ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 2 0 / C&RL News C&RL N ew s 30th a n n iv e rsa ry quiz Lib ra ria n s: The A A A of the inform ation h ig h w a y In the academic setting, librarians and classroom faculty must continue to work together to en­ sure that students view searching, reading, and writing as interconnected parts of the journey we call the research process.2 Questioning, searching, gathering, reading, and evaluating are components of a cycle repeated throughout the process of writing a paper or preparing a pre­ sentation. No matter how much fun, or how easy, the technology has made information gather­ ing, we still have to read and think about what we find in order to prepare to write. There is an urgent need for faculty to make this clear to students, and to discuss the purpose o f as­ signments and papers among the objectives o f a class.3 Librarians are strategically posi­ tioned to help students and faculty develop good navigational habits grounded in an under­ standing o f how knowledge is synthesized and produced in the various disciplines. At the risk of carrying a metaphor to ex­ tremes, librarians are the equivalent o f AAA for the information superhighway. We can help travelers plan their journeys, point out the sce­ nic routes, highlight rest stops, and respond to roadside emergencies. We can also suggest al­ ternative forms o f transportation (formats and access points). Librarians possess the knowl­ edge and expertise to bring those who have joined the “computer as goddess” cult back to reality, and to encourage those who are still riding a horse and buggy to try something new. One of the most effective ways we can accom ­ plish these goals is by strengthening our tradi­ tional role on campus as one o f the primary loci of support for the process o f intellectual inquiry for all members of the community. The faster the maps change, the more important the navigators become! Notes 1. Cerise Oberman, “Library Instruction: Con­ cepts & Pedagogy in the Electronic Environ­ ment,” RQ 35 (spring 1996): 318. 2. For more on the holistic approach, see Bar­ bara Fister, “Teaching the Rhetorical Dimensions of Research,” R esearch Strategies 11 (fall 1993): 211-219, and Raymond G. Mclnnis and Dal S. Symes, “Running Backwards from the Finish Line: A New Concept for Bibliographic Instruc­ tion,” L ibrary T rends 39 (winter 1991): 223– 37. 3. R o b ert A. S c h w e g le r and Linda K. Shamoon, “The Aims and Process o f the Re­ search Paper,” C ollege English 44 (Decem ber 1982): 817– 24, present a useful study of how students view the purpose of writing papers and why the result is often not what the in­ structor expected. ■ Here is the next C&RL News 30th anniversary quiz. Test your recollec­ tion o f events reported in C&RL News since 1966. 1. W h en did Ja m e s Cagney, J o h n W ayne, and Humphrey Bogart appear in C&RL News? 2. The 1 9 7 9 P resid en t o f th e A m erican As­ sociation o f University Professors was a li­ brarian. Who was she and where did she work as a librarian? 3. W h at ACRL co m m itte e m et fo r th e first time at ALA’s 1991 Midwinter Conference? 4 . A c co rd in g to th e resu lts o f th e 1 9 9 3 ACRL member survey, what was the num­ ber one reason for ACRL membership? 5. W h o w as M ichael K u n ash k o, an d w h at was his significance in the history o f li brarianship? Answers: 1. North Texas State U niversity w on a Special A w ard in the 1987 John C otton D ana L ibrary Public R elations A w ard C ontest for its “Tough Guys Fight Crime” PR campaign against mutilation and theft w hich featured the three actors on posters and bookm arks (June 1987). 2. M artha Friedm an w as an associ­ ate professor and history and philosophy librarian at the University of Illinois, U rbana (February 1979). 3. The ACRL Racial and Ethnic D iversity C om m ittee (A pril 1991). 4. T o update know ledge of library practice (June 1994). 5. M ichael Kunashko pleaded guilty to book theft from the General Library at the University of California, Berkeley. He received a six-month sentence to county jail, which was suspended, and was placed on probation and forced to pay restitution to the university and to the booksellers to whom he had sold stolen books (June 1984).