ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 338 / C&RL News and has its entire collection available on on a single CD-ROM disk, Scholastech Inc., P.O. Box 1768, Cambridge, MA 02238. A clearinghouse for MS DOS (PC DOS) public-domain software; send for their catalog. If your library is already connected to Compu­ Serve or The Source, both have substantial collec­ tions of public-dom ain softw are th a t can be downloaded. ■ ■ B am berg to Brown: A library exch an ge By Florence K. Doksansky AUL for Public Services and Collection Development Brown University The merits and drawbacks of an overseas exchange. F or many years Brown University and the Un- iversität Bamberg, West Germany, have had an ex­ change involving faculty and students. This was fostered by two academic professors who knew each other and who had research interests in com­ mon. The professors were also very interested in supporting an exchange for university staff. Some difficulties were encountered concerning the ex­ change of teaching staff; consequently it was de­ cided to offer the opportunity to the professional li­ brary staff. In November 1983 Professor Klaus Peter Jochum of Bamberg wrote to Brown’s university librarian to describe a projected exchange which the univer­ sity librarian, Merrily Taylor, agreed to pursue. In September 1984 another letter from Bamberg de­ scribed the progress made in making arrangements within the German bureaucracy: “The President, the Chancellor and the Library Director of the University are in favor of the ex­ change, and what is more important, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs [for Bavaria] has agreed in prin­ ciple. The librarian in question will be permitted to retain her salary while on official leave of absence of up to six months.” Professor Jochum went on to describe the indi­ vidual, Regina Krepulat, and noted that it would be advantageous to have a Brown librarian go to Bamberg in exchange. Many letters and arrange­ ments were necessary before Regina actually came to Brown two years after the initial request. Regina herself was instrumental in obtaining a leave from the Bavarian government, and also in successfully applying for a Fulbright grant to support her travel expenses. As it turned out, it was almost as difficult to make the necessary arrangements in the United States as it had been in Germany. It was estab­ lished that the German librarian’s salary would not be enough to keep her afloat in the United States without an adjustment. Thanks to the cooperation of two professors at Brown’s Office of International Studies, a sum was found to supplement the Ger­ man salary. At approximately the same time that the above negotiations were taking place, the Brown Univer­ sity Library had put in place a new program for professional librarians. This program includes a two–track promotional system, which encourages professional activities above high quality job per­ formance as a means to promotion beyond the ca­ reer rank. Research leaves as a means to facilitate professional activity were now in place. Librarians with the higher professional ranks are eligible to request research leaves. These leaves provide up to six months of time for concentrated June 1987 / 339 research investigation of substantive professional topics. Librarians who wish to apply for a leave must have it approved through appropriate adm in­ istrative channels, including approval from the university librarian and the provost, six months prior to the leave. At Brown a librarian is eligible for a leave every six years, and if a leave is taken the librarian is expected to return to full-time status at Brown for one year after the completion of the leave. The librarian is expected to present evidence of an attem pt to find funding w ith the request for the leave. Usually the librarian is not replaced un­ less outside monies are available, since the librari­ an’s salary and benefits are continued during the leave. W hen the leave is completed, a formal re­ port or publication is required. W ith this program in place, it was easier to find a Brown exchange partner to go to Bamberg. Fol­ lowing a brief description here of Regina Krepu- la t’s exchange at Brown will be an article by G ret­ chen Yealy, serials cataloger at Brown, who spent three months in Bamberg in the spring of 1986. O nce everything, including living a rra n g e ­ ments, was organized for Regina’s visit, her ex­ change program was turned over to the library’s Staff Development Committee. Fortunately, the committee included the collection development li­ brarian for G erm an literature, who had a m aster’s degree in G erm an from Brown, and a staff m em ­ ber from Special Collections whose husband is a professor in the G erm an D epartm ent. These two staff members were assigned the task of designing a schedule for Regina, and also were asked to assist her whenever necessary. Regina arrived in Septem­ ber 1985 and left at the end of February 1986. As it turned out, it was im portant th at staff at Brown w ere p re p a re d to assist R egina on h er arrival. There were problems w ith the initial housing ar­ rangements, and one of the staff members kindly took Regina into her own home for a few days. W ith th e S taff D ev elo p m en t C o m m ittee as hosts, the actual exchange ran very smoothly. Re­ gina is a delightful person who has a very good com m and of English, and who gave an interesting international flavor to the staff during her visit. The program consisted of an orientation to