College and Research Libraries By K E N N E T H R. S H A F F E R The Case Method in Library Education WH I L E T R A D I T I O N A L methods of in-struction have been through lec- tures, suggested reading, discussion, and examination, these methods have never proved to be satisfactory in the area of library administration. 1 W i t h the emer- gence of graduate programs in library science some seven to eight years ago, it became a p p a r e n t that the lecture-dis- cussion-reading approach was not ac- ceptable. In large part, this stemmed f r o m the fact that courses in library administration are, in a sense, not cours- es in librarianship. T h e y are related rather to general considerations of ad- ministration as they might occur in any professional or business area. In searching for a teaching technique that would meet the requirements of g r a d u a t e courses in library administra- tion, certain considerations were obvi- ous. First, administration is an art r a t h e r than a science. It is less i m p o r t a n t to impart a body of knowledge to the stu- dent, and yet quite i m p o r t a n t to develop in the student a logical m a n n e r of think- ing in terms of administrative problems a n d situations wherein he will make re- call to all the resources, including his own training, experience, and the liter- ature of the profession, which might apply to any given administrative prob- lem. Administration, f u r t h e r m o r e , is an art wherein solutions are relative to the 1 T h i s a r t i c l e w a s a d a p t e d f r o m m a t e r i a l i n c l u d e d in a " P r e l i m i n a r y R e p o r t t o t h e A s s o c i a t i o n of College a n d R e f e r e n c e L i b r a r i e s a n d t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s S t e e l F o u n d a t i o n on a G r a n t to A i d in R e s e a r c h a n d P r e p a - r a t i o n of C a s e S t u d i e s D e a l i n g W i t h C u r r e n t A d m i n i s - t r a t i v e P r o b l e m s in A m e r i c a n L i b e r a l A r t s College L i b r a r i e s , " M a y 1, 1958. Mr. Shaffer is Director, School of Li- brary Science, and Director, College Li- braries, Simmons College, Boston. individual situation and the individuals in it. T h e r e are no " p a t " answers. If courses in administration are to succeed at all, they must produce a student who is happy in the realization that any given problem may be satisfactorily han- dled by the library administrator in a variety of sometimes even opposed solu- tions. It requires the discovery of a tech- nique that will m a t u r e the student rather than simply transfer a body of knowledge to him. As we approached this teaching prob- lem at Simmons some seven years ago, we began experimentally to try to evaluate teaching techniques in other professional areas involving similar objectives. T h e g r o u p dynamics approach, fashionable at that time, was f o u n d not to provide the solution. T h e use of audio-visual material similarly was unsatisfactory— especially in terms of cost. T h e case method, u p o n trial, was f o u n d to prom- ise the best results to the teacher of library administration. T h e case method is one which per- haps has had its longest use in legal education, b u t as a teaching device it has reached its perfection in business education, and particularly at the Har- vard G r a d u a t e School of Business. At Harvard, experiments in using case ma- terial in business education began as early as 1910, b u t within the last decade and a half the school has reached a re- finement in this technique where now the entire sixteen courses comprising the two-year master's program in busi- ness administration are conducted solely by case presentations. Accordingly, we began to experiment at Simmons in 1951 with this approach, and f o u n d that it promised a satisfactory SEPTEMBER 1958 487 t e c h n i q u e for teaching library adminis- t r a t i o n . W e began cautiously—simply a d d i n g a few cases to a d m i n i s t r a t i o n courses toward the e n d of the term. W i t h i n a four- to five-year p e r i o d the use of cases in a d m i n i s t r a t i o n courses h a d certainly proved itself, b u t a n ade- q u a t e trial was n o t possible because of the lack of a supply of good case mate- rial. As will be shown later, the g r a n t received in F e b r u a r y 1956, f r o m the U n i t e d States Steel F o u n d a t i o n , t h r o u g h the A C R L , m a d e a n a d e q u a t e supply of such materials available to the p o i n t where we feel t h a t the teaching p r o b l e m has been m o r e t h a n satisfactorily re- solved. A l t h o u g h the use of cases at Sim- mons follows the m e t h o d s used at H a r - vard very closely, various i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s needed to be m a d e in terms of library e d u c a t i o n . Briefly, the t e c h n i q u e devel- oped at Simmons is as follows. D u r i n g the course of each a d m i n i s t r a t i o n class, some fifty cases are b r o u g h t to the atten- tion of the s t u d e n t . Most of these are relatively b r i e f — f r o m three to twelve single-spaced m i m e o g r a p h e d pages. Some are advanced cases a n d vary f r o m thirty to fifty pages in length. T h e two types of cases serve differing purposes a n d are h a n d l e d q u i t e differently in terms of class use. Short cases are h a n d e d to the students in g r o u p s of f r o m five to ten, a n d a clear indication is m a d e to the s t u d e n t as to w h e n the cases will be discussed in class. I n p r e p a r i n g the cases f o r class use, the s t u d e n t reads each case t h r o u g h as m a n y times as he or she requires, a n d t h e n marshals all the i n f o r m a t i o n n e e d e d f o r the solution of the p r o b l e m . T h i s mate- rial may involve personal experience in libraries or o t h e r types of work situa- tions. It certainly will involve all of the library science t r a i n i n g t h a t the s t u d e n t has received, a n d it may involve re- search i n t o r e l e v a n t professional litera- t u r e a n d beyond such l i t e r a t u r e . It ha- b i t u a t e s the s t u d e n t to d e t e r m i n e infor- m a t i o n needed to solve the case a n d then, either by synthesizing his own ex- perience o r by research, to a c q u i r e the necessary bases of solution. W h e n this p o i n t has been reached, the student's n e x t step is to try to t h i n k logically t h r o u g h the case a n d to reach logical a d m i n i s t r a t i v e conclusions a n d evalua- tions. T h e s t u d e n t may be aided in this process by i n f o r m a l discussion with o t h e r m e m b e r s of the class. T h e final step in class p r e p a r a t i o n involves the s t u d e n t ' s p r e p a r i n g a speaking aide memoire w h i c h will h e l p h i m in class p a r t i c i p a t i o n , a n d which also serves im- p o r t a n t pedagogical f u n c t i o n s for the in- structor. I n the classroom, responsibility for case analysis is b o t h v o l u n t a r y a n d invol- u n t a r y . T h e i n s t r u c t o r first summarizes the case so t h a t it is clearly d i f f e r e n t i a t e d f r o m o t h e r cases which students have been p r e p a r i n g . H e t h e n reads a series of questions i n t e n d e d to be suggestive of the principles involved which a p p e a r at the e n d of each case. A t this p o i n t the i n s t r u c t o r calls u p o n a s t u d e n t to pre- sent the case. A solution to a case may take f r o m five to fifteen m i n u t e s . T h e instructor then calls u p o n a second stu- d e n t to deal w i t h the case. T h e second s t u d e n t may agree basically w i t h the first p r e s e n t a t i o n a n d simply a d d cer- tain reservations, differing p o i n t s of view, or a d d i t i o n a l c o m m e n t . O r , the second person called u p o n may take an entirely opposed position in the solution of the case a n d m a k e a complete analysis a n d solution in his own r i g h t . A t this p o i n t the case is t h r o w n o p e n for volun- tary class discussion, a n d usually at this stage there are as m a n y p e o p l e ready to p a r t i c i p a t e in the discussion as there are students in the class. I n the event t h a t the two original speakers presented dif- f e r i n g points of view, the class will usu- ally line u p in two camps, a r g u i n g the logic of their differing positions. W h e n t h e case has been fully presented by students, its classroom p r e s e n t a t i o n has 488 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES been concluded. T h i s conclusion fre- quently is in terms of two or at least three quite different points of view, for indeed there are no right or wrong an- swers to an administrative problem, a n d a feeling of security in the face of a situ- ation which is essentially a subjective one is an i m p o r t a n t contribution of the case method. At the conclusion of the class the instructor asks for the aides memoire which all students have pre- pared, and thus has a clue to the think- ing a n d progress of each member of the class for every case, even though some members of the class may not have spoken extensively in discussion. T h e aides memoire in the course of the term enable the instructor to follow the think- ing processes of every student with accu- racy and convenience. Longer cases r u n n i n g f r o m thirty to fifty or even more pages, r a t h e r t h a n dealing with a specific administrative situation or "incident," deal with a total institution, or with some large segment of an institution. I n longer cases, the solution is prepared by the student in a carefully written report which may itself r u n to twenty or twenty-five pages. T h e f u n c t i o n of these written analyses is to give the instructor a direct clue not only to the t h i n k i n g process of the stu- d e n t b u t also to the methods he has used, the d e p t h at which he has inte- grated his own experience, his profes- sional training, his research in solving the case and, finally, his ability to han- dle a larger and more complex situation in concise, logical written form. T h e foregoing will indicate that the position of the instructor, where the case method is used, is an unusually exciting one. It has sometimes been said that with the interest which the case m e t h o d invariably stimulates, the role of the instructor becomes that of a k i n d of traffic "cop" whose business is first to keep discussion moving along profitable channels and away f r o m irrelevant tan- gents and, on the other hand, to keep students f r o m giving each other black eyes! Many a veteran teacher will tes- tify that this is q u i t e a different role f r o m the desultory and polite discussion that all to frequently results f r o m the lecture method. T o be sure, the de- mands made u p o n the instructor seem far greater than in the traditional forms of teaching, b u t this is compensated for by the enthusiasm and excitement of the classroom experience, and by the growth of the student in terms of his reasoning abilities as such a course progresses. W i t h the resources which the U n i t e d States Steel F o u n d a t i o n a n d A C R L g r a n t made available, the School of Library Science was prepared for the first time to gather systematically case materials. T h i s in itself was a new ex- perience both here a n d in the library field, for heretofore case materials were drawn f r o m personal experience or ex- perience at second h a n d t h a t suggested itself with case applicability. I n ap- proaching this activity on a larger basis than in the past, we soon discovered that we h a d much to learn, a n d that there were many factors that r e q u i r e d atten- tion that had not been anticipated. By way of illustration, we knew that the G r a d u a t e School of Business Admin- istration of H a r v a r d University h a d lit- tle or no difficulty in collecting case materials. T h e Harvary School of Busi- ness Administration is well known and, furthermore, it has a distinguished body of a l u m n i who have infiltrated many of the larger businesses which it might wish to use as a source of case materials. Cer- tainly its three decades of interest in case studies are well known in the busi- ness area. For this reason, an invitation on the p a r t of the G r a d u a t e School of Business Administration to a firm to participate in a case study almost invari- ably is received with welcome. T h e re- searchers who are sent to gather case i n f o r m a t i o n are given every facility and help, and the firm "surveyed" usually feels a sense of satisfaction, if not flat- SEPTEMBER 1958 489 tery, f o r being involved in the educa- tional process in this way. W e soon learned t h a t at this j u n c t u r e , at least, a similar psychology does n o t always prevail a m o n g librarians. W e dis- covered in the course of e x p e d i t i o n s to various libraries t h a t even an o b l i q u e reference to the collecting of case mate- rials o f t e n p r o d u c e d a defensive reac- tion. Even if it d i d n o t o u t r i g h t l y result in a lack of welcome, it served as a de- t e r r e n t in m a n y instances to the gather- ing of case i n f o r m a t i o n . Similarly, even w h e n it was possible to p e r s u a d e a li- brary to become the subject of a case, permission to use the case f o r classroom purposes a n d to r e p r o d u c e the case in m i m e o g r a p h e d f o r m as a teaching ve- hicle was f r e q u e n t l y impossible, or, at least, difficult a n d time-consuming to o b t a i n . W h e r e permission was g r a n t e d , it f r e q u e n t l y r e q u i r e d a p e r i o d of six m o n t h s f o r the s u b m i t t e d case to go t h r o u g h the channels of the p a r e n t au- thorities. T h i s r e l u c t a n c e sometimes oc- curred even t h o u g h it was suggested t h a t the library's actual identity be disguised so t h a t it could n o t be readily recog- nized except by those w h o were inti- mately f a m i l i a r w i t h it. A completed case is n o t a d e p e n d a b l e teaching tool u n t i l it has b e e n tested in the classroom at least once a n d prefer- ably twice. Classroom use f r e q u e n t l y in- dicates the omission of i m p o r t a n t in- f o r m a t i o n t h a t proves r e l e v a n t to a consideration of the case—or, in a very rare n u m b e r of instances, it may indicate t h a t the case m u s t be entirely r e w r i t t e n or even discarded. T h i s means of course that before cases could be considered completed, considerable time m i g h t be r e q u i r e d to g a t h e r a n d write the case itself, to secure permission to use the case, a n d t h e n to fit it i n t o the classroom situation effectively. T h e length of time r e q u i r e d in the process of p r o d u c i n g a tested, ex- tended case study of a complete in- s t i t u t i o n is particularly p r o t r a c t e d . I n the g a t h e r i n g of case materials it was f o u n d t h a t a special t a l e n t a n d train- ing is r e q u i r e d o n the p a r t of the case researcher a n d writer. M a n y people w h o have a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p o t e n t i a l or experi- ence a n d w h o w o u l d seem to have every prerequisite for the task simply failed to have a sense of the case situation, so t h a t the choice of i n d i v i d u a l s to assist in the execution of the g r a n t became a very i m p o r t a n t factor in the process. T h e reluctance of l i b r a r i a n s a n d their p a r e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a u t h o r i t i e s to par- ticipate in the project is p a r t l y account- ed f o r by the newness of the case m e t h o d in the library field, a n d u n d o u b t e d l y it will tend to d i s a p p e a r as the case meth- od becomes m o r e c o m m o n in library ed- u c a t i o n . T h i s r e l u c t a n c e has even m o r e serious implications. I t has become a serious factor in the use a n d certainly in the p u b l i c a t i o n , in the larger sense of t h a t word, of case materials. I n spite of the most careful a t t e n t i o n to the dis- guising of certain cases, in m o r e t h a n one instance a n a t t e m p t has b e e n m a d e to identify a case w i t h a p a r t i c u l a r insti- t u t i o n . W h i l e I should n o t w a n t to indi- cate by any means t h a t p u b l i c a t i o n of the cases, or most of the cases t h a t have been gathered, is impossible, I should like to r e p o r t t h a t legal investigation will need to be m a d e before p u b l i c a t i o n in any general form, such as a book, can be c o n t e m p l a t e d . Legal investigation on this p o i n t is now b e i n g made, a n d every a t t e n t i o n to this factor is b e i n g taken cognizance of in case w r i t i n g a n d edit- ing. W h i l e the a p p l i c a t i o n of the case m e t h o d to library e d u c a t i o n should nev- er cover all or even a large p a r t of the library science c u r r i c u l u m , at Simmons it has e n a b l e d us to develop a teaching t e c h n i q u e t h a t may have significant ef- fects u p o n library e d u c a t i o n . As indi- cated, such effects are already a p p a r e n t at Simmons. 490 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES