Education for acquisitions in Australian library schools

Library Acquisirions: Practice and Theory, Vol. 9, pp. 331-350, 1985 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

Copyright

0364-6408/85 $03.00+.00 @ 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd

EDUCATION FOR ACQUISITIONS IN AUSTRALIAN LIBRARY SCHOOLS R.J.L. COTSELL Department

of Librarianship

Ballarat College of Advanced P.O. Box 663, Ballarat,

Education

Victoria,

Australia

ABSTRACT The historical background to current practice in the teaching of acquisitions in Australian library schools is outlined. i?te present state of education for acquisitions (including materials selection, collection development, and acquisition procedures) for library technicians and professional librarians in Australia is briefly described, with special reference to the past and present role and injluence of the Library Association of Australia. There is a discussion of some of the relevant issues in educationfor acquisitions, particularly: (a) the definition of the roles of librarians and library technicians and the relevance of this definition for library education, (b) the proper placement of ‘book selection” and “acquisitions procedures” in relation to each other and to other subjects (especially “management”and “reference work’? in the library school curriculum, (c) the relevance of field work practicums and continuing educationfor acquisitions education, and(d) the relevance of the structure of the Australian book trade for these questions.

1. BRIEF

HISTORY

OF LIBRARY

EDUCATION

IN AUSTRALIA

From the end of World War II until the 1960s the dominant mode of entry to the ranks of professional librarianship in Australia was by completion of the Registration Certificate of the Library Association of Australia (LAA). This certificate continued to be offered until 1980 (the last intake of students being in 1977) but through the 1960s and 1970s two trends emerged. The first was the development of university- and college-based courses in librarianship in all Australian states. The first of these courses was that offered by the University of New South Wales School of Librarianship in 1960, under the direction of John Metcalfe [ 11. This was followed in 1962 by the first Australian college-based course, at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (which, however, until 1965 only engaged in training students for the LAA registration examinations). As courses in librarianship were developed by tertiary institutions, they were assessed and accredited by the LAA (not always without some modification being required) as 331

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providing a qualification acceptable for professional membership of the association. Indeed, it was as tertiary institutions made accreditable courses available that the LAA withdrew from the process of itself examining candidates for professional membership. Professional membership in the LAA is still publicly recognized as the “official” criterion of professional librarianship in Australia; it carries the right to use the letters “ALAA” after one’s name and is only available to graduates from courses accredited by the association. Two key stages in the change of roles for the LAA were the publication in 1964 of its first set of “Minimum Standards for the Recognition of Courses in Librarianship,” and the restructuring in 1976 of its Board of Examiners as the Board of Education. These (and earlier stages of the history of library education in Australia) are discussed at some length in two recent papers by M.V. Keane [2, 31. The second trend was the development starting in 1970 of a number of training programmes for paraprofessional library staff (called in Australia “library technicians”); this latter trend is discussed at some length later in this paper. The LAA Registration Certificate had involved candidates successfully completing nine papers over a period of at least 3 years. Most aspirants for professional registration studied in their “spare time,” and not necessarily in formal classes; many proceeded by independent study. Although training schools did for some years exist to prepare candidates for the registration examinationssuch schools were usually attached to state and national or other major libraries-their teaching staff were normally not registration examiners. The regulations for the registration certificate changed significantly over the years, but at the time it was discontinued the registration curriculum required a candidate to specialize in either librarianship or archives work; within the librarianship specialization a candidate also had to elect to study certain subjects (notably papers 203 and 401) in relation to either public, school, academic, or special library services. All registration candidates took a common core of three subjects: Paper 101, “Books and Related Materials”; 102, “History and Purposes of Libraries and Librarianship”; and 103, “Acquisition, Organization and Use of Books and Related Materials.” The last of these, as its name implies. was a broad-based introduction to library operations, including acquisitions and reference work. The syllabus for Paper 103 included: I. Acquisition by purchase, gift, exchange. and library deposit. 2. Books and serials from selection through to the shelf. including ordering, receiving, accounting, cataloguing. classifying, shelf-listing and shelving. Preservation and binding. number. and date. 3. The issue of books in and from libraries with records by book, borrower, transaction Interlibrary loans. Photographic copying as a substitute for lending. 4. Usefulness of library and other catalogues, indexes and bibliographies. 5. Reference work and information services, primary and secondary sources of information, and ready and other reference books, with a knowledge of the scope, organization, and use of the following: [then followed a list of 63 basic reference sources] [4].

The second group of (compulsory) subjects in librarianship was Paper 201, “Reference Work: Materials and Methods”; 202, “Bibliographic Organization of Library Materials”; and 203, “Library Organization and Management.” (Students in the archives stream took three different subjects at this second stage.) Subjects available in the third group, or “year,” were elective papers, from which students had to choose three; those offered were Paper 401, “Book Selection, Collection Building, and Assistance to Readers”; 402, “Advanced Cataloguing and Classilication”; 403, “Library Administration”; 404, “Computers and Libraries”; 405, “Historical and Descriptive Bibliography”; 406, “Libraries and Education”; and 407, “Reading and Readers.” It is worth recording this curriculum in some detail, not only because it represents the “archaeology” of the teaching of acquisitions in Australia, but also because it had a substantial

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influence on at least the early development of Australian library school curricula-not just in the grouping of subjects and the organization of subject content, but also, in some cases, in the actual wording of syllabi. In particular, the treatment together of book selection and reference work is one interesting (and in many respects worthwhile) development that has been followed in some Australian library school courses, although the prevailing trend in early years was probably to follow the pattern recorded as far back as 1943 by Metcalf, Russell and Osborn: “The modern curriculum keeps strictly within the orbit of ‘library economy,’ with four basic courses (Administration, Book selection, Cataloging, and Reference and bibliography) supplemented by a variety of electives reflecting the varied functions of the library of today” [5].

