ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries September 1984 / 407 The actual documents for the case study are be­ ing sent for deposit with a national clearinghouse and should be available in the near future. Inqui­ ries regarding the case are welcome and may be ad­ dressed to: Brenda L. Johnson, Network Services Unit, Rutgers University Libraries, P.O. Box 212, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. ■ ■ Coping with stress: The 14th ann ual Workshop on Instruction in Library Use By B arb ara Love Reference Librarian St. Lawrence College Saint-Laurent Stress and burnout on the B I trail. s T T h e 13th Annual Workshop on Instruction in Li- brary Use was co-sponsored this year by Queen’ U n iversity an d St. L a w re n c e C ollege Saint- Laurent and took place in Kingston, Ontario, from May 16 to 18. Participants from Ontario and Que­ bec universities and com m unity colleges were joined by instruction librarians from eastern and western Canada as well as by a number of Ameri­ cans. Attendees were able to balance the long work­ shop sessions against the enjoyment of some of Kingston’s waterfront attractions, namely, a coq au vin banquet aboard the Island Queen on the opening night and a light lunch at the Yacht Club on Thursday. The Workshop’s theme was “Coping w ith Crisis: Strategies for Survival” w hich in ­ cluded sessions on crisis management, coping with burnout, time management, computer-assisted in­ struction to combat staff shortages, using media as a tool for coping with financial crises, job sharing and job exchanges as a means of self-revitalization and the trials and tribulations of CAI program­ ming. The workshop opened on Wednesday afternoon with the group as a whole participating in a crisis management session which featured a film called “Managing in a Crisis” from the U. S. Office of Per­ sonnel Management in which a series of crises takes place in a large hotel catering operation. Actors, assuming the roles of the key personnel involved, played out several scenarios designed to show the effectiveness of using “information-based problem solving.” The film outlined a 5-step procedure which stressed adequate planning and information gathering as a means of crisis management. These steps are: 1) setting the climate; 2) collecting infor­ mation; 3) classifying the information; 4) setting priorities and guidelines; and 5) following up. Using the method outlined in the film as a guide, the audience was then divided into smaller discus­ sion groups in order to examine a case study pre­ pared by Sandy Casey, Queen’s Faculty of Educa­ 408 / C&RL News tion librarian and co-chair of the workshop. The case study dealt w ith a series of crises occurring in a library orientation setting. The groups were asked to deal w ith the crisis from two perspectives: first from the viewpoint of the neophyte instruction li­ brarian hired at the last minute before the fall ori­ entation program is about to get underway and, secondly, from the vantage point of the chief li­ brarian who has some ability to m anipulate the sit­ uation from above. This session introduced the cri­ sis theme w ithin a coping context and was m eant to serve as an ice breaker for the rest of the workshop. Among the sessions offered over the next two days were: “Reducing Stress through Improving Instruction, or I can’t go in there and talk about Psych Abstracts one more tim e.” Mignon Adams, co ordinator of inform ation services at SUNY- Oswego, conducted a spirited session in which she talked about coping with repetition, boredom and fatigue in library instruction by revitalizing your method of presentation. The session stressed th at the better you are as a teacher, the better you will feel about your teaching and, therefore, about yourself. Effective teaching was discussed in terms of enthusiasm, the ability to communicate abstrac­ tions, and w arm th, including the importance of physical contact. In addition, the use of pre-tests and post-tests for instruction was encouraged both for allowing the students a say and in providing the librarians w ith useful feedback. Mignon ended the session w ith a group discussion of “lessons learned painfully over time” in which participants were able to share their most valuable teaching tips. Fourth International Conference on User Education The F o u rth In te rn a tio n a l C onference on User E d u catio n has been provisionally a r­ ranged for Brighton, England, in July-August 1985. The conference will feature both invited and contributed papers. 500-word abstracts of p a­ pers th a t intending speakers would like to con­ tribute are now invited and should be received by October 31, 1984. At this stage the main themes of the conference will be decided. Com­ plete papers (which should not exceed 25 m in­ utes) will be required by January 31, 1985, at w hich tim e a final choice of papers will be made. Topics on any area of user education (both information skills and library skills) from any sector (academic, research, school, public, or special libraries, and indeed any other institu­ tion involved in education or user education) are invited. Abstracts should be sent to the following ad­ dress: Fourth International Conference on User Education, 13 Caernarvon Close, Shepshed, Leicestershire LE12 9QB, United Kingdom. Sarah Barbara W atstein, library associate and reference librarian at New York University, con­ ducted a helpful session on coping w ith burnout in library instruction. After discussing general symp­ toms of burnout, the group participants offered their personal reasons for burning out. Some of these were: diminished enthusiasm due to the re­ dundancy of reference questions, feelings of inade­ quacy due to new responsibilities such as database searching and autom ated acquisitions, repetition involved in classroom instruction, and resentment tow ard unenthusiastic students. The group then looked at physical, psychological and attitudinal signs of burnout following which they worked on vulnerability, stress and workaholic checklists to see how they rated. The session ended with a dis­ cussion on methods of coping w ith burnout, some of which included problem solving, m utual help­ ing, using evaluation tools on an on-going basis and seeking professional help. Sarah talked also about “restructuring irrational beliefs” by which one stays saner by learning to ac­ cept a less than