College and Research Libraries JASPER G. SCHAD and RUTH L. ADAMS Book Selection in Acade~nic Libraries: A New Approach Traditional modes of book selection by instructional faculty working on a part-time basis with limited coordination often result in the growth of imbalanced collections. In an attempt to solve this problem, libraries have begun to utilize bibliographers, who are often assigned responsibility for subjects they cannot adequately cover. By employ- ing systematic methods similar to those developed by bibliographers for surveying and building collections, members of the instructional faculty , by virtue of the added factor of their specialized knowledge, can often be effectively utilized in building collections. INSTRUCTIONAL FACULTY and librarians have often coexisted uneasily over the years in regard to the building of library resources in institutions of higher learn- ing. In spite of this nervous alliance, many first-rate college and university li- braries have been d eveloped in the United States. As academic libraries grow larger and increasingly complex and as the bibliographic materials of each discipline proliferate, however, it appears increasingly that a new ap- proach to the perennial question of fac- ulty-library cooperation in the matter of book selection is needed. Although there has been recent prog- ress in this area, there are still many in- stances of faculty selectors working part- time and in a haphazard manner as the primary agents in the development of library collections, 1 a practice involving a number of disadvantages, which can often result in unbalanced growth. 1 J. Perriam D anton , "The Subject Specialist in Na- tional and University Libraries with Special Reference to Book Selection," Libri, XVII ( 1967), 46. Mr. Schad is Head Acquisitions Librari- an and Mrs. Adams was formerly H umani- ties Biblio grapher in San Fernando Valley State College. One of these disadvantages is that fac- ulty members, being specialists, some- times feel that they alone are compe- tent to choose titles in their fields and are reluctant to relinquish this responsi- bility to librarians whom they regard as less qualified. With such an outlook, they often tend to select the following types of books: ( 1 ) those used in preparing their courses; ( 2) those to b e assigned to their students; ( 3) those with which they were familiar as graduate students; and ( 4) those which they are using for current research. An instructor's own classroom and research needs in a pre- cisely defined area blurs his vision of the broader picture; it is difficult for such a specialist to see clearly the ramifications of his choices and to perceive the needs of the institution as a whole within the framework of budgetary limitations. In addition, specialization is b ecoming nar- rower as the information explosion forces the individual to concentrate on smaller and smaller segments of the available body of knowledge. Another difficulty is that, even with good intentions, a particularly energetic faculty men1ber who submits many book order requests can fail to see that his I 437 438 I College & Research Libraries • September 1969 activity causes the library to grow un- evenly, unless all of his fellow book-se- lectors are equally conscientious. Too of- ten budgetary allocations are based on the volume of requests rather than on the real needs of students and faculty. There is also the danger of faculty members selecting books in an irrespon- sible manner. In some cases, book se- lection has been used as a method of empire building or of wielding power over colleagues; in others, a person with- out any particular feeling for books or interest in the library has a library as- signment imposed upon him. Wishing to find an easy way to discharge his respon- sibilities, he indiscriminately checks sec- ond-hand dealers' catalogs in order to spend departmental funds, while at the same time being jealous of these funds, fearing the loss of any money would elicit criticism from his colleagues. In addition to the unbalanced devel- opment of the collection which can be the result of these disadvantages, there are two further reasons why book se- lection by part-time faculty may not be the most effective method of building library resources . In the first place, with the rapid growth of libraries, collections have become more complex and the problems of identifying and acquiring li- brary materials more difficult. The de- velopment of a library collection there- fore requires both greater bibliographic sophistication and more time than could reasonably be expected from a person whose primary responsibility is teaching and research. 2 Second, there has been a change in the function of the academic library over the past years. Its traditionally passive, supporting role is being abandoned for a more active part in the educational 2 One by-product of rapid expansion can be that immediate and specific faculty needs are automatically taken care of (particularly when there is an attempt at comprehensive coverage of current books), thus caus- ing the instructors' involvement with book selection to become even less useful in the traditional ways. They often become disinterested in the process when this happens. programs of the campus; it is now less a reserve book room and more a center for independent learning. There is a growing .awareness that the needs of in- dividual students cannot always be met adequately in the classroom by the lec- ture-textbook method of instruction. More and more, students insist that learning be relevant to their individual interests. As a result, experimental col- leges, honors and tutorial programs, and comprehensive examinations are increas- ingly replacing formal classwork. 