2. LIBRARY

EDUCATION

IN AUSTRALIA

TODAY

There are at the present time university- and college-based librarianship courses leading to professional membership in the LAA in all of the Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory. Some of these are first award courses, whereas the others are postgraduate diploma courses (or in one case a master’s degree) following from a generalist first degree or a first degree in some other discipline. Courses accredited by the LAA that are currently being offered are listed in Tables 1 and 2. The first award courses leading to recognition as a professional librarian (Table

FIRST

TABLE 1 AWARD COURSES IN LIBRARIANSHIP ACCREDITED BY THE LAA

Australian Capital Territory *Canberra College of Advanced Education -B.A. (Librarianship)-3 years FT (fulltime) New South Wales *Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education -B.A. (Library Science)-3 yrs FT *Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education -B.A. (Library and Information Science-3 yrs FT. also available external study

by

South Australia *South Australian Institute of Technology -B.A. (Library Studies)-3 yrs FT Victoria ‘Ballarat College of Advanced Education -B.A. (Librarianship)-3 yrs FT *Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology -B.Soc.Sci. (Librarianship)--4 yrs FT Western Australia *Western Australian Institute of Technology -B.Anpl.Sci. (Librarv Studies)-3 vrs FT Nore: Each course is also available by an equivalent amount of parttime study. For addresses see Appendix. Sources: Australia. Department of Education and Youth Affairs. Directory of Higher Education Courses 1985. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1984; Library Association of Australia. 1984 Handbook. Sydney: Library Association of Australia, 1984.

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TABLE 2 POSTGRADUATE COURSES IN LIBRARIANSHIP ACCREDITED BY THE LAA Australian Capital Territory *Canberra College of Advanced -Grad. Dip. in Librarianship

Education

New South Wales *Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education Grad. Dip. in Library Science ‘Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education ---Grad. Dip. in Librarianship~ available only by external study *University of New South Wales - Dip. in Information Management (in either I.ibrarianship or Archives Administration) Queensland *Queensland Institute of Technology - -Grad. Dip. in I.ibrary Science South Australia *South Australian Institute of Technology Grad. Dip in library Studies Tasmania *IJniverslty of lasmania ---Grad. Dip. m Librarianship Victoria *B&karat College of Advanced Education -Grad. Dip. of Librarianship *Melbourne College of Advanced Education - Grad. Dip. in Librarianship (Generalist) *Monash Universit) -- M.A. (2 yrs) *Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolog) Grad. Dip. in I.ibrarianship Western Australia *Western Australian institute of Technology Grad. Din. in Librarv and Information Studies .Yore: All Grad. Dip. (Graduate Diploma) courses listed above involve I year full-time study (or equivalent parttime). This table excludes higher awards. For addresses see Appendix. Source.~: Australia. Department of Education and Youth Affairs. Dirt~orr t$ Highar ~~u~~(~[~n Ct>urses 198.5. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1984; Library Association of Australia. 1984 Handbook. Sydney: Library Association of Australia. 1984.

1) are all baccalaureate degrees offered by Colleges of Advanced Education; they involve 3 (or in one case 4) years of fulltime study, or an equivalent amount of parttime study. The alternative road to professional recognition in librarianship is through study of postgraduate diploma level (or in one case master’s level) in a college or university (Tabfe 2); these programmes involve I year fulltime (in the case of the master’s programme 2 years fulltime) study or an equivalent amount of parttime study. In addition, a number of the institutions listed in Tables I and 2 (including Monash and New South Wales Universities, Canberra and Kuring-gai CAEs, and the South

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Schools

Australian and Western Australian Institutes of Technology) also offer advanced diplomas and/ or master’s or doctoral degrees to already-qualified librarians seeking to obtain higher-degree status within the profession; discussion of this last group of higher award courses is outside the scope of this paper.

TABLE 3 COURSES IN SCHOOL- OR TEACHER-LIBRARIANSHIP Australian Capital Territory *Canberra College of Advanced Education -B.Ed. (Teacher Librarianship)4 yrs FT New South Wales *Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education ---Grad. Dip. in Teacher Librarianship--l yr FT *Macquarie University -Specialization in B.A. + Dip. Ed.4 yrs FT *Newcastle College of Advanced Education ---Dip. in Teacher Librarianship-2 yrs PT --Specialization in Grad. Dip. Ed-l yr FT *Riverma-Murray Institute of Higher Education -Grad. Dip. in School Librarianship; available only by external study *Sydney College of Advanced Education -Specialization in Grad. Dip. Ed. Queensland *Brisbane College of Advanced Education -Grad. Dip. in Teacher-Librarianship-l

yr FT

South Australia *South Australian College of Advanced Education --Grad. Dip. in Teacher Librarianship-l yr FT -Specialization in B.Ed.4 yrs FT Victoria ‘Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education -Assoc. Dip. in School Librarianship-2 yrs FT -Specialization in B.Ed.4 yrs FT *Hawthorn Institute of Education -Specialization in Dip. Technical Teaching-2 yrs FT --Specialization in Grad. Dip. Ed-l yr FT *Melbourne College of Advanced Education --Grad. Dip. in Librarianship (Teacher-Librarianship)-1 -Specialization in B.Ed. (Librarianship)--4 yrs FT Western Australia *Western Australian College of Advanced Education -Grad. Dip. in Teacher Librarianship-l yr FT -Specialization in B.Ed. (Teacher Librarianship)-4 Note:

yr FT

yrs FT

Not all the above courses are accredited by the LAA. Fulltime courses are also available by an equivalent amount of parttime study. For addresses see Appendix. Sources: Australia. Department of Education and Youth Affairs. Direcrory of Higher Education Courses 1985. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1984, Library Association of Australia. 1984 Handbook. Sydney: Library Association of Australia, 1984.

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In addition to these programmes of study, several institutions (including some of those listed in Tables 1 and 2) offer courses in school- or teacher-librarianship; these are listed in Table 3. These courses either lead to a diploma in school or teacher librarianship or offer a librarianship specialization in a teacher training program (for primary, secondary, or technical teachers) at diploma or baccalaureate level; not all of these courses are recognized by the LAA as leading to its professional membership. Because these courses often differ sharply from the others discussed in this paper, as teacher-librarianship itself represents to some a distinct profession, and because selection and acquisition for school libraries appear to present problems somewhat different from those presented to librarians in most other situations, these courses are given rather less attention in this paper. Library technician certificate courses available in Australia that provide a recognized qualification for middle-level library workers are listed in Table 4. These courses are discussed at greater length in Section 4 that follows.

