1. In some libraries, functions such as reference and cataloging, previously performed by professionally trained librarians, are now being assigned to paraprofessionals. Advocates of this change argue that the master's degree is needed only by library managers. Discuss the pros and cons of such a shift and its possible implications for the profession.

2. Describe four significant events in the history of books, publishing, libraries, archives or librarianship. Discuss the significance of each event, including its impact, if any, on contemporary library or archival practice.

3. Librarians are being urged to cut back on the acquisition of printed materials and to provide electronic access. Describe the impact of this trend on the provision and evaluation of reference services and sources.

4. New technology creates new opportunities but generates new problems. From the following, select a specific area of library/information work: reference, collection development, technical services. Identify the kinds of technology that are affecting the area of work that you have selected. Then discuss opportunities that have been created by the technology, the problems that have been generated by the technology, and how these opportunities and problems have affected librarians and users.

5. Discuss the differences between digital libraries and traditional libraries in terms of the development, organization, and management of the collection and user services. Describe tools available to support these functions. Include the advantages and disadvantages of both types of libraries.

6. In a changing information environment, librarians have increasingly become advocates for their institutions and their profession. Discuss three issues that have required librarians to become advocates. Describe the ways in which librarians have sought to make the case for their point of view and how librarians might become more effective advocates.

7. Describe three standards that have had a long-lasting impact on information organization and services. In addition, discuss how information professionals and users are affected by these standards.

8. Assume you have been recently hired as librarian for outreach services, a newly created position, in a large public library system. Choose one user group in need of information, for example, new immigrants. Describe how you would develop a profile of pertinent characteristics of this population in order to "know the user." Then discuss how you identify the kinds of materials and services that best meet their needs.

9. Special collections, archives, and other repositories of unique materials face challenges as they prepare for the transition to electronic access. Discuss the technological, organizational, and economic challenges and opportunities of this transition.

10. Discuss how online databases, online catalogs, and the Internet differ in their content, their organization, their search options, and in their effect on end users.

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