ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


December 1989 /  992

C o n c lu sio n

In summary, our C D  network has been a tre ­
mendous success, but it has forced us to address the 
issues of what services can be realistically provided 
and what services must be reduced or eliminated. 
Over the past ten years more and more services 
have been added without appreciable staff in­
creases. Because professional positions are expen­
sive, it usually takes years to add just one position, 
and we are now creating a new reference model 
with a changing role for reference librarians. This 
new role has the potential to eliminate the refer­
ence desk as we now know it. Last year we added a

HyperCard Information Station1 which has made a 
significant impact in lowering the num ber of direc­
tional questions asked. We are investigating how 
electronic technology can further assist us in serv­
ing our patrons and allow us to function more 
efficiently and effectively. ■  ■

1Paul Carnahan, “Designing a HyperCard Infor­
mation Station: Principles for Product Develop­
ing,” in Computers in Libraries, 1989, 4th Annual 
Conference and Exhibition, Conference Proceed­
ings, ed. Nancy Melin Nelson (Westport, Conn.: 
Meckler, 1989).

Letters

L e a d e r s h ip

To the Editor:
In a recent letter to C&RL News (October 1989, 

p.799), I inadvertently allowed a kingly error to 
pass through undetected. Freud, I ’m sure, would 
have been delighted. In my letter I was arguing for 
the importance of making greater commitments to 
professional development and the importance of 
reading smart as one step to prepare for leadership. 
I noted that we all have a stake in the future and 
therefore must continue our commitment to career 
development, “...particularly of those who will 
someday assume the reigns of leadership.” I must 
have been recalling with some nostalgia the days 
when directors reigned rather than assumed the 
reins of leadership, which is more typical today. 
Those who noticed the slip may have assumed I 
said w hat I m eant.— R ichard M. D ougherty, 
Editor, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Uni­
versity o f Michigan.

C h in e s e  a c a d e m ic  lib r a ries

To the Editor:
W e read, with some interest, Susan Tsui’s short 

report on academic libraries in C hina in the Sep­
tem ber 1989 issue (pp.662-64). Though it is obvi­
ously impossible to give a complete picture of 
academic libraries in a country as vast and diverse 
as China, there are several points in the article that 
deserve further comment.

First, though the author is basically correct in 
her figures for Chinese library salaries, it should be 
pointed out that in China the employer is respon­
sible for providing a vast range of fringe benefits 
unheard of in N orth America. The most im portant 
of these is housing, which is provided at an ex­

trem ely low cost (about 10 yuan or $3.00 per 
month) and extra payments are made for coal, oil, 
and food. Also, various levels of government pro­
vide coupons that allow citizens to purchase food at 
highly subsidized prices. Chinese academic salaries 
are certainly not high, but the bare figures provided 
by Tsui paint a bleaker picture than exists in reality.

The author also seems to judge the staffing of 
Chinese libraries by current North American stan­
dards. While it is true that many senior library staff 
in China do not have MLS or equivalent degrees, it 
is incorrect to think of these people as political 
appointm ents. T h ere is a critical shortage of 
trained librarians in China, especially over 30 years 
of age, and it is not uncommon for other academic 
staff to be assigned to work in the library. Many of 
these people have been librarians for many years, 
while others have been assigned more recently in 
an attem pt to fill the gap of staff in their middle 
years (35-50) caused by the disruptions of the Cul­
tural Revolution. This appointm ent of non-librari­
ans to library posts existed not so long ago in North 
America, and it is fair to point out that the Librarian 
of Congress is an em inent scholar rather than a 
trained librarian. As more librarians become avail­
able and the possibilities for staff mobility increase 
in China, this situation is expected to change.

In the health sciences, subject access to library 
collections is becoming the norm. The Medical 
Subject Headings (MeSH) have been translated 
into Chinese, and the Chinese Academy of Medical 
Sciences (the Chinese MEDLARS Center) is d e­
veloping a M EDLARS-compatible database of 
Chinese-language citations. Though many Chinese 
libraries do continue to use classification, rather 
than subject headings, ās the key to their collec­
tions, most give several class num bers to each book. 
This system is not unique to China, though it may



992 /  C&RL News

be rare in North America, w here classification 
theory may be less advanced.

Chinese academic libraries are certainly less 
developed than similar libraries in North America, 
but this situation is changing rapidly as more li­
brarians are trained and library buildings are con­
structed. T here will probably remain a shortage of 
w estern books and journals due to the high cost of

this material, b u t Chinese libraries do have a strong 
core o f subject experts.—Xiong Dizhi, Director o f 
the Library and Dean o f  the Faculty o f  Medical 
Library and Information Science, China Medical 
U niversity, Shenyang, C hina; a n d  D a v id  S. 
Crawford, Senior Librarian, McGill University, 
M ontreal (Visiting Research Librarian, China 
Medical University, Shenyang). ■  ■

Computerizing com m unication for 
interlibrary loan

By Amy Chang

Coordinator fo r  Interlibrary Loan 
Texas Tech University Libraries

Electronic mail fo r  faculty and students solves the IL L  crunch 
at Texas Tech.

A n electronic mail system, designed by the 

staff of Interlibrary Loan (ILL) at Texas 
Tech University Libraries, allows faculty and stu­
dents to request materials from their offices and 
homes via the E-Mail system any tim e o f the day. 
Users can choose different request forms from the 
menu. The staff of IL L  receives the request ac­
cordingly. Several options have been program m ed 
for the menu-driven E-Mail system: book, article, 
dissertation, renewal requests/status checking, and 
questions-and-answers. Instructions for using the 
E-Mail system and a short form for patron informa­
tion were also program m ed into the system.

The statistics for the borrowing unit of Interli­
brary Loan at Tech Libraries had shown a steady 
growth during fiscal year 1987/1988 (an average

14% increase) .This was followed by a 36% increase 
th e first seven m onths of 1989. Approximately 700 
messages are sent to patrons monthly, notifying 
them  of arrived materials, problem s with requests, 
overdues, and charges. The staff constantly inter­
acts with patrons by phone or in person about 
request forms, renewal of books, checking the 
status o f th eir requests, etc. Since th e num ber of 
requests increased dramatically, a more efficient 
way to com m unicate with library users was re ­
quired. The staff concluded that an electronic mail 
system would m eet th e dem and for quick and 
reliable communication. The VAX was chosen for 
installing the E-Mail system.

The VAX system is one of the mainframe systems 
in th e Advanced Technology Learning C en ter