perfect image of oneself, thereby eliminating a major source of stress. The key to coping seemed to be finding a means of channeling one’s energies in a positive direction rather than panicking and burning out. A job sharing and job exchange panel was mod­ erated by Eve Buckle, reference librarian in the so­ cial sciences at Hatfield Polytechnic, England, and currently on a one-year exchange at St. Lawrence College. The panel dealt with how to revitalize oneself and one’s feelings of stress or boredom by changing one’s working hours or one’s working lo­ cation. Linda Baker and Peg Walsh from the refer- BI Guidelines under revision The ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Sec­ tion’s Policy and Planning Committee, chaired by Ellen Broidy, is revising the guidelines for es­ tablishing a bibliographic instruction program. The current guidelines were developed in 1977 and published in C&RL News, April 1977, p.92. At the committee meeting in Dallas, mem­ bers of the Policy and Planning Com m ittee agreed th a t the guidelines needed to be revised to reflect current growth, development, and trends in library instruction since the develop­ ment of the guidelines adopted by the ACRL B oard of D ire c to rs on J a n u a ry 31, 1977. Donald Kenney, a member of the committee, along with chair Ellen Broidy, will develop a draft for the entire committee to consider. Anyone with comments or suggestions for re­ vising the guidelines should send them to: Donald Kenney, Head, General Reference D e­ partm ent, University Libraries, Virginia Poly­ technic Institute and State University, Blacks­ burg, VA 24061, by November 30, 1984. On Microfiche. . . from Research Publications Legal Treatises call or write: Nineteenth- Century Legal T reatises A n extensive historical collection Nineteenth-Century Legal Treatises Provides a comprehensive compilation of works on legal subjects from torts to trials and contracts to copyrights. Organized according to subject categories based on the Harvard University School of Law Library classification system, this microfiche collection will include the full text of over 10,000 titles. Access is facilitated by cataloguing, indexing, and bibliographic aids. Special Offer—Save 20% This valuable research tool will be released in units of ap­ proximately 1250 fiche, beginning with 3 units in 1984, with 6 units per year thereafter. A standing order price of $2,500 per unit is available to those institutions ordering two or more units per year. For a limited time Nineteenth - Century Legal Treatises is available at a special introductory price. When you order Units 1 (American) and 2 (British) before October 1, 1984, you pay only $2,000 per unit (20% off the standing order price). Prices slightly higher outside the U.S. and Canada. To order, or for more information on Nineteenth-Century Research Publications 12 Lunar Drive/Drawer AB Woodbridge, CT 06525 (203) 397-2600 TWX: 710-465-6345 FAX: 203-397-3893 Outside North and South America P.O. Box 45 ■ Reading, RG1 8HF England TEL: 0734-583247 TELEX: 848336 NADL G Presearch publications 410 / C &RL News ence department at McMaster University’s Health Sciences Library, described their job sharing expe­ rience from the points of view of the employer and the employee. Linda Baker discussed the disadvantages and ad­ vantages to the employer of a job sharing arrange­ ment, noting that the pros far outweighed the cons. On the negative side, she cautioned that good com­ munications had to be maintained, that there was a possibility of personality conflicts between the job sharers, that there might be a lack of continuity on the job and that one or the other of the job shar­ ing team would be absent from staff meetings. However, on the positive side, job sharing encour­ aged more productivity and more initiative, the job sharers could act as reliefs for one another when emergencies arose, and the employer is provided with more skills in one position. Since the job shar­ ing team usually derives greater job satisfaction from a working arrangement that allows them freedom, the benefits to the employer of happier employees is obvious. Panel members then discussed sabbatical leaves and job exchanges from one library to another on the same campus and from one country to another. Eve Buckle described her experience from a practi­ cal point of view in which she mentioned salary and tax considerations, checking out accomoda­ Research at ALA By Mary Jo Lynch Director ALA Office fo r Research As Director of ALA’s Office for Research and staff liaison to the ALA Committee on Research and the Library Research Round Table (LRRT) I was delighted to see the initiation of a “Research Forum” column in College and Research Libraries News. The new column should prove to be a useful supplement to the “Research Notes” which already tions, medical and insurance coverage and the pos­ sibility of an exchange of cars. In personal terms, she and other panel members described the benefits of a year away from your job as providing you with the possibility of acquiring new skills and new ex­ periences and of returning to your former position feeling refreshed. The single disappointing session was held at Queen’s Faculty of Education’s computer lab in or­ der to demonstrate the possibility of using CAI to combat staff shortages. The problem with the ses­ sion was that the quality of software packages available for library instruction was extremely poor. Among the ones demonstrated were guides to poetry indexes and Current Biography from Calico (Computer Assisted Library Instruction Co., Inc.) and a library skills program from Right On Pro­ grams. The general impression of the librarians who attended this session was that the software was elementary and didn’t warrant the amount of time devoted to it in the lab. Most of the participants felt, however, that it was worthwhile in showing that this is an area where there is much room for improvement. It should be somewhat heartening though, to know that, at least for the moment, the human element is not imminently in danger of be­ ing replaced. ■ ■ appear in College and Research Libraries. Sharing information about research is a major interest of the Office, the Committee, and LRRT. All of these units welcome the focus on research which ACRL President Sharon Rogers has initiated within ACRL. Of the three units I am associated with, the Li- RESEARCH FORUM