MWF - 1:00pm - 4:30pm
BioWest 210
The course Special Libraries and Information Centers will be offered during the 1999 Second Summer Session on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 1-4:30 p.m. The first day of classes will be July 12, and the last August 11. This course was last offered in the summer of 1997, and will probably not be offered again in the summer sessions until 2001 at the earliest.
The course will be taught by Herbert S. White, Distinguished Professor and Dean Emeritus of Indiana University and, since his move to this area, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona. Professor White worked as a special librarian in industry and government for 25 years, and has served as a president of both the Special Libraries Association and the American Society for Information Science. He has taught the Special Libraries course at Indiana, Arizona, and elsewhere more than thirty times.
Special Libraries are characterized primarily by the fact that they operate in settings in which their growth, success, and survival are based almost exclusively on the assessment of the extent to which they support the mission of the parent organization. While many are located in the corporate and government sectors, they are also found in the not-for-profit sector in such places as art museums and geneology libraries.
Because they are usually small, flexible in adapting to the needs of their unique clients, and far more free to innovate in most situations than more traditional public and academic libraries, special libraries have been in the forefront in assessing and employing innovative approaches, particularly computer technology. The presumption that special libraries must be cost effective in meeting the overall objectives of the parent organization is increasingly now being applied in other library settings. Therefore, even those who do not plan to become special librarians or who are not sure, can learn a great deal which will be of use to them in developments in any library setting.
The course will include lectures by the instructor, class discussion, and presentations by a number of special librarians who will discuss how they deal with their own unique settings. The textbook will be Managing the Special Library, written by Professor White and available through the university book store. Although the management issues and approaches in this 1984 book are still valid, Professor White will supplement this material with additional lectures involving technological and computer opportunities and applications, issues of library contracting and outsourcing, and the balance between end user searching and librarian professional information intermediation, an issue which is presently very much under discussion in special libraries (including subject departmental libraries in universities), and one which will become increasingly important in all types of libraries. There will also be a packet of other assigned readings.
There will be no written assignments during the semester. However, there will be a researched term paper which will propose the establishment of a real or fictitious special library in a subject area in which the student is particularly interested. These areas can range from science and technology, through business and the social sciences, to medicine, art, law, history, or music. The term paper is designed to allow the student to combine his or her particular library interests with the general content of the course. There will also be two examinations covering the lectures and assigned readings.
Individuals with more detailed questions should contact Kathy Wilka at the School of Information Resources and Library Science. As appropriate, she will forward questions to Professor White, who will not be on campus during the spring 1999 semester.