ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries November 1982 / 351 the book selection at Edinburgh is done by teaching faculty and subject specialization within the li­ brary is not as highly organized as it is at Indiana. In both libraries the professional staff has faculty status, although the demands placed on Indiana University librarians are much greater. Edinburgh librarians do not have to write annual reports, write articles, or attend conferences as a require­ ment for tenure. There is not so much competition and pressure to excel, although British librarians have a commitment to maintain a high standard of professional service in the library. Union member­ ship for all library staff is increasing at Edinburgh, particularly since education cutbacks may be threatening jobs in the future. Was the exchange beneficial? In my opinion it most definitely was. In working and living in a dif­ ferent country one has to assess one’s own job and see the advantages and disadvantages of both syste.ms There is no doubt in my mind that by meet­ ing different people and exchanging ideas, hori­ zons may be broadened. The exchange was a success in my case, as I was offered a temporary ap­ pointment at Indiana University because of staff reorganization within the library. Edinburgh Uni­ versity granted me a one-year leave of absence without pay and I will return home in August, 1983. Having mentally prepared for a one-year ab­ sence when I left Britain, it may feel strange to re­ turn after two years in the United States. Both li­ braries have experienced changes in the past year, and political changes continue to occur at the local, national, and international level. I may therefore be returning to a different atmosphere in Edin­ burgh, but I am certain that my American experi­ ence will be of immense value— both profession­ ally and personally. ■ ■ Bibliographic Instruction Establishing Library Skills Proficiency in a Teacher Education Program For success in the teacher education program, and later in teaching careers, a basic knowledge of library and reference skills is essential. In “W hat Do Student Teachers Know about L ibraries?” Jerry W alker1 makes the following observations: “Today’s library holds information packaged in multi-media containers. It is a place where infor­ mation is stored and retrieved with mechanical ef­ ficiency. It is a place where librarians are not only library science specialists knowledgeable in the specific location of materials, but also subject mat­ ter specialists knowledgeable in the structure of their disciplines. It is a place where teachers go to seek materials and guidance as part of their prepa­ rations for teaching. The size and complexity of the modern school library demand special skills and knowledge from the teacher who would use it ef­ fectively, and those who prepare teachers must share the responsibility for providing those skills and knowledge.” According to the article, Walker surveyed stu­ dent teachers in Illinois and Oregon to determine the adequacy of their library skills. His conclusion was that institutions responsible for training these 1 Jerry L. Walker, “What Do Student Teachers Know about Libraries?” School Libraries 16 (Win­ ter 1967): 17-18, 23. students were failing to prepare them to use a mod­ ern library. In April of 1981, questions were used from the Walker survey to test students enrolled in the De­ partment of Education at Idaho State University. Nineteen students in Ed. 101 (Introduction to American Education) and twenty students from Ed. 401 (Philosophy of Education) were included in the survey. Both classes are required for gradua­ tion from the teacher education program. Only one student in the ISU survey had taken, at the col­ lege level, an introductory class in the use of the li­ brary. An examination of the results of the surveys indicates that in almost all areas tested, the ISU stu­ dents were less adequately prepared than students in the Walker survey. Also, the Ed. 401 students performed at only a slightly higher level than the Ed. 101 students. W alker recommended that prospective students should have at least one course in library science in order to acquaint them with library service and re­ sources, new developments in library aids, and practices. It was not, however, the purpose of the ISU proposal to suggest that all students entering the teacher education program be required to take such a course. Rather, it seemed more appropriate to recommend that, prior to the time students were admitted to the teacher education program, they be required to take a standardized library skills test such as F ea g ley ’s L ibrary Orientation Test f o r C ol­ lege Freshm en. This test, according to Lubans,“ is the one most frequently used by universities and colleges for such screening purposes. Those not per­ forming at an acceptable level would then be re­ quired to develop improved library skills prior to their admission to the teacher education program. The level of proficiency was determined by com­ paring the ISU sample to the norms identified in the Feagley test. For those individuals who did need to upgrade skills in this area, the following options were pro­ vided: 1. Students may elect to enroll in L .S. 121 (Intro­ duction to Library Use— 2 credits) prior to admis­ sion to the teacher education program. W ith a grade of C or above, students would meet the li­ brary skills requirement. This option would not create a burden for most students since this course can be used to fulfill part of their secondary and el­ ementary education requirements. 2. Students are provided with a programmed workbook specifically designed to be used in the 2John Lubans, ed., Educating the L ibrary User (New York: R .R . Bowker, 1974). ISU library. This program would be administered by the Library Science Coordinator in the D epart­ ment of Education. The workbook used is based on those developed in libraries at the University of Colorado, Univer­ sity of California at Los Angeles, and Boise State University. Fourteen units of instruction include information about the card catalog, indexes and abstracts, documents collection, basic reference sources, and services offered by the library. Stu­ dents complete this program in the library at their own pace, which usually requires 12-15 hours of work. Each workbook has a set of unique questions so that students cannot copy from each other. It is believed that the new procedure will help as­ sure that students in the teacher education pro­ gram perform at higher levels in their course work, their student teaching experience, and later in the classroom as regular teachers. It is not too much to ask that teachers graduating with education de­ grees be able to use books,periodicals, and other m a te ria ls in school lib ra rie s in a co m p eten t m anner.