ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 226 / C&RL News What is a CLIP note? By the CLS CLIP Notes Committee P. Grady Morein, Chair A C R L ’s College Libraries Section is generating a valuable series of reports on current library practices. C l i p Notes is a program of the Association of College and Research Libraries. The title is derived from the concept, College Library Inform ation Packet Notes. Initiated in 1980 by the Continuing E ducation C om m ittee of ACRL’s College L i­ braries Section, the program provides college and small university libraries with state-of-the-art re­ views and current documentation on library prac­ tices and procedures of relevance to them . The function of the CLIP Notes program is to share inform ation am ong sm aller academ ic li­ braries as a means of facilitating decision making and improving performance. The basic premise underlying the program is that libraries through­ out the nation are facing numerous challenges due to changing environments and that many of these libraries can benefit by knowing how similar insti­ tutions have resolved certain problems. A CLIP Note is a publication containing a state- of-the-art report on a current library practice and a collection of documents related to that practice. Documents consist of policy statements, procedure descriptions, reporting forms and the like. Infor­ m ation for a C LIP Note is generally gathered through surveys of colleges and small universities and reviews of the literature. T he process for c re a tin g a C L IP N ote has evolved over time. Initially the CLS Continuing Education Committee performed all of the tasks required in constructing a CLIP Note. Also various approaches and survey groups were used in collect­ ing data and documents. Three CLIP Notes were produced using these procedures. Following production of the third CLIP Note, the C ontinuing Education Committee realized that future CLIP Notes could be more efficiently produced by an editorial committee responsible for operating and expanding the program . Thus a committee was formed and charged to develop processes for operating a permanent CLIP Notes program. The task considered of prime importance by the committee was the establishment of a stable survey group that would respond to questionnaires and would also be willing to share documents with other libraries. The group also had to be represent­ ative of college and small university libraries as a whole and willing to participate in survey pro­ grams on a continuing basis. A second major concern of the committee was to develop procedures for constructing the CLIP Notes program that would provide all interested li­ brarians the opportunity to create CLIP Notes. Focusing on the first of these issues, the commit­ tee examined several groupings of libraries or col­ leges that were considered most representative and stable. The pool ultimately selected is composed of two groups from the Carnegie Council on Policy Studies in Higher Education. These are: 1) Com­ prehensive Universities and Colleges I, and 2) Lib­ eral Arts Colleges I. All libraries from these two groups with a minimum enrollment of 1,000 and a maximum enrollment of 5,000 as reported in the 1976 Carnegie list were sent a questionnaire which asked, among other things, whether they would be willing to respond to future CLIP Note surveys. Approximately 200 libraries agreed to participate on a continuing basis. 228 / C&RL News In addressing the second issue, th at of providing the means w hereby librarians would be encour­ aged to propose and develop a C L IP Note, the com m ittee created a system w herein interested participants develop projects under the direction of the com m ittee. U nder this system the role of the com m ittee is to screen proposals, to provide guid­ ance in developing the project, and to review the final p ro d u ct p rio r to submission to ACRL for printing and distribution. F ollow ing th e establishm ent of these p ro c e ­ dures, two m em bers of the com m ittee subm itted a proposal on the topic of “ O nline B ibliographic Searching in College L ibraries.” The proposal was approved, a survey was conducted, and a C LIP Note was produced. Since then tw o additional pro­ posals have been approved: one on “Special Collec­ tions in College L ibraries,” and another on “Goal and Mission Statem ents for College L ib rarie s.” Surveys on these two issues are now being con­ ducted and C LIP Notes will be available w ithin the year. Thus, the two m ajor goals of the com m it­ tee have been achieved: a survey group has been es­ tablished, and procedures have been instituted for developing the program . The challenge now faced by the com m ittee is to generate greater p a rtic ip a tio n in the program . W hile the task of developing a C L IP Note is com ­ plex, the need for good docum entation on timely is­ sues is significant. Thus there is considerable op­ portunity for anyone interested in developing a C LIP Note. There is no shortage of topics. Any sub­ ject of interest to college and small university li­ braries is a potential topic. The principal require­ m ent for success is the availability of documents useful to other libraries. New approaches to ser­ vice, different ways of organizing operations, pro­ cedures for handling new technology—all are ex­ cellent subjects for C LIP Notes. A state-of-the-art assessment of issues such as these will generally yield significant inform ation as well as useful docu­ ments w orthy of publication. The key feature of a C LIP Note, however, is the docum entation rather th an the assessment. Thus the best situation for de­ veloping a C LIP Note is one in which there is a strong need for current inform ation on practices, procedures or policies, and the availability of a num ber of high quality documents which can be shared w ith other libraries. Considerable tim e and effort have been focused on developing a structure for operating the C LIP Note program . T h at structure is in place and func­ tioning. The need now is for w ider involvement in o rd e r to g en erate increased num bers of useful products. Anyone interested in developing a C LIP Note is urged to subm it ideas follow ing the procedures listed below: 1. Send an “intent to subm it a proposal” to any m em b er of th e C L IP N otes C o m m itte e . T his should be a one or two page description of a basic idea th a t you think would make a good C LIP Note. 2. The com m ittee m em ber receiving this de­ scription will respond to the idea, suggesting how to develop the topic or recom m ending changes. If deemed necessary other members of the com m ittee will be consulted. 3. After receiving the response, test the idea in­ formally am ong friends or acquaintances in several college libraries. In particular, determ ine w hether a sufficient num ber of useful documents are likely to be available. 4. If the project appears viable at this point, sub­ m it a formal proposal to the chair of the C LIP Notes Com mittee. The proposal should contain a tw o or three page description of the project, in­ cluding a statem ent of need, purpose of the project, anticipated results, expected benefits and a listing of potential documents. The identification of docu­ ments is especially im portant, for the availability of docum entation is critical to success. The pro­ posal should also contain a well-developed draft of the questionnaire th a t is to be sent to the survey group. The final com ponent of the proposal is a budget for conducting the survey and collecting the docum ents. Allowable expenditures include the cost of copying the questionnaire, postage for m ail­ ing original and follow -up questionnaire, basic supplies, lim ited com puter processing, and possi­ bly telephone. The com m ittee supplies address la­ bels for the survey group. The cost of previous sur­ veys has been less than $200. 5. The com m ittee chair will circulate the p ro ­ posal am ong com m ittee members for their review, response and approval. 6. Once approved, proceed to develop the final questionnaire, conduct the survey, and collect the docum ents. T he entire com m ittee will provide guidance and assistance throughout this stage of the project. 7. Upon completion of the survey analyze the results, select the documents to be included in the final product, then organize the m aterial and w rite a report. The report will consist of an analysis of survey results and a brief introduction to the docu­ ments. Generally the analysis is lim ited to five or six pages. The num ber of documents to be included is v aria b le . U sually, how ever, these should be highly selective and lim ited in num ber. Existing C LIP Notes m ay be reviewed for examples. 8. At this point the product is circulated to the com m ittee for final review and suggestions for re­ finem ent. 9. Finally the m aterial is sent to ACRL for p rin t­ ing. ACRL can p ro d u ce th e re p o rt on a high- quality w ord processor and has the ability to re­ duce documents prior to printing. C LIP Notes is one of the most useful of ACRL’s college library programs. It focuses directly on the needs of college and small university libraries, p ro ­ viding concrete tools for addressing specific p rob­ lems and concerns. C urrently, C L IP Notes are available on Performance Appraisal, Collection D e v e lo p m e n t, Job D e s c r ip tio n , a n d O n lin e May 1985 / 229 Searching. The policies, procedures, and operating guidelines contained in these publications provide a wealth of information for college and small uni­ versity libraries. If you would like to participate in developing a CLIP Note, please send your ideas to any of the committee members listed below. CLIP Notes Committee members: P. Grady Mo- rein (chair), University Librarian, University of Evansville, Evansville, IN 47702; David Carlson, Library Systems Analyst, University of Rhode Is­ land, Kingston, RI 02881; Nancy Coxe, Reference Librarian, George Washington University, Wash­ ington, DC 20008; Larry Hardesty, Library Direc­ tor, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL 33733; Kenneth Oberembt, Library Media Resources Di­ recto r, U niversity of S cranton, S cranton, PA 18510. ■ ■ Kirkendall honored as BI Librarian of the Year The winner of the 1985 Miriam Dudley Biblio­ graphic Instruction Librarian of the Year is Caro­ lyn Kirkendall, director of the LOEX Clearing­ house at Eastern Michigan University since 1975. Kirkendall will be presented with the award at the ACRL Bibliographic Instruction Section’s pro­ gram meeting on Tuesday, July 9, 2:00-5:30 p.m ., in Chicago. Kirkendall’s contributions have had a truly na­ tional impact and have been sustained over a pe­ riod of many years. As LOEX director, she has a major role in planning the annual LOEX Confer­ ence on Library O rientation for Academic Li­ braries. She has presented papers at the Conference regularly and has edited a number of volumes of the proceedings for Pierian Press, including Put­ ting Library Instruction in Its Place (1977) and Di­ rections for the Decade (1980). She has edited the LO EX News since 1976 and “Library Instruction: A Column of Opinion” in the Journal of Academic Librarianship from 1976 to 1982. She coordinated the ACRL BI Liaison Project for several years, pro­ moting bibliographic instruction in professional as­ sociations within and outside of the library and in­ formation science fields. The Miriam Dudley Award consists of $1,000 presented to a librarian who has made an especially significant contribution to the advancement of bib­ liographic instruction. It honors Miriam Dudley, reference librarian at the University of California, Los Angeles, whose pioneering efforts in the field of bibliographic instruction led to the formation of the Bibliographic Instruction Section. The award has been funded by Research Strategies, Ann Ar­ bor, Michigan. Nominees should have achieved distinction in such areas as planning and implementation of a bibliographic instruction program that has served as a model for other programs; development of courses on bib lio g rap h ic in stru ctio n in ALA- accredited library schools, or development of BI continuing education courses that have served as models for other courses; research and publication that has had a demonstrable impact on the con­ cepts and methods of teaching bibliography; and active participation in organizations devoted to the promotion and enhancement of bibliographic in­ struction. The deadline for nominations in letter form for the 1986 award is December 1,1985. Send nomina­ tions to William Miller, Jerome Library, Bowling G reen State U niversity, Bowling G reen, OH 43403. ■ ■ Now there’s help The ACRL Professional Association Liaison Committee was created to promote cooperative efforts w ith other higher education associa­ tions. The Committee is to carry on the work of the Bibliographic Instruction Liaison Project on a broader scale, helping librarians partici­ pate in the programs of other associations. As an example, Mary George of Princeton Univer­ sity is chairing a panel for the meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English next fall in Philadelphia. There are funds in the ACRL budget for this fiscal year (ending August 31, 1985) to support registration fees and partial travel for librarians who will give papers on library-related topics (online searching, BI, etc.) at the meetings of non-library professional associations. Librarians who wish to apply for support to attend meetings at which they will give a pa­ per, be on a panel, etc., can apply for partial support to the chair of the Professional Associa­ tion Liaison Committee, Joan Chambers, Uni­ versity L ibrarian, University of California- R iverside, P .O . Box 5900, R iverside, CA 92517.