3 The library thus becomes responsible for pro- viding materials for individual study and research which may not parallel the interests of the classroom instructors. Im- plicit in this responsibility is the need for a broad cultural base in building the collection, a base which can only with luck be provided by a group of faculty specialists functioning separately and with limited coordination. The crux of the problem seems to be this : as the traditional modes of faculty book selection become decreasingly via- ble, what alternatives are there? And is there an approach that would be ap- plicable to most instih1tions of higher learning? It seems to be generally agreed that the best job of collection building can be done by subject specialists with li- brary training. Since it is seldom possi- ble, however, to have an adequate num- ber of such specialists on .a library staff, particularly in the smaller colleges and universities, some libraries utilize bibli- ographers, each of whom is responsible for the development of a number of areas of the collection. And even though the systematic development of a bal- anced book collection by bibliographers, who .are concerned with the needs of the entire academic community, will have 3 It appears that progress in this direction will continue, and it is not impossible to conceive of a functioning library-college where instruction is centered on bibliographic counseling by librarians and form er classroom instructors. See Louis Shores, "The Tru e University," The Library College (Philadelphia: Drexel Press , 1966), p. 39. Book Selection in Academic Libraries I 439 better results than haphazard buying done by part-time specialist selectors, the problems facing a generalist bibli- ographer are enormous. For one thing, he is usually responsi- ble for a greater number of subject areas than can be covered adequately by one person, and anything beyond superficial evaluation of material is often extremely difficult for him. This problem is exac- erbated by the large number of publica- tions which must be surveyed .and se- lected in terms of the goals of the in- stitution. Furthermore, a generalist bibliogra- pher will lack specialized training in cer~ tain areas of his assignment. For exam- ple, a person responsible for the human- ities might be adequately trained to handle English, American, and Western European literature, but be unqualified in Russian. Another problem is poor bibliographic control. For some types of material the current output may not be adequately covered; for others, there may be no comprehensive .availability or in-print lists. As far as older publications are con- cerned, selective bibliographies do not exist in all fields; and certainly any bib- liography must be carefully reviewed so that the items chosen .are appropriate to the needs of a particular institution. 4 Where the bibliographer lacks special- ized training, meaningful selectivity is difficult and often arbitrary. Faced with these problen1s-assignments which are too broad, poor bibliographic control, and lack of specialized training in all areas for which he is responsible-the librarian should consider turning to the instructional faculty for help. This state- ment may seem contradictory in light of 4 This is recognized by Voigt and Treyz: "The dan ger in publishing a selection list of this nature is that it may be used as a final authority rather than as a guide. This list does not claim to be a list of the b est books or a basic list for any college library, for selection of books for a college library must be made in terms of the needs of that particular institution." Books for College Libraries (Chicago: American Li- brary Association, 1967 ), p. v. the disadvantages outlined above which were the result of traditional approaches to faculty book selection. The emphasis must now be on new methods whereby teaching faculty and librarians can func- tion together more effectively. It is a question of utilizing the knowledge and training of the instructional faculty with- out repeating the errors of the past. Before attempting to describe a spe- cific program, it is first necessary to de- termine what knowledge and skills the teaching faculty have on the one hand, and librarians have on the other, to con- tribute to the growth of .a well-balanced and useful book collection. The faculty member, by virtue of his specialized knowledge, should be able to define the nature of the literature used in his research and teaching, that is, what types of book and non-book ma- terials he needs. He should be able to make decisions .as to the relative impor- tance of various historical periods and/ or specific categories within his subject areas; he may also know the bibliograph- ic peculiarities of the field, such as hard- to-identify publications and the output of learned societies. And finally, in areas lacking good, selective bibliography, he can judge the value of individual titles. The bibliographer should understand the overall needs of the library, possess gen- eral knowledge of the literature of each of the fields for which he is responsible, be able to determine which bibliogra- phies would be suitable for developing the collection, be familiar with the spe- cial problems of the book trade, see an- nouncements concerning the availability of collections and special materials, and have a comprehensive awareness of cur- rent publications. Furthermore, by at- tending meetings, reading professional journals, and keeping abreast of the book trade, he should be aware of develop- ments in the field of librarianship which can be both relevant to a particular sub- ject area and important to the library as 440 I College & R esearch Libraries • September 1969 a whole. 5 This knowledge should enable the librarian to translate the informa- tion provided by the faculty specialist into a workable program of library de- velopment, which would take into con- sideration the needs of the entire aca- demic community. Moving on to the specifics of such a program, the first step would be to de- termine the areas most in need of de- velopment. There are two factors which can cause this need: ( 1 ) expansion and ( 2 ) weaknesses in the existing collec- tion. Expansion may be numerical (i.e., more students), qualitative (i.e., more advanced degrees), or the result of new types of academic programs, such as in- terdisciplinary or area studies. Parts of the collection which are not adequately supporting academic pro- grams and are in need of d evelopment should, ideally, be identified by a series of surveys covering the library's entire holdings. Since, however, such an am- bitious undertaking is seldom possible, the bibliographer must often rely on his own intuitive and informal appraisal of the collection. This might be based on a number of factors. 1. Faculty and student reaction. Reac- tions to the library's holdings in a given area, if properly evaluated, can be useful as a first indication of weak- ness or strength; however, it must be remembered that they are highly sub- jective. Library users can have un- realistic expectations of a collection in relation to its size, or they can b e satisfied with one that is inadequate, because they are not aware of the ex- istence of material which the library lacks. 2. Quantitative analysis. This type of evaluation can be made by a simple count of specific areas of the shelf- 5 For example, he would be aware of reprint pro- grams, projects such as LC's Presidential Papers, printed book catalogs, or Books for College L i braries . list and can be used, through con1- parisons with institutions having sim- ilar educational programs, to suggest imbalances in the collection. 