— G eorge K. Sheppard. E d ito r’s N ote: G eorge K. Sheppard is professor o f education at the Id ah o State University‚ P ocatello. 352 / C&RL News Lift your training burden. NEW FROM ABI/INFORM A B I /IN F O R M , the online source to bibliographic information for business and management deci­ sion makers, offers a significant advance in training. A NEW APPROACH Learn IN F O R M - professionally pro duced for group or self-instruc­ tion-is a new concept in training packages, providing a step-by-step exercise/workbook designed to hel you get the most from the A B I / A majo ­ p IN F O R M file. L earn I N F O R M S udio cassette dialogue, in a true t fe searcher and end user setting, rings the logically structured wor ook vividly to life. Learn IN F O R current … effective … inexpe ive … ready for use when and here you want it. An excellent ai or the trainee. A quick file review or the experienced user. RDER TODAY ach audio cassette and workbook ackage, shipped in binder edition, $25. Additional workbooks for roup training are available. Just lip and return the coupon for im­ ediate shipment. dvance from M® a o li b k­ b M is n­ s w d f f O E p is g c m r a ABI/INFOR ® DATA RIER 626-2823 82-4111 204235 CO U 800/ 502/5 Telex 354 / C&R L News APPLICANTS SOUGHT FOR ACRL/NEH WORKSHOPS The Association of College and Research L i­ braries has been awarded a grant of $62,423 to con­ duct workshops for academic librarians. The two- day workshops will be held in the Southwest the week of February 21, 1983, and in the Midwest during the week of April 4, 1983. These workshops follow the success of the first two ACRL/NEH workshops on humanities programming for aca­ demic librarians which were held on the east and west coasts (see C &R L N ew s‚ May 1982, pp. 169-72). The purposes of the workshops are: •to acquaint librarians with the value and po­ tential impact of humanities programs on the li­ brary’s program of service; •to demonstrate how these programs will pro­ mote greater use of the library’s humanities hold­ ings; •to demonstrate how innovative public pro­ grams are designed and produced; •to encourage librarians to make an assessment of their humanities holdings with a view to devel­ oping program themes; •to assist librarians to take preliminary steps in preparing a proposal with particular emphasis to­ ward the solicitation of cost-sharing from either lo­ cal funding sources or private philanthropy; and •to explain the particular goals and objectives of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the work funded by each of the other NEH divi­ sions. Applications are sought from librarians wishing to participate in these workshops. Preference will be given to teams of one librarian/one faculty hu­ manist from each institution. Fifty applicants (25 teams) will be accepted for each workshop. Participants will be selected based on the follow­ ing criteria: 1. Demonstrated interest in programming be­ yond the immediate academic community. 2. Ability to assess the library’s humanities hold­ ings and to identify potential topics for humanities programs. 3. Interest in learning how to develop innovative methods of programming to stimulate interest in the humanities in the general adult public. Participants will be provided with lodging and meals at the workshop site and a travel subsidy of up to $150. Applications must be made on project application forms, available by calling the ACRL office at (312) 944-6780, or writing to ACRL NEH Project, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. The deadline for completed applications is Decem­ ber 10, 1982, for the Southwestern workshop, and January 28, 1983, for the Midwestern workshop. Project director is Julie Carroll Virgo, A CRL’s executive director. Peggy O’Donnell will serve as the program consultant. ■ ■ BI LIAISON UPDATE In my role as the new ACRL Bibliographic In ­ struction Liaison Project officer, a little less than a year remains to accomplish the responsibilities es­ tablished for this program: attempting to educate faculty and administrators about bibliographic in­ struction through contact with scholarly organiza­ tions, and helping ACRL members coordinate ac­ tivities relating to the furtherance of BI as a basic library service. Annual meetings and conferences of professional associations offer the most opportune route to com­ municate our message and publicize our potential contributions. Providing bibliographic instruc­ tion-related sessions and presentations at these meetings is the main goal of the BI Liaison Project, so I am pleased to report on these current and forth­ coming activities: •At the annual American Sociological Associa­ tion meeting in September, University of Missis­ sippi teaching faculty member Vaughan Grisham presented a slide/tape program and workshop enti­ tled “Library User Skills.” •In December, at the 1982 Modern Language Association Convention, William Miller, head of the Michigan State University Reference Library, will present a special session on “Computer D ata­ bases in Academic Libraries: Im plications for Teachers and Scholars of Language and Litera­ ture.” Also conducting the session are Eileen M. Mackesy, director for the MLA Center for Biblio­ graphical Services, Maureen Pastine, director of the San Jose State University Library, and William N. Hughes, professor of German at Michigan State University. The presentation will examine the ped­ agogical and scholarly implications of the new computer databases available in libraries. •Also in December at the Annual Conference of the A m erican H istorical A ssociation, Charles D ’Aniello, associate librarian at SUNY-Buffalo, and David Allen, librarian at SUNY-Stony Brook, will report on “Historians, Bibliographic Training, and Library Careers.” •Scheduled for April, 1983, at the meeting of the Organization of American Historians, D'Aniello; Jane Rosenberg, program associate at the Council on Library Resources; Melvin Tucker, associate professor of history at SUNY-Buffalo; and Robert P. Swierenga, professor of history at Kent State University, will speak on “Using Tomorrow’s Re­ search Library: Research Teaching and Training.” Recent publications of interest to this project in­ clude J.E . Evans, Janell Rudolph, and Sharon Ma­ der (all librarians at Memphis State University), “The Sociology Student and the Information Pro­ cess,” in the ASA Teaching Newsletter, Vol. 7, No. 3, for July, 1982.— Carolyn K irkendall D irector‚ LO EX Clearinghouse„ and A C RL BI Liaison Pro­ ject O fficer‚ Eastern Michigan University‚ Ypsi­ lanti, Michigan. ■ ■