1. Answer the question that is on the official
examination -- not the question you wish had been asked instead.
nor the question that some sixth sense told you to prepare for
-- and that is not on the list. In order to do this properly,
read over carefully the five questions given each day and take
a few minutes to decide which ones you are best prepared to answer.
2. The comprehensive questions are designed
to be broad in scope and to cut across narrow subject lines: it
may be that, in answering any one question, you must draw upon
materials drawn from several courses. If, for example, the question
deals with the nature of "professionalism" in librarianship.
you should indicate several areas in which the librarian is given
an opportunity to show that he/she is really a "professional".
Above all. do not single out one particular area and dwell on
that to the virtual exclusion of all other aspects of the problem.
The professional librarian, for example, in the selection process
must take into account aspects of censorship and intellectual
freedom -- but much, much more than that.
3. If there is a question involving a topic
about which you have strong personal feelings (and censorship
is a good example), take care not to be overly-emotional, perhaps
to the point of irrationality and incomprehensibility. You are
perfectly free to disagree with what faculty have said about,
e.g., the purposes of the American public library, the responsibility
of the public library to serve youngsters doing homework assignments
or their parents solving puzzles, or the vexing problems of censorship.
But what you may say must be factually sound, logically defensible,
and enunciated with civility toward those who hold other views.
Of course. if only facts are involved - names, dates. events,
etc. it is hardly possible to follow a personal line of thought.
4. Even if it means spending a bit of time
making a preliminary outline of your answer, see that it
is featured by unity, coherence, emphasis. logic, and proper
grammar, syntax, and spelling. The comprehensive examination
is supposed to give evidence not only of the acquisition
of a multiplicity of factual material - names, dates, expressions
of library philosophy, etc., but also of the ability
to synthesize these things and express this synthesis with
reasonable clarity and style.
5. In answering any question, it is always
an indication of real knowledge of the matter if you
are able to cite two or three books or articles with which
you are familiar that bear on the subject but only
if they are truly relevant.
6. Finally, and perhaps the most important
of all: do not dismiss a question in three or four blue
book pages. Even allowing for time to choose questions
on your strong points, and for the making of a brief outline
of your answer, you still have somewhat more than an hour to make
your presentation of each of the two questions. It is impossible
to lay down quantitative requirements, but I don't see
how a any single question can be answered in less than
one blue book, using both sides of the page and handwriting of
average dimensions. Don't resort to such devices as writing on
only one side of the page (or if you do, use two books),
extra-wide margins, spectacularly large writing or printing,
etc. This is not to say that you are to "pad" your
answers or use irrelevant "filler" material. When
you feel that you have fully answered the question, stop.
If the question seems trivial to you and deserving of a short
answer, remember that though it may have been formulated
by one faculty member, it was approved by the entire faculty
for inclusion.
