College and Research Libraries


B y R O B E R T T . G R A Z I E R 

The Graduate Assistant Program at 
the University of Florida 

Mr. Grazier, formerly assistant director 

of libraries, University of Florida, is now 

associate librarian, Wayne University. 

IN T H E S P R I N G o f 1 9 5 1 , t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f F l o r i d a L i b r a r y inserted in the n e w s 
c o l u m n s of the s e v e r a l l i b r a r y j o u r n a l s an 

o f f e r of t w o g r a d u a t e assistantships f o r study 

l e a d i n g to a master's or d o c t o r a l degree in a 

s u b j e c t field o t h e r t h a n l i b r a r y science and 

invited inquiries " e s p e c i a l l y f r o m l i b r a r i a n s 

or students in l i b r a r y schools. . . . " P r i n t e d 

a n n o u n c e m e n t s of the assistantships w e r e 

distributed to some 1 5 0 c o l l e g e and uni-

v e r s i t y libraries t h r o u g h o u t the c o u n t r y . 

E a c h y e a r since then, these assistantships 

h a v e been p u b l i c i z e d t h r o u g h the same me-

dia, and each y e a r there are questions, both 

f r o m p o t e n t i a l applicants and f r o m other 

institutions, about this p r o g r a m . A p p l i c a n t s 

w i s h to k n o w h o w l o n g it w i l l t a k e f o r 

them to g e t a degree and w h a t k i n d of li-

b r a r y w o r k is required f o r the stipend. F e l -

l o w l i b r a r i a n s h a v e asked h o w the p r o g r a m 

has w o r k e d o u t ; has it been s u c c e s s f u l ; w h a t 

is the v o c a t i o n a l i n t e n t — t o list b u t a f e w 

of the queries. In the l i g h t of such ques-

tions, a brief description of the plan m i g h t 

be of interest to other l i b r a r i a n s . 

T h e g r a d u a t e assistant p r o g r a m began in 

1 9 4 8 w h e n the U n i v e r s i t y C o m m i t t e e on 

A s s i s t a n t s h i p s a p p r o v e d the l i b r a r y ' s request 

f o r t w o g r a d u a t e assistants f o r the academic 

y e a r 1 9 4 8 - 4 9 , c a r r y i n g a stipend of $900 

each. T h e s e assistants w e r e s o u g h t f o r the 

purpose of a i d i n g the R e f e r e n c e and B i b l i o g -

r a p h y D e p a r t m e n t in p r e p a r i n g bibliogra-

phies or in c a r r y i n g o u t the b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l 

p r o j e c t s w h i c h w e r e too extensive f o r the 

c u r r e n t staff to u n d e r t a k e . T h e assistants 

w e r e selected f r o m qualified g r a d u a t e stu-

dents in the v a r i o u s d e p a r t m e n t s of the 

u n i v e r s i t y and w o r k e d d i r e c t l y w i t h the 

f a c u l t y b u t u n d e r the g u i d a n c e of the r e f e r -

ence l i b r a r i a n s . F o r several y e a r s the f u n d s 

w e r e g r a n t e d by the U n i v e r s i t y C o m m i t t e e 

on Assistantships, b u t in 1 9 5 0 the p r o c e d u r e 

w a s changed so t h a t each u n i t of the uni-

v e r s i t y i n c o r p o r a t e d its request f o r g r a d u a t e 

assistants in its a n n u a l b u d g e t ; since then, 

the assistantships h a v e been a p a r t of the 

u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y ' s b u d g e t . T h u s , the 

u n i v e r s i t y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n accepted the f a c t 

t h a t the u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y as w e l l as the 

D e p a r t m e n t of C h e m i s t r y deserved the serv-

ices of g r a d u a t e assistants, or m o r e specifi-

c a l l y , that the c o m p i l a t i o n of bibliographies 

w a s as v a l u a b l e to the u n i v e r s i t y as the 

supervision of l a b o r a t o r y e x p e r i m e n t s . 