3. “ACQUISITIONS”

IN PROFESSIONAL

LIBRARIANSHIP

COURSES

3.1. Requirements of the Library Association of Australia AS noted previously, the LAA accredits Australian library schools as providing graduates of a standard acceptable for professional membership of the association. Because most employers specify at least eligibility for professional membership of the LAA as a prerequisite for appointment to professional positions, the LAA therefore has a certain degree of influence over the library schools. Such influence has been used to ensure course design and content acceptable to the association, and it has been not unknown for accreditation to be withheld until changes acceptable to the association have been made. Whether this influence will survive for much longer remains to be seen: at present library educators are questioning whether the LAA should accredit courses that already have had to undergo an accreditation process by state government education authorities. (It might be noted that this issue is one of a number being openly canvassed during the 1985 internal review of the structure and function of the LAA.) The LAA’s policies in this area are put into effect through its Board of Education and especially the Board’s Course Recognition Committee, both of which are composed of senior members of the profession in Australia. In an unpublished paper delivered at a seminar in May 1984 (reported in LAPT 8(1984): 293-298), the Convenor of the Board of Education’s Course Recognition Committee summarized the board’s views on studies in acquisitions. He emphasized that the board provides guidelines rather than laying down prescriptive requirements and that an emphasis in courses on an integrated overview is desirable. He went on: At the professional level, the Course Recognition Committee of the Board of Education looks for acquisitions work to be covered in areas of the course dealing with the following: I. The acquisition and organisation of information sources, 2. Functions of libraries and other information agencies, 3. Provision and management of information services, 4. Sources of information and their characteristics. It is expected that the curriculum content emphasis will be placed on determining policies for collecting information sources at the single information service level, and regional, national, and international network levels [6].

There is some degree of emphasis materials selection issues:

in the board’s statements

on collection

development

and

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The principles to be applied in developing collections and methods that may be used to determine the needs of information users also should be well covered. . [The] CRC still expects to find strong coverage of collection development issues, policies, practices, and evaluation methods in first award courses at the professional level. The changing developments in the way information is packaged. disseminated and accessed will need to be covered [7].

However, although the Course Committee looks for an emphasis on matters of principle, practical aspects of the acquisitions process are not to be ignored in the design of professional courses: The design and management of acquisitions systems (including the application of automation) would be expected to be a component of management subjects in courses. The CRC hopes to foster a balance between theory and practice in areas such as budget management, performance evaluation of suppliers of information sources, and the management of serials and nonprint materials acquisition procedures. [It] welcomes case studies that develop competence in analysis, evaluation, and synthesis, as well as providing practical awareness of particular acquisitions systems and the operation of orders routines within an individual library [8].

The Board of Education’s official position (in a somewhat shorter form than the unofficial document quoted in the previous paragraph) is laid down in its “Statement No. 4: Recognition of the First Award Courses: Professional Level,” which is printed in the LAA Handbook [9], and is also available (in a draft but not significantly altered form) in 77~ Australian Librarian’s Manual [IO].

3.2. Progrummes Offered by the Library Schools As is anticipated and encouraged by the LAA Board of Education, there is some diversity in the librarianship courses offered by Australian library schools. This diversity exists not only in such relatively superficial issues as the name of award and length of course, but also in the content and organization of course curricula. Certain features remain more or less standard. First, most courses require some period of supervised fieldwork or work placement as part of the course. This varies in length from school to school, but the average is from 4 weeks (in most of the diploma-level courses) to about 6 weeks for the bachelor’s degree courses (with a few institutions requiring a longer period of attachment). The intention of such work placements is that students have an opportunity to apply classroom learning to working library situations, and the success of this process of application is usually tested through the assessment of some written report made by the student after the completion of the placement. However, given the limited duration of the placement, the amount of theory-topractice application that students can actually make is clearly limited. Second, all courses at the bachelor’s level require students to undertake some academic studies outside librarianship, one subject of which is a major field studied for the duration of the course; the extent of the options available in this area obviously depends on the academic resources of the institution concerned, but a range of choices in the humanities, social and applied sciences is usually available, with some institutions offering options also in business, the arts, education or other disciplines. The academic advantages of such a system require little justification, but it may be noted that some of these options, where available, offer obvious advantages also in areas of relevance to this paper. Patterns for the teaching of acquisitions vary from institution to institution. A discussion of some of these has already appeared in a recent issue of this journal [ 1I]. In general, it is possible to say that although all courses provide a significant amount of course content in the area of materials selection and/or collection development, the amount of content in the area of procedures of acquisition work varies. The placement in the course of acquisitions work procedures varies also: from being taught as part of units concerned with materials selection, to being taught as a part of units concerned with management, to being omitted altogether as an

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K..l.L..C0TSEI.I

identifiable area of study. (It might be noted that the shorter courses, the l-year postgraduate diplomas, tend largely to omit consideration of many “lower-level” issues-such as library procedures-due to the limited amount of time available for the large area of “core” studies; understandably, such courses tend to concentrate on the more fundamental matters of policy and principle.) Some examples will demonstrate the diversity of patterns. Ballarat College of Advanced Education requires students in its 3-year baccalaureate course to take a l-year unit called “Resources and Services,” which includes coverage of materials selection and evaluation, collection development, resource-sharing, and acquisitions work routines (including some background information on book production and materials supply systems), as well as collection management issues such as weeding, serials control, etc. The same institution in its l-year postgraduate diploma prescribes a year-long unit called “Information Resources and Services,” which covers materials selection, collection development, resource-sharing, together with reference work and information retrieval, but this unit includes only minimal coverage of the procedures involved in library acquisitions. A similar combination of materials selection and reference work is common in many Australian library schools in units described in some such terms as “resources collection and utilization,” and not only at the level of the postgraduate courses. In contrast with Ballarat, Melbourne College of Advanced Education separates the procedures of acquisitions work from collection development and book selection, treating the former in those units concerned with library administration. Similarly, Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education (which has a large number of external students studying by correspondence) regards collection development as separate from acquisitions, the latter being part of “library administration,” where it is treated as one “system” justifying some focus of its own. Canberra College of Advanced Education in its degree course offers a greater degree of electivity: all students undertake core studies that include subjects concerned with the analysis of user needs. the selection and acquisition of information resources, etc., and then elect for specialized study in one of several areas. One of these areas covers “Collection Development. Organization and Use,” including collection development, book selection, methods of acquisition, stock control and maintenance, and the book trade. Although most of the library schools offer elective choices in their courses, the range and extent of this choice is often severely limited (due chiefly to the comparatively small size of most of the library schools. as well as to the pressure of a large number of “core” subjects). Where collection development matters are offered as an elective unit in a course, the danger is that they may suffer by comparison with more attractive (or more fashionable?) offerings. On the other hand, some elective offerings-such as those in “Government Publications” or “Audio-Visual Media”-have at least the potential for some treatment of collection development and acquisitions procedure issues; the extent of such treatment often will be dependent on the skills and interests of the lecturers responsible for such units. Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education offers one of the more innovative of the Australian courses in librarianship, at least in terms of the arrangement of its course content. One of the subject strands taken throughout the course is a series of units entitled “Information Resources,” which includes study of the nature and types of resources available, issues in and criteria for evaluating and selecting those materials, collection analysis and development; but it also covers the use of those resources, especially in meeting user needs and in answering information enquiries. The Kuring-gai course also includes throughout more apparent emphasis than most schools on audio-visual materials, and also gives students the opportunity to explore general issues noted earlier in the course in relation to the information resources available in a particular discipline and in relation to the needs of particular groups of users. Management issues in acquisitions are treated in the group of subjects termed “Information Methods,” with specific mention being made in the course outline of evaluating and applying methods of acquiring,

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classifying and cataloguing, and organizing resource materials. It might be noted that the strategy of enabling students to explore the spread and availability of resources, resource collection (including collection development and selection issues), and resource utilization in relation to a specific subject area, or a type of resource material, or a type of user, is not uncommon (although such units are more often offered as electives rather than as core units): Several institutions currently offer such units as “Literature of the Social Sciences, ” “Literature of the Humanities,” “Literature of Pure and Applied Science;” several offer units in “Government Documents”; and most library schools offer units in literature for and/or services to “young people”(which appears to be the current euphemism for “children”). In addition to some of the above units, the University of New South Wales also offers well-established units on information needs and services in the health sciences and in law (which topics are only rarely offered in Australia). Other institutions give students the opportunity to follow a particular subject interest (although possibly in a less rigorously controlled way) by pursuing a particular subject or bibliographic study as a unit of independent study at an advanced stage of the course.

4. TRAINING

OF LIBRARY

TECHNICIANS

IN AUSTRALIA

The need for a middle-level of library worker in the United States was discussed by Pierce Butler in 1933 [12] (and arguably had been recognized even earlier). Although the concept took some time in gaining acceptance, courses for library technicians or library technical assistants spread rapidly in the United States through the 1960s with the relatively high level of educational funding at the time. Although the concept of some kind of training programme for library assistants in Australia has a venerable history, implementation of a formal training programme for other than professional librarians had to wait until 1970, when Wes Young began teaching a pilot post-secondary certificate course for library technicians at the then Whitehorse Technical School (now the Whitehorse campus of the Box Hill College of Technical and Further Education) in suburban Melbourne. Similar courses are now offered in all Australian states, as well as in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, all (with one exception) as part of the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) system. TAFE colleges in Australia train apprentices and other students, full- or parttime, in a range of trades and other occupations that require postsecondary study other than at university or college level. In addition to vocational courses, TAFE colleges also offer “preparatory” courses (remedial and tertiary-orientation programmes) intended to fit under-qualified students for further study, as well as a range of “enrichment” courses in the arts and crafts, social skills and personal development, and other areas. Table 4 lists the currently available library technician courses in Australia. Entry qualifications to those courses leading to a library technician certificate (the precise name of the award varies from state to state) vary according to individual state education authorities’ requirements, but typically involve the completion of 4 or 5 years of secondary schooling (as contrasted with 6 years for university or college entrance); it is usual also to find stipulation of a reasonable standard of English. Formal tuition in library technician courses involves from 2 to 4 years of classroom study, most commonly taken parttime and normally undertaken in conjunction with concurrent employment in a library. The LAA Board of Education, which also accredits library technician courses, emphasizes the link between classroom study and work experience and expects students to have “considerable practical experience with typical acquisitions procedures such as veritication of information sources and operating orders department routines, including budget control routines.“The board’s concern on library technician courses is especially with the development of “practical skills in operating and supervising routines” [13]. The board’s official position on

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R..l.L. COI’SELL

TABLE LIBRARY

4

TECHNICIAN

Australian Capital Territory *Canberra College of TAFE Course in Library Studies

COURSES

2 yrs FT (qr 10 xhooling

required)

New South Wales *Newcastle Technical College ~~ Library Technical Cert.-2 yrs FT (yr IO reqd) *Sydney Technical College -as for Newcastle *Wollongong Technical College -Library Technician Cert.-3 yrs PT (yr IO reqd) Northern Territory *Darwin Community College Cert. in Library Practice- 3 yrs FT (yr I I reqd) Queensland *Gold Coast College of TAFE -Library Technicians Cert.-4 *Seven Hills College of TAFE as for Gold Coast South Australia *Adelaide College of TAFE -Library Technician Cert.-4 interview) Tasmania *Devon Technical College -Library Technician Cert.-2 *Hobart Technical College as for Devon *Launceston College of TAFE was for Devon

yrs. PT (yr 10 reqd)

yrs PT (no formal requirement,

entry by

yrs FT (yr IO reqd)

Victoria *Box Hill College of TAFE Cert. of Applied Science (Library (yr I I reqd) “Footscray College of TAFE _ as for Box Hill *Prahran College of TAFE -as for Box Hill

Technician)-3-4

yrs PT

Western Australia *Perth Technical College of TAFE --Cert. in Library Practice-3 yrs PT (yr 9 reqd) *Western Australian College of Advanced Education _ Assoc. Din. in Librarv Media-2 vrs FT (vr I I read) Nofr: Souwrx

Fulltime courses are also available by an equivalent amount of parttime study. For addresses see Appendix. Australia. Department of Education and Youth Affairs. Dirw/or.~ qf‘Hig/wr Educarion Courses 1985. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1984; Library Association of Australia. IYR4 Handbook.Sydney: Library Association of Australia, 1984.

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library technician courses is laid down in its “Statement No. 5: Recognition of First Award Courses: Technician Level” [ 141. Classroom study in these courses usually includes units in three types of areas: first, a number of practical subjects (such as machine operation, use of audio-visual equipment, typewriting, display techniques, book repairs, data processing or automation); second, some academic general studies (such as English, communication, social studies); third, training in library procedures or practices. These last units usually include bibliographic searching and library procedures in acquisitions and serials work, as well as cataloguing, ready reference work, circulations procedures, and staff supervision. There is normally an emphasis on skills-based learning, with learning through practical exercises commonly stipulated in course outlines. Units in acquisitions normally include reasonably extensive coverage of bibliographic and catalogue searching, ordering procedures, maintenance of appropriate acquisitions and financial records, receipt and accessioning procedures, keeping of statistics, and the particular problems associated with such non-book materials as serials and audio-visual media, and sometimes also with government publications. Some aspects of acquisitions work are also taught in other subjects: for example, Footscray College of TAFE has developed a simulation programme for teaching online acquisitions and circulations work as part of a unit in “Computers in Libraries.”

5. ISSUES

IN THE TEACHING

OF ACQUISITIONS

5.1. Defining the Roles of Librarians and Library Technicians Reference previously to “professionals” and “paraprofessionals,” to the differing modes of education for each, and to the relevant course recognition activities of the LAA should not be taken to imply that there is uniform agreement throughout the library world in Australia about the roles and functions of these categories of worker. Indeed, presently there is not a little debate among librarians and educators about the precise nature of these roles and functions; that the debate is at times heated reflects the fact that it raises issues about the nature of professional activity and responsibility that have yet to be resolved (or, indeed, even to be faced by some). This debate only seldom surfaces in Australian librarianship literature, but it is raised explicitly in a recent paper by Helen Smeaton [15]. In a comment that reveals some of the areas of uncertainty (and, for the employee, of irritation or anxiety) Smeaton says: the concept of the trained paraprofessional worker is recognised and accepted nationwide. What is arguably less well recognised and accepted is what a library technician should do and how he or she can best be employed. There is still great divergence of opinion among professional librarians about the division of labour between professional, paraprofessional and clerical staff. This is particularly evident in areas like reference work at one end of the spectrum and covering books at the other.

To add to the problem, some employers have demonstrated in practice a degree of uncertainty about the nature of the distinction between the two groups by appointing library technicians to positions properly defined as professional, and vice versa. Smeaton’s prediction of “industrial conflict in libraries, unless the current problems mentioned are solved” (p. 36) may not be unrealistic. The LAA Board of Education, in its “Statement No. 3: The Roles of Librarians and Library Technicians,” has attempted to clarify the distinction between librarians and library technicians; it has further amplified that statement in a draft set of “Work Level Guidelines for Librarians and Library Technicians” that is currently under discussion within the LAA. According to these statements, library technicians are defined as “trained support staff” who work

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R.J.L. COTSELL

in support of the librarian, principally in operating and supervising routine procedures that control systems for handling materials and files. The work of the library technician normally involves: *maintaining specified procedures for the handling of materials and files at agreed levels of efficiency; *operating and maintaining, or arranging maintenance of, equipment at agreed levels of performance; *suggesting changes to enhance the efficiency of specified procedures; *supervising the operation of specified procedures [ 161.

On the other hand, although “it is not possible to specify precisely the tasks performed” by librarians and library technicians “without reference to the type, scope and scale of the particular library,” in general the librarian is concerned more with broader issues of “management, direction and policy-making,” requiring “the ability to design, develop and evaluate information services in response to clients’ needs, and a high level of expertise in the identification, organisation and use of sources of information” [ 171. Although these statements allow that in practice there will be some overlap between the two classes of employee and allow also that special provision needs to be made for persons-in-training in either class, in general librarians work with a “developmental” focus, library technicians with an “operational” focus. A librarian’s competencies are defined as “Analysis, Evaluation, and Synthesis”; a library technician’s competencies as “Comprehension, Application, and Communication.” Thus (with reference to those areas of most interest to readers of this paper), according to the LAA Board of Education, a librarian will analyze his/ her community’s information needs; define the nature and scope of the library collection; design and provide policies and services to enable access to that collection; devise acquisitions systems and procedures; select appropriate materials to meet clients’ needs; compile budgets; review, evaluate, and modify systems; etc. The library technician will search and verify bibliographic data, order library materials and maintain necessary records, carry out other procedures for ordering and accessioning (including gift and exchange procedures), and supervise clerical staff in a range of acquisitions tasks. (Supervision of a task, of course, implies an understanding of the nature of the task and an ability to perform the task itself in certain situations, but how far down the line such a responsibility can be taken is open to question: the reductio ad absurdum would be that any senior librarian needs to be trained in and capable of performing any of the procedures carried out within his/ her organization.) Not only are the profession and employers uncertain about the definition of the roles of librarians and library technicians, but also educators seem at times to suffer the same uncertainty, as the lack of consistency in the treatment of acquisitions procedures in professional courses seems to indicate; certainly many of the professional librarianship schools have deemed “acquisitions work” to be entirely the province of the library technician and have designed their courses accordingly. This is explicitly the case, for example, with Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education, although there it is qualified by the statement that “library science students are provided with a brief overview since they may find themselves one day having to oversee such procedures” [ 181. For educators of library technicians the issues of “demarcation” are more lively in the areas of cataloguing and reference work. To quote Smeaton again: “One sure method of stimulating a flagging conversation between librarians is the introduction of this topic. You can be certain of any number of passionate responses” [ 191. The problems of role definition and its implications for education are also complicated by the fact that many successful library technicians after a period of practice seek to upgrade their position by training as professional librarians: a trend noted by a former library technician, Ian Gordon, in a recent paper [20]. For such people, the fact that the library technician certificate is a “terminal” course, credit for completion of which is not given by tertiary institutions, is variously a disincentive to further study, a minor inconvenience, or a source of anger. Clearly, it is desirable

Acquisitions

in Australian

Library

Schools

343

that these problems be resolved for the good of the respective occupations and for the maintenance of harmony between them; equally clearly, such a resolution seems unlikely to come about rapidly, especially given the present economic situation and the consequent uncertainties in the employment market.

5.2. Should Trainee Librarians Stu& Acquisitions? If we accept that library technicians are the class of library employee most involved in implementing library acquisitions procedures and also that they are being trained for such roles, to what extent then should librarians also be trained in such areas? It is, of course, to be noted that librarians are required to devise the acquisitions systems that library technicians are to operate, but does this not perhaps suggest that it is more necessary for librarians to have training in systems analysis and design than to have operational knowledge of specific library procedures? In other words, outside certain limits do librarians need to have any formal training at all in acquisitions procedures? To accept such an argument as applying to all situations is to ignore one significant point: that, whereas in some library services the library technicians do carry out the acquisitions function, many librarians (especially those who work in small library services, with no-or only clerical-support) in practice have to operate acquisitions systems themselves. In such a situation budding librarians need to have sufficient understanding of the principles and problems of acquisitions to be able to make themselves competent in performance of the required duties. A further problem is that the details of actual acquisitions systems vary greatly in complexity: from highly complex systems dealing with a great variety of materials in research libraries, to very simple and basic systems in small public or school libraries. Library school graduates end up being employed in any of these types of libraries, and a generalist course in acquisitions will always seem inappropriate at one or other of these extremes. Nonetheless, as noted above, the library schools have tended to reason that acquisitions procedures as such are dispensable in overcrowded courses, and that the management problems in acquisitions work (such as evaluating and selecting suppliers, budget allocation, etc.) can best be dealt with in units on library management rather than in a unit on library acquisitions. Certainly we need to ensure that training in certain defined skills is present in library school courses, but it is possible that those skills may not be necessarily unique to acquisitions work. Those skills desirably possessed by a professional librarianship graduate might be said to include the ability to educate oneself, to identify for oneself the elements of a complex process (not least. to the extent of being able to understand and interpret existing systems without guidance), to design work flows, to make decisions about and evaluate alternative procedures and systems, including automated systems, to train and supervise the performance of subordinate staff. In terms of acquisitions systems, designing selection procedures, allocating budgetary resources, evaluating and selecting suppliers and monitoring supplier performance are certainly all key issues, but all may be seen to reflect specific applications of more general principles. Because acquisitions work is a complex task, it may well be a useful model for the teaching of some of the more general competencies, but the desirable focus may well be a broader one than that of focusing on “acquisitions” exclusively or even specifically.

5.3. Defining the Relationship Between “Acquisitions”and Other Academic Subjects Australian library schools normally place acquisitions procedures either in units dealing with “selection of materials” or in units dealing with “administration.” Is this appropriate? As noted above, the acquisitions system may be a useful model for studying some aspects of management

344

R.J. L. COTSELL

(especially such areas as system evaluation, budgeting, accounting and accountability, supervision and control). Acquisitions systems have also been used as models in the study of such subjects as systems analysis or data processing. However, one can often use only one model in such situations, and there may be no valid reason for saying that the acquisitions system is always the best possible model. From the point of view of practising acquisitions librarians (and of the LAA Board of Education, quoted previously) the important issue is to ensure that acquisitions procedures are dealt with somewhere in the course; treatment as part of library management is acceptable provided that this requirement is met. The nexus between acquisitions procedures and materials selection, on the other hand, although obvious from a work-flow perspective, is seen as potentially troublesome by some. with the danger that a concentration on acquisitions procedures possibly distracts attention from the study of the policy issues involved in collection development and materials selection. There seems to be a strong argument for disentangling the matters of principle involved in the one from the matters of practical detail involved in the other and treating the &o-as is increasingly the trend-in separate areas of the course. The connection between resource building and resource utilization, noted previously as a feature of a number of existing courses, is at first sight somewhat novel; it does. however, provide, through a wide-ranging analysis of all aspects of the collection and use of resource materials, a logical link that may serve to assist in integrating students’ approach to their studies. (That such an approach may also have a pragmatic basis is indicated in Maureen Gleason’s paper on training collection development librarians [21]. Although Gleason is not primarily concerned with library school courses, she points out that many selectors in smaller academic libraries are only parttime book selectors, who may spend much of their time in reference work.) A similar integrative value may well reside in those units involving the study of resources, user needs, and resource utilization in relation to specific subjects. It might be recorded here that one of the problems commonly noted by library educators in this country is that of students’ reluctance to integrate their studies in different subjects: subjects are frequently treated by students as isolated from each other, so that, for example, the exploration of cataloguing practices in a unit on cataloguing and classification is overlooked by students when they come to the use in other units of such tools as union catalogues, national bibliographies, etc., where the relevance of that other earlier area of study is assumed by the lecturer. Using subjects such as management to emphasize the integration of students’studies involves drawing specific applications from a range of areas of library practice. and this appears to be the direction in which Australian library education is moving, at least given the examples quoted before. (The danger, of course, is that students may see a subject with integrative value as just another discrete subject unrelated to all of the others, thereby compounding the whole problem.)

5.4. Defining the Place of Field Work Studies As noted previously, most Australian library schools require students to participate in credit units of fieldwork experience in a library for a few weeks at a given stage of their course. In justification of this, it is argued that this is where students may learn to adapt their theoretical studies to practical situations, and special reference is often made to acquisitions work as an example of the areas where educational value may be gained from this type of placement. This seems obviously true, but there are some qualifications to be made in practice. In the first place. library schools are unable to give more than a very limited amount of direct supervision to each student on a placement; there is, therefore, little guarantee that any specific area of a student’s coursework will be covered during a placement-even assuming that areas such as acquisitions

Acquisitions in Australian

Library Schools

345

work are stipulated by library schools in their formal statements of requirements for libraries that host students. Although this investigator has made no attempt to assess how explicit library schools’ requirements are on this point, anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that in practice students on placement receive little actual experience in acquisitions departments. Second, the duration of a fieldwork placement (mostly from 4 to 6 weeks) is too short to give students more than a superficial view of a library’s functioning: It is certainly too short for students to be able to study any department’s systems or procedures in any reasonable depth. Third, students are placed in a variety of institutions, from the very large to the very small, so that there is little commonality in their experiences of library practice, even where libraries do endeavour to provide students with a comprehensive or systematic programme of work experience. There are, of course, other structures for bringing theory and practice into conjunction during a course of study. Some schools, such as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, are starting to involve students in what amounts to a consultancy role, carrying out projects in or for libraries as part of their coursework; such projects involve research, design, or development activities, and so forth. Although such activities have a great deal of apparent value, both as an educational practice and as a means of providing assistance to libraries, they are certainly not a means of systematically meeting students’ educational needs in any one particular subject (be that acquisitions or something else). Approaching the question of theory and practice from a different direction, Neil Radford [22] recently sparked a rare, vigorous correspondence in the local professional literature by his proposals to expand such schemes as “librarians-in-residence” at library schools; the longest-established of such schemes has been conducted for some years by Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education (although the periods of in-residence have been short), and the concept has been taken up more recently by other schools.

5.5’. The Role of Continuing Education It is often, of course, the case that the time delay between the study of a subject and the opportunity to practise that subject involves a loss in currency of knowledge, as well as other deficits. The comparative rapidity of change in the publishing and other book trades may present something more of a problem in this area than possibly occurs in some other areas of library work. If this be true, then an opportunity would seem to exist for some kind of continuing education programme designed to keep library staff (at either professional or technician level, or both) up-to-date with developments in this area. Whether such a programme is best mounted in the traditional Australian “workshop” format, or in the form of some kind of packaged training programme in print or audio-visual medium, seems less certain. Some library schools (such as the Western Australian and South Australian Institutes of Technology) have already produced some marketable packages in slide-tape or workbook format in other areas of librarianship, although the limited financial resources of the library schools seem to inhibit this kind of activity from becoming a “growth area.” It may be relevant that changes are taking place at the present time in the pattern of continuing education for librarians in Australia; traditionally, continuing education programmes have been mounted almost exclusively by the LAA or the library schools; recently there have been trends both towards a wider range of other agencies offering continuing education courses and also for the LAA to move out of direct responsibility for packaging and marketing such courses. Possibly there is an opportunity here for some entrepreneurial agency to address the need (if it can be shown to exist) for continuing education material in the area of library supply and acquisitions.

346

R.J. L. COTSELL

5.6. How Different is the Australian Book Trade? It is frequently asserted that the problems faced by librarians in dealing with the book trade in Australia are different from those faced by librarians in other parts of the world. This situation is accentuated. it is argued, by the fact that most of the textbooks used in Australian library schools originate in the United States (and to a lesser extent in Great Britain). Although these issues are too large to be dealt with at length in this paper, the fact that the former assertion is used by some to justify the existence of courses in acquisitions in Australian library schools means that it requires some comments. That the Australian book trade has its idiosyncracies is certainly true. These relate in part to the “tyranny of distance” from the rest of the world (about which Australians tend to be variously paranoid or proud), to the problems of the large si7e of the continent and the small size and distribution of its population and to the consequent difficulties of communication with the ultimate sources of supply. Because more than half the materials acquired by Australian libraries come from other countries (principally Great Britain and the United States) there are obvious delays in the acquisition process: The figure of at least 6 months from the date of commitment of funds to the date of supply is frequently quoted as typical. These delays are not inevitable but are common due to the fact that many overseas publishers-especially academic publishers--are either not represented by agents in Australia or are represented in an inadequate way. The high cost of books bought from overseas is another problem: price conversions rarely seem to correlate in any logical way to the currency exchange rates. even where supposed justiftcations for price premiums (such as warehousing costs) do not exist. The problems posed originally by the closed market system present librarians in Australia with real difficulties and have resulted in various strategies being developed by acquisitions officers for circumventing the system. Not the least of these is the use of overseas suppliers for many titles. which saves money but induces a feeling of guilt at failing to support the local book trade (wlhich feeling the local trade is adept at exploiting). Although all of these issues present librarians wlith challenging decision-making situations, it is a moot point whether they justify mounting special courses in library schools: The book trade is subject to constant and sometimes rapid change. and possibly this year’s learning will be out-ofdate by the time that a student is able to apply it in practice. On the other hand. it is undeniable that librarians need to be trained in the skills required in handling relationships between their institutions and commercial agencies such as library suppliers; but possibly such relationships are more appropriately handled within the context of the study of “management” rather than necessarily as a part of some subject called “acquisitions.” Not all the problems faced by Australian acquisitions librarians are unique to Australia. although some. such as the shortening “in print” life of many titles. may be compounded by problems of distance from the ultimate source of supply. For example. public librarians in Australia. especially in urban areas, are faced with having to cater for a mu/ticz&ura/community. which has developed with several waves of immigration since World War II, the most recent being the influx of South-East Asian refugees in the late 1970s. There are also the problems of finding valid and acceptable ways of providing library services for the Australian Aborigines. But in all these (and other) areas the trails have been blared- in principle. if not always in terms of detailed practice- -by librarians overseas.

6. CONCLUSIONS

AND FUTURE

TRENDS

The issues raised above have already been addressed at some level by Australian library schools and will presumably continue to be addressed in the years ahead-although not necessarily

Acquisitions in Australian Library Schools

347

always to the full satisfaction of the librarians employing the graduates who are the end-product of the library school system. We may assume that there will continue to be diversity in the approaches taken by the library schools to the problems of educating Australian librarianship students in the arts and procedures of acquisitions as, indeed, the LAA Board of Education regards as desirable. However, amidst the diversity are likely to be a number of trends. These would seem likely to include: I. A more integrated view of “library resources,” which bridges issues such as their selection, collection building, and utilization: This trend would build on a pattern that already exists to some degree, and that appears to have some justification in theory; 2. A move towards the more effective integration of theory and practice, but not, it is to be hoped, at the cost of intellectual standards: However, although the will is there to achieve this end, the mechanism for achieving it remains unclear, because a question mark must be left over the effectiveness of current practices in such things as practicums; 3. A more problem-oriented approach to the teaching of library management to replace the traditional “Planning-Organizing-Controlling” approach: This is a more arguable proposition, but the use of case studies and simulations appears to be gaining at the expense of a more theoretical approach to management studies; such a trend seems compatible with the teaching of acquisitions procedures in a management studies context; 4. Similar trends may also occur in the teaching of such other subjects as “library automation” (now that the bandwagon effect in that subject seems to be dying down): This trend also is not incompatible with effective teaching of acquisitions, provided practitioners are alert to the opportunities that it presents. We ought also to note that changes in the structure of the library and information professions in this country have been signalled; these changes have already had some impact (albeit sometimes a purely cosmetic one) on library school curricula and syllabi. If these changes are as substantial as some more radical thinkers have anticipated, then it may be that future library school students will only study the library as one situation providing specific examples of the management problems faced in general by information providers. If such developments should occur, then traditional libraries will find library school graduates having a still broader (and therefore less practical?) view of information provision than they have now, with presumably even less of a practical awareness of the acquisitions process. In such a scenario the role of library technicians, presumably still trained in the intricacies of such procedures, would be even more important in the workplace than it is at present. Such a vision would no doubt be disburbing to our more conservative colleagues; to others it would represent only one more exciting challenge to be faced. This leads us to the major remaining issue: the unresolved question of the definition of the roles of librarian and library technician. Despite the LAA’s attempts to provide a definition, chiefly through the board of education statements, these have not been specific enough to answer problems arising in the workplace. In practice the overlap of duties between librarians and library technicians leaves us with confusion in the minds of employers, dissatisfaction in the minds of employees, and venturesome planning by educators. The prevailing attitude is to let the marketplace sort out the practical problems, whether this course of action will produce a result that tallies with common sense, let alone that meets the aspirations of the interested parties, is less certain. Those of us who believe that there is something that may be legitimately termed “professional librarianship, ” that it has defined and worthwhile values, and that these are worth preserving, need to address the matter of defining that professional content and those values clearly enough to provide our profession with something better than a sinking ship with which to face the voyage into the future.

348

R.J.L. COTSELL

NOTES AND REFERENCES I. The late John W. Metcalfe was one of the founding fathers of the LAA, and established an international with texts in cataloguing and indexing, including information Indexing anti Suhjeci Cutologtring Scarcerow Press, 1957) and Subjecr Ctuss[[r~ing and Indexing qf’ Libraries and Literature (Sydney: Robertson, 1959). 2. Keane. M.V. “The Development of Education for Librarianship in Australia between 1896 and 1976, Emphasis upon the Role of the Library Association of Australia.” Ausrralian Lihrar), Journal 3 I. 2

reputation (New York: Angus and with Special (May 1982):

12-z. 3. Keane.

M.V. “Chronology of Education for Librarianship in Australia. 1896-1976.” 1982): 16-24. Association of Australia. ~andhuffk 1977. Sydney: Library Association of Keyes D., Russell. John Dale and Osbarn, .Andrew D. The Program of University of Illinois Press, 1943, p. 18. Ian G. Course Contenr: Acquisirion Work: Views qf the LAA Board of For a report on the seminar at which the paper was presented. see note I I.

Australian

Lihrq

Journal31.

3 (August

4. Library 5. Metcalf, Urbana: 6. Miller, paper).

7.

Australia,

1977. p. 88.

tnsfruc/ion

in Lihrarv

Education,

Schools.

1984 (unpublished

Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Library Association of Australia. 1984 Hun&o&. Sydney: Library Association of Australia, 1984. pp. 95-96. 10. Jones, David J. (ed.). The Ausrra!ian Li~ruri~n~s ~unua~. Volume One; Documenrs. Sydney: Library Association of Australia. 1982. pp. 15-17, (This volume includes draft versions ofall the Board of Education statements referred to in the paper.) I I. German, G.E. and Eichinski. G. “Seminar on the Place of Orders Work in the Curricula of Courses of Professional Librarians: Report.” Lihrarj. Acqui.Gtions: frac,rice and Theq 8 (1984): 293-298. 12. Butler. Pierce. An /n/rrxluc,rion 10 Lihrar,v Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1933. (See especially Chapter Five. “Practical Considerations. pp. 102-I 15.) 13. Miller. Ian G. Course Conrem, p. 2. 14. Library Association of Australia. 1984 Han~~~i)~k, pp. 97-98. IS. Smeaton. Helen. “Library Technicians in Australia: xPast. Present and Future, ” Austraiasian College Libraries, 1, I (May 1983): 34-37. 16. Library Association of Australia. 1984 Hundbook, pp. 9194. 17. Ibid. p. 91. 18. Richardson. Joanna. Personal comtnumcation. 19. Smeaton. Helen. ‘*Library Technicians,” p, 3.5. (The word “passionate” is advised.) Lihrurx Journal. 32, 3 20. Gordon. Ian. “Ten Years After: A History of Library Technicians in NSW.” Auslralian (August 1983): 2630. 21. Gleason. Maureen L. ‘*Training Collection Development Librarians,” Coffetfion Managemem. 4.4 (Winter 1982): I-R. 22. Radford. Neil A. “Qn the Desirability of More Frequent Intercourse Between Teachers and Practitioners,” Educarion fur Lihrariunship: Austrrrlia, I. I (Autumn 1984): 4-12. The correspondence was in the same journal. I, 2 (Winter 1984): 79-81 and I, 3 (Spring 1984): 115-131.

APPENDIX

Addresses Adelaide

qf institutions qffering courses listed in Tables l-4

College of TAFE.

I Humphries Ballarat

Terrace.

Kilkenny Kilkenny.

College of Advanced

Education,

P.O. Box 663, Ballarat. Box Hill College of TAFE, 1000 Whitehorse

Victoria, Library

5009

Dept. of Librarianship,

3350 Studies Dept..

Road. Box Hill. Victoria.

Brisbane College of Advanced Victoria

Branch. South Australia.

Education.

3128

Department

Park Road. Kelvin Grove. Queensland.

of Librarianship 4059

and Teaching

Studies.

Acquisitions

in Australian

Library

Schools

Canberra College of Advanced Education, Centre for Library and Information Studies, P.O. Box I, Belconnen, A.C.T. 2616 Canberra College of TAFE, School of Information Studies, Constitution Avenue. Reid, A.C.T. 2601 Darwin Community College, Dept. of Community Studies, P.O. Box 40146, Casuarina, Northern Territory. 5792 Devon Technical College, Valley Road, Devonport, Tasmania. 7310 Footscray College of TAFE, Dept. of Library Studies, Cnr. Nicholson and Buckley Streets, Footscray, Victoria. 3011 Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, School of Education. Switchback Road, Churchill, Victoria. 3842 Gold Coast College of TAFE, Cnr. Heeb Street and Benowa Road, Benowa. Queensland. 42 I5 Hawthorn Institute of Education, 442 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, Victoria. 3 122 Hobart Technical College, 26 Bathurst Street, Hobart, Tasmania. 7000 Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education, School of Library and Information Studies. P.O. Box 222. Lindtield, New South Wales. 2070 Launceston College of TAFE, Wellington Street, Launceston, Tasmania. 7250 Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales. 2113 Melbourne College of Advanced Education, Dept. of Librarianship. 757 Swanston Street, Carlton. Victoria. 3053 Monash University, Graduate School of Librarianship, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria. 3168 Newcastle College of Advanced Education, School of Education, P.O. Box 84. Waratah, New South Wales. 2298 Newcastle Technical College, Maitland Road, Tighes Hill, New South Wales. 2297 Perth Technical College, Dept. of Social Studies, James Street, Perth, Western Australia. 6000 Prahran College of TAFE. Dept. of Library Studies, 160 High Street, Prahran, Victoria. 3181 Queensland Institute of Technology, Dept. of Librarianship, G.P.O. Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland. 4001 Riverina-Murray Institute of Higher Education, School of Information Studies, P.O. Box 588, Wagga Wagga. New South Wales. 2650 Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Dept. of Librarianship, 124 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria. 3000 Seven Hills College of TAFE, Clearview Terrace, Seven Hills, Queensland. 4170 South Australian College of Advanced Education, Magill Site, Lorne Avenue, Magill, South Australia. 5072 South Australian Institute of Technology, School of Library and Information Management, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia. 5000 Sydney College of Advanced Education, Sydney Institute of Education, P.O. Box 129, Newtown. New South Wales. 2042 Sydney Technical College, Broadway. New South Wales. 2007 University of New South Wales, School of Librarianship, P.O. Box 1, Kensington, New South Wales. 2033 University of Tasmania, School of Librarianship, G.P.O. Box 252~. Hobart, Tasmania. 7001

349

350

R.J.L. COTSELI

Western Australian College of Advanced Education. Dept. of Library Studies. Cnr. Stirling Highway and Hampden Road. Nedlands. Western Australia. Western Australian Institute of Technology. Dept. of Library and Information Kent Street. Bentley, Western Australia. 6102 Wollongong Technical College. Foleys Road. North Wollongong. New South Wales. 2500

6009 Studies.