/9

The lmpoct of Aulomotionon Job Requiremenls ondQuolificotions for Cotologersond Reference Librorionsin Acodemic Librqries

Hong Xu

The purpose of thls study is to trace the impact of trutomation on jobrequirements and quaffications of catalogers and reference librariuns inacad.emic libraries by comparing and analyzing job adoertisements from1977 to 1990. Four periods uere identified to reJlect the influence of eachimportant library automation deaelopment on job descriptions Chi-squaretests uere used to see whether there are significant differences bettoeencataloglibrarians and reference librari.ans uith regartlto duties and. quuli-

ficutions in each period; and whether there u.re signiticunt differences inprofessional duties ancl qualifications for catalog librarians and referencelibrarians ooer the period*. With the deoelopment of automation in libraries,the requirements of preoious uork experiences for catalogers and referenceIibrarians haoe becom.e more similar, increasing needs for computer skillscun be found in both groups, and a shortage of catalo gers und greater demand

for reference Librarians hru.te led to nrnre entry-leoel positiorL, being Ttostedin both groups. Thare still remoin clifferences between catalogers and refer-ence libruriuns in mnjor responsibilities and knouledge or skills needed.

to the collections, the rel'erence unit has years, although Miller once noted thatbeen more concerned with the retrieval :'the catalog ind rel'erence departmentsand transfer of infbrmation required by have been called the 'siamese twins' ofthe library user. It is sometimes said that library work" (193f , p. 169).catalogers"liketoworkwithbooks"while Since the 1970s, as more and more

HoNc Xu is a Ph D. candidate at the Graduate School of Library and In{brmation Science,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (hongxu@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu). The critical and veryvaluable comments of Prof'essor Brett Sutton are gratelully acknowledged. Pro{'essor F. W.Lancaster guided and encouraged me throughout this research. Manuscript received April 29,1995; revised August 21, 1995; accepted lbr publication September 11, f995.

'J"0/ LRTS . 40(1) . )(u

technological innovations have been in-troduced- in libraries, more and moremembers of the library st#f have beenrequired to participate in library automa-tion activities. For example, catalogersand re{'erence librarians have been in-volved in designing, organizing, and usingonline catalogs. With the implementationol user-friendly online catalogs and theavailability of infbrmation in CD-ROMfbrmat, the roles of ref'erence librarians

There is a general agreement that bib-liographic utilities and computer data-bases have allowed duties once nerfbrmedhy prof'essional catalogers and- relerencelibrarians (suclr as copy cataloging andready ref'erence) to be eiecuted at a'lowerorganizational level. The new technologyhas also led to an increasins need lbr cata-logers and ref'erence libiarians to haveboth computer skills and administrativeexDenence.

An analysis ofjob descriptions fbr cata-logers and ref'erence librarians over sev-eral years might indicate the pace of Ii-brery automation. Job advertisementsrellect current rrriorities and the desiresof employers afcertain times under cer-tain social conditions. A qryical adveftise-rnent describes the position and enumer-ates the required lluali{ications. Somenotices also include pref'erred or desirablere<luirements. Therefbre, such advertise-ments might be an indicator of changing

*fr *, resporrsibilities in the prof'es-

Ru,spect to Cuhure un,tl Original Nah.tre(1922), rnight he the ma.jor reason. Og-burn stated that normative and social re-lationship changes cannot occur instanta-neously to keep pace with technological

innovation.s; in {'act they might changevery slowly. Because technological changeresults fiom new combinations of existingtechnology, the larger the technicalknowledge-base ofsociety, the greater thepossibility lbr new combinations, or tech-nological innovations. There{bre techno-logical change (material cultural change)tends to grow exponentiaily. Nonmateiialculture adapts to material culture, whichmeans that methods, processes, and or-ganizational structures for using and con-trolling new technology are developed #'-ter the acceptance ol'any new technirlue.In librarianship, budget limitations andthe limited human capacity to absorb andadapt to change (Shreeves 1994) {urtherliustrate the timely evolution of require-ments and duties of prof'essionals.

One rnight {ind, fbr instance, that enduser online searching and the introduc-tion o{ CD-ROM sysiems in academic li-braries during the 1980s not only changeduser exrrectations lbr ref'erence servicesbut also changed the way re{'erence li-brarians pe#brm their jobs. However, re-rluirements concerning the knowledge ofsuch relevant skills did not immediatelyappear in job advertisements. Similarly,the advent ol the Internet in the I990s willcertainly challenge academic library serv-ices and other aspects oI'librarians'roles.However, because "there is a fundamentaldill'erence in the nature of the networkedinformation retrieval tools and the auto-mated systems that have been designedfbr library use" (Summerhill 1994, 143),refbrence services lbr Internet resourceshave not yet been provided by academicIibraries, leading one to expect that jobadvertisements would not yet show thein{luence of the Internet.

This study, then, is an attempt to tracethe impact of automation on the job re-rluirements and qualilications of catalog-ers and re{'erence librarians in academiclibraries by comparing and analyzing jobadvertisements from 1971 to lgg0.

BAcKGRoUND

Many writers have described and pre-dicted the shi{ts in library organizationalstructure, personnel duties, collection de-

LRTS r 40(1) o The lmpact of Automtttion /lI

velopment expenditures, and user expec-tations fbr library services (Nofisinger andBosch 1994) that have been brought aboutby automation. A lively discussion of theimpact of automation on cataloging andre{'erence work in academic libraries hasappeared in library literature since the1970s, and can be desc.ribed undel threesubheadings' (1) impact on catalog librari-ans; (2) irnpact on refbrence librarian.s;and (3) the relationship between catalogand rel'erence librarian.s in a continuouslvchanging environment.

IMPACT oN CATALOG LtuneRreNs

impact on technical services stafl andjobs.There is ageneral perception that "origi-

nal" cataloging departments have shrunk;thu.s automation has brought about achange in both stall'size and composition.

The earliest studies on the impact ofbibliographic utilities date lrom the mid-1970s. Hewitt (1976,274) {bundthat 637oof the 47 charter OCLC member librarieshad reduced cataloging stafl, with a totalof 76.83 net positions dropped. He con-cluded that "the majority of libraries ade-quately stafl'ed prior to use o{'the systemshould {ind it nossible to decrease the sizeof cataloging fdepartm ents]. "

Since their introduction in the 1970s,bibliographic utilities .such a.s OCLC andthe Research Libraries Inlbrmation Net-work (RLIN) have played a major role inprovidingvarious kinds of automated sup-port {br the processing activities requiredby libraries. Spyers-Duran (f979, 35)showed that, in many libraries, 807o togOVo of all cataloging was per{brmed bynonprof'essional sta{T with the aid of auto-mation. An obvious conclusion was thatshared cataloging had reduced the need{br prol'e.ssional cataloging in a given li-brary.