T h e n e x t c h a n g e in the p r o g r a m w a s the 

l i b r a r y ' s e f f o r t to discover p r a c t i c i n g l i b r a r -

ians or l i b r a r y school s t u d e n t s w h o m i g h t 

be interested in these assistantships. T h e 

decision to t r y to a l l o t the a w a r d to l i b r a r -

ians w a s based on t w o assumptions. F i r s t , 

despite the c u r r e n t controversies a b o u t the 

proper e d u c a t i o n f o r l i b r a r i a n s there is a 

d e m a n d , p a r t i c u l a r l y by special and aca-

demic libraries, f o r s u b j e c t specialists. Sec-

o n d l y , if a c a d e m i c libraries require s u b j e c t 

specialists, it is f i t t i n g they m a k e an e f f o r t to 

a d v a n c e the e d u c a t i o n of the m e m b e r s of 

their profession. I f r e c r u i t m e n t or in-serv-

ice t r a i n i n g are proper activities f o r libraries, 

w h y no't direct the support of f o r m a l edu-

c a t i o n ? H e n c e , to the o r i g i n a l o b j e c t i v e 

3 6 0 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



of the g r a d u a t e assistant p r o g r a m , t h a t of 

e x p a n d i n g the b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l service of the 

R e f e r e n c e and B i b l i o g r a p h y D e p a r t m e n t , 

w a s added a n o t h e r — t o m a k e a c o n t r i b u t i o n 

to the education of l i b r a r i a n s . 

T h e r e have been one or t w o m i n o r 

changes in the p r o g r a m since its inception 

in 1 9 4 8 . T h e stipend, the same as o f f e r e d 

by other g r a d u a t e assistantships t h r o u g h o u t 

the u n i v e r s i t y , of $900 f o r 1 1 m o n t h s serv-

ice w a s increased to $1100 f o r 11 m o n t h s 

service, and f o r the past t w o y e a r s has been 

$ 1 2 0 0 f o r nine m o n t h s of service, an infla-

t i o n a r y trend n o t u n i q u e in this decade. 

T h e g r a d u a t e assistants w o r k 15 hours per 

w e e k w h i c h limits their m a x i m u m academic 

p r o g r a m to 12 semester hours, and the mini-

m u m a m o u n t of time required to complete a 

m a s t e r ' s degree is t w o semesters plus the 

s u m m e r session. T h e assistantship m a y be 

r e n e w e d if the c a n d i d a t e ' s w o r k progresses 

s a t i s f a c t o r i l y . W i t h i n the last t w o years, 

t w o m o r e g r a d u a t e assistantships h a v e been 

o f f e r e d , one of w h i c h is financed by the C o l -

lege of P h y s i c a l E d u c a t i o n and H e a l t h w i t h 

the u n d e r s t a n d i n g that the assistant selected 

by the l i b r a r y w o u l d be assigned to super-

vise the n e w l y opened P h y s i c a l E d u c a t i o n 

and H e a l t h R e a d i n g R o o m . T h i s w a s a 

t e m p o r a r y expedient u n t i l the service load 

of the r e a d i n g room j u s t i f i e d a f u l l - t i m e 

staff m e m b e r , and the assistantship w i l l n o t 

be o f f e r e d a f t e r this y e a r . 

" H a s this p r o g r a m been s u c c e s s f u l ? " is 

the most f r e q u e n t q u e r y posed by our col-

leagues a l t h o u g h a f e w h i n t as to w h a t they 

mean by " s u c c e s s f u l . " A n earlier para-

g r a p h set f o r t h t w o o b j e c t i v e s of the pro-

g r a m : one to e x p a n d the b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l 

services of the l i b r a r y , the second and l a t e r , 

to support the t r a i n i n g of l i b r a r i a n s . A 

brief appraisal of the p r o g r a m in the l i g h t 

of these o b j e c t i v e s m a y g i v e some c l u e as to 

its success. 

T h e b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l p r o d u c t i o n of the 

g r a d u a t e assistants f a l l s into t w o c a t e g o r i e s : 

bibliographies or selective lists of m a t e r i a l 

f o r i n d i v i d u a l i n s t r u c t o r s or d e p a r t m e n t s of 

the u n i v e r s i t y , and b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l s u r v e y s 

w h i c h p r o v i d e d a t a f o r l i b r a r y policies and 

operations. 

