College and Research Libraries ROBERT R. KEPPLE Serving Readers in a Special International Library The IAEA library is presented and some of the characteristics of its users are noted. Emphasis is given to the method in which the library is introduced to these users with the objective of enabling them to use the tools and collections as independently as possible. The initial interview, the preparation of a Field-of-Interest Register, and a per- sonalized UDC schedule are explained. THE TYPES OF PROBLEMS faced by an international library in serving its readers are, in general, not much different from those encountered by a library in a na- tional organization. They vary, however, considerably in degree because of the greater differences among the back- grounds of its users. The International Atomic Energy Agency has, at the pres- ent time, ninety-seven member states from whom personnel are recruited for the secretariat. Thus, there are scientists from all the regions of the world includ- ing large countries and small ones, as well as those that are old and those that are new. Some expect very little in the way of library services, while others take it for granted that they will continue to receive the same type of service they ob- tained at home from their library in a large research center of a highly devel- oped country. The IAEA library contains, as present, over thirty-two thousand bound volumes and ninety-one thousand technical re- ports and receives about eleven hundred periodicals. It is a depository library for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Mr. Kepple is Officer-in-Charge of the International Atomic Energy Agency library in Vienna. and it maintains a large collection of documents issued by the United Nations and other international organizations. It is housed in the agency's headquarters building along the Kaerntner Ring in Vienna. Its present staff numbers eight- een from six member states. Although its collection emphasizes nuclear energy and its applications, its holdings reflect the widening range of the agency's interests by including material on law, economics, medicine, agriculture and biology. Not only does the library provide ser- vice for the technical personnel, but it also has a large collection of mimeo- graphed documents from the United Na- tions, other international organizations, and the agency itself. A very active ref- erence service is conducted for the agen- cy's administrative personnel based on this material. A special law library also has been created for the use of the agency's legal division. Included among the readers served by the library are those not connected with the agency but who nevertheless have a legitimate need for its facilities. These include students, teachers, writers and scientists living in Vienna. Although the collection cannot compete with those of some of its neighbors which date back for centuries, it is reasonably complete /203 204 I College & Research Libraries • May, 1967 and current in its areas of specialization. Its quarters are modern and comfortable, and to the students especially open stack access is a convenience they do not ordi- narily enjoy. Usage by this group is rapidly increasing as the word gets around. This latter is perhaps the aspect of the library which surprises the most people. All collections-books, reports, periodi- cals, and microfiche-are available for direct consultation by the library user. Furthermore, the library never closes, and at night and on weekends, when no one is in attendance, instructions are dis- played explaining how one may charge an item out to himself. This is incompre- hensible to some users, and the inevita- ble question is: "But does not this cause you to have terrible losses?" When it is explained · that the losses are negligible and the missing items usually turn up later anyway, they shake their heads in amazement, and one individual replied with candor: "That would never work in my country!" As would be expected, the periodical literature and the major indexing and abstracting journals are equally well known to all of the scientists. In the field of nuclear energy, however, one abstract- ing journal is regarded with particular favor by users: Nuclear Science Ab- stracts, which because of its coverage of the report literature and because it pro- vides a single source for all material in this field, is highly regarded, well known, and much used by almost everyone re- gardless of nationality. Two sets are maintained, one in the reports library and one in the reference section. The re- ports themselves are filed by their alpha- numeric numbers, and NSA is relied upon for subject and author retrieval. Although the majority of the clerical staff of the agency are Austrians and are more or less permanent, there is a rapid turnover among the professional mem- bers of the agency's