In many re.search libraries, there isnow much less original cataloging activitytakingplace. For example, Mandel (f992)showed that only 20Vo of the total catalog-

ing output of an Association of ResearchLibraries (ARL) member university li-brary in 1989 was original cataloging.

Howeve., Hill (I985) and Callahan andMacleod (1994) both pointed out thatpessimistic writings and negative attitudes-irn the luture c,l c"ataloging and other I'ac-tors conveyed the impre.ssion that catalog-ing was an unattractive occupation andthat this created a ma.ior problem in tind-ing well-quali{ied catalogers. By 1985there was a cataloqer crisis, which led tothe lbrmation of i task {brce within theCataloging and Classi{ication Section(CCS) of the Association {br Library Col-Iections and Technical Serwices (ALCTS).

more di{Iicult than it had been three tcr

need {br database maintenance routineswithin a catalog department. The imple-mentation of online catalogs in libraries

and knowledge of how to organize, re-trieve, and display inlbrmation has grown(Eaton f989, 331). McCombs (1986) pre-dicted that the cataloger of the {uture ismore likelyto be a database manager, withvarying responsibilities within the librarylsbibiiograp6ic control system. In additionto the traditional cataloging knowledge,sta1T training, and supewisory skills cata-

12/ LRTS . 40(1) . )Q"t

Iogers need, they will also need knowl-edge o1' planning, designing, coordinating,and systems analysis and relevant com-puter applications (Hill 1988, 97-98;Bisholf 1989. 41-42).

Ivpecr oN REFERENCE LIBMRTANS

One ol'the most critical trends in librarieshas been the shili {iom the library-cen-tered organization (with public, technical,and administration serwices as the ba-sicstructural divisions) to organizationalstructures bnsed unon client-c.entered di-visions aimed at

-language, subject, or

audience groups (Intnei tggt). thischange implies an increasing demand fbrref'erence librarians because rel'erenceservice has become a maior and essentialpart ofpublic service. Traditionally, cir-culation ancl interlibrary loan also be-longed to publ ic service, but computerand telecomrnunication technologieshave brought those two activities intolhearea of more technically oriented servicesperlbrmed by paraprofbssionals. On theother hand, every time that the libraryincreases accessibility to inlbrmation, newconstituencies are created along with newdemands lbr public service st;lling (At-kinson 1984; Williams 1991).

The first significant move toward auto-mation in re{'erence service can be tracedto the introduction of online searching ofcommercierl databases through venclo.slike DIALOG and BRS. ln academic rel'-erence work, widespread use occurred inthe late I970s and early 1980s. Most aca-demic refbrence ]ibrarians have been ac-cessing bibliographic databases viaOCLC, DIALOG, and BRS {br a rreriodof about twenW years. Other dat'abasesthat were developed later (lbr example, onCD-ROM) ofl'er difl'erent infbrmationand require difl'erent use protocols orhave unique I'eatures that must be under-stood to maximize efI'ective use. More-ovet new database.s eue emerging eachmonth. Hallman (1990) andCrane (1990)liave pointed out that, as a result, ref'er-ence librarians now need a thorough un-derstanding ol' electronic inlirrmati<-rntechnology.

Constant change in technologies alsomeans that demand lbr instruction in theuse of library resources and services willcontinue to grow (Lewis 1994, 448). Theimplementation of user-fiiendly onlinecatalogs in the early 1980s brought aboutan increased need firr user training andsuppt-rrt. The real bleakthrough in enduser searching came in the mid-1980swith the introduction of ontical disc tech-nology into the searching

^environment-

CD-ROM searchins. In 1988 OCLC sur-veyed its participiting members andIbund that seven out ol 'eicht academiclibraries 84Vd ha,J. at least t-rne CD-ROMproduct (Morrison 1990). Reese (1990)pointed out that implementing CD-ROMmeant a change in the fbcus of re{'erenceservice. Many libraries have made end

ljfi:::""--n an integral part of library

With the increasing use ol'optical discand other new technologies, a major rt-rleof the re{'erence librarian is as teacher,consultant, and organizer (Boss Ig87;Reese 1990; Faries 1994). Because an-swering routine ref'erence questions andother traditional work will olten be doneby paraprolessionals, re{erence work willrequire more than traditional directionaland infbrmational assistance. Ref'erencelibrarians not only have to learn the newprinted re{'erence sources, they must alsobecome technological experts in order tostay on top of the constantly changingdevelopments in the {ield (Huang 1990).Crane (1990) pointed out that rel'erencelibrarians should have strong backgroundsin infbrmation resource management aswell as broad general academic creden-tials. Lewis (19-94) stated that subiect ex-pertise and liaison with a wide ringe ol'clients will become the unilying thread ofrel'erence work.

Tur RSLAToNSHIP BETwEEN CATALocAND REFERENCE LIBRARIANS

With the involvement of new technolorliesin rel'erence services as well as in cata.log-ing, the assirnilation ol'relerence and cati-log librarians was highhghted.

LRTS . 40(1) o Thelmpactof Automution /I3

Arret (1979) was among the Iirst toemphasize the importance ol' integratingcataloging and ref'erence services. He sug-sested the need fbr a {lexible and inte-

frated sta{Iing pattern to match the capa-bilities of an automation system. Ifref'erence librarians cannot understandthe tools of catalogers (e.g., Anglo-Ameri.-cun Catcloguing Rules, second editionIAAC P,21, Machine-Readable Cataloging[MARC], or Library of Congress Subje;tHeudings [LCSH]) or if catalogers do notunderstand the "real-world" reouests andproblems of users, then the online catalogcannot serue users e{I'ectively (Walbridge199f ). McCombs (f 986), Cochrane(f983), and Futas (1988) all suggestedthat re{'erence librarians should take oartin online catalog design and improve-ment. Neal (1989) stated that catalog li-brarians involved in relerence servicescan provide efl'ective public service be-cause of their knowledge of bibliographicutilities. Eaton (1989) believes that theimplementation of online catalogs in li-hraries rerluires that catalogers workclosely with systems librarians and publicservice librarians to determine snecifica-tions between the cataloging and- author-ity subsystems and the online catalogbecause cataloging practice has repercus-sions in online catalog displays.

With libraries changing lrom library-centered orpanizations to client-centereddivisions, and with the chanqe in attitudelnrm ownership to acres.s, tlie di.stinctionbetween technical services and publicserwices is blurring (McCombs 198b) anda new kind ol'librarian-the holistic li-brarian-is evolving, with the roles o{'cataloging and ref'erence services merged.

According to Gorman (1983), the term"holistic librarian" re{'ers to librarians whowill carry out the whole range ol prof'e.s-sional duties, includinq selection and col-lection development,

--rel'erence serwice,

original cataloging, and bibliographicservices. The holistic model nrovides theopportunity to increase thC number ol'librarians who work directly with patrons(Clalk and Bingham 1989). Althoughtrulyholistic librarians might not be suitable Iorall kinds of academic libraries. this idea

typi{ies the integration of catalog and reI'-erence librarians.

MEruoporocv

Several studies based on iob advertise-ments have been conducted in recentyears. The major purpose or {bcus ofthese, however, has been an analysi.s of thejob market and predictions of possiblerecruitment trends in the library and in-{brmation lield.

Block (1980) conducted an academiclibrary job market study using a positionsannouncement file maintained by theGraduate School of Libnrry and In{brma-tion Science of the University of Texas atAustin. Block examined the charac-teristics of library positions based uponadvertised requirements, providing somedata relevant to making career decisions,to hiring, and to deiigning curricula.Block {bund that the academic library iobmarket was dominated by rather tritli-tional per.sonnel Iunctions and positionoII'erings (with cataloging and ref'erencecomprising nearly half of the total).

In another academic library iob con-tent analysis, Reser ond Si'liuneman(1992) compared public and technicalservices, with regard to computer skills,{breignJanguage requirements, previouswork experience, educational require-ments, and minimum salary o{I'ered to re-Ilect the situation of the iob market inJ 988. They concluded that iechnical .serv-ices position advertisements requiredmore computer skills and previous workexoerience and were more than twice aslik-ely to require fbreignJanguage skills.Public sewices candidates. on the otherhand, were expected to have more ad-vanced deqrees-. It should be noted, how-ever, that one citn obtain only limited dataIrom this study because very rough cate-gories were used (e.g., computer skillswere divided into "not stated," "pre-ferred," and "required") and because ad-vertisements lbr only one year were ana-Iyzed.

The irnpact of autornation on prof'es-sional catalogers in dill'erent types of li-braries was examined by Furuta (1990),

L4/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

who analyzed job advertisements {rom1970 to 1989. Based on pure descriptivestatistics about the number of catalogersposted each year, the percentage oflobsle<luiring aut()mation, nonadministrativejobs with superuisory responsibilities, andnonadministrative jobs with noncatakr-ging duties, Furuta reached the {trlkrwingconclusions: the data neither supportednor reiected the assertion that automationhad reduced the need lbr catalogers; themaioritv r.rl' advertisements mentionedu,rforrratiorr; the {uture ol prof'essionalcatalogers might not lie in an administra-tive role; and the "holistic" librarian mightnot constitute a trend in libraries Becausethe data the author chose to present rep-resented difl'erent types of libraries, andbecause only descriptive statistics wereused, the conclusions might not be accu-rate fbr academic libraries.

The data used in the nresent studvwere drawn fr<>m Am.ericTtn Librariei.This iournal was chosen because it has awide circulation and appears to be thetraditional place to adveftise academic li-brary job openings. Job advertisementsabout cataloqers and rel'erence librariansin academic-iibraries fiom l97l to 1990were the raw material lbr analysis. Thisrange of yeius was selected in order to ac-count {br the impact of bibliographic utili-ties in cataloging departments, as well as theimpact of the CD-ROM end user searchingservice on ref'erence depadrnents.

A random sarnple oT {brty issues (tw<rrandom issues per year) was drawn liom1971 to 1990. Due to seasonal {luctua-tions, certain issues had more job postingsand other issues had fewer. However, thisshould not have a{I'ected the statisticalre.sults of the study because random sam-pling should maximize the infbrmationobtained or minimize the bouncl on theerror of estimation (Schea{I'er et al. 1986,79-80). Only {ull-time positions were re-corded, including temporary positions ifthe contract period was at least ninemonths. The t;pe oflob could sometimesbe discerned by its title (catalog librarian,assistant reference librarian, lbr exam-ple), but when the title was vague a typewas identilied by examining the responsi-bilities or duties listed.

The sample was stratified by dividingit into fbur rreriods in order to trace theinfluence of'each important library auto-mation development on job require-ments: l97l-1975, 1976-1980, l98l-1985, 1986-1990 The periods chosenwere evenly spaced to rellect {luctuationsin the iob meuket and to indicate whencertain changes began to appear. Exten-sive use ol OCLC lrom the mid-1970smisht have been the first indicator to dis-tinguish traditional cataloging activityfiom computer-supported bibliographicactivity; online catalogs {irrm the begin-ning o{'the 1980s might have been an-other important movement to bring aboutchanges in technical and public services;and, then, CD-ROM has had a major im-pact on librarv services since 1985. Theibllowing components (or variables) weregrouped: subject knowledge in other aca-demic disciplines, work experience, com-puter skills, administrative responsibili-ties, and other skills. A{'ter all of the datawere accumulated, they were coded sothat the Statistical Analysis System (SAS)could be used to analyze the coded clataand to provide the descriptive and in{'er-entizrl statistics.

Based on previous .studies on catalog-ers and ref'erence librarians and on thecontents of advertisements, the lbllowingspecilic research questions were {brmu-lated:

1. Are there any significant difl'erencesbetween catalog librarians and ref'er-ence librarians with regard to subjectknowledge, work experience, com-puter skills, administrative responsi-bilities, and other skills in each pe-riod?

2. Are there any signi{icant di{I'erencesin subject knowledge, work experi-ence, computer skills, administrativeresponsibilities, and other skills fbrcataloq or rel'erence librarians overthe pe-riods?Accordingly, two major hypotheses

were to be tested:l. There are signilicant di{I'erences be-

tween catalog librarians and ref'er-ence librarian.s with regard to duties(responsibilities) and rlualitications(or requirements) in each period.

LRTS o 40(1) o The Impoct of Automation /I5

2. There are signi{icant dilI'erences inprol'essional duties (or responsibili-ties) and quali{ications (or require-ments) I'or catalog or re{erence li-brarians over the periods.

Rnsurts AND ANALYsTs

The number of positions fbr catalog andrelerence librarians over the twentv vearsand the number ot'listings that asked tbrdifl'erent rerluirernents and responsibili-ties are shown in tables I and 2. As can beseen, 574 postings were announced inlirrty issues. The overall demand for ref-elence libralians was slightly higher thanthat Ibr catalo{ers (over 547o of the totalpostings were fbr re{'erence). The numberoI' postings lor catalog librarians wa^ssomewhat higher than the number- Ibr ref'-erence librarians in the first period. butajter 1976 the demand lbr- the latterjumped {rom five in 1976 to twenty-{ive in1980. Since 1988 the demand {br re{er-ence librarian.s has been.steady, while thedemand {br cataloqers ha^s continued torise. However, the ibsolute number is stillIower than that f<rr re{'erence librarians.

While the wide implementation ofOCLC and, later, RLIN and other utilitiesmight have caused a temporary surplus ofcatalogers, online catalogs have createdthe need lor cooneration between cata-logers and re{'ereice librarians. Thus thenumber <lf cataloger postings increasedimmediately #ter 1981. The applicationof CD-ROM, on the other hand, mightcreate an increasing demand lbr reler-ence librarians.

According to Bishoff (1989, 40-42),there were dramatic increase.s in the num-ber of libraries during the mid-1970s,which resulted in an increasinq need fbrcatalogers By 1975, hecause r>f economicnnd technical {hctors, libraries requiredf'ewer catalogers. The adoption o1'6iblio-graphic services such as OCLC, WLN,and RLIN, together with the influence ofeconomic {'actor.s, reduced the demand lbrprolessional catalog librarians. This mightnot be consistent with the present lindingsbut, as Furuta (1990) pointed out, the rela-tive lack of advertisements during the 1970smakes it ditlicult to track the real nicture at

that time. The example given by Furutashows that there were 3,467 known place-ments 1'or all kinds o1' libraries, o{'which2,344 were profe.ssional po.sitions. How-ever, the data fiom her study result in only102 nonadministrative postings. It is obvi-ous that there were many more vacantpositions in the 1970s than the datawouldsuggest (Furuta f990, 245).

The Library Statistics {br Colleges andUniversities by the National Center {brEducational Statistics (NCES) from1970-71 to 1987-88 show that the num-ber of librarians increased very slightlyover the years, remaining relatively steadyuntil 1984-85, when there was a larqetlnrp in the total number ot'librarians tbl-lowed by a great upward trend in 1987-88. Cooper (1984, 345) claims that re-placement demand, which i.s the numberof iobs that will be created as a result ol'individuals retiring or leaving their pres-ent positions, is the dominant source o{'new jobs, while expansion demand, whichi.s the number of iobs created as a result ofgrowth in the field, is a small fraction ofthe total. Ifautomation leads to the reduc-tion o{'cataloging positions, a lzrge pro-portion of the postings {br catalogerswould be lbr renlacement rather than ex-pansion p,lrpctses. More expansion posi-tions misht occur in ref'erence and othernublic services. The data collected heredo not show the recruitment type. How-ever, based on the sample data, thereseem to be slightly {'ewer?'ataloging posi-tions advertised than rel'erence positions.There ha^s been an increa*se in both, nl-though the {unctions and responsibilitiesof each job might have changed with thedevelopment of automation in academiclibraries. This trend is reflected moreclearly in {igures I and 2.

SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE IN OTHERACADEMIC DISCIPLINES

Since the Association of College and Re-search Librarie.s' (ACRL) board of direc-tors set it as the basic educational require-ment firr academic librarians,

- the

American Library Association-accreditedMaster of Library Science (M.L.S.) hasgradually become the universal standard

16/ LRTS . 40(D . Xtt,

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18/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

Y"'

Figure l. NrrmLer ofcatalog and relerence librarians advertised (197f-90)

1971 19n 1975 1976 19n

Ysr

Figure 2. Statistics of academic libraries (197 0n I-87 /88)

requirement lbr librarian positions.There{bre, it is not use{ul to anallze theprolessional education requirements fbrcatalog and ref'erence librarians. How-ever, ;bject background knowledge was

consiclered an imDortant element t<l useto compare the requirements {br catalogand relerence librarians Subject back-ground knowledge was grouped into thelbllowing categories: seconcl masters de-

71

LRTS o 40(1) o The lmPact of Automation /19

that many more relerence services posi-tion.s include a comDonent of book selec-tion or collection dbvelopment in a spe-cific subject area. Statistically signilicantdifl'erences between catalog and ref'er-ence librarians in the {irst

"period (at plevel) and in the other three periods (at plevel) were {bund when considering re-quirement or pre{erence lbr subject back-grc,und (see tables 3A-3D). Over half ofihe re{'erence positions required subiectspecializations, wherea^s very {'ew cata-

requirement o1' subject background lbrboth: 697o in the thiid period ind 54Vo in

the lirur periods (see tables 4A-4B). In-creasing demand lbr ref'erence librarians

TABLE 3A

SUBIECT BecTCnOUUP REQUIRED DURING I97I_75

2nd Master General Stated Not MentioDed Total

VaNo o/o No o/o No o/o N o

Catalog librarians

Relerence librarians

Total

3

8

I 1

z

t)

8

L71

zz

2I

43

I3.6438.r025.58

9 0 9

2 6 D t

18.60

77.27

33 33

55 81

51. 16

48 84

100.00

X2=8 4zt, df=Z,7t={) }Ls

TABLE 38

SuBJECT BacrcnouNp REQUIRED DURING 1976-80

2nd Master

No o/o

Geueral Stated Not Mentioned

No 7o No o/o

Total

T14re

Catalog librarians

ReI'erence librarians

Total

6 13.95

32 50.00

38 35 51

6

L3

I9

13.95

20 31

r / . / o

3t 72.09 43 40.19

19 29.69 64 59 81

50 46.73 107 100.00

xe=tg 893, rlf=z,!t=o oo0

TABLE 3C

SuBIECT BACKGRouND Rrqutnro DURING 1981-85

2nd Master

No o/o

General Stated Not Mentioned

No 7o No o/o No o/o

Catalog librarians I0

Ref'erencelibrarians 34

Total 44

12 99

47.22

29.53

1 a o

22.22

1477

6

16

22

61 79 22 77 5r.68

22 30 56 72 48.32

83 55.70 r49 100.00

x2=35 834, df=z, p=o ooo

20/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

TABLE 3D

Suu;rcr BecrcnouNo Rnqurnno DURTNG 19g6-90

2nd Master General Stated Not Mentioned

7o No Vo No o/o No o/o

Catalog librarians

Relerence librarians

Total

I 7 50 8 6 67 103 85.8355 35 48 29 18j7 7r 45 8164 23.27 37 13.45 t74 63 27

r20lDi)

z t J

43 64

D O . J O

100.00

x2=47 .L76, rlf=2, p={) 000

and the shortage of catalogers, whichbrought about more entryJwel positionopenings, might be the major reaion.