E x a m p l e s of the first c a t e g o r y include a 

bibliography on g e r o n t o l o g y f o r the S o u t h -

ern C o n f e r e n c e on G e r o n t o l o g y ; selective 

readings f o r secretaries, s t e n o g r a p h e r s and 

typists done f o r E m p l o y e e P e r s o n n e l S e r v -

ices; a b i b l i o g r a p h y on the history of build-

i n g c o n s t r u c t i o n in the U n i t e d States f o r an 

i n s t r u c t o r in the C o l l e g e of A r c h i t e c t u r e 

and A l l i e d A r t s . 

E x a m p l e s of the second c a t e g o r y include 

surveys of specific fields of s c h o l a r l y publi-

cation, and the c o m p i l a t i o n of lists of desid-

erata', a cost study of j o u r n a l d u p l i c a t i o n 

m a d e f o r the U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y C o m m i t -

tee ; s u r v e y s made of titles c i r c u l a t e d f r o m 

the l i b r a r y stacks to d e t e r m i n e w h i c h ad-

d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l s should be m o v e d into the 

divisional r e a d i n g rooms. 

T h e s e e x a m p l e s are a f a i r cross-section 

of the w o r k done by g r a d u a t e assistants. 

Some of the studies w e r e of such i m p o r t a n c e 

t h a t the r e g u l a r staff w o u l d have had to do 

the j o b , had no g r a d u a t e assistants been 

a v a i l a b l e ; others w o u l d h a v e been l e f t un-

done. C o u l d the l i b r a r y h a v e done this 

b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l w o r k in a m o r e economical 

w a y ? T h r e e g r a d u a t e assistants at $ 1 2 0 0 

each, produce a s a l a r y f o r a f u l l - t i m e pro-

fessional staff m e m b e r w h o u n d o u b t e d l y 

w o u l d and c o u l d do the k i n d and a m o u n t 

of w o r k done by the g r a d u a t e assistants. 

( A m i n o r digression m i g h t be in order here. 

T h e $ 1 2 0 0 stipend f o r nine m o n t h s at 15 

hours per w e e k equals o r s l i g h t l y surpasses 

our salary of $ 3 6 0 0 per y e a r f o r b e g i n n i n g 

staff members. S i m p l e a r i t h m e t i c bears o u t 

the assertion that the g r a d u a t e assistant-

ships are not an a t t e m p t to exploit y o u n g 

l i b r a r i a n s e a g e r to i m p r o v e their e d u c a t i o n ) . 

T h e l i b r a r y ' s o r i g i n a l request to the C o m -

mittee on Assistantships w a s based on the 

OCTOBER, 1955 361 



k n o w n f a c t t h a t s e v e r a l i n s t r u c t i o n a l de-

p a r t m e n t s a l r e a d y w e r e u s i n g their g r a d u -

ate assistants to check l i b r a r y h o l d i n g s , pre-

pare bibliographies, m a k e u p r e a d i n g lists 

and to do similar routines. T h e l i b r a r y 

reasoned t h a t such w o r k c o u l d be done m o r e 

efficiently u n d e r the g u i d a n c e of the R e f e r -

ence and B i b l i o g r a p h y D e p a r t m e n t and t h a t 

s m a l l i n s t r u c t i o n a l d e p a r t m e n t s w h i c h did 

not have g r a d u a t e assistants f o r these tasks 

w o u l d h a v e a chance to share in such a 

service if it w e r e p r o v i d e d by a c e n t r a l 

a g e n c y . I t is possible t h a t the l i b r a r y ' s 

g r a d u a t e assistants o r i g i n a l l y w e r e obtained 

at the expense of g r a d u a t e assistants in other 

d e p a r t m e n t s of the U n i v e r s i t y b u t not at 

the price of o t h e r l i b r a r y personnel. 

H o w successful the plan has been as a 

c o n t r i b u t i o n to the t r a i n i n g of p a r t i c i p a t i n g 

l i b r a r i a n s poses a m o r e d i f f i c u l t question. 

