THE DESERTED LIBRARY?
In the November 16 issue of the Chronicle of Higher
Education an article appeared under this same title, but without a
question mark; the subtitle clarifies "As Students Work Online, Reading
Rooms Empty Out -- Leading Some Campuses to Add Starbucks." The story
sketches a pretty bleak scene with steady and steep declines in gate
counts and circulation figures. It also includes a sample library's
growth in expenditures on electronic resources and a fairly long list of
reference questions and answers from a community college.
Several of us who read this article, in the midst of a very busy week,
thought it would be interesting to see how the same points of inquiry in
the article might appear when applied to the Main Library of IU
Bloomington.
In contrast to the steep and steady decline in people visiting the library
featured in the article's graph labeled "Decline in the Use of One
Library" the use of the Main Library showed a different pattern:
In measuring the "Decline in
Circulation at One Library" the article featured a graph illustrating
another great loss: from 41,000 in 1990/91 to a peak of 90,000 in l993/94
dropping to 28,000 in 2000/01. Though the mid-nineties had some peaks, the
numbers for the Main Library at IUB show 2000/01 as very close to 1990/91,
reflecting only a small decrease in the number of books checked out by
undergraduates:
The third and last chart, addressed the percentage of the budget of the
SUNY Buffalo library devoted to electronic resources. In 1990/91 it was
5.2 of their materials budget and in 2000/01 it was 32.3. The IUB
Libraries collections and its materials budget are, of course, much larger
and the percentage devoted to e-resources in 2000/01 about one- half.
Last, a sample of the inquiries put to librarians at the reference desk of
the Moraine Community College in Illinois, in a section entitled:
What Librarians Get Asked These Days
The pattern of questions asked in the Main Library is not similar to that
of the library featured in this part of the Chronicle article. That is,
of course, unsurprising as each library serves distinct clientele and has
a distinct mission. Looking over the decade the volume of questions in
this particular research library is holding pretty steady. This Fall is
proving an exception to that pattern with several service points
experiencing a considerable increase over the same period in Fall 2000.
Here is a small sample of the questions asked at several reference points
in the Main Library between Nov.9 and Nov.14. (Some details are changed or
omitted to protect the confidentiality of the inquiry.) It is hard to say
what the author of the Chronicle piece thought was illustrated by the
examples offered just as it isn't easy to suggest what these demonstrate.
We can say the questions strike us as fairly typical, neither the easiest
nor the most complex of the wide range of inquiries received. If any
'trend' is discernible it may be the growing interdependence of our great
print collections and the increasingly rich electronic resources we select
and make available to students and faculty.
Student: Can you help me find abortion statistics for the state of Indiana
from 1970 to the present?
The librarian began by consulting a licensed database (Statistical
Universe) and identified 1995 to the present. He then consulted with
another colleague for the earlier years after searches that fails to yield
a nice run of comparable data. The solution was found in tracing
statistics published for the time period by the Indiana Health Department
through five title changes and two format changes.
45 minutes
Student: I need to find a report of a research project published in the
popular media in the last two years and then I need to find the original
account of the research.
Librarians in the Undergraduate Library and the Reference Department in
Research Collections assisted dozens of students with this assignment.
They searched a variety of databases for the "popular media" accounts and
then the appropriate discipline-specific database for the original
research report (PsycInfo, Sociological Abstracts, Medline, etc.)
Depending on the student's needs and wishes, each was shown how to use
these resources and instructed in what can be found in each. The last
step was finding the journal articles, online or in paper, and instructing
in the use of IUCAT and how to find journals in the Main Library.
10 minutes to 45 minutes for each student
Student: Where can I find information on the perspectives of various
religions – Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam – on the issue of world peace?
I looked around the web but don't see exactly what I want.
The Librarian identified a relevant work using IUCAT and took the student
into the Reference Reading Room to consult the World Encyclopedia of Peace
(8 vols, 1999) which was found to have articles on all three faiths with
articles such as "Buddhism as a Principle of Peace and Tolerance."
15 minutes
Faculty member: I am looking for specific official publication on gas
warfare during WWII in a specific battle.
The librarian searched present and older catalog records and WorldCat,
found the publication desired but determined that we do not own. She
initiated an Interlibrary Loan with the intention of copying for our own
collections and the faculty member's use.
