raining Programs (Berkeley, C alif.: U niver­ sity o f California G eneral Library, 1982); M argaret Blanksby, StajfTraining: A L ib ra ria n ’s H andbook (N ew castle-under-L ym e, E n g .: Association o f As­ sistant L ibrarians, 1988); H arvey Sager, “T raining O nline C a ta lo g A ssista n ts,” Cò-RL N ew s 11 ( D e ­ c e m b e r 1986): 721-23; and B eth W oodw ard, et ah, “T rain in g Professionals for R e fe re n c e S ervice,” Reference L ibrarian 16 (W inter 1986): 233-54.