1985 Final Exams Questions

November 18, 1985

1. Recently, the Association of American Publishers repudiated a letter sent by one of its committees to the National Endowment for Democracy, a bipartisan agency funded by Congress that had complained that the books selected for the Moscow International Book Fair lacked ideological balance. Are libraries open to similar charges? Answer the question and defend your answer.

2. Summarize what is currently known or speculated about how people seek information. Discuss the implications of these findings for library services.

3. From the perspective of a library type of your choice (e.g., special academic, school, public, etc.) discuss what you feel such libraries must do over the next decade in order to play a central role in satisfying the information needs of the people they are intended to serve.

4. In the past ten years giant strides have been made in improved bibliographic control and enhanced bibliographic access. What is meant by each term and what developments have had an impact on bibliographic control and bibliographic access in library and information agencies?

5. What are the various patterns of library governance and structure in use today; and what are their implications for library administration and funding?

July 15, 1985

1. Identify and briefly describe three major innovative informa- tion products, services or systems which have been widely implemented by libraries over the last two decades or so. Discuss the impact each of these innovations have had on both libraries and users.

2. As the director you have been asked to develop a plan to provide more effective services to your constituents. Describe how you would go about developing the plan and indicate the elements which would be included in it.

3. Libraries have often been criticlied for lacking ideological balance. Are libraries and librarians value-neutral? Should they be? Discuss.

4. Identify and briefly describe the choices libraries currently have for fulfilling one of their primary responsibilities, that of providing users with physical access to needed documents and information resources.

5. From the perspective of a type of library (e.g., academic, special, public, school, etc.) discuss how you believe such libraries (and librarians) must change over the next decade in order to play a more central role in satisfying the information needs of the people they are intended to serve.

April 22, 1985

1. The year 1985 marks the end of the first decade in which library and information networks have played a dominant role in the delivery of services to all types of libraries. Describe the current status of network development and the trends in networks which will likely have an impact on library services in the next decade.

2. A recent ALA white paper insists that the objective of libraries must be to provide "users with free and ready access to all the information they need and desire." Experts in evaluation insist that such an objective is unmeasurable. Why? Given the problems in evaluation, distinguish between standards and measures of effective- ness as evaluation tools, and then provide your own analysis of how libraries might best improve their ability to evaluate services.

3. At its last annual meeting the California Library Association invited--and then disinvited--David McCalden to speak on his latest book, which denies the Holocaust. Part of the pressure to disinvite came from California politicians and the Jewish community. Identify your position on this action and incorporate a discussion of the profession's responsibility to provide (or not to provide) a forum for a view which runs contrary to conventional wisdom.

4. In the last two years, the arguments centering around "comparable worth" have begun to appear in the pages of our professional litera- ture. State your understanding of the issue and identify and refute or defend its validity for the library and information science profession.

5. In the early and mid 1980's, many libraries are replacing their card catalogs with online catalogs. The change is as much an adminis- trative one as one involving cataloging operations only. An efficient and effective transition requires careful planning. Choose a type of library or information agency which is contemplating such a change and draw up a plan for implementation. In your discussion consider aspects such as cost, facilities, and personnel and users.