Library Committee Research Articles

News & Notes

News & Notes

The quest for the nation’s title deeds, 1901–1990

Among the 36 senators in the first Commonwealth Parliament were Josiah Symon from South Australia and John Keating from Tasmania, who shared a passion for law and also for literature and history, including the history of their own country. As founding members of the Parliamentary Library Committee, they were aware that the eighth and final volume of the 'Historical records of New South Wales' was published in 1901 and that most of the sources on the maritime exploration and colonisation of Australia were located on the other side of the world. Hence both of them proposed that original documents of great historical importance should be transferred to Australia and placed in libraries.

Changing the Geography of Reading in a Southern Border State: The Rosenwald Fund and the WPA in Oklahoma

This study explores the impact of funding for library-related projects from the Julius Rosenwald Fund and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) on the availability of library services and reading materials for African Americans in the South and border states, specifically Oklahoma, in the 1930s and 1940s. Using a variety of archival sources, including the Julius Rosenwald papers, the WPA records at the National Archives, Oklahoma Library Commission annual reports, and records of the Rosenwald projects at the Oklahoma Historical Society, the article attempts to evaluate whether these outside interventions actually changed the geography of reading for African Americans during that time period. Recent research identifies the mere geographic proximity of reading materials as influential in the development of literacy and the reading habit. The dearth of reading materials available to African Americans in the South at least until the 1960s because of school and library segregation has been well documented. Thus efforts to ameliorate differential access to reading materials and thereby enhance literacy and the reading habit should be of interest and concern to librarians, educators, and policy makers as well as social historians. It may be especially pertinent as support for public and school libraries, the targets of these two programs, is threatened. Unfortunately, impact is difficult to determine at a historical remove. This study provides tantalizing clues in letters of thanks, libraries that persisted after funding disappeared, and books that were published in hopes of finding a market in the Rosenwald library projects but no definitive answers to how the reading map of Oklahoma may have been permanently reshaped by the interventions of the Rosenwald Fund and the WPA Library Programs.

Early British Public Library Annual Reports: Then and Now Part I

Of the 566 library authorities functioning in Britain and Ireland by 1918, most seem to have published annual reports on their progress, at least at some point following their establishment. So far as they survive and can be traced, these documents, though varying greatly in length, commonly contain a narrative or textual commentary on the progress of the institutions during the report period, statistical and tabular details about the institutions such as information regarding stock, issues, and borrowers, and lists of data such as committee members, donations received and periodicals taken. Some published annual reports documenting the working of public libraries also contain data as to the progress of allied cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries, technical and adult education facilities, and parks and recreation grounds. They were often signed by the local public library committee chairman and addressed to a local council, although some were signed by a librarian or curator and addressed to the library or other committee. In both cases they were accessible to members of the public, and it seems fair to assume that the staff of the institution concerned would commonly have had a hand in their writing. Following the acquisition by the Thomas Parry Library at the University of Wales Aberystwyth of a large collection of historic public library annual reports which the Library Association was on the verge of discarding, the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board) agreed to fund a fifteen-month project between April 2000 and July 2001 to examine the utility of these documents to historians of the period ca. 1850–1919. In view of the lack of thematic historical work on public library annual reports (and indeed on annual reports as a wider genre), this two-part essay will address the genesis and character of these documents from a broad perspective, and assess their impact and significance for contemporaries and for historians in a range of disciplines. After describing the evolution of the public library annual report as a genre, this first paper will discuss the nature of their use to date, and will argue that current common historiographical assumptions as to the limited utility of these documents are flawed. The second paper will assess the value and contemporary importance of the documents in the expansion of the public library movement.

E-Mail Reference: Improving Service by Working Cooperatively

SUMMARY E-mail reference service provides complex challenges, but the service can be planned effectively and improved through cooperative work among reference staff and various library departments. Staff members from the Michigan State University Libraries have engaged in extensive cooperative work to evaluate, improve, and maintain effective e-mail reference services. Two library committees and an e-mail reference team have developed new service procedures, and have worked with other library departments to improve e-mail reference service. This article explores the collaborative work of the MSU committees, and discusses how e-mail reference has improved through cooperative work.

PLANNING FOR THE AUTOMATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM LIBRARY

The paper examines the planning process for the automation of the University of Dar es Salaam Library. The planning phases described include the preparation phase, planning for implementation and database construction. The major issues during the preparation phase are the discussion on the context of automation, proposal write-up, and the formation of various Library Committees to oversee the implementation and stakeholders' workshop. Phase two planning activities described are technical aspects such as network design and implementation, hardware and software selection and procurement. Others are the memorandum of understanding and putting the system in place. In setting up the system planning, activities described are missions by technical consultants and software engineer and planning for training. Planning for database development is discussed in the third phase. Planning activities in this stage are retrospective conversion, standardization and quality control, maintenance and backup issues. The paper concludes by summarizing the planning areas that were successful and those in which improvements could have been made. University of Dar es Salaam Library Journal Vol.5(2) 2003: 1-16

A library for the modern law school: a statement of standards for university law library provision in the United Kingdom - 2003 revision

The Statement of Standards for University Law Library Provision is a comprehensive and flexible set of Standards providing authoritative guidance, representing a broad consensus of views, for Law Schools and law librarians. The Standards were drawn up by a consultative group established by the Libraries Committee of the Society, and approved by the Society after extensive consultation with academic, professional and governmental bodies. The Standards cover the whole range of issues relating to the operation of a Law Library including its relationship with the Law School, its management, collections, space, and equipment. It is supported by an annual survey of university Law Library provision conducted in collaboration with the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians. The accumulated research data from these surveys provides the basis not only for realistic benchmarks and targets in the Statement but also for a series of analytical research reports which monitor trends in university Law Library provision. (The published Statements and research reports are listed below.)

Knowledge in Time: Strategic Perspective for Danish University Libraries

In a letter dated 7 December 2001, the Danish Rectors' Conference asked its Library Committee to describe the prospects and problems of university libraries seen from a visionary, strategic perspective. Subsequently the Committee decided to make a survey of how the more important university libraries viewed their future. Wilbert van der Meer of the Danish Rectors' Conference Secretariat carried out this survey, and it was integrated into a vision paper, which the Committee discussed at number of meetings. Following this phase, the Library Committee of the Danish Rectors' Conference prepared the present report "Knowledge in Time" / "Timely Knowledge" on the strategic perspective for Danish university libraries. The Paper was not conceived as a Master Plan for the future library development of Danish universities, but as an outline of the most important developmental perspectives discernible today. At a time in which events develop with unparalleled turbulence, it is important for university libraries to ensure that their knowledge development is not determined by plan-thinking, which is not tantamount to saying that it should not be based on functional planning, and that important elements in their strategic competence - in addition to a clear-cut perspective - are the ability to improvise together with healthy self-assurance. Only if they posses these qualities will they be able to aim for a strategic horizon which is itself constantly moving.

Measurement of College Library Performance: An Evaluative Study with Standards

College libraries have a pivotal role in the transmission of information for higher education. Their evaluation is inevitable to enhance their performance. A variety of measures are available to evaluate college library functioning. However, standards are more effective to have a valid evaluation. The Library Associations such as ACRL, higher education organizations like CoFHE, the National Standard Institutions, various Educational Committees and Library Committees have developed standards and revised them from time to time. The paper traces out the available standards for measuring the college libraries in India, and compares the recommendations made by University Grants Commission (UGC) (India) and suggestions made by expert committees and professional experts. An in-depth analysis reveals their strengths and weaknesses. The paper concludes that there are no authentic standards revised and approved by a body like the UGC to evaluate college libraries in India and suggests a model set of standards for college libraries in India, keeping in view the technology-based information environment.

Measurement of College Library Performance: An Evaluative Study with Standards

College libraries have a pivotal role in the transmission of information for higher education. Their evaluation is inevitable to enhance their performance. A variety of measures are available to evaluate college library functioning. However, standards are more effective to have a valid evaluation. The Library Associations such as ACRL, higher education organizations like CoFHE, the National Standard Institutions, various Educational Committees and Library Committees have developed standards and revised them from time to time. The paper traces out the available standards for measuring the college libraries in India, and compares the recommendations made by University Grants Commission (UGC) (India) and suggestions made by expert committees and professional experts. An in-depth analysis reveals their strengths and weaknesses. The paper concludes that there are no authentic standards revised and approved by a body like the UGC to evaluate college libraries in India and suggests a model set of standards for college libraries in India, keeping in view the technology-based information environment.

The Spirit of an Age: Iowa Public Libraries and Professional Librarians as Solutions to Society's Problems, 1890-1940

Iowa public libraries flourished during the twenty-five years after 1890. Their prosperity resulted from the ability of the library leadership, working within a national context, to articulate a compelling argument that public libraries and well-trained librarians were the solution to a pressing local problem. This essay examines the interaction of three key institutions: the Iowa Library Association, the Iowa Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Iowa Library Commission. It demonstrates that the success of the Iowa library movement at this time resulted from Iowans' belief that libraries were the best institution to address the problems of public vice, especially drinking, gambling, and prostitution. Finally, the essay argues that the values professed by librarians depend on the particular social problem that is being addressed at a given time and place.

Co‐ordinating Alternative Format Title Selection: Final Report to Share the Vision and the Library and Information Commission by CPI Ltd

Co‐ordinating Alternative Format Title Selection: Final Report to Share the Vision and the Library and Information Commission by CPI Ltd

Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study20023Bob Usherwood, Richard Proctor, Gordon Bower, Carol Coe, Jeff Cooper, Tony Stevens. Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study. Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield and Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Sheffield: Library and Information Commission Research

Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study20023Bob Usherwood, Richard Proctor, Gordon Bower, Carol Coe, Jeff Cooper, Tony Stevens. <i>Recruit, Retain and Lead: The Public Library Workforce Study</i>. Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society, Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield and Resource: the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, Sheffield: Library and Information Commission Research

Supporting Teaching and Research in an Online Environment: Developing the University of London Library Model

Founded in 1837, the University of London Library (ULL) is the central research library of the University of London with particular research strengths across the broader arts, humanities and social sciences. With the development of information and communications technology, it has become a hybrid library, offering access to electronic collections but also extending access to services and its physical collections through its website and online catalogue. Research libraries now face the challenge of supporting distance learning. The ULL has risen to this challenge by being a partner in the development of webenhanced distance learning by the University of London External Programme’s Virtual Campus Project. To do this, the ULL has initiated the Virtual Library Service (VLS) Project. Within the research-focussed University of London, the ULL has anticipated the potential research-support needs of its students. It is also leading a separately funded Virtual Research Environment (VRE) Project on behalf of the University Libraries Committee to address these needs and inform the University of London’s activities in the virtual sphere. The University of London has created the Electronic Library Projects Team (ELPT) to undertake the VLS and VRE projects and ensure that they develop along complementary lines. This paper outlines how the ULL is supporting teaching and research in an online environment through the development of its VLS and VRE models.

Obituary: Muriel Gore Venning, 1921-1997

Obituary: Muriel Gore Venning, 1921-1997

Library and Information Commission Research Report 74. The Power of Nine: A Preliminary Investigation into Navigation Strategies for the New Library with Special Reference to Disabled People20028Kevin Carey, Roy Stringer. Library and Information Commission Research Report 74. The Power of Nine: A Preliminary Investigation into Navigation Strategies for the New Library with Special Reference to Disabled People. Boston Spa, Wetherby:

Library and Information Commission Research Report 74. The Power of Nine: A Preliminary Investigation into Navigation Strategies for the New Library with Special Reference to Disabled People20028Kevin Carey, Roy Stringer. <i>Library and Information Commission Research Report 74. The Power of Nine: A Preliminary Investigation into Navigation Strategies for the New Library with Special Reference to Disabled People</i>. Boston Spa, Wetherby:

The Internet: Its Impact and Evaluation: Proceedings of an International Forum Held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park, 16‐18 July 199920022Edited by David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands. The Internet: Its Impact and Evaluation: Proceedings of an International Forum Held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park, 16‐18 July 1999. London: ASLIB‐IMI 2000. 190 pp., ISBN: ISBN 0851424384 (softback) Library and Information Commission Research

The Internet: Its Impact and Evaluation: Proceedings of an International Forum Held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park, 16‐18 July 199920022Edited by David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands. <i>The Internet: Its Impact and Evaluation: Proceedings of an International Forum Held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Park, 16‐18 July 1999</i>. London: ASLIB‐IMI 2000. 190 pp., ISBN: ISBN 0851424384 (softback) Library and Information Commission Research

Preservation management training and education: developing a sector‐wide approach

The authors address the training needs of archivists, librarians and museum staff involved in preserving the national heritage and consider how these domains’ needs might be met in a co‐ordinated and collaborative manner across the cultural heritage sector, and within the context of educational provision. The paper draws on a recent Library and Information Commission funded research project, “Review of current preservation management training in the UK and abroad”, and the 1999 National Preservation Office seminar on the subject. It relates this to work of the National Preservation Office, Resource, and other professional initiatives, and suggests how sector‐wide training and education might be developed. It poses questions for the consideration of LIS educators. Recommendations encourage the development of existing links and training initiatives, widening involvement and collaboration within and without the sector, and co‐ordination of preservation management training nationally.

Assessment of the Liaison Program at Baylor University

ABSTRACT All forty-four departments liaisons (teaching faculty) and fifteen librarian consultants (library faculty) at Baylor University were surveyed to assess the university's liaison program, which was established to facilitate collection development in a library with a decentralized model of collection building. Survey responses and high return rate revealed that most liaisons were interested in the program, although both groups interacted at a marginal level and indicated ambiguity toward the appropriate role of the librarian consultant. To reinvigorate the program, the authors made a series of recommendations to the academic departments and the libraries through a report to the library administration. The principle recommendation was the establishment of a library committee to develop a comprehensive vision statement for the program and clear goals and objectives for all participants.

Durban Public Library and Reading Rooms, 1900

The paper examines Durban Public Library and Reading Rooms in 1900, studying the relationship between the library and the local council, the institutional culture of the library, and the relationship the institution had with library members and users. It is impossible to take a snap shot of history with any degree of accuracy. The author examined the library from 1898 to 1902 to provide a holistic picture of the library in 1900, using minute books and also secondary sources for background information. Findings indicate the library had a complex and frustrating relationship with the council, with the latter not fully appreciating the value of the library to society. The library had two major contentious issues with the council where the library had good reason to feel aggrieved: lack of space in the current library and the proposed new library building and funding. Due to the culture of the librarian and library committee, the library had a condescending and patronising relationship with its members and users. Paradoxically the library, playing its small part in the (Anglo-Boer) war effort, benefited by pressurizing the council to provide better library facilities and received an increase in subscriptions from the new members. I would like to thank Ruby Pretorius who so diligently transcribed five years of the manuscript minutes of Durban Public Library and Reading Rooms and without whose help this paper could not have been written. This paper would have been difficult to write without availing oneself of library facilities in Durban. To this end I would like to thank Mr jayaram, Director of Durban Metro Library and his staff, for all the time and help I received whilst I was completing my research.