College and Research Libraries By G E O R G E B. B R O W N In-Service Training in Acquisition W o r k Mr. Brown is chief of the Acquisition Department, University of Illinois Library. FOR THE past t w o years an in-service t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m has been in progress in the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t of the U n i - versity of Illinois L i b r a r y . I t has been conducted on an experimental basis and it is believed t h a t a r e p o r t of the organization and teaching of the course a n d its content m i g h t be of interest to other members of the profession. I n a recent article on this subject, E . A . W i g h t 1 quotes T u c k e r ' s definition of in- service t r a i n i n g as " m a n a g e m e n t ' s process of aiding employees to gain effectiveness in their present and f u t u r e w o r k assignments by providing, p l a n n i n g a n d o r g a n i z i n g a p r o g r a m of systematic instruction and prac- tice on the j o b . " T h i s definition seems f a i r l y adequate f o r o u r purposes. I n W i g h t ' s s u m m a r y he states t h a t "given reasonably adequate general and professional education, a s t i m u l a t i n g pro- fessional job w i t h adequate pay, w o r k i n g and living conditions t h a t p r o m o t e high morale, and access to types of intellectual stimulation t h a t are common in good col- leges, the professional librarian w i l l con- tinue professional g r o w t h w i t h o u t the neces- sity of a systematic p r o g r a m of in-service t r a i n i n g . " Rudolf H i r s c h , 2 in an article on the in- 1 W i g h t , E d w a r d A . " I n - S e r v i c e T r a i n i n g o f P r o - f e s s i o n a l L i b r a r i e s i n C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t i e s L i b r a r - ies." College and Research Libraries, 10:103-07, April 1949- 2 H i r s c h , R u d o l f . " T h e I n - S e r v i c e T r a i n i n g P r o g r a m o f t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f P e n n s y l v a n i a L i b r a r y . " College and Research Libraries, 10:108-12', April 1949. service t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m at the University of Pennsylvania L i b r a r y , describes the t r a i n i n g in librarianship of selected students w i t h o u t previous l i b r a r y school education. H e points o u t t h a t this type of p r o g r a m puts a g r e a t b u r d e n on the instructional staff and t h a t it is d o u b t f u l w h e t h e r such a p r o g r a m could be made a r e g u l a r f u n c t i o n of the library. W e w o u l d agree w i t h M r . H i r s c h ' s conclusions, although being some- w h a t envious of the r a t h e r t h o r o u g h educa- tional t r a i n i n g the students a p p a r e n t l y re- ceived, and w o u l d disagree w i t h D r . W i g h t ' s conclusions, p a r t i c u l a r l y if applied to large university research libraries. O u r p r o g r a m w a s started a f t e r examina- tion of proposed n e w c u r r i c u l a in library schools disclosed t h e fact t h a t t r a i n i n g in t h e technical aspects of library w o r k and in the use of bibliographical tools w e r e to receive considerably less a t t e n t i o n t h a n in the past. T h e n e w c u r r i c u l a in general seemed designed to reduce the a m o u n t of practical professional education in o r d e r to make room f o r m o r e courses of a general n a t u r e designed to teach principles and theories r a t h e r t h a n techniques. I t neces- sarily follows t h a t the techniques of the profession will have to be t a u g h t on the job a f t e r students have received their degrees, r a t h e r t h a n in library school classes. T h o s e of us responsible f o r library ad- ministration recognize the need f o r a knowledge of techniques in addition to a knowledge of principles. T h e p r o g r a m at Illinois was developed and carried out only in the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t and entirely JANUARY, 1951 29 by Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t personnel as an experiment and possible f u t u r e guide f o r the establishment of similar p r o g r a m s in other d e p a r t m e n t s of the library. W e have in mind t r a i n i n g each staff member to h a n d l e the duties of his o w n position in the most efficient m a n n e r ; fa- m i l i a r i z i n g him w i t h the i m p o r t a n c e of acquisition w o r k and its place in relation to all other d e p a r t m e n t s of the l i b r a r y ; pre- senting some orientation in the w o r k of all other members of the division in w h i c h the individual w o r k s in o r d e r t h a t the various members of the division m a y be m u t u a l l y h e l p f u l ; and giving a f a i r l y detailed knowledge of the operations of all other divisions of the d e p a r t m e n t and operations of other d e p a r t m e n t s of the library as they affect the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t . I n ad- dition, any m a t t e r of general interest to the staff m i g h t become a subject of discussion in the class sessions. I n essence, then, o u r p r o g r a m was designed to give each staff member the best possible t r a i n i n g in the duties he w a s expected to p e r f o r m , and to give him the w h o l e picture of acquisition w o r k as f a r as possible in o r d e r to p r e p a r e him f o r promotion w i t h i n this library or to positions elsewhere. T h e t r a i n i n g w a s divided into t w o parts, each of approximately 12 weeks d u r a t i o n . T h e first 12 weeks consisted of strict "on- t h e - j o b " t r a i n i n g ; this w a s restricted to n e w staff members. E a c h n e w staff member w a s assigned to one of the m o r e experienced bibliographers f o r t r a i n i n g . T h i s t r a i n i n g consisted of day-to-day guidance in l e a r n i n g t h e bibliographical tools, procedures, and policies, and f r e q u e n t conferences concern- ing special problems. T h e second 12 weeks w a s a m o r e or less f o r m a l presentation f o r one h o u r per week, and the classes w e r e open to the entire staff of the d e p a r t m e n t . T h e class sessions w e r e designed as seminars w i t h a lecture of r o u g h l y 4 0 m i n u t e s followed by a discussion of 2 0 m i n u t e s . I n general, members of the staff showed a lively interest a n d several of the discussions lasted longer t h a n t h e allotted period a n d w o u l d have continued if time had p e r m i t t e d . A s to the c o n t e n t of these class sessions, it should be explained t h a t f o u r of the 12 sessions w e r e conducted by the acquisition l i b r a r i a n as general sessions and eight w e r e concerned w i t h specific divisions of the d e p a r t m e n t . I n the first general session, the acquisition l i b r a r i a n outlined the p u r - pose of the course and presented a discus- sion on the o r g a n i z a t i o n of the l i b r a r y and p a r t i c u l a r l y of the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t , general policies and procedures of the de- p a r t m e n t , and a short s u m m a r y of F a r m i n g - ton P l a n operations. T h e second, t h i r d , and f o u r t h sessions w e r e presented by mem- bers of the G i f t and E x c h a n g e Division, and Serials Section. T h e general organiza- tion of t h e G i f t and E x c h a n g e Division w a s discussed a l o n g w i t h some historical background concerning exchange practices a m o n g libraries, details of h o w exchanges are a r r a n g e d , i n f o r m a t i o n concerning the procedures f o r h a n d l i n g g i f t and exchange materials, a n d t h e keeping of records. O t h e r sessions covered the acquisition and processing of documents, general continua- tions, and special problems of serials. T h e fifth m e e t i n g w a s a general session in which, a m o n g others, the f o l l o w i n g items w e r e discussed: L a t e s t developments in the microcard publication p r o g r a m , n e w pro- cedures in the C a t a l o g D e p a r t m e n t which affect Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t records, n e w policy concerning disposition of odd n u m - bers of periodicals, reports f r o m the ad- ministrative staff conference of interest to Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t personnel, possi- bilities of closer coordination between bibliographers in the Acquisition D e p a r t - m e n t and catalogers, n e w micro-offset 30 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES processes f o r r e p r i n t i n g books, and the operations of the U n i t e d States Book E x c h a n g e . N a t u r a l l y , subjects f o r discussion in these general sessions will vary f r o m year to year, b u t in general they are designed to help members of the d e p a r t m e n t keep up to date on all n e w policies, procedures, and other developments which m i g h t affect their w o r k . T h e sixth session w a s conducted by the head of the Periodical Division w h o dis- cussed general organization of the division, methods of h a n d l i n g subscriptions, main- tenance of records, and bibliographical pe- culiarities of periodicals. T h e seventh session w a s conducted by the head of the Special Collections Division w h o explained its general organization, ac- tivities, and procedures. T h e eighth session w a s conducted by the head of the P u r c h a s e Division w h o discussed organization, the processing of orders, the use of biblio- graphical sources, records maintained in the division, selection of agents, and proc- essing of books and invoices. T h e n i n t h meeting w a s a general session and w a s devoted very largely to a discussion of w h a t happens to books a f t e r they leave the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t . I t included the organization of the C a t a l o g D e p a r t - m e n t ; r o u t i n g slip p r o c e d u r e s ; the distri- bution of books to specialists in various subject fields f o r c a t a l o g i n g ; problems deal- ing w i t h serial cataloging and cataloging of other special types of material such as music, maps, dissertations and rare books; and delivery of the books to d e p a r t m e n t a l libraries and other special locations. T h e t e n t h session was devoted to a dis- cussion of r a r e books and photographic re- productions. I t w a s conducted by the con- s u l t a n t in bibliography in the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t . T h e discussion included con- sideration of the various types of materials which automatically are sent to the r a r e book r o o m ; the definitions which determine w h e t h e r a book is considered r a r e or n o t ; some mention of f a c u l t y members and others especially active in selecting r a r e books; special procedures for searching and bibliographical verification of these publi- c a t i o n s ; and special catalogs, bibliographies and procedures f o r processing t h e books w h e n they are received. T h i s l a t t e r pro- cedure involves such m a t t e r s as collation, comparison w i t h other copies in the li- brary, and f o r w a r d i n g i n f o r m a t i o n to the r a r e book librarian or to the C a t a l o g D e - p a r t m e n t about u n u s u a l sources of biblio- graphical verification. Some m e n t i o n w a s also made of booksellers in the r a r e book field w i t h their specialties and methods of operation. Special procedures f o r h a n d l i n g orders f o r photographic reproductions w e r e ex- plained, and various printed lists and bib- liographies of microfilms w e r e displayed and described. Special conditions u n d e r which microfilms are f u r n i s h e d by various libraries w e r e mentioned as w e r e other procedures which vary f r o m the routine processing of book orders. T h e eleventh m e e t i n g w a s concerned w i t h the business operations of the depart- m e n t . T h e session was presented by the acquisition librarian and included discussion of business forms, punched card equipment, accounting procedures, legal provisions in the university statutes w h i c h affect p u r - chases, allocation of f u n d s , processing of in- voices, h a n d l i n g of statements, and w r i t i n g of correspondence in relation to purchases. T h e final session was designated as a general session at which all the members of the class participated in a critique of the year's p r o g r a m and discussed plans f o r con- t i n u i n g the classes in f u t u r e years. T h i s r a t h e r detailed description of the course has been given in this paper in the hope t h a t it may be u s e f u l to others p l a n n i n g JANUARY, 1951 31 7 similar p r o g r a m s . W e believe t h a t there is a sufficient c o n t e n t to acquisition w o r k to j u s t i f y an in-service t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m to supplement l i b r a r y school courses and to make up f o r the omission of this type of education in the c u r r i c u l u m . T h e classes w e r e open to all members of the Acquisition D e p a r t m e n t , professional and clerical, b u t only the professional staff members w e r e required to a t t e n d . A c t u a l l y m a n y of the clerks in the d e p a r t m e n t did a t t e n d r e g u l a r l y and w e r e able to make con- t r i b u t i o n s to the discussions. O n e of the benefits of this p r o g r a m has been a better u n d e r s t a n d i n g on the p a r t of each staff m e m b e r of the relationships be- tween his w o r k and the w o r k of other mem- bers of the d e p a r t m e n t and of the library staff. W e are convinced t h a t each staff member is n o w able to see his p a r t in the total picture w i t h greater clarity t h a n w a s possible heretofore, and t h a t t h e r e is a gen- eral feeling of satisfaction in s h a r i n g in this i m p o r t a n t w o r k of building up research col- lections f o r a large university library. T h e boost in morale as a result of these sessions has been clearly noticeable. W e believe it stems f r o m an appreciation on the p a r t of each staff member of being kept i n f o r m e d of the t h i n k i n g a n d p l a n n i n g of the admin- istrative staff, and of being given a chance to c o n t r i b u t e his o w n t h o u g h t s and ideas f o r the i m p r o v e m e n t of the d e p a r t m e n t as a whole. I t w o u l d be desirable to have some ob- jective measurements as bases f o r e v a l u a t i n g the effectiveness of this t r a i n i n g p r o g r a m ; however, d u r i n g its experimental years it did not lend itself to testing. W e are n o w w o r k i n g on a method of testing w h i c h will help us decide w h e t h e r such in-service train- ing p e r f o r m s its declared f u n c t i o n s and w h e t h e r its cost is justifiable. O u r p r o g r a m will be continued next year, b u t directed more p a r t i c u l a r l y to the needs of n e w staff members w h o w i l l come to us immediately a f t e r g r a d u a t i o n f r o m l i b r a r y school. Staff members w h o have completed the in-service t r a i n i n g will at- tend only the m o n t h l y general sessions. O t h e r changes w i l l be made as needs indi- c a t e ; but in any case, in a very large re- search library, w e are convinced t h a t some such p r o g r a m is essential. Western Reserve Fellowship W e s t e r n Reserve University School of Library Science will offer for the academic year 1951-52 eight half-tuition fellowships. G r a d u a t e s of approved colleges who have a better- than-usual academic record are encouraged to apply. These working programs should appeal to persons who desire to work closely with individual instructors in specific subject fields. A view of teaching methods and of collecting materials for instruction will be made available to the approved candidate. Service of the individual student will not exceed 10 hours of work a week for one semester in return for a half-tuition credit throughout the year. T h e candidates who receive the awards will still be able to complete the work for the M.S. in L.S. degree with one basic year. Inquiries should be addressed to T h i r z a E. G r a n t , dean, School of Library Science, W e s t e r n Reserve University, Cleveland 6, Ohio. 32 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES