1. There always seems to be some confusion between the terms "cataloging" and "classification." Describe your understanding of each term and give the historical development of each.
2. Given shrinking budgets, escalating costs of library material acquisitions, and advances in information technology, a key issue for collection development has become access versus ownership. Librarians increasingly must make critical choices about which information resources to acquire and which resources to access through external information systems. Discuss how and on what basis librarians make these choices. Consider the wide range of options for access through document delivery, resource sharing, and networks. Give specific examples and show how each affects users locally, as well as the implications for access nationally and globally.
3. Compare and contrast the ways in which librarians, archivists, and records managers organize information. Describe the principles of organization used by each and how they are similar to or different from those used by the other professionals.
4. Assume that you have been selected to chair a committee to establish a materials selection policy for your library/information center. Describe how you would accomplish this task from selecting the committee through the adoption and implementation of the policy. You may choose a type of library or information center and answer the question from that perspective.
5. Since the adoption of the American Library Association's 1981 Statement on Professional Ethics, libraries and information agencies of all sorts have moved to an electronic environment of online databases and on demand information delivery services. Discuss the continuing validity of the provisions of the code in this changing information environment. Discuss which provisions should be retained or modified and whether some might be added or eliminated.
6. As more and more information is put into machine-readable form, access to electronic information has become an important part of reference services. Information professionals, especially the reference staff, are expected to be competent searchers of electronic information resources as well as good managers of on-line search services. Compare and contrast traditional reference services and on-line services, and discuss how both can be managed properly by one manager.
7. Some information professionals have argued that the selection of access points is no longer important for information organization and retrieval in the on-line environment. But others believe that careful selection and proper control of access points are critical for efficient information retrieval and remain two important steps in information organization. State your position on this controversy. Discuss why you hold this stance, and include numerous examples to illustrate your reasons. Be sure to consider how the selection and control of access points, or lack of them, affects both information organization and the information seeker.
8. Your library is currently analyzing the use of computers in both technical and reference services. Discuss what elements should be included in a plan for the evaluation of your current library computer systems that will provide a foundation for the development of future systems.
9. In 1908 Arthur Bostwick entitled his inaugural address as president of the American Library Association "The Librarian as Censor" and urged librarians to select material that was "good, true, and beautiful." How has the role of librarians changed since then? Discuss the current role of librarians as selectors of materials and the factors that determine whether or not material is added to collections in libraries and information agencies of various sorts.
10. Select five written works (books, articles, reports, studies, etc.) that have been influential in the information professions (librarianship, archives, information science, records management) Describe each work and its significance. Your choices do not have to be all of one type or all from one professional area.
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