College and Research Libraries Building a Bridge: Articulation Programs for Bibliographic Instruction Barbara E. Kemp, Mary M. Nofsinger, and Alice M. Spitzer Recent studies have called for more integration of educational experiences and closer coopera- tion between high schools and colleges. Students making the transition from high school to college freguently lack library/research skills, which is a major problem for bibliographic in- struction librarians. Based on models of school/college cooperation, current cooperative projects involving academic libraries are discussed. The relevance of articulation efforts between high school and university libraries is emphasized. ~t~ everal educational groups, in- .. . ~ eluding the American Associa- , ยท, tion for Higher Education, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the Li- braries and A Learning Society project, have called recently for closer cooperation amon? the nation's high schools and col~ leges. This desire for educational articula- tion, or the integration of educational ex- periences, takes many forms, but two common goals seem to be apparent: (1) to ease the transition of the student from one educational unit to another, and (2) to link the educational process into a lifelong learning continuum. Unfortunately, programs and curricula often are developed or administered uni- laterally. There is a "tendency of teachers and administrators to concentrate on the curriculum of their level to such an extent that they ignore the learning goals of other levels'' while colleges frequently decide on admission requirements without con- sulting those most directly affected-the teachers and administrators of the second- ary schools. 2 The result is a poorly inte- grated, inefficient educational system, which has both gaps and unnecessary du- plication in the curricula. Students and educators alike are frustrated by this dis- continuity, and taxpayers are forced to bear the costs of remedial and duplicated programs. To correct such problems, a Carnegie Foundation special report has urged that the nation's high schools and colleges ''should join together to determine the content and specific skills considered es- sential requirements for entrance into col- lege. " 3 The same report lists five princi- ples to follow in establishing collaborative projects: (1) "educators at both levels must agree that they, indeed, have com~ mon problems"; (2) "the traditional aca- demic ' pecking order' must be over- Barbara E. Kemp is Head, Humanities /Social Sciences Public Services; Mary M. Nofsinger and Alice M. Spit- zer are reference librarians at Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, Washington 99164-5610. This paper was presented at the ACRL Fourth National Conference in Baltimore, April9-12, 1986. 470 come"; (3) "cooperative projects must be sharply focused"; (4) "those who partici- pate must get recognition"; and (5) "co- operation ... must focus on action-not machinery.' ' 4 ARTICULATION OF LIBRARY SKILLS As educators, it is important for aca- demic librarians to be aware of and under- stand this focus on articulation and to con- sider bibliographic instruction efforts in relation to it. Like faculty in the subject disciplines, librarians must be prepared to establish cooperative programs with sec- ondary schools to help students in their transition to college. There are strong, practical arguments for collaborative efforts. Most academic li- braries are requested to host classes from secondary schools or have high school students come to the reference desk for in- dividual assistance. Since these classes and students are not always prepared with well-designed library assignments, approval for such requests is not always granted. Another drawback in this ap- proach is that the tiining often conflicts with heavy use by the academic library's primary clientele and is thus viewed as an intrusion. By working to establish cooperative pro- grams, the academic librarian can gain control over the situation. It can be made clear that classes are welcome when they are scheduled at times convenient to the academic calendar. Academic and school librarians need jointly to establish criteria for library assignments, define minimum library/research competencies, and estab- lish methods of teaching them at the ap- . propriate grade level. As a result, students are likely to be better prepared, and there would be less need for remediation. The development of mutual respect and un- derstanding between academic librarians and secondary school teachers and librari- ans and a receptive attitude toward the secondary school students can also act as a strong marketing tool for the parent insti- tution. This ultimately benefits the aca- demic library's position within the college or university. Building a Bridge 471 SCHOOL/COLLEGE LIBRARY PARTNERSHIPS There are several models of school/col~ lege library cooperative programs. Among these are (1) high school class vis- its to academic libraries; (2) academic li- brarians working directly with high school students to provide instruction; (3) pro- grams and privileges for special groups, such as gifted and advanced-placement students; ( 4) academic librarians working with school librarians at a local or state