College and Research Libraries


Camelot . . . A Quest Or A Kingdom? 
Is it possible for teachers, librarians, instructional technologists, in-

formation scientists, and materials producers to develop a unified 
commitment to the learning process? This question was raised at a 
technically superb presentation entitled "A Common Que'"st," presented 
at a special session of the 1972 National Convention of the Association 
for Educational Communications and Technology. Although the pre-
sentation was aimed at education in general with specific emphasis in 
the areas of elementary and secondary education, it seems equally im-
perative that higher education should address itself to the same ques-
tion. 

The producers tried to make King Arthur and his Camelot analogous 
to the educator and his school. As King Arthur searched for his im-
possible dream, the educator must search for his dream, i.e. the quest 
of the meaningful whole in a learner's education that will lend to a 
"theory of education." 

Two experiences which had occurred earlier during the convention 
week had already instilled a healthy cynicism toward the viewing of 
this idealistic multisensory show. The first came from the realization 
that out of the nineteen members of the board of directors of this na-
tional association only one member has any direct ties with library and 
information science. In addition, out of the s~ven members on the ex-
ecutive committee, all are directly related to schools of education or 
audiovisual media service agencies. We recognize that this is an as-
sociation for educational communications and technology; however, 
the quest of the educators' Camelot does not seem to have much rep-
resentation in the hierarchy of this national body. 

The second experience was based on impressions gathered from 
visits to two separate campuses. Both are of the same general size, 
composition, and purpose. The first visit was sponsored by the conven-
tion and the second was a personally initiated fishing expedition. The 
first campus sports a brand new educational center housing classrooms, 
faculty offices, reading rooms, an auditorium, a language laboratory, 
and an audiovisual learning center. When the director of learning 
services was questioned about the relationships between this center 
and the college library, he stated that he was not aware of any direct 
relationship. The two agencies seem to have different purposes. He 
described the learning center's purpose as one of direct, active use to 
the students. He envisioned the library as a more passive, storehouse 

. operation. 
The second visit was in direct contrast to the first. This campus has 

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6 I College & Research Libraries • January 1973 

a brand new educational facility but it is called a "library." To be 
sure, audiovisual equipment was on hand, but it did not seem to be 
in constant use. The library administration and staff have been in-
volved with a funded project for the past five years to study the un-
dergraduate information system. They are very concerned with how 
the user seeks, receives, and interacts with information. They are ex-
tremely aware of the total informational needs which include nonprint 
media, but the staff seemed to emphasize the need to explore the 
total information needs of the campus. 

These two views seem to be poles apart. They mirror two of the 
many attitudes one can observe in educational and library circles. One 
is that a specialist looks at education from his own perspective and 
feels it necessary to defend his own special interest area. And, second, 
one must analyze how many people use a system in an attempt to 
view information and educational needs as a whole. They analyze 
and serve needs rather than buy and dispense books, films, or tapes~ 

We, as librarians, must be prepared to recognize and develop 
realistic dreams that will challenge the kingdom builders. We need a 
round-table of teachers, librarians, instructional technologists, infor-
mation scientists, and material producers working together to make 
Camelot a quest of the meaningful whole rather than a series of frag-
mented kingdoms. 

MoRELL D. BooNE 

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