3. Preliminary bibliographic surveys. These could be based on basic lists if such exist in a field , or on rando~ samples from more detailed lists. Either type of survey can be useful as an indicator of imbalance. Once there is evidence of n eed the bibliographer and other members of the library staff should meet with the in- structional faculty concerned with that particular area of the collection6 for the following purposes: ( 1 ) to describe the nature of the relevant literature in terms of stress on current or retrospective pub- lications, monographs, serials, sets, peri- odicals, and non-book materials; ( 2) to outline existing or projected instructional programs; ( 3) to determine, on the ba- sis of ( 1) and ( 2) above, what is need- ed. This should define the general direc- tion of the project. The bibliographer should then draw up a more detailed description of it, as well as propose a method for its implementation. He should begin by reviewing what has been written about the literature of the field and continue by analyzing the exist- ing bibliographies to see whether they are appropriate to the needs of the li- brary. At this point the bibliographer should d etermine whether he can proceed with the project or if it is n ecessary to draw upon the knowledge of a faculty special- ist. Frequently, even with limited knowl- edge of a subject, an enumeration of important authors or sub-fields provides 6 They may come from several departm ents. For ~xample, if a project were being done in philosophy, mstructors of art and music might be concerned wi th books on aesthetics, mathematicians with symbolic logic, historians and classicists with Greek and Roman writings, e tc. It should b e kept in mind that the library should not b e building a collection for a particular d epartment ; it should; instead, be developing the lit-· erature of a subj ect area, which could have relevance to many d epartments . Book Selection in Academic Libraries I 441 hin1 with a sufficient basis for going ahead with the task. If, however, he has no ·knowledge of the subject, if he lacks competence in a necessary language, if the existing bibliographies are not ade- quate, or if the literature used by p eo- ple in the field is dispersed throughout many areas of the collection, and he finds himself unable to proceed, it will b e necessary for him to draw upon the knowledge of a specialist. It is important to select from among the members of the instructional faculty a person who is interested in the library and enthusiastic about such a project. In- dividuals who are working on or who have recently completed their doctorates are most desirable, since they are likely to be more conversant with the current literature in their fields , to be aware of recent trends , .and to have a broader out- look on their field than are those with many years of teaching and research which incline them to specialization. If a suitable person can be found, it is essential that the individual have time to devote specifically to the project. This can b e provided in three ways: ( 1) he may b e given released time by his de- partment; ( 2) he may have a shared appointment with the library in which the library pays part of his salary; or ( 3) he may carry out the project as a m ember of the library staff during the summer months. The faculty member should be assigned to work under the general direction of someone on the li- brary staff, normally a bibliographer, who would already have some knowl- edge of the problems of the specific field. It should not be assumed that the instructor is already familiar with all fac- ets of the library and with the basic bib- liographic tools, so he should be intro- duced (or re-introduced) to them. He should also meet all members of the li- brary staff, both professional and cleri- cal, with whom he will be working. Once the general approach has been agreed upon, the instructor and the li- brarian can begin to compile the various sources from which selection of suitable items is to be made. These sources would include published bibliographies, library catalogs in book form, bibliogra- phies used in courses, footnotes and cita- tions in various monographs and p eriod- ical articles, journal reviews , and pub- lishers' catalogs. After suitable materials have been selected by the instructor from these sources, clerical assistants can check them against the library's holdings and prepare order cards. The cards should then be r eviewed by the instruc- tor and the librarian to ensure that they follow the guidelines developed for the project and are appropriate to the li- brary. When the final selection of order cards has been made, the cards should be sub- mitted together with a report of the project written by the librarian. This re- port should explain the scope, m ethod, and results of the investigation in an or- ganized manner. It may also serve to justify the allocation of additional library funds. More specifically, it should con- tain the following: 1. a description of an ideal collection as agreed upon by the library and the department; 2. information about the existing hold- ings gathered from the study; 3. a statement regarding any gaps which will not be covered by the project; 4 . .a detailed analysis of the types of ma- terial to be included in the project; 5. an annotated list of sources used to identify material to be purchased; 6. estimated cost of implementing the survey; 7. recommendations for a buying pro- gram in terms of time and procedure. Although this approach does not differ markedly from one normally taken by a generalist bibliographer, it offers a con- trast to the traditional pattern of book selection as practiced on a part-time ba- sis by individual members of the teach- 442 I College & Research Libraries • September 1969 ing faculty. Instead of sending requests for specific books to the library, with limited concern for the whole collection or even a broad part of it, the teaching faculty can become actively involved in an organized program of collection building, utilizing standard techniques for evaluation which have been devel- oped by librarians. The instructor, and through him his department, acquires familiarity with the library's holdings and can more clearly understand the need for their systematic development. Thus the "uneasy coexistence" mentioned earlier in this paper can be transformed into a partnership utilizing the skills and strengths of both the teaching and li- brary professions. • •