10-15 minutes
Student: I have a research paper due on Women in the textile industry in
the 19th Century. I have some primary and secondary sources but I started
writing my paper and I think that I need others.
The librarian consulted the library catalog and various databases
including America History and Life and the Periodical Contents Index and
helped the student identify the most appropriate resources. After the
student left, several other potentially useful approaches occurred to the
librarian and she followed up with the student by email.
60 minutes
Graduate student (by email): Could you suggest an online database in which
to find the month of a named article in Tikkun, vol.4, no.6, 1989? I
already tried LEXIS- NEXIS and PCI with no luck
The librarian considered additional databases and decided that the 1989
date made it quite uncertain whether an answer would be found online. She
went to the Main stacks, retrieved the volume, verified the information
and replied to the student.
10-15 minutes
Researcher at another university, by email: I am working on a history of
the psychology department here at …. I need information on a faculty
member who received a PhD from Indiana in 1941. His major field was
clinical psychology. I need to know the director of his thesis and the
members of his committee.
The librarian retrieved the original thesis from the stacks. The six
signatures had no accompanying typed names. The counterpart of the IU
Register for 1941 was consulted, matches identified and a response sent.
25-35 minutes
Student: I'm trying to put together some articles and pictures on how the
portrayal of women and men has changed in the media from the 1950s to the
present and I also need information on "body image." I've been working on
this a long time and I've not had any luck.
The librarian searched several databases including the AP Photo Archive
and explained how to use them and how to find materials in the Main
Library. This question also was repeated many times at several service
points and each student was assisted according to their level of need.
15-35 minutes
Faculty member (by email): I am writing an essay about the need for
consideration of [a specific conceptual theme]. I am looking for textual
resources – quotes, comments, any text that might illustrate this
[conceptual theme and this specific word]
The librarian identified several online resources the faculty member might
consult, explained how to use them for this purpose and offered one
particularly pithy quotation found in his search. The faculty member
responded within minutes "Thanks so much, that is just exactly what I was
looking for."
25-30 minutes
Student: I need to find versions of both the Koran and the Hadith in
English, French and Farsi. They need to be print versions, one volume, no
commentary -- I want to check them out.
The librarian consulted the library catalog, WorldCat and several
bibliographies, and then turned to the library specialist in the area for
expert assistance. Several useful titles were identified for the student
plus some additional titles which were promptly ordered for the Main
Library on a "rush" basis.
50-60 minutes
A local newspaper reporter: I need to verify the stats on a game played
in Long Island some years ago in which a player who later became famous
took part.
The librarian consulted the New York Times Index but the level of detail
was not adequate. The answer required determining the dates the player was
associated with the place and then scanning the microfilmed newspaper for
those dates.
60 minutes
Graduate student (by email): Could you please complete this citation for
me?
The librarian replied that according to a database entry, no issue number
was present. The inquirer returned immediately with another message
explaining that he knew none was offered there but that his editor
insisted one should be available. The librarian then retrieved the volume
and replied in detail that no issue number, season or other similar
notation appeared on the cover, the table of contents, the printing
information, the Editor's notes or the back cover. The librarian offered
the address, the phone number and the email of the present editor of the
journal. A final email expressing gratitude from his present location on
the East coast.
45 minutes
A Final Note
In the announcement of George Kuh's Sonneborn Award Lecture, distributed
this same week of November 15, Kuh says: "What and how much college
students learn depends primarily on where, how and with whom they spend
their time." The library is the one place on campus where faculty,
associate instructors and students from the spectrum of disciplines all
engage together in the process of discovery and can observe one another in
the process. A faculty member in an Area Studies Program made the same
point more directly in speaking of his desire for a reading room devoted
to his discipline. "As a student myself at another institution, going to
that Room and seeing my own professors studying was hugely important and
inspiring." The arguments for renovation of all parts of the Main Library
which began 15 years ago are based in just these reasons. The research
library must support the purposes and needs of all the community –
faculty, graduate students and undergraduates, those in book-based
disciplines and those served increasingly well by the libraries' digital
resources – and in the process offer the place where that learning
community is made most visible, meaningful and inviting to all its
members.
Prepared by Ann Bristow, Gabriel Swift and Jian Liu, with help from
colleagues in the Reference Department, the Customer & Access Services
Department, SALC, The Undergraduate Library and the Government Publications
Department.
December 2001
