College and Research Libraries


436 I College & Research Libraries • September 1977 

the director is the person who is responsi-
ble legally for all official activities of the li-
brary. 

Other writers have stated that affirmative 
action and unionization reduce the direc-
tor's power. However, the director still con-
trols the situation through his or her powers 
to influence decisions on hiring, firing, pro-
moting, assigning raises, and granting per-
mission to engage in professional activities. 

The chief feature of the book is its hu-
mor. Although it includes amusing titles 
and illustrations, the humor is in the text. 
But the humor has a wry twist, such as 
(p. 70) "Try to change those situations 
which you can change and adapt cheerfully 
to those you cannot change."-Martha ]. 
Bailey, Physics Library, Purdue University, 
West Lafayette, Indiana. 

Writing Objectives for Bibliographic In-
struction in Academic Libraries. A Sum-
mary of the Proceedings of Sessions of 
the Midwest Federation of Library Asso-
ciation, Detroit, Oct. 1-2, 1975. n.p.: 
Midwest Federation of Library Associa-
tions, 1976. 234p. $4.00. (Available from 
Director's Office, Library-Learning Cen-
ter, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, 
Kenosha, WI 53140.) 

This conference, initiated by the ACRL 
Bibliographic Instruction Task Force, exam-
ined the use of behavioral objectives in aca-
demic libraries. The task force and the 
other groups that sponsored the conference 

. (the Wisconsin Library Association, the 
Wisconsin Association of Academic Librar-
ies, the ALA Instruction in the Use of Li-
braries Committee, and the Midwest Fed-
eration of Library Associations) hoped thus 
to provide both a theoretical background 
and basic practical advice on how to write 
objectives for bibliographic instruction. 

I 

The first two speakers, Johanna Herrick 
and Carla StofHe, presented the theoretical 
rationale. In their lectures they gave rea-
sons why librarians should use behavioral 
objectives, defined object1ves in general ed-
ucational terms, and related their use to 
bibliographic instruction. 

The rest of the conference consisted of 
workshops for small groups to practice 
using object1ves in various types of biblio-
graphic instruction: printed bibliographies, 

slide/tape presentations, lectures with 
transparencies, library exercises, and sep-
arate courses. These workshops were led 
by Hannelore Rader, Katherine Schlichting, 
James Kennedy, Cecily Little, and Sharon 
Lossing. 

The problem of translating workshops-
based largely on discussion and "hands-on" 
experience-into print is met by providing 
summaries of each workshop. Despite this 
difficulty, there is a great deal of useful in-
formation that can be gleaned from this 
part of the proceedings. The summaries 
contain many concrete ideas, practical sug-
gestions, and examples of how libraries are 
using objectives. 

It seems appropriate that academic li-
brarians should turn to the field of educa-
tion for strategies to improve their teaching 
techniques. The proceedings of this confer-
ence, though flawed by a lack of editing 
necessary for quick publication, make avail-
able some of the important concepts 
brought out in the lectures and workshops. 

Definitions and examples are abundant 
throughout, and there are written objec-
tives for each segment of the conference. 
This is interesting because it provides . an 
excellent illustration of how objectives are 
used in an actual situation. The topic is 
timely, the participants are some of the 
foremost leaders in the area of bibliograph-
ic instruction, and the information should 
be useful to anyone involved in library in-
struction.-]anet L. Ashley, Assistant Li-
brarian, ]ames M. Milne Library, State Uni-
versity of New York, College at Oneonta. 

Goldberg, Robert L. A Systems Approach 
to Library Program Development. With 
a foreword by Ralph Blasingame, Jr. 
Metuchen, N.J.; Scarecrow, 1976. 172p. 
$7.00. LC 76-18157. ISBN 0-8108-0.944-
3. 

Robert Goldberg's book was undertaken 
as partial requirement for the Ph.D. degree 
in librarianship at Rutgers. Although it car-
ries a 1976 copyright, the book seems much 
older and could have been written at least 
three years earlier. 

The volume is comprised of the typical 
six parts of a dissertation. Goldberg's writ-
ing ability, however, is far superior to that 
of the typical doctoral candidate. The bibli-