L e t us assume t h a t in an ideal p r o g r a m 

there w o u l d be a l a r g e n u m b e r of w e l l -

qualified a p p l i c a n t s ; the s u c c e s s f u l candi-

dates w o u l d obtain their a d v a n c e d degrees 

and g o f o r t h to better p a y i n g positions in 

w h i c h they used their n e w k n o w l e d g e . I f 

these are acceptable c r i t e r i a of a s u c c e s s f u l 

p r o g r a m , w h a t is the evidence of some f o u r 

years of the assistantships? 

T h e a n n u a l a n n o u n c e m e n t s of the assist-

antships u s u a l l y b r i n g some s e v e r a l d o z e n 

l e t t e r s a s k i n g f o r a p p l i c a t i o n f o r m s or m o r e 

i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t the p r o g r a m . A f e w in-

quirers, m i s r e a d i n g the a n n o u n c e m e n t , t h i n k 

the U n i v e r s i t y of F l o r i d a o f f e r s a d v a n c e d 

degrees in librarianship, w h i c h it does n o t . 

A f e w l e t t e r s are f r o m n o n - l i b r a r i a n s , w h o 

are d i s c o u r a g e d f r o m a p p l y i n g . If there is 

an insufficient n u m b e r of qualified l i b r a r i a n -

applicants, the assistantships are g i v e n to 

g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t s a l r e a d y on the campus. 

F r o m 1 9 5 1 t h r o u g h 1 9 5 4 , s o m e 91 inquiries 

p r o d u c e d 22 bona fide applicants, t h a t is, 

a p p l i c a n t s w h o filled o u t necessary papers, 

sent t r a n s c r i p t s to the r e g i s t r a r and applied 

f o r admission to the g r a d u a t e school. 

O f these 22 applicants, nine w e r e em-

ployed iif a c a d e m i c libraries, t w o in p u b l i c 

libraries, and t w o in school libraries. S e v e n 

w e r e e n r o l l e d in l i b r a r y schools at the time 

they applied and one w a s a g e n t l e m a n of 

leisure. T h e sexes w e r e e q u a l l y represented, 

and the m e d i a n age of the a p p l i c a n t s w a s 

2 8 . 5 . E i g h t e e n of the 2 2 a p p l i c a n t s h a d , 

or w e r e c u r r e n t l y w o r k i n g on, their first 

professional d e g r e e s ; and three of these 18 

had m a s t e r ' s degrees in a s u b j e c t field. O n -

l y t w o of the applicants had u n d e r g r a d u a t e 

m a j o r s in some field of science, and o n l y 

t w o stated t h a t their proposed s u b j e c t f o r 

g r a d u a t e s t u d y w a s in the n a t u r a l or physi-

c a l sciences. 

D e s p i t e the s m a l l n u m b e r of applicants, 

the calibre has been high e n o u g h to at least 

offer the assistantships to l i b r a r i a n - a p p l i -

cants. O u t of a t o t a l of 11 assistantships, 

i n c l u d i n g r e n e w a l s , o n l y six h a v e been held 

by l i b r a r i a n s . ( T w o of the six w e r e re-

n e w a l s ; hence, f o u r i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e held 