WoRr ExpnnrsNce

three years or more; at lea^st {ive years or

TABLE 4ASur;ecr Becrcnouuo REeUTRED FoR cArALoc LrsRAnrA,Ns ovER FouR ponroos

L97t_75

Subject No o/o1986-90 Total1976-80

No o/o

I98t-85

No 7o No

3 1 3 6 4

Generaistated 2 909

N<rt mentioned 17 77 27

Tirtal

2nd master 6 13.95

6 1 3 9 5

31 7209

43 16 41

10 19.99

7 7 7 9

61 79.22

77 29.3922 840

I

8

103

I20

7.50

t ) t ) /

85.83

45.80

28

22

2r2

262

10.69

8.40

80 92

100.00x2=5 ozL, df=6, p=o s4r

TABLE 4Bsunlecr BACKGROUND Regurnro FoR REFERENCE LTBRARTANS ovER FouR penrops

t97I-75 1976-E0 1986-90 TotalI981-85

No o/o

21 6.73

No No o/o No o/o No o/o

2nd master B 38.10General stated 6 2857

Not mentioned 7 33 33

Tirtal

3213I9

64

50.00

20.31

29 69

20.51

34 47.22

t6 2222

22 30.56

72 23 08

55 25.48

29 r87L

71 458r

155 49 68

I29

64

I l 9

3L2

41.35

20 51

38.r4

100.00x2 =8 gI7, tlf =6, 1t =0 L7 S

LRTS o 40(1) . The Impact of Automation /27

TABLE 5A

Wonx ExTBnIENCE REeUIRED FoR Caraloc LrnRantaNs ovsn Foun pERroDS

r97I-75

No 7o

1976-80

No o/o

l98l+5

No o/o

1986-90

No VoWork E

Not state&prerer I

Required 6

I year or more 2

3 years or more 4

5 years or more 3

Total 22

37.21 38

18.60 6

23.26 14

16.28 12

4.65 7

16.41 77

49.35 62

7.79 12

18 18 29

15.58 11

9.09 6

29.39 r20

57.67 r2s 46 9510.00 32 r2.2r24.17 55 20.999.17 34 12.985 00 2r8 6.87

45.80 262 100.00

3r.82

27 27

9.09

I8.18

13 64

8.40

I6

8

IO

7

2

43

x2=17 8or, tlf=tl, p=0 L22

TABLE 58

Wonr ExpnRTENCE REeUIRED FoR RnrsnnNce Lrgne.nre,Ns ovER FouR psntoos

L97r-75 1976-80 r98l_85

Wo* Experience No 7o No 7o No Vo

1986-90 Total

No o/o No ok

Not statecl/preler 10

Rerluired 4

1 year or more 2

3 years or more 3

5 years or more 2

Tkrtal 2l

47.62 3I

1 9 0 5 4

9 5 2 6

14.29 13

9.52 10

673 64

48 44 39

625 4

9.38 13

203r L2

15.63 4

20 51 72

5417 84

D . D D I D

18.06 32l o . o / t o

b b t l d

23.08 r55

54 19 164 5256

9.68 27 8 65

20.65 53 16 99

10.32 44 14 10

5 16 24 7.69

49.68 312 100.00

x2=L9 2s7, df=Lz, p=0 052

32Vo in the first period to 527o in thefburth period; the comparable increaselbr re{'erence positions was 48Vo to 54%o.The percentage ofiobs re(luiring or pre-terring longer work experience (e.g.,"three yeius or more," "live years ormore") has decreased. The f'act that moreentry-level positions were available overthe years shir*s an increasing demantl inboth areas.

In tables 6A, 6C, and 6D we find thatthere are no signi{icant di{I'erences be-

plained that the complex rules involved in

cataloging require that more time bespent training a cataloger than training abeginning re{'erence librarian. It is eco-nomic and efl'ective to seek catalogerswith solid work experience. In the seclondperiod under study, the ref'erence posi-tions were more likely than the catalogingpositions to require {ive years or more ofexperience, and the dill'erences are sig-nificant at the p level (table 68). This isprobably due to the {act that more of there{'erence librarian positions in the secondperiod involved administrative responsi-bilitie.s.

CoMpursn Srrlr,s

As autornation is becoming more perva-sive in Iibraty services, the degree t<rwhich institutions advertise {irr librarians

22/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

TABLE 6A

Wonr ExpenrENcE REoUIRED DURING 1971-75

Not Statedor Preter

No 7o

Cat librarians 7 3L82

Re{. librarizrns 10 47.62

Tbtal 17 39 53

Rerluired

No 4o

6 27.27

4 19.05

l0 23.26

I Yearor More

No o/o

2 9 0 9

2 952

4 9.30

3 Yearsor More

No o/o

4 18 .18

3 L429

7 16.28

5 Yearsor More

No. o/o N<r o/o

3 13.63

2 952

5 11 .63

222l43

51 16

4884

Im 00

x2 =L 250, df=4,T=o 870

TABLE 68

WORK EXPERIENCE REQUIRED DURING I976-80

Type

Not Stated orPrelbr

No o/o

I Year 3 YearsRequired or More or Mor e

No 7o No % No o/o

5 Yearsor More Total

No o/o No Va

Cat.librarians

Re{.Iibrarians 31 48.44 4 6.25 6 9.38 13 20.31 l0 15 63 64

Total 47 49.93 12 l1 2I 16 14.95 20 18 69 1"2 11 21 107

16 37.21 8 18,60 I0 23.26 7 16 28 2 4.65 43 40 19

59 8l

100 00

x2=r0 538, df=4, P=O 032

TABLE 6C

WoRK EXeERIENCE REQUIRED DURING 1981-85

Not Statedor Preler Required

No 7o No o/o

I Year 3 Years 5 Yeatsor More or More or More

No. 7o No, o/a No o/o

Cat. librarians 38 49.35 6 7 79

Ref. librarians 39 54.17 4 5.56

Tbtal 77 51 68 10 6.7r

14 18.18 12 15.58 7 9.09 77 51.68

13 18.06 12 16 67 4 5.56 72 48.32

27 t8.12 24 16 11 11 7 38 149 100 00

X2=t 102, tlf= , 1t=tJ S9a

with computer knowledge and skills is animportani concern. Does the rapid expan-sion of computer applications in librariescoincide with the required computerknowledge fbr a particular job?

ln this study, "computer skills" was de-{ined broadly to include knowledge of orexperience with any of a wide variety ofcomputer applications, inclu&ng biblio-graphic utilities, online database search-i"e, CU-nON{, andotherend usersearch-in[ ca-ses. There is no evidence {rom thedata that catalog and ref'erence librariansrequire the same computer skills. Adver-

tisements fbr catalogers always ask lbrknowledge about OCLC, RLIN, or otherblbliographic utilities, while those {br re{'-erence librarians mainly require exPeri-ence in searching DIALOG, BRS, orother online services. A job listing mightinclude more than one computer skill {bra particular position. No cross-tabulationswlre made lbr between-group andwithin-group analyses.

Computer skills {br catalog librarianswere divided into the lbllowing groups:computer applications, automated cata-loging, OCLC, RLIN, and other biblio-

LR?S r 40(1) c The Impact of Automation /23

TABLE 6D

Wonr ExpunrnNce RngurnED DURTNG f986-90

Not Statedor Preler Re<luired

I Year 3 Yearsor More or More

5 Year sor More

No ok

Total

No, 7oTypt No

Cat. Iibrarians

Re{. Iibrarians

Total

62

84

146

D I t , i

54 19

53 09

l0 00

9 6 8

9 8 2

24.r720 65

22.r8

9 .17

I0.32

9 8 2

5 0 0

D . I O

5 0 9

120

155

275

43.67

Dt].Jt)

100,00

T2

I D

27

29JZ

61

I ]

16

27

o

I

I4

Xz=0 562, df=a, p=0 967

graphic utilities (computer online search-ing was included although only one listingin 198'0 and one listinrl in 1986 mentionedit). Computer skills lbr ref'erence librari-ans werddivided into these groups: com-puter applications, online databasesearching in general, DIALOG, BRS,other speci{ic online databa^se searching,CD-ROM searching, OCLC, and RLIN.

Since the 1970s, prdrably the singlemost signilic'ant irnpact in the area ol aca-dernic Iibrary autornation has heen theemerqence of OCLC and other onlinebibliographic utilities. Matthews (1980)reflects that only the OCLC utility existedin 1973, at which time it supported onlyabout 80 terminals. By Apiil 1979, ap-proximately 28Vo <tf the academic librarie.sin the United States and Canada had ac-ce.ss to a utility: OCLC (26Vo), RLIN(O.zEo), UTLAS (17o), orWLN (0.4Va).Bv1985, OCLC had grown to cover 6,584academic libraries (Bourdon 1986). The.speed with which librades have adopteclonline bibliographic services has been im-pressive. From table 1 one can see thatonly one adveftisement fbr catalogersmentioned knowledge ol' computer appli-cations in 1975 Many rnore advertise-ments rerluiring OCLC experience {rlr'gatalog libralians and computer onlinedatabase searchinq skills fbr ret'erence li-brarians have occurred since 1977. Be-cause the impact ol'automation in t'ecruit-intt did not take el lect unti l themid-1970r, the analvsis lbcused on thelater three periods.

'

In {igule 3 we lind that knowledge olOCLC is rnost required or pre{erred lbrcataloging positions. It accounts lbr <tver

half of automation systems or cornputerskills listed in each ofthe last three peri-ods; although, with the innovations andadoption of other bibliographic utilities,the percentage has decreased alter thethird period ({rom about 65Vo to 58Vo).RLIN experience was not asked lbr until1981 (table 1). Adoption o{ other biblio-graphic utilities in the fburth period led tothe increased requirement fbr knowledgeofthese. Experience in "automated cata-loging" was {irst asked lbr in the secondperiod (about ltTo), rose to 187o in thethird period, and since then has declinedas the need lbr specific skills related toblbliographic utililies has gone up.

For re{'erence librar-ians, experience ofc\)mputer databa"-e searc.hing has been tLemost important component ofjob qualilica-tion.s .since 1980 (table 2). A survey of onlinesearching in U.S. colleges and universitiesconduc.ted by McKinney and Mosby (1986)shows that 4l8vo ol academic libraries of'-l'ered in-house searchinq in 1984. In tenyears, the percentage approximately dou-bled. The survev also showed that the lead-ing vendor lbr acaclemic libraries w:ls DIA-t dC (in 87vo <>I the libraries) The otherlea&ng vendors were BRS (507o) and SDC(f57o) DIALOG and BRS were the tw<rservices most widely adopted (see {igure 4)in academic libraries during the third period(rxer 30Vo o{' advertisements asked lbrkmrwledqe ol DIALOG or BRS). "Onlinedatabase searching" experience (serviceunspeci{ied) appliedto 36% ofthe adver-tisements in the second perio d,43Vo inthethird period, and 47%o1n the tburth pe-riod. A huge increase in the availability oft latahases, especial ly on CD-ROM, in aca-

24/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

Pd 1 peM2

Figure 3. Computer skills required {br catalog librarians

Ptu1 pedd2

Figure 4. Comprrter skills rerpired {br relerence lilrr arirms

Fc*p'"1l+6rnes I+ohroc I+BRS

l+dEdb il-4Jm I

attention in the period 1986-1990 Since1986, also, refirence duties have ex-panded to include {amiliarilrwith sourcesfbrmerly associated with technical serv-i t 'es. For example, several posit ions lraveasked l irr OCIC and RLI\ exnerience(table z).

I

€

{

6 o

€ 5

c

0

LRTS o 40(1) o The Impact of Automation /25

According to a survey by ARL, over1,500 comrner-ciallv available CD-ROMproducts have been introduced to o{I'erpatr<-rns the opportunity to obtain infbr-mation through inexpensive, user-fhendlylbrmats since the mid-l980.s (Clark 1990).CD-ROM products and databases havebecome an integral rrart ol'research li-brary seruices arirl operations. The avail-ability of CD-ROM databases ha^s createda large demand {br instruction and dem-onstration ofthe searching capabilities ofthis new technology. Knowledge and skillin using CD-ROM has therefbre becomeessential f'or re{'erence librarians. How-

ROM experience (table 2). Probably mo.stC!-ROM training (classes, workshops,and seminars) wis on-the-job trainingprovided by libraries themselves. Clark(rsool h"r'predicted that demands lbrinstruction, publicity, and technical exper-tise relatingto CD-ROM are likelyto con-tinue to grow.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIESAND OTHER SKILLS

Job titles that include the term "head,""director," "a.s.sistant or associate head ordirector," or "coordinator," and iob dutiesthat inclutle the term "supervision,""management," or "coordination" wereconsidered as positions that have admin-istrative resnonsibilities.

Chi-squire tests were perfbrmed tosee whether there were anv difl'erencesamong the periods fbr cataloging or re{'er-ence services, and whether catalogerstended to have Inore management respon-sibilities than re{'erence librarians with thedevelopment of library automation.

In both categorie.s, although the abso-lute number o['jobs requiring supervising,administrative, or coordinating re.sponsi-bilities increased from period to period, aspercentages of total jobs, the manage-ment rerluirements have actually de-creased. A lob listing that had both super-visory or administrative and coordinating

duties was cclunted once in the "supervi-sion or administration" group. Statisticallysisnificant dill'erences were not {bund lorei{her type over the lbur periods (tables7A-78). From tables I and 2 one can seethat coordinatins did not become one ofthe job duties throughout the periodsstudied, ranging lrom 0 to 117o.

Chi-square tests show that during thefirst two periods there were no significantdilTerences between catalos and ref'er-ence librarians with regard to administra-tive responsibilities (see tables 84-88);{'rom th6 third period, statistically signifi-cant di{I'erences (at p level) were {bund(see tables 8C-8D). Obviously, catalog li-brarians tend to have more administrativeresponsibilities than rel'erence librarians.During the period 1981 to 1985, cataloglibrarian postings with supervisory or ad-mini.strative (44Vo) and coordinating re-sponsibilities (87o) accounte,J. lor 52.Vo <:l'the total of 77 advertisements; whereasref'erence postings with supervisory or ad-ministrative (I7 Vo) and coordinating (87o)responsibilities only accounted lbrabout25Vo ofthe total of72 advertisements. Inthe fburth period, catalog postings withadministrative responsibilities decreasedslightly t<> 47Vo o{- the total of' 120, andre{'erence postings decreased to 2OVo oIthe total of 155. This might be consistentwith the views that catalogers tend to havemore managerial respon.sibilities than rel'-erence librarians with the development oflibrary automation.

Distinguishing titles with managerialresponsibilities Irom nonadministrativecatilog or re{'erence librarian postings, theconclusion that catalogers tend to havemore administrative resDonsibilities thanref'erence librarians

"*t" ,nor" strongly

supported. Since the {irst period (tables 1and 2) the percentage of the advertise-ments Ibr nonadministrative catalogersrerluiring supewisory or administrativeduties has incteased from about 87o to37 7o . On the other hand. less than 137o ofthe advertisements lbr nonadministrativeref'erence librarians required supervisoryor administrative duties, except in the sec-ond period, where the figtre was 267o.The (burth rreriod decrea^sed to the low-est. about 9%.

26/ LRTS . 40(7) . Xu

TABLE 7A

ADMINrsrRATrvs RpspoNstgrLrrIES Fon Cetrr-oc LruRenIeNs ovER FouR PERIoDS

I98l-85 1986-90 Total

Resnonsibilities No % No % No o/o No % No o/o

r97L-75 1976-80

Super/adminis.

Coordination

Not mentioned

Total

11 50 00 12 27 91

0 000 4 9 .30

II 50 00 27 6279

22 8.40 43 16.41

34 44.16 48 40 00 r05 40.08

6 7.79 B 6 67 18 6.87

s7 48 05 64 53.33 139 53.05

77 29.39 120 45.80 262 100.00

Xz=S 606, clf=6, p=0 469

TABLE 7B

ApltrNrsrnerrvE RESpoNSIBILITTES FoR REFERENCE LIIIMRIANS ovER FouR PERIoDS

Tottl

Responsibil i t ies

1971-75 1976-80

No 7o No o/o

1981-85

No o/o

19ti6-90

No ok

Super./adminis.

Crxrrdination

Not mentioned

Totai

7 33.33 18

r 4.76 7

13 61 90 39

2t 673 64

L2 16.67

6 8.33

54 75.00

72 23 0B

28 13

10 94

60.94

20 5r

24 t5 48 61 19.55

7 4.52 21 6.73

r24 80 00 230 7372

r55 49 68 312 100 00

f,z=ll g]{, alf=6, p=0 063

Communication ablliw. which in-cludes both oral and written skills, is im-portant in management and coordinationactivities. Cornmunication skills were {irstmentioned in the second period (tables Iand 2) {br both categories. Since then, theproportion that listed the skills increasedto one-Iburth for catalog librarians andone-third lor relerence librarians.

Hollsrrc LIBRARTANS

One view on the luture of librarianship isthat librarians will become increasingly"holistic." This can be tested by trackingthe percentage o{ catalog postings thatinclude noncataloging duties such as rel-erence, bibliographlc instruction, collec-tion development, circulation, and interli-brary loan, and by tracking the percentageof ref'erence postings requiring nonref'er-ence duties such as cataloging, collectiondevelopment, circulation, interlibrarykran, and bibliographic instmction. Thedata indicate that there are still f'ew cata-logers involved in noncataloging duties,

althoueh ref'erence duties were includedin a catakrger position as early as Ig79.

There is no evitlence liom the samplethat catalog liblarians wet'e rerluired tohave bibliographic instruction, collectiondevelopment, circulation, and interlibraryloan dlti"s. the malor qualilication fbrcatalog libraria:rs has been special knowl-edge o{ AACR2, LCSH, Library of Con-gress Cln,ssfculion (LCC). Dcweq Dcci-mul Cltssifiuttion (DDC), or theMachine-Readable Cataloging (MARC)lbrmat since 1976 (see table I and ligure5). One might conclude that overwhelm-ing numbers of positions lbr catalog li-brarians asked fbr knowledqe of LCCrather than DDC; with the implementa-tion of online bibliographic systems, thedevekrpment o{ cooperative cataloging,AACRZ as cataloging rules, and theMARC lbrmat as the standard {br codingdata fbr all of bibliographic systems, thereis an increasing need {br knowledge <>fLCSH, AACRL, and the MARC lirrrnat.

Cataloging and other technical serv-ices are still not part of the relerence

LRTS c 40(1) o The lmpact of Automation /27

TABLE 8A

AnurNrsrnruve RespoNsutlLITIES DURING 197 I-7 5

flpe

Super/Adminis Coordinati<n Not Meltioned

N o o / a N o % N o %

Total

No o/o

Catalog librarians ll 50 00 0 0 00 11 50 00 22 51.16

Ref'erence librarians 7 33.33 I 476 13 61 90 21 48.84

Total 18 4I.86 I 2 33 24 55.81 43 100 00

X2 = Z 03,3, (If =2, l, = 0 362

TABLE 88

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES DURING 1976-80

Typ"

Super /Adminis Coordination Not Mentioned

N o T o N o % N o o k

Total

No o/o

Catalog librarians 12 21 91 4 I 30 27 40 91

Re{'erence librarians 18 28.13 7 10.94 39 59.09

Total 30 28.04 tI 10.28 66 61 68

43

64

t07

40.19

59 8r100.00

X2=0 082, (tJ=z, p=o 960

TABLE 8C

AorrarNrstnerrvE RESpoNSIBILITIES DURING 198 1-85

Typt

Super/Adminis Coorrlination Not Mentioned

No o/o No % No o/o

Total

No o/a

Crrtalog librarians 34 44.16 6 7.79 37 48.05 77 5I.68

Relerence librarians 12 16.67 6 8 33 54 75 00 72 4832

Total 46 30 87 12 {J.05 9l 61.07 149 I00 00

xz=B 545, {If=z, p=0 0ol

TABLE 8D

AuvrNrsrn,rtlvE RESpoNSIBILITIES DURING I986-90

Type

Super./Adminis Coordination Not Mentioned

No o/o No Vo No Vo

Catalog librarians 48 40.00 8 6.67 64 53 33 I20 43.64

Reference librarians 24 15.48 7 452 124 80.00 f55 56 36

Total 72 26 18 15 5 45 r88 68.36 275 100 00

X2=n 136, tlf=z, 7t=0 000

librariant job duties. Knowledge of classi-fication, subject headings, or the MARClbrmat was not mentioned in any adver-tisement lbr ref'erence librarians. al-though a {'ew li.stings have a.sked lbrOCLC or RLIN experience since 1986

(see table 2). This suggests that {'ewchanges have occurred with regard to in-tegriting the roles of public and technicalservices librarians since Busch'.s suryey in1985. That i^s, the use of technical servicespersonnel lbr online searching of reler-

28/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

P d r P d 2

Figure 5. Special knowledge needed by catalog librarians

t

! o

!

$ sE

2

a

ence databases is still relatively rare andpublic serwice staff are even less likely t<rbe involved in cataloging (Busch 1985).

Bibliographic instruction (BI) was nota firmly entrenched element in academiclibraries until 1975, when an ACRL tasklbrce pxrvided guidelines {br biblio-graphic instruction in academic libraries.They recognized that the primary role ofbibliographic instruction is to provide stu-dents with the specific skillf needed to

likely to he spent providing instruction inthe use ol ' 'elecironic . irur".* (CraneI 990). The availability of'end user search-ing (rnainly CD-ROM database search-ing) might mean a lurther change in thetbcus ol leference selice. Encl usersearching will increase greatly the de-rnand and need {br user instruction.

In table 2, we see that bibliographicinstruction re.sponsibility was specified inadvertisements fbr relerence librarians asearly as 1978 Since then, more and rnorehave been expected to have bibliographic

instruction duties. By 1990, over half of'the ref'erence positions specilied biblio-graphic instruction duties (19 of 35 posi-tions), although independent btblio-graphic instruction departments alreadyexisted in some academic libraries andmany advertisements fbr "BI instructor,""BI coordinator," or "BI librarian" wereseen.

Public services librarians, especiallyre{'erence librarians who are in daily con-tact with library users, know the strengthsand weaknesses of the collection best.They are in the best position to evaluatethe'collection in teirns of user needs(Bone 1983). Checking table 2 and ligure6, one might {ind a steadily increasingneed lbr re{'erence librarians to have col-lection development responsibilities. Fig-ure 6 reflects the trend of increasins bib-lit-,graphic instruction and c,ollectiondevelopment duties fbr re{erence librari-ans over the lirur oeriods.

Few relerence librarians are involvedin circulation or interlibrary loan dutiesbecause these services are more o{ienperlbrmed by paraprof'essionals and othersupport stafl. This is primarily becausethese sewices have become more routinewith the development of automation.

0

LRTS . 40(1) o The lmpact of Automation /29

E

. & o

l a

5F 1 5E

Figue 6, BI or collection development duties {br re{erence librarims

CoNcLUSIoN

coming more similar; increasing needs fbrcomputer skills can be {bund in both cate-gories, although the skills requested arerluite difl'eren[ and the shortige of cata-logers and the greater demand {br ref'er-ence librarians have led to more entry-level positions being listed in both areas.However, the di{I'erences in maior re-sponsibilities and knowledge or skillsneeded reveal that the completely holisticlibrarian, as Gorman (t0gg)

'has de-

scribed, might be some time in arriving.The theory o1'Ogburn'.s "cultural lag" isalso well supported by the study.

Although the ef{bct o{'automation onquali{ications and responsibilities o{ cata-loq and ref'erence librarians can be tracedthiough the analysis of job advertise-ments, there are too many uncontrollablevariables to support {'ar-reaching conclu-sions. First, a briefiob description cannotlully embody the complete rec;uirementsand responsibilities oI'a particular librar-

ian. Second, there are dill'erences in re-quirements between postings and the realapplicants. Genaway (1978) demon-strated that a large number of' job applicants in his sample didnot {itthe originallyadvertised requirement. A survey by theCataloging and Classilication Section(CCS) oI'ALCTS also re{lects the gapbetween advertisements and the realworld: in 94 positions advertised withcataloging components, the task fbrce{bund that SLVo reported a disappointingapplicant pool; 37Vo intewiewed morethan {bur candidates, but no institution{bund more than three potentially ap-pointable candidates in a pool. Third,once certain sorts of requirements or re-sponsibilities have become relatively com-monplace, they might not always be men-tioned in job descriptions. For example,whereas some advertisements in the ear-lier period might have required knowl-edge of LCC {br catalogers or skill in usingdi{I'erent hnds o{'printed ref'erence toolsfbr rel'erence libririans, during the laterperiod r-uch skills might have" been ig-nored because lamiliarity with classi{ica-tions or reference tools is now considereda "given" Ibr a quali{ied cataloger or ref'-erence librarian. Moreover, the wording

30/ LRTS . 40(1) . Xu

of advertisements often reflects compro-mises amonq members of the search cbm-mittee. Fina-lly, because the studywas lim-ited to catalogers andref'erence librarians,one cannot find evidence oftechnologicalimpact on the whole organization and pro-fessional structure of academic libraries.For example, with the development ofautomation, other job titles such as "sub.jectlibrarian," "systems librarian," or "access li-brarian" might multiply and rellect an in-creasing trend toward holistic librarians.

With the accelerating development ofthe computer network and its extensiveapplication in academic libraries, impacton job requirements and qualifications fbrcatalogers and re{'erence librarians will bemore t-remendous and instantaneous. Thisis something that needs to be explored byfurther study.

Wonxs Crrso

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