every departm ent in the Library, including Adm inistra­ tion, Acquisitions, Cataloging, Government Doc­ uments, Interlibrary Loan, Circulation, Collec­ tio n D e v e lo p m e n t, S erials, a n d S pecial Collections. W hile in these departm ents she did various projects, and after her visit the departm ent head was asked to make a report on Regina’s as­ signm ent. This pro ced u re encouraged those in charge to have her tim e organized, and this worked fairly well. Regina spent almost every afternoon at the Hu- manities/Social Sciences Reference Desk, where she got in-depth training in reference techniques. This p art of the exchange was in response to her re­ quest for exposure to public services in American li­ braries. W hile Regina gained confidence w ith her transition to constant use of English, she was never totally comfortable at the reference desk, where language facility is essential. She had to depend on the staff to assist her w ith interpreting patron ques­ tions and form ulating answers to them even to­ wards the end of her visit. Considering th a t almost the entire collection of reference m aterial was new to her, this should not have been unexpected. For­ tunately most users and reference staff had a posi­ tive attitude tow ard the exchange so th a t it was not a m ajor problem. However, it should be noted th at this was a strain on the staff and certainly Regina’s presence at the reference desk did not relieve any pressure felt at busy tim es. In retrospect, the am ount of time she spent in reference was probably too great, and the am ount of training she received too little for her to be effective. W hen involved in projects in other departm ents th at did not require intense use of English, she was more productive and comfortable. As facilitator and chair of the Staff Development Committee, I m et w ith Regina regularly to answer questions th at came up about the program and the workings to the Library. From an administrative point of view I would say th at the exchange worked as a staff development program for Regina, and also for the Brown library staff. The latter gained experience from organizing her activities, and from training someone who had little fam iliarity w ith th e a ttitu d e s, philosophy or resources of American libraries. At the end of Regina’s visit, she gave a presenta­ tion to the staff describing w hat she thought were the differences betw een her hom e lib ra ry and Brown. It was clear from her talk th at Regina had 340 / C&R L News had an extremely positive experience, th at she had learned a great deal from these six months, and that she had enjoyed the atmosphere and style of the Brown University Library. Regina enjoyed work­ ing w ith Government Documents very much, and was amazed at the quantity and diversity of this material. Her introduction to computers was also of great interest to her. She had never had any “hands on” experience, and was pleased at the suc­ cess she had with a brief word processing task. She was impressed with how work procedures change in a library th at uses computers as extensively as Brown does. She was also surprised to see how much of Brown’s copy cataloging is done by non­ professionals, since this is considered one of the most im portant duties of the professional librarians in Germany. Her other revelation was the openness and participative style of the Brown library adm in­ istration. She attended several senior staff m eet­ ings, and sat in on a variety of committees. In her own library neither visitors nor non-academic staff would ever be allowed to attend such meetings or participate in decision-making processes. The exchange w ith Bamberg is Brown’s first ex­ perience w ith this kind of staff development. Since last year, we have had three requests from libraries in other countries to visit us. While some will take place, others may not. O ur experience with Regina Krepulat has shown us both positive and negative aspects of such a program. The time and patience involved in preparing for such a visit m ight be a de­ terrent to some libraries, while the more dem and­ ing training time is another. While each depart­ m ent tried to use R egina’s talents as best they could, it soon became obvious th at some would benefit more from her visit than others. Although Regina had requested experience in public service areas, her time spent at the reference desk should have been brief. Projects could then have been as­ signed th at would have been more productive for the Library, as well as satisfying for Regina. I am still of the opinion th at this was a valuable experiment, but I would not wish to handle an ex­ change of this length of time every year. Certainly a six-month exchange where the librarian spends most of the time learning about the library in a gen­ eral way does not seem like the best use of anyone’s time. I think the rest of the Brown staff and Regina would agree w ith this statement. The three-m onth period th at the Brown staff member spent in G er­ many is a more appropriate length of time for this type of exchange. In fact, if Brown were to do this again, the overview of library activities would be very short, and a specific project would be assigned to the librarian for the duration of the exchange. If there was an exact job exchange, a longer period would be better since more productivity could be expected. It would seem essential to have some sup­ port mechanisms such as were available at Brown to enable a smoothly running exchange. W hile sal­ ary and housing problems may not occur on every exchange, there are bound to be some logistics United Kingdom Fulbright Award The United States-United Kingdom Educational Commission in London has announced the opening of the 1988-89 competition for the Fulbright pro­ fessional librarian aw ard to the United Kingdom. One aw ard is available for an American librarian to pursue a work attachm ent at a university li­ brary, major research library, or national library in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the award is to promote the exchange of ideas between library staff in the U . S. and United Kingdom and to enable participants to acquire practical knowledge and experience of library work in a different cultural setting. •Applicants must hold U.S. citizenship and a full-time library post as a librarian, library adm in­ istrator, or archivist at a four-year college or uni­ versity, or a m ajor research lib rary outside of higher education; •A minimum of five years continuous profes­ sional experience is also required. A Master of Li­ brary Science degree is preferable, though exten­ sive service may be substituted for the degree; •E a c h applicant is responsible for arranging af­ filiation with one of the participating university li­ braries, research libraries, or national libraries in the United Kingdom; •Affiliations are for the purpose of practical work experience—proposals of an academ ic or research-oriented nature are not appropriate for this professional award; •T h e aw ard is for a m inim um period of three months. The grant period may begin any tim e after September 1, 1988, and may be of a duration of three to twelve months; •C andidates are expected to be on approved leave of absence w ith full or partial compensation from their institution. Fulbright provides a modest fixed sum grant to cover travel and settling in ex­ penses/ incidentals . For further information, application materials, and the list of eligible libraries in the United King­ dom, contact Steve Blodgett, Council for Interna­ tional Exchange of Scholars, Eleven D upont C ir­ cle, N .W ., Suite 300, W ashington, DC 20036; (202) 939-5410. All applications, including references and evi­ dence of in stitu tio n al affiliation in the U nited Kingdom, must be received by CIES before Sep­ tem ber 15,1987 (NOTE-. The deadline for 1988-89 has been changed). ■ ■ June 1987 / 341 problems that someone will have to be responsible for solving. Programs that are established directly between libraries rather than between universities may have fewer complications. The Staff Develop­ ment Committee is now writing guidelines for the library so that in the future an exchange might run more effectively. There has to be some consideration on the part of the administration of what is gained in knowledge and experience in such a leave. There are some questions as to whether this is a true “research leave.” It certainly was an activity which broad­ ened the scope and breadth of knowledge for both of these professional librarians. Whether or not they will actually put to use skills or techniques learned during their visits is a moot question. In my opinion, it is significant that they both experienced a totally different environment from the one for which they had been trained. How many adminis­ trators have wished their staff had worked in more than one position in one location during their ca­ reers? Since they are both extremely intelligent young librarians, I hope that the exchanges will be one step in furthering their career development. Both have taken courageous steps into unknown environments, and have returned to their own home institutions revitalized and enthused over what they had learned. This alone may have been more than worth all the other costs. ■ ■ Springtim e in G erm any By Gretchen Yealy Serials Cataloger Brown University Another perspective—Brown goes to Bamberg. During the spring of 19861 spent three months as an exchange librarian at the Universitätsbibliothek Bamberg in West Germany. I worked in each of the major library departments, with special em­ phasis on cataloging, my area of concentration at home at Brown University. While three months is hardly long enough to learn everything there is to know about a complex university library, I had a chance to observe routines both similar to and very different from those at home. In addition, I grap­ pled with a number of cultural conflicts, both lin­ guistic and professional in nature. The Universität Bamberg is a relatively young German university. It was organized in the 1970s on the sites of earlier schools of pedagogy and theol­ ogy in the northern Bavarian city of Bamberg. As is usual in Germany, there is no “campus.” The uni­ versity and its libraries are spread out among many old and new buildings in a lovely city of about 80,000 people. Bamberg escaped major damage during both world wars and attracts many tourists who crowd its picturesque market area and numer­ ous churches. I wore out several pairs of shoes on the scenic cobblestone streets, and rejoiced with the tourists when the chilly, damp weather en­ demic to the area in early spring eventually gave way to the sunshine and warmth of May and June. Dealing with a foreign language every day at work and on the streets was by far the most chal­ lenging aspect of the exchange for me. Regina Kre- pulat, my exchange partner, had spent six months at Brown during the fall of 1985, and I had con­ stantly been impressed by her skill and aplomb in speaking English. While my comprehension im-