the six assistantships.) T h e r e h a v e been sev-

eral reasons f o r this. T h e assistantships 

h a v e been declined because the a p p l i c a n t s 

had accepted f u l l - t i m e positions, o t h e r f e l -

l o w s h i p s , or had c h a n g e d their m i n d s f o r 

" p e r s o n a l r e a s o n s . " W i t h such a limited 

supply of applicants, there w e r e times w h e n 

there w e r e no acceptable a l t e r n a t e s ; in f a c t , 

one y e a r there w e r e no a l t e r n a t e s at a l l , ac-

ceptable or o t h e r w i s e . I n s e v e r a l cases, last 

m i n u t e c h a n g e s of plans u n e x p e c t e d l y v a -

cated assistantships. W h e n no qualified 

a l t e r n a t e s a r e a v a i l a b l e , the assistantships 

are g i v e n to on-campus s t u d e n t s r e c o m m e n d -

ed by t h e i r respective d e p a r t m e n t s . T h e 

u n f o r e s e e n w i l l a l w a y s m a k e it d i f f i c u l t to 

insure t h a t l i b r a r i a n s w i l l hold the assist-

antships, and a n y n u m b e r of g o o d appli-

c a n t s c o u l d n o t c h a n g e this situation. T h e 

f a c t does remain, h o w e v e r , t h a t there h a v e 

been s e v e r a l y e a r s in w h i c h the s h o r t a g e of 

applicants has resulted in g r a n t i n g assistant-

ships to n o n - l i b r a r i a n g r a d u a t e students. 

I n short, the c r i t e r i o n of a " l a r g e n u m b e r 

of qualified a p p l i c a n t s " has not been m e t . 

362 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



T h e second suggested c r i t e r i o n f o r a suc-

c e s s f u l p r o g r a m w a s t h a t the applicants 

w o u l d " o b t a i n their a d v a n c e d degrees and 

g o f o r t h to better p a y i n g positions in w h i c h 

they used their n e w k n o w l e d g e . " O f the 

f o u r l i b r a r i a n - g r a d u a t e assistants, three 

o r i g i n a l l y registered f o r a m a s t e r ' s degree 

w h i l e the f o u r t h began a d o c t o r a l p r o g r a m . 

T w o of the g r a d u a t e assistants came d i r e c t l y 

f r o m l i b r a r y s c h o o l s ; one had t w o y e a r s ' 

experience in a public l i b r a r y and another 

t w o y e a r s ' experience in a c o l l e g e l i b r a r y . 

G r a d u a t e assistants A and B have com-

pleted their m a s t e r ' s w o r k ; g r a d u a t e assist-

ants C and D are w o r k i n g on their m a s t e r ' s 

and d o c t o r a l degrees, respectively. T h e 

t w o l i b r a r i a n s w h o finished their degrees, 

h o w e v e r , h a v e not e x a c t l y " g o n e f o r t h . . . . " 

G r a d u a t e assistant A , upon c o m p l e t i o n of 

his y e a r ' s w o r k , accepted a position on the 

l i b r a r y staff. I n the m e a n t i m e he had a 

n o v e l published and r e c e n t l y resigned f r o m 

the staff to accept a t e a c h i n g position in the 

H u m a n i t i e s D i v i s i o n of our U n i v e r s i t y C o l -

lege. G r a d u a t e assistant B decided to con-

tinue w o r k on his d o c t o r a l degree and ac-

cepted a t e a c h i n g f e l l o w s h i p in the E n g l i s h 

D e p a r t m e n t . G r a d u a t e assistant C inter-

r u p t e d her course w o r k to accept a f u l l -

time position f o r one s u m m e r and plans to 

accept a f u l l - t i m e a p p o i n t m e n t on the staff 

w h i l e she w o r k s on her m a s t e r ' s thesis. 

G r a d u a t e assistant D , c u r r e n t l y on a doc-

t o r a l p r o g r a m , i n t e r r u p t e d his course w o r k 

to take a f u l l - t i m e position, then resigned 

to c o n t i n u e his d o c t o r a t e . 

N o n e of the g r a d u a t e assistants aban-

doned their s t u d y p r o g r a m s , a l t h o u g h three 

of the f o u r i n t e r r u p t e d their course w o r k 

to t a k e t e m p o r a r y f u l l - t i m e positions. T h e 

t w o g r a d u a t e assistants w h o completed their 

degrees, h o w e v e r , are u s i n g their " n e w 

k n o w l e d g e " in fields other t h a n l i b r a r i a n -

ship. In the l i g h t of these examples, it m a y 

behoove a u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y not to get too 

good l i b r a r i a n s f o r the assistantships. T h e s e 

seem to a w a k e n the p r e d a t o r y instincts of 

our t e a c h i n g colleagues. T h e g r a d u a t e as-

sistant p r o g r a m m a y i m p r o v e the e d u c a t i o n 

of l i b r a r i a n s ; but in the limited cases re-

v i e w e d , it is a m o o t question as to w h i c h 

profession w i l l benefit. 

S u c h m e a g e r d a t a as p r o v i d e d by f o u r 

y e a r s ' experience w o u l d indicate t h a t the 

U n i v e r s i t y of F l o r i d a ' s e x p e r i m e n t f e l l short 

of the ideal p r o g r a m to achieve the second 

o b j e c t i v e — t h a t of c o n t r i b u t i n g to the edu-

cation of librarians. T h e r e h a v e not been 

e n o u g h w e l l - q u a l i f i e d l i b r a r i a n - a p p l i c a n t s to 

fill the assistantships, and neither of the 

g r a d u a t e assistants w h o completed t h e i r de-

grees h a v e r e t u r n e d to the field as better 

trained librarians. 

Y e t the plan m a y have several beneficial 

b y - p r o d u c t s w h i c h w o u l d compensate f o r 

its i n d i f f e r e n t " s u c c e s s . " W h i l e the pro-

g r a m w a s intended to f u r t h e r the t r a i n i n g 

of academic l i b r a r i a n s by s u p p o r t i n g their 

f o r m a l study, it is possible t h a t it has im-

proved their professional c o m p e t e n c y t h r o u g h 

their w o r k assignments. S e v e r a l of the 

assistants h a v e testified t h a t they h a v e re-

g a r d e d their w o r k experiences v a l u a b l e as 

professional e d u c a t i o n . B u t it should be ad-

m i t t e d that the evidence on this point is con-

t r a d i c t o r y . W h i l e several of the g r a d u a t e 

assistants believed their duties " e d u c a t i o n a l , " 

the others stated that they w o u l d h a v e pre-

f e r r e d a g r e a t e r v a r i e t y of tasks w h i c h m i g h t 

h a v e e n l a r g e d their professional k n o w l e d g e 

or skills. T h e y c r i t i c i z e d the f a c t t h a t some 

of the assignments f a i l e d to take a d v a n t a g e 

of their professional skills. T o avoid over-

b u r d e n i n g the g r a d u a t e assistants w i t h pro-

fessional responsibilities and consequently 

i n t e r f e r i n g w i t h t h e i r studies, the l i b r a r y 

m a y have erred in the other direction. T h e -

o r e t i c a l l y , of course, the assistantships c o u l d 

be combined w i t h a modified f o r m of in-

service t r a i n i n g , b u t to date the assignments 

of the g r a d u a t e assistants have been deter-

m i n e d p r i m a r i l y b y the p r o j e c t s to be done 

and not by professional i m p r o v e m e n t . 

A n unexpected a d v a n t a g e to the l i b r a r y 

OCTOBER, 1955 363 



has been the readiness of the g r a d u a t e assist-

ants to t a k e s h o r t - t e r m a p p o i n t m e n t s to f u l l -

time positions on the s t a f f , thus m i n i m i z i n g 

the dislocations of service w h i c h n o r m a l l y 

result f r o m staff vacancies. T h e r e h a v e 

been five d i f f e r e n t positions in w h i c h the 

g r a d u a t e assistants h a v e w o r k e d as r e g u l a r 

or interim appointees f o r staff m e m b e r s 

w h o have resigned or t a k e n leaves of ab-

sence. S h o r t - t e r m v a c a n c i e s are particu-

l a r l y difficult to fill and the g r a d u a t e as-

sistants, possessing some f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h 

the l i b r a r y and b e i n g a l r e a d y in a state of 

professional flux, are " n a t u r a l s " as replace-

ments. N e e d l e s s to say, no pressure w a s 

e x e r t e d upon the g r a d u a t e assistants to t a k e 

these positions and such a p p o i n t m e n t s h a v e 

been m a d e o n l y w h e n m u t u a l l y desirable to 

both the l i b r a r y and the g r a d u a t e assistant. 

T h e l i b r a r y , h o w e v e r , has had the o p p o r t u -

nity of e v a l u a t i n g the g r a d u a t e assistant as a 

p o t e n t i a l staff m e m b e r , and w h e n one o f f e r s 

his c a n d i d a c y the l i b r a r y can accept or r e j e c t 

w i t h a confidence n o t merited w h e n the ap-

praisal is based on the usual credentials. 