secretariat. Many stay for only two or three years and very few for more than five. This presents certain difficulties for the library, par- ticularly with the journal literature. Pro- fessor A, from country X, may request a group of journals in his subject field. Five years later, just when respectable runs are starting to develop, he leaves and is replaced by Professor B from country Y who requires an entirely differ- ent group. Since space in Vienna's busy First District is at a premium, the situa- tion would soon lead to serious difficul- ties. Therefore, efforts are made to stabi- lize the collection with the major jour- nals, in all languages and in each of the agency's subject fields, and grow only with the new journals (which is enough of a problem in itself). All major back- runs are obtained only as microfiche. To supplement relatively small holdings, there is a large collection of absb·acting and indexing journals. Since there are many good libraries in Vienna from whom the library can borrow, almost any article can usually be obtained within twenty-four hours. Language differences do not present any particular problem. English is the working language of the agency, and those few who do not speak it when they come soon learn. Although the agency has four official languages, English, French, Russian, and Spanish, and is lo- cated in a German-speaking country, most of the material in the library is written in English, with Russian second. This is especially true of the book col- lection, where an effort was made initial- ly to represent all languages as equitably as possible. Experience has shown, how- ever, that except for major reference works, the use of non-English books is limited. This is partly due to the posi- tion of English as a universal scientific language and partly because the periodi- cals and reports are used by some of the non-English speaking countries in pref- erence to books, for the scientific litera- I Serving Readers in a Special International Library I 205 To ob1ain all th e informal ton avaii.J.blc in t he.· library o n a r·m icul.lr ~>o uhJ t'C I u:;t· dl<: CA R D CATALOGUE C H ECKI NG ONLY T H E S H ELVES W I LL H ESL' I : I' I N MISSED I NFORM AT I ON Co ns ulting the s helve s in a partic ular s ubject arC"a will o nl y s how chc books not in :~recl~~~i: a~:~h;;~l":ca:~:~· ahhou~th pt'rtinenl , wi ll be ma ssed s mc e th e y will be ThC' arrangement of book s on d~ s hclvt·s is by broad :o.ubjc:c1, wht•rcas 1hc s ub jt·cc c:ua lo,~tuC' use s a mot e pr~:ci s t' breakdown, rh c u :by rrovitlm~ a 1- :-rc·ti f ic: .1.0 .lrfltOJ.t· h lntht· :. u bJl' (' l maft· rio~l as rn!<: H E M E I = PIIII.OSOI'IIY , I'SYC IIOUH i Y ' = ~o\.I AI. ~c rt: N c t: s .C = LING UISTI CS (uar~s f t· rr" d to 8 in 196 <4 . Ne.,.u public ati ons chss~d in 8 ) ) = ~t~u=:t~rm:;.~~N CF.S '51 :: As tr onomy. Geodesy H -= Phy:!il t'A {'5\\.9 Plums Phy sics) CH9.1 = Nuclear Phys ics) ('539.2 = So lid Sr11~ Physics) 6 -= A PPLIEO SC IEN CES 60 = '" """ ' ions , P11~n1s 6 1 = Med ic ine (61.C.8 ... Salety ) 62 = Enaineerina (620.9 = Po .. ~r Econotnics) (62 1.039 = Nu clear En& ineer in J ) (621.} = El~ctri cs l Enain""'lnJ) (619.19 = Astron aut ics) 63 = Aar ic ullure 6.C = Domuli c Sci en ce. Caterina 8 = LIN GUIS TI CS (s u als o .C ) 9 = GEOG RAPHY . BIOGRAPHY. ~<4 "" Ch"~t~isuy ~~ = Geolon . M~t~oroloJY ~ = Paleont oloa y H= 8 io loJY · ~B = Bo ta ny ~9 = Zoolon 6~ = Industri a l, Comm~rci a l Or aa niu tion (6S6 = Tra upon ) 66 = Chra~ i cal Tr chnol oay (669 = Nr r• llurn) 67 = N• trri d s Proc-rsa ina ladu:nrirs (678 = N.e crOfftol r cul at mac~ i als) 6 8 = Prrc i siOft Nrch a r~ is ms (6 BI . I.C .•• an d 681. } = Co111pu1~rs) 69 = B•ildi na In dustry (691.) = Concr r rr ) FIG. I.-Folder in which p ersonal UDC schedule is inserted. ture. It is interesting for librarians to note that during a training course held for library personnel, some of the profes- sional staff presenting parts of the course preferred to do so in English, although their mother tongue was German. They felt that the terminology of library sci- ence is so English-oriented that many terms could not readily be translated. INTRODUCIN G THE NEW EMPLOYEE TO THE LIBRARY As soon as possible after his arrival in Vienna, the new agency employee will b e contacted b y a library staff member and a time will be arranged for them to meet in the library for an interview. During this interview, he is given a tour of the library and the va rious collections are explained. He is shown how to use the card catalog, the abstracting and in- dexing tools, and how to find material in the report and microfiche collections. He is presented with a m11p of the library, a directory of its services, and a publi- cation explaining how to use its various components. He is introduced to other library staff members with whom he may have dealings . So that the library can obtain the in- formation it needs, part of the interview is devoted to learning as much as possi- ble about the scientific background of the employee; his training, education, degrees, interests, languages, specializa- tion and the particular subject interests of his present work. He is then given a list of subject headings prepared by the library w hich lists all subjects relating to the work of the agency. He is asked to check thos e headings dealing with his work and scientific interests. The infor- mation obtained during the interview and from the headings checked, is then used in two ways: 1. Field of Interest Register. This in- cludes all members of the agency's scien- tific secretariat and is arranged in two 206 I College & Research Libraries • May, 1967 •P"oit1oal"l71 539,125,5,03 Jleutron oourcn .!!!! lli...1l..&l. RacliaUon oourceo in pneral. 539,125.5,162.5 hat noutrono, 539.125,5,164 Jeutron 1pectroecop1 .!!!! ~ Jlucloar apootroocop7 in pneral. S39,12S.S,1j2 Jloutron ditl'rocUon, 539,125, 52,., lout ron tluz. Tranoport • .!.!.!......!.! 539,1,074... Cou.ntere. Detect.on, ill£ Elo .. ntaey particle ph7aico. ~ PolariaaUon of eloMn- taey particles, For NEUTROII CAP'IURE ooo For I.:.'UTROII CROSS SECTI OIIS. FISSI~ CBOSS SliCTIOIS Por DEU.TED JBUTROIS, PROIIPT JIEU'I'ROIS For R.>.t.CTOR PBTSICS aaa l1.1clear reaction•. Jata. ~ ud H!;!l~~87hlda in pnoral) nota'blT 621,039,512,, Jloutron ltinou .. in 'tbe naator. For PAST IUJ. CTORS Por JEUTRO!I' FUJX II£4SU~T, llilCTOR lOISE 621,039.564.2 an4 u:-~~a;.5~.,_ trol, Opo...- Uon) FIG. 2.-Typical personal UDC schedule. parts. Part I consists of cards, arranged alphabetically by the name of the indi- vidual. Under each person's name, one can learn of his fields of study, his de- grees, languages, and subjects of major interest. Part II contains subject cards arranged alphabetically. On each subject card is listed the names of those persons working or interested in that field. This register was set up initially by interviewing every member of the agen- cy's professional staff. It is now kept up- to-date through the individual interviews held with each new staff member. Although one could refer to this regis- ter as a simplified SDI system, it is used for this purpose only incidentally. In an organization where the personnel are continually changing and the interests are ever expanding, it is necessary to have such a register for an efficient .ac- quisitions program. Proper advice can be obtained for purchasing new peri- odicals, reference works, and any ma- terial not directly related to current ac- tivities. It is also useful to consult ex- perts when screening the items offered on exchange. Although exchange is a useful method for obtaining many items, one must be careful to refuse those items for which there is no need and which only consume valuable shelf space. The register is also useful as a reference tool. When ordinary sources fail, it is often possible to consult an expert in the field and obtain leads which the library can use or pass on to the requester for him to follow up himself. Finally, the register enables the library to route those mys- terious items that are unaccountably re- Serving Readers in a Special International Library I 207 ceived from time to time, to their proper recipients. When the individual has been added to this register, which is maintained by the reference unit, the list of subject headings is sent to the cataloging unit where a personalized UDC schedule is prepared. 2. Personalized UDC Schedule. Prob- ably the most difficult library tool for the new staff member to learn to use is the card catalog. The author and title sections present no particular problems, but few persons seem interested in solv- ing the complexities of the Universal Decimal Classification, which in the best of circumstances is a difficult classifica- tion system for the average library user. However, this classification has a par- ticular advantage to an international li- brary since the subject headings are numbers and the word index can be in as many languages as one wishes. To promote the UDC number catalog, the cataloging unit has conceived and developed a procedure for providing a personalized UDC schedule for each new staff member. This is compiled from the list of subjects headings prepared during the interview described above. The cor- rect UDC numbers are listed for each heading and cross references are pro- vided. When completed, it is sent to him, and the staff member then has a list of UDC numbers corresponding to those subject fields in which he is particularly interested. To explain the UDC itself, a folder has been prepared emphasizing that it is not enough to browse in the stacks, pleasant though this may be, but in order not to miss important material (the important items are usually out, anyway) it