1996 Final Exams Questions

• April
• July
• November

April 12, 1996

1. At a recent hearing in March 1996, the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Billington, summarized the need for a funding increase saying: 'The Library of Congress faces the extraordinary challenge of rapidly institutionalizing new electronic services while sustaining its traditional services....' Assuming that this is a challenge for all libraries in the present information environment, what are libraries doing to meet the challenge?

2. Not long ago, librarians noticed the appearance of Arthur Hafner's 'In Defense of the Great Books,' in the December, 1991, issue of American Libraries. Hafner, noting that while the 'revised' list of 'great books' does not include a single author of 'color,' and that while 'of the 60 new authors added, 56 are men," we should not conclude that the list is too narrow and that it fails to represent the contributions of women and minorities to Western culture. Urging librarians to continue their support and promotion of the Great Books, Hafner confidentially notes that the 'Great Books are humanity's great conversation about the most important questions of life.' Hafner's remarks simply reflect the library profession's long-standing commitment to "high culture.' Discuss the profession's high culture advocacy, and consider the implications of this commitment for the structure and function of libraries in America.

3. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has the potential to make the Information Superhighway a reality. In particular the Act provides for reduced rates for Internet access by libraries, schools and rural health care providers. However, the "Communications Decency' provisions of the new Act imply that any words or images on the Internet potentially thought to be 'indecent' may make users liable for prosecution. The American Library Association (and other parties) have filed suit against those portions of the Act. Why do you think ALA has elected to take this action? What do you believe are the implications of such a law would be for users of information networks?

4. From the perspective of a library of your choice (public, academic, special, school identify four important management problems or issues currently facing libraries of the type that you have selected. Discuss why these issues are important and how they are likely to be dealt with over the next decade.

5. Libraries have always been hailed as essential institutional supports for democracy; that is, library service is seen as a "public good." In what way does the idea of 'information-as-a-commodity" undermine this idea? If the idea of information-as-a-commodity becomes the accepted wisdom in the United States, what implications would this have for the development of national information policy? Finally, present your own arguments for or against the idea of library service as a "public good."

July 12, 1996

School of Library and Information Science, University of Kentucky. FINAL EXAMINATION for July 12, 1996.

Answer three of the following questions, allowing about 60 minutes for each. Answer each one in a separate exam booklet with the question number on the SUBJECT line of the exam booklet. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE EXAM BOOKLET ITSELF.

1. The ability to conduct computer-based searches using an uncontrolled vocabulary or indexing language (e.g., free text, natural language, keywords, hypertext) offers end-users of such systems both advantages and disadvantages. From the perspective of library clients who are the users of information retrieval systems, identify several important advantages and disadvantages of an uncontrolled language. What can the end-user do in developing search strategies and conducting searches on retrieval systems to minimize or eliminate the disadvantages that you have identified? What have some of the commercial vendors (e.g., DIALOG) done to counteract the disadvantages?

2. A major tenant of contemporary management is the concept of customer orientation as the primary focus for organizational actions and resource allocation decisions. What changes in philosophy, services, and resource allocation do libraries need to adopt in order to focus more directly on patrons or clients as customers of libraries?

3. The growth in number and type of information services available has changed the way the people use information and their expectations of information service providers. What would you say are some of the key changes in information services? How might changes in user expectations shape the products and services that libraries deliver?

4. Designers of a library's user education program (e.g., library or bibliographic instruction) face many challenges in a rapidly-changing environment. Choosing one library environment as an example (i.e., public, school, academic or special), discuss those challenges and describe your vision of a "user education program of the future."

5. Libraries have always been hailed as essential institutional supports for democracy; that is, library service is seen as a "public good." In what way does the idea of "information-as-a-commodity" undermine this idea? If the idea of information-as-a-commodity becomes the accepted wisdom in the United States, what implications would this have for the development of national information policy? Finally, present your own arguments for or against the idea of library service as a "public good."

November 22, 1996

School of Library and Information Science, University of Kentucky. FINAL EXAM for November 22, 1996.

Answer three of the following questions, allowing up to 60 minutes for each. Answer each one in a separate exam booklet with the question number on the Subject line of the exam booklet. DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON THE EXAM BOOKLET ITSELF.

1. Intellectual freedom is one of the core values of the library profession and of the American Library Association. Discuss the contents and use of the ALA's Library Bill of Rights and its "Interpretations." Also discuss what issues are being raised with its application to access to information on the Internet.

2. Document delivery (i.e. providing clients with physical access to needed documents) has been a primary function of libraries since their origin. Describe how document delivery methods have changed over the last 10 years and how they might change in the near future.

3. From the perspective of a library of your choice (public, school, academic, or special) identify 4 important issues in the area of human resources management. Discuss why these issues are important and how they are likely to be dealt with over the next decade.

4. The way people access information has fundamentally changed. As a result libraries also must fundamentally change the way they serve their customers. Identify and discuss the changes in library services that these new patterns of access dictate.

5. According to a recent study done by the Benton Foundation on the library and its role in the "Digital Age," the American public doesn't think the library will play an important part. Is this just an image problem, or is it that we need to change our approach to information services? Based upon your response, discuss what we should do to address the issue.