I n r e v i e w i n g o u r e x p e r i m e n t w i t h g r a d u -

ate assistants, I am not c e r t a i n that I c o u l d 

agree w i t h several applicants w h o h i g h l y 

c o m m e n d e d the p r o g r a m and t h o u g h t that 

o t h e r a c a d e m i c libraries should f o l l o w this 

e x a m p l e . T h e l i m i t e d experience of one 

u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r y o f f e r s no c o n c l u s i v e evi-

dence, b u t it at least hints t h a t there is no 

g r e a t need f o r such a p r o g r a m in l i b r a r i a n -

ship. A n o t h e r l i b r a r y m i g h t be flooded 

w i t h applicants, but I suspect t h a t there 

are c e r t a i n f a c t o r s in l i b r a r y e d u c a t i o n and 

the economics of l i b r a r i a n s h i p w h i c h w o u l d 

l i m i t the supply of applicants r e g a r d l e s s of 

the institution o f f e r i n g assistantships. I 

w o u l d guess, f o r e x a m p l e , t h a t a g o o d l y 

n u m b e r of the l i b r a r i a n s w h o believe in the 

need or w o r t h of a d v a n c e d s u b j e c t s t u d y 

are c u r r e n t l y in a c a d e m i c libraries w h e r e 

they can do g r a d u a t e w o r k w h i l e c o n t i n u i n g 

their f u l l - t i m e professional career. H o w 

certain can a l i b r a r i a n be t h a t the a d v a n c e d 

degree in a s u b j e c t field w i l l repay the 

necessary i n v e s t m e n t of time and m o n e y ? 

L i b r a r i e s m a y desire o r need s u b j e c t special-

ists, but u n t i l such d e m a n d s are f o r m a l l y 

identified in t e r m s of e d u c a t i o n a l qualifica-

tions and h i g h e r salaries, f e w l i b r a r i a n s w i l l 

p r o b a b l y invest in such p r e p a r a t i o n . I n the 

Library Quarterly of J a n u a r y , 1 9 5 5 , D e a n 

L e s t e r A s h e i m of the U n i v e r s i t y of C h i c a g o 

G r a d u a t e L i b r a r y S c h o o l s h r e w d l y a n a l y z e d 

some of the p r o b l e m s of l i b r a r y e d u c a t i o n , 

and u n t i l some of these m o r e c o m p l e x issues 

are resolved, there seems to be l i t t l e need 

f o r u n i v e r s i t y libraries to u n d e r t a k e any 

c o m p r e h e n s i v e plans f o r g r a d u a t e assistant-

ships w i t h the o b j e c t of i m p r o v i n g profes-

sional t r a i n i n g . L i b r a r i e s m a y find them 

u s e f u l expedients f o r e x p a n d i n g c e r t a i n 

services, f o r p r o v i d i n g ready sources f o r 

staff r e p l a c e m e n t s — b u t they m a y h a v e to 

be j u s t i f i e d o n l y in such terms. 

Documentation Conference 

A three-day conference on " T h e Practical Utilization of Recorded K n o w l e d g e " w i l l be held 
on J a n u a r y 16-18, 1956 at W e s t e r n Reserve University. T h i s conference w i l l be co-sponsored 
by the School of L i b r a r y Science at W e s t e r n Reserve and other organizations including A L A , 
S L A , John C r e r a r L i b r a r y , Lehigh University, American Society f o r M e t a l s , C a s e Institute of 
Technology and the N e w Jersey L a w Institute. M o r e than 30 experts w i l l discuss problems 
facing all librarians today in the processing, dissemination and utilization of the constantly 
increasing volume of recorded information in the fields of chemistry, l a w , medicine, metals, 
military decisions, patents, physics and others. 

Send registrations to Jesse H . Shera, School of L i b r a r y Science, W e s t e r n Reserve University, 
Cleveland 6, Ohio. T h e fee is $10.00 (students, $2.50). Preprints of review papers prepared 
by the pre-conference committees w i l l be sent to registrants. 

364 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES