ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


N ovem ber 1990 /  945

Letters
Eastern exposure

To th e  editor:
I read w ith great in terest th e  article about visit­

ing libraries in E astern  E u ro p e (C& BL N ew s, July/ 
August 1990, pp. 616-20), since my own travel 
plans included an August visit to Prague. I w rote to 
bo th  th e State Library o f Czechoslovakia and to th e 
Strahov M onastery Library.

W hen my com panions and I arrived at th e  Kle- 
m entinum , we found th a t my le tter had b e e n  r e ­
ceived and we w ere offered a to u r o f th e  Jesuit 
C ollege L ib rary  by M iroslav Stoje a n d  V iera 
Suchankova. D r. Stoje is th e head o f th e  foreign 
s tu d ie s  d e p a r t m e n t  o f  th e  lib ra ry  a n d  D r. 
Suchankova had spent two years in th e U n ited  
States at th e Em bassy in W ashington. Both spoke 
excellent English.

W e e n te re d  through a huge bronze door to find 
a beautiful example o f a Baroque library th a t in ­
cludes an im pressive collection o f antique clocks. 
This library has no electrical pow er or heat. W h en  
I asked Dr. Stoje about preservation efforts for th e 
collection, he told m e th a t th e library adm inistra­
tion had b een  advised th a t for th e tim e being it 
should continue to keep th e library closed. H e gave 
each o f us a booklet containing examples o f illustra­
tions from illum inated books th a t are in th e  collec­
tion. W e felt very fortunate for th e opportunity to 
e n te r this w onderful library.

At th e  Strahov M onastery Library we w ere 
g reeted  by Vladimir Zavodsky, who gave us th e 
unique opportunity to look at a volume by C o p e r­
nicus. W e also signed th e  library’s guest book and 
received gifts o f a facsimile book describing th e  
discovery o f A m erica by Amerigo Vespucci, th e  
first C zech book to m ention th e New W orld.

I agree with your statem en t th a t only a year ago, 
it w ould have b een  unlikely th a t w estern librarians 
w ould have b een  ad m itted  to these libraries. I also 
think th a t in th e n ear future so many w estern 
librarians will w ant to visit these libraries, th a t th e 
special and gracious tours th at w ere given to us will 
not b e available.— Susan Anderson, D irector o f  
Libraries, St. Petersburg Ju n io r College, St. Peters­
burg, Florida.

First impressions

To th e  editor:
T h e article by G oldberg and W omack, “Aca­

dem ic Applicants: Make a G ood F irst Im pression” 
(C & B L News, S ep te m b er 1990, pp. 701-705), 
opens up th e issue o f th e purpose and use o f 
re fe re n c e s in th e  p erso n n el selection process. 
H u m an  resources and legal literature has focused

on this topic, m uch o f it exploring th e dangers 
involved in providing a negative o r prejudicial ref­
erence. D iscrim ination in hiring as a result o f these 
references has served as th e  basis for legal action 
against th e  institution or individual responding to 
th e  referen ce request. O n th e o th e r hand, re fe r­
ences th a t do not disclose a potentially dam aging 
ch aracter flaw in th e individual (incident o f theft, 
physical assault) have b e e n  used  in wrongful hiring 
cases against th e respondent. As a consequence, 
m ost individuals and agencies are relu ctan t to p ro ­
vide anything o th e r th an  a bland le tte r o f reference.

A nother issue th a t was overlooked in th e article 
is th a t o f th e applicant’s right to privacy. T he au ­
thors indicate th a t th e  search process is long and 
may involve m any reductions in th e  applicant pool. 
D o th e  authors really believe th a t applicants for a 
professional position w ant th e ir c u rre n t em ployers 
to know about th e ir jo b  search? And, since these 
em ployers b est know th e candidates’ skills, w hat 
effect w ould th e exclusion o f th ese supervisors 
from  th e list o f references have on th e  p erception 
o f th e screening com m ittee?

W hile it is tru e  th at th e m ajority o f personnel 
advertisem ents in C & B L N ew s req u ire references 
(only 11 o f 80 did not), only eight asked for letters 
o f referen ce at th e  beginning o f th e  process. P e r­
haps ACRL can sponsor m ore program s or discus­
sion o f th e hiring process to en su re a system o f 
fairness, equity, and responsiveness to th e  needs o f 
em ployees and em ployers alike.—A r th u r  L. Fried­
m an, C hair o f  the Library, Nassau C om m unity 
College, Garden City, N ew  York.

Spurious precision

To th e  editor:
In  th e April 1990 issue, p. 301, a co rrespondent 

took issue w ith th e  w idespread practice o f carrying 
out a “calculation to a g reater n u m b e r o f decim al 
points than is justified by th e experim ental accu­
racy.” H e m ight have ad d ed  th a t in th e social 
sciences— or at least in soft paradigm  studies— th e 
corollary is th e  calculation an d  p u blication o f 
num bers to m ore places than is justified by the 
research design o r by th e data on w hich th e  calcu­
lations are based. In d e e d , som e astonishingly 
messy data can be to u ch ed  w ith th e healing h an d  o f 
num ericity. In eith er case th e  in te n d e d  result is 
apparently to cast th e rosy glow o f science over th e 
work; thus, surplus decim al places are often labeled 
“spurious p recisio n .” W hile spuriously precise 
decim alization can dazzle th e unaw are, its p re s­
ence in papers tends to dim inish authorial credibil­
ity w ith inform ed readers.— H enry G ründer, W il­
liamsburg, Virginia. 1 1