is necessary to consult the UDC number catalog. The personal schedule is then inserted in the folder and sent to the in- dividual. Figure 1 shows the inside of the folder and Figure 2, the schedule itself ready to be inserted in the folder and sent to the scientist (in this case, Prof. Schultz). LmRARY PUBLICATIONS In addition to the interview, the prepa- ration of the Field of Interest Register, and the UDC schedules described above, the library issues a number of publica- tions which attempt to explain the library to its users. One is a booklet describing the library, its arrangement, and how to obtain material from the book, periodical and report collections. A 5" x 8" card listing all library services, their locations, and telephone numbers was prepared and sent to everyone in the agency. The library publishes a monthly Recent Ac- quisitions List which includes a .. col- umn." This is written by a library staff member and describes some particular service, new reference work, a current problem, some future plan, etc. It is hoped that this will give the reader an understanding of some of the inner workings of the library as well as give him information about items that may prove useful in his work. The new employee is also informed at this time about the regular services that are available to him. These include: automatic journal routing, automatic routing of technical reports in special subject areas, general reference service, literature searches, and photocopying. Of course, on the basis of a single in- terview and the distribution of a number of publications, it cannot be expected that every individual will have learned all there is to know in order to use the library efficiently. It is at best an intro- duction and one can only hope that it will encourage him to return and learn more. It is as yet too early to evaluate the success of this program. It is be- lieved, however, that it is resulting in an increased use of the services avail- able, thereby justifying the effort in- (Continued on page 216) 216 I College & Research Libraries • May, 1967 what stronger B than the latter. The Dismissed averaged C+, confirming the above findings for Drexel. For both the Pratt and Drexel gradu- ating groups, three-fifths finished within two years of their admission, so they must have been taking at least a half course load each quarter. Since only fourteen Drexel students are still en- rolled, this suggests that only a few members of the class have attended Drexel at the rate of only one course at a time and still have a chance to gradu- ate. No Pratt student is still struggling toward the degree. Because the number of Drexel students actually taking only one course at a time during the period was relatively large, however, perhaps one-fourth to one-half of the student body each quarter, the Inactive group apparently included a significant per- centage of one-course-at-a-time students. Or, apparently the chances of graduating instead of becoming inactive were much higher if you were a full-time or at least a half-time student than if you took a smaller course load each quarter. In sup- International Library (Continued f1'om page 207) volved. It is after all not enough merely to offer good library services. They must be presented to the user in such a way that he c.an understand their value to him and, furthermore, be able to use them himself. Teaching the reader to use the collection and to take full ad- vantage of the services offered is one of the most important tasks currently facing the special library for, as emphasis is porting this conclusion Rosenhaupt found part-time graduate students at Columbia to have completed fewer course hours and to have had poorer chances of earning degrees than full- ~ time students, 75 per cent of those earn- / ing degrees doing so within two years of entrance, and 90 per cent after three years. 11 Admissions Problems. A conclusion to be drawn from this study is that admis- ,. sions procedures for selecting students who would eventually graduate needed -~ improvement in both schools in 1961. With only · 44 per cent graduated from Drexel and 54 per cent from Pratt, the dropout rate was high. While a certain percentage of these dropouts were be- _. cause of low grades, apparently many were not. The schools needed not only to improve techniques of selecting per- sons qualified to carry out graduate course work successfully but also to choose students who would stay with the program until graduation. •• 11 Rosenhaupt, op . cit. , p. 37. placed increasingly upon the new infor- mation systems, the reader must not be forgotten. Regardless of nationality, the needs of individuals are best satisfied when they can help themselves, for they ~" alone know what they really want. The • successful library is still the one in which the reader can do this as much as pos- sible. ••