College and Research Libraries Introducing "College and Research Libraries11 Why Another Library Journalf IN RECENT years there has developed a growing need for a professional pe- riodical devoted to the interests of college and research libraries. T h e time has long passed when a single general library or- ganization and its official journal were adequate to meet the professional needs of college, university, and reference li- brarians. T h e problems confronting these librarians are too numerous, too complex, and too specialized to be dealt with ef- fectively either in a general convention or in a journal which seeks to address itself to the varied interests of all types of li- braries. Moreover, a crisis confronts higher education and research and the li- braries upon which they are dependent. The Crisis in Higher Education and Research In the Saturday Evening Post of No- vember I I , President Hutchins states that in higher education in America we have a host of unsolved problems: " I t is no exaggeration to say that we do not yet know how to organize a university or how to manage i t ; we do not know whom to teach, what to teach, or how to teach; we do not know the relation of education and research; we do not know what kind of education will strengthen the founda- tions of democracy. W e are unclear about our aims, and fumbling in our methods." Since educational and research libraries are, as a rule, integral parts of universities, these libraries are necessarily involved in their problems. T h e fact that they are involved is brought home with force in D r . Harvie Branscomb's recent study. A f t e r spending a year in investigating the educational effectiveness of the college li- brary, he presents data showing that in many colleges the majority of students make practically no use of the college library, and that there seems to be a lack of correlation between the grades received and library usage on the part of the stu- dents. If these two men were only half right, these facts should be of grave concern to those who are responsible for college and research libraries in America. T h e ques- tion is to what extent have their librarians perfected intellectual techniques or devel- oped sound principles and a body of funded knowledge for coping with the library's side of the educational and re- search problems about which Hutchins and Branscomb are concerned. W h a t have college and research librarians to offer as solutions of these problems after forty years of development? T o what extent have they attained professional status, judged by Abraham Flexner's cri- teria of a profession?1 A n d may we add, how essential is a professional journal in the building up of a profession? Is a Special Journal a Professional Necessity ? Flexner has given a convincing answer. He has laid down six criteria by which we 1 Flexner, Abraham, " I s Social Work a Profes- sion ? " Proceedings, National Conference of Chari- ties and Corrections. 1 9 1 5 , pp. 576-90. can determine to what extent a service is professional. H e maintains professions: ( i ) involve essentially intellectual opera- tions accompanied by large individual re- sponsibility; ( 2 ) are learned in character and require a steady stream of ideas and new guiding principles, emanating from research and experimentation; ( 3 ) derive their raw material from science and learn- ing, but use it for practical purposes; ( 4 ) possess a technique capable of communica- tion through a specialized educational dis- cipline ; ( 5 ) develop a group consciousness which expresses itself in an organization of the professional group, and ( 6 ) have as their fundamental purpose public service rather than personal profits. Further, Flexner maintains that one es- sential to the development of these char- acteristics in a profession is a medium of communication, and that to some extent the evolution of an activity toward pro- fessional status can be measured by the quality of the publication put forth in its name: A profession needs in these days a form of expression and record that is scientific. . . . A profession must find a dignified and criti- cal means of expressing itself in the form of a periodical which shall describe in careful terms whatever work is in progress; and it must from time to time register its more impressive performances in a literature of growing solidity and variety. It has been the absence of a profes- sional journal devoted specifically to the interests of college, university, and refer- ence libraries which no doubt accounts, to a large extent, for the lack of definitive literature dealing with these institutions. Despite the fact that we have a dozen university libraries with a million volumes or more, there is not a single definitive volume on university libraries. Such liter- ature as is helpful with reference to these libraries is scattered in numerous periodi- cal publications, pamphlets, library reports, and books. In fact, much of the most useful material is to be found in related fields such as business, public and per- sonnel administration, education, and re- search. One of the best services which this new journal can render is to integrate this literature and make it more accessible, for there is at present not a single pe- riodical service concerned with ferreting out, reviewing, abstracting, and indexing the scattered material that would be es- pecially helpful to college, university, and reference librarians. Moreover, the absence of an effective professional journal, voicing the needs and interests of college, university, and refer- ence librarians no doubt accounts in part for the lag in the development of a vigorous professional organization of the representatives of these libraries. It is significant that despite the fact that college librarians formed the first special section in the American Library Association forty years ago, they have not as yet achieved an adequate or influential professional or- ganization. Less than half of the librar- ians and staff members engaged in college and university library work are now mem- bers of the A . L . A . and less than one-eighth are members of the Association of College and Reference Libraries. Professionally the field of college, uni- versity, and large reference library work has not attained an adequate status: 1 . T h e literature lacks definition, is widely scattered and undeveloped. 2. Curriculums for training college and university librarians, departmental heads, and other specialists are only beginning to take shape and there is no general agree- ment on what should be their content. 3. These librarians do not have a pro- 8 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH L I B R A R I E S ' fessionally influential brotherhood or group organization among themselves. 4. N o r have they, as D r . Branscomb has pointed out, developed adequate work- ing relations with their faculties and research workers. In fact, they have di- vorced themselves from their faculties by being too concerned with technical rather than educational and research require- ments. 5. W e need more research and experi- mentation in the problems that confront college and research libraries. T h e r e is reason to believe that the new organization, the Association of College and Reference Libraries, will remedy this situation, especially when the report of the third Activities Committee of the Ameri- can Library Association is adopted. College and Research Libraries Organize for Action T h e movement, started in 1 9 3 6 to in- tegrate the efforts of librarians devoted to higher education and research, culminated in 1 9 3 8 in the reorganization of the Col- lege and Reference Section of the American Library Association and the formation of the Association of College and Reference Libraries—a section of the American Library Association. In this new association provision has been made for five subsections: college libraries, jun- ior college libraries, reference librarians, libraries of teacher-training institutions, and university libraries. T h e object of this reorganization by types of libraries is to bring about greater specialization and an organization of ac- tivities within homogeneous groups pos- sessing certain common problems and professional interests. It is hoped that these related specialized groups will ad- vance the standards of service in these li- braries, and will promote more effectively, the professional growth of those engaged in them. It is recognized by those who have been most concerned with the organization of the Association of College and Reference Libraries, as well as in the report of the third Activities Committee of the A . L . A . , that one of the prime necessities of this new association is a professional journal. Purposes of the Journal If the new journal of the association is to fulfil its mission as a professional pe- riodical, what should be its purposes? Tentatively it should: ( 1 ) serve as the official medium of communication between the association and its subsections and their members; ( 2 ) make available selected articles presented at conventions at which college and research librarians gather, and publish other professionally significant ar- ticles; ( 3 ) serve as a clearing house for educational, research, and library news of interest to college, university, and refer- ence librarians; ( 4 ) seek to bridge the gap between these librarians and the facul- ties, college administrators, and research workers whom they serve; ( 5 ) integrate efforts of college, university, and reference librarians with those of kindred groups such as educational and research agencies and learned societies; ( 6 ) review and ab- stract such books, pamphlets, and current periodical literature as would be of in- terest to the personnel of the A . C . R . L . ; ( 7 ) seek to stimulate research and ex- perimentation for the improvement of the service and publish the results, and ( 8 ) help to develop the A . C . R . L . into a strong and mature professional organization. It is too early to lay down fixed poli- cies and procedures. T i m e and experience must guide the Publications Committee. D EC EMBER, 1939 9 Nevertheless, in seeking to serve the pur- poses set forth above, the Publications Committee desires to make the journal a great cooperative enterprise—an integrat- ing agency. Members of the A . C . R . L . are urged to join in this enterprise, for at present, on the editorial side, the journal is entirely dependent upon voluntary help. Plans of cooperation with kindred groups and agencies and related journals are being worked out and will be an- nounced in future issues of the journal. Title T h e title College and Research Libraries was selected after considerable delibera- tion. M o r e than sixty leaders of the A . C . R . L . were consulted in circular let- ters. Of six titles considered by this group, this title seemed most appropriate, for it is short and accurately describes the types of libraries with which the A . C . R . L . is concerned. T h r e e of the constituent subsections of the Association are college libraries. A s for the other two, in the strict sense of the word "university" stands for research, hence the logic of using the term "research libraries" in the title. T h i s phase of the title is equally inclusive of the interests of the Reference Librarians Subsection, for the large reference libraries and the reference departments of the large public libraries are primarily devoted to research. Subscriptions It is planned that the subscription price of the new journal will be $2 to A . C . R . L . members and $ 3 to nonmembers, libraries, and other agencies. Subscriptions can and should be placed now for the question as to how good a journal we shall have will hinge largely upon means with which to meet the publication costs. Address sub- scriptions to the American Library Asso- ciation, 5 2 0 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. In this connection it is appropriate to emphasize that the time has now come when heads of college, university, and ref- erence libraries can and should take a vigorous stand urging members of their staffs, who aspire to work on the profes- sional level, to become members of the A . L . A . and the A . C . R . L . T h e A . C . R . L . can become the hope of our profession, i.e., speaking from the standpoint of college, university, and reference libraries, but only if we have a vital and a vigorous pro- gram in which a large membership par- ticipates. A . F . K U H L M A N 10 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH L I B R A R I E S '