level; (5) provision of materials designed to introduce high school students to the academic library. The following programs illustrate some of these models in use. Washington State University, Pullman Washington State University (WSU) completed a bibliographic instruction needs assessment survey in which the data seemed to be contradictory. The vast majority of students indicated they had re- ceived instruction in library use when they were in secondary schools, yet most still had difficulty in answering basic ques- tions about library resources and research strategies . . Experience at the reference desk confirms that many students lack un- derstanding of fundamental library con- cepts. In prder to determine the cause of this discrepancy, the Washington Library Me- dia Association was contacted to initiate preliminary discussions with school li- brarians. When invited to speak at their 1984 annual convention, WSU librarians presented a session on ''Library Research Skills for College-Bound Students. " 5 Par- ticipants discussed which library skills were most needed to be an effective li- brary user and shared ideas on how to in- corporate those skills into class assign- ments. The enthusiastic response to the session resulted in an invitation to repeat it at the 1985 Washington Communication Con- ference (which included reading special- ists, high school English, journalism, and speech teachers, as well as librarians and media specialists). At the same time WSU librarians presented a preconference workshop entitled ''Building the Library 472 College & Research Libraries Bridge from High School to College: Strat- egies for Teacher-Librarian Cooperation." Here, teachers and librarians working in small teams designed class-related library projects covering skills needed for college and lifelong learning. Chickasha Cooperative Bibliographic Instruction Project, Oklahoma The Chickasha Cooperative Biblio- graphic Instruction Project was carried out by a team of librarians representing the Chickasha Public Library, the Chickasha High School Library, and the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Li- brary. 6 The goal of the project was to make library users aware of the different library resources available to them in the Chick- asha area and to make participants in the program more effective library users. Instructional programs were presented to students and community groups. Sev- eral slide tape presentations and a work- book were prepared to assist in biblio- graphic instruction, and individual assistance was available during the pro- grams. Participants benefited from in- creased understanding of library use and resources, and the libraries benefited from increased communication among them- selves and greater public visibility. University of South Carolina, Aiken In the fall of 1979, librarians at the Uni- versity of South Carolina, Aiken held a half-day seminar for city and county pub- lic school librarians, teachers, and lan- guage coordinators. 7 Its focus was on ma- terials related to literature in the university library and joint, cooperative services that could be offered between the schools and the university. An outgrowth of this seminar was the establishment of a gifted child program. Each secondary school in the Aiken area can select twelve outstanding students to participate in an annual library enrich- ment project in which they receive a uni- versity library orientation, assistance in lo- cating materials, and charge-out privileges. In addition, university librari- ans provide guided tours and instruction to secondary school students upon the re- quest of classroom teachers. September 1986 University of Massachusetts, Amherst Also in 1979, a study of library instruc- tion programs in forty high schools was done by Joyce Merriam, reference librar- ian at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 8 The study found that school li- brarians attempted to provide at least min- imal amounts of library orientation and in- struction to students and that the typical high school program was almost identical to that presented to freshmen at the uni- versity. Teacher apathy toward integrat- ing library skills into classroom instruc- tion, fragmented library instruction given on a one-to-one basis, and lack of a formal, planned bibliographic instruction pro- gram were identified as problems. As a result of the study, Merriam recom- mended many changes in library instruc- tion at both levels. Among these recom- mendations were (1) librarians should teach students that the same skills can be used in various types of libraries, (2) teachers should be encouraged to inte- grate library exercises into their curricula, (3) schools of education should prepare prospective teachers for integrating li- brary skills into their classrooms, and (4) school and academic librarians should work together to help students make the transition from high school to academic li- braries. Another result of the study was a library instruction colloquium held in Amherst in June 1979. School and aca- demic librarians met to discuss problems, exchange ideas and samples of instruc- tional materials; and share knowledge. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville The University of Tennessee has initi- ated an active program of cooperation with fifteen high schools in Knoxville city and county. 9 A videotape introduction to the library is shown by the school librarian to students prior to their visit to the uni- versity library. Students may come to the library individually, and class groups with the accompanying teacher are encouraged to take advantage of the regular biblio- graphic instruction program. High school teachers and advanced placement stu- dents are entitled to free library cards. The service is heavily used and library staff are pleased that the books in demand by high school students do not necessarily parallel those needed by university students. In order to alleviate the problem of books not being returned promptly and to reduce library traffic, a demonstration project is being developed that will allow librarians from two high schools to dial di- rectly into and search the university li- brary's database. Items requested would be sent out to the library via a delivery sys- tem. Recently, a colloquium, entitled "Teachers and Librarians: Partners in Learning," was held which "brought to- gether high school and college librarians and teachers to discuss preparing high school students to use the academic li- brary and to be effective information con- sumers.10 State University of New York, Albany In New York there is statewide interest in cooperation among high school and university libraries. At SUNY, Albany, the university library has established poli- cies that encourage visitations from high school classes. 11 Teachers must arrange in advance for the class visits, and each stu- dent must have an assignment to com- plete. Upon arrival, a slide tape is shown that orients the students to the library; the bibliographic instruction coordinator then explains how to acsess library holdings. Librarians, including those from technical services, provide small-group tours of the building before the teacher and students begin work on assignments. Because of Building a Bridge 473 the enthusiastic response to this program, a half-day conference was held at SUNY, Albany, in 1984. Speakers shared their knowledge gained through several years of teaching college-bound seniors. In ad- dition, local high school librarians and teachers discussed the preparation of stu- dents for college work via assignments and field trips. THE FUTURE Although many library-related articula- tion projects currently exist, there is rela- tively little information about them in the library or education literature. Academic and school.librarians, working together as colleagues, need to continue developing programs and to publicize them. As an in- vestment in the future, academic librari- ans should also be working with students and faculty in teacher training programs to promote the importance of information-gathering skills and attitudes conducive to lifelong learning. The future of articulation between high school and college libraries is bright. In the pursuit of educational excellence there will be an increasing demand to provide better information-gathering skills and eliminate the need for remedial instruc- tion. Academic librarians have a responsi- bility to work with secondary schools to ensure that students are adequately pre- pared for the transition to college-level re- search. We should carefully consider our role in the articulation process and con- tinue to explore the many possibilities open to us . REFERENCES 1. Gene I. Maeroff, School and College: Partnerships in Education (Princeton, N.J.: The Carnegie Foun- dation for the Advancement of Teaching, 1983}, p.2; American Association for Higher Education, "High School/College Partnerships," Current Issu es in Higher Education Annual Series 1(1981); Alli- ance for Excellence: Librarians Respond to a Nation at Risk (Washington, D . C.: U .S. Dept. of Education, 1984). 2. Julius Menacker, From School to College: Articulation and Transfer (Washington, D.C.: American Council on Education, 1975), p.9. 3. Maeroff, p. viii. 4. Maeroff, p.3-5. 5. Barbara E. Kemp and Alice M. Spitzer, "Let's Connect: High School/University Cooperation in Bibliographic Instruction," Medium: Journal of the Washington Library Media Association 9:4-7 (Win- ter 1985). 474 College & Research Libraries September 1986 6. Charles R. McClure, Chickasha Cooperative Bibliographic Instruction Project: Final Evaluation (Stan- ford, Calif.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED 203 360, 1981). 7. Telephone conversation with Susan Hollfield, Univ. of South Carolina, Aiken, Library, June 13, 1985. 8. Joyce A. Merriam, "Helping Students Make the Transition: A Study," in Carolyn A. Kirkendall, ed., Teaching Library Use Competence: Bridging the Gap from High School to College . Papers presented at the Eleventh Annual Library Instruction Conference held at Eastern Michigan University, May 7-8, 1981 (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Pierian, 1982), p.1-12. 9. Telephone conversation wih Angie LeClercq, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Library, June 12, 1985. 10. LOEX News 13 no.1:8 (Spring 1986). 11. Telephone conversation with Jacquelyn Gavryck, bibliographic instruction coordinator at State University of New York, Albany, Library, June 12, 1985.