Teaching Library Science Students to Do Bibliographical Searches of Automated Data Bases.

Abstract

During the past decade, tremendous changes have occurred in the field of bib liographic research and information deliv ery. Companies such as Lockheed and System Development Corporation have created systems for the retrieval of infor mation from the machine-readable forms of many data bases in the social sciences. Recent studies1'4 indicate that, far from remaining in the province of the special li brary or technical situation, these services are having an impact on academic and public libraries. As a result, it is inargu able that a need has arisen in library edu cation of educating students in the tech niques and skills necessary to select, es tablish, and use the various data bases that have become available, with which these students are likely to come in con tact during their careers. During the past three years, the School of Library Science at the University of Michigan has had opportunity to provide instruction for some of its students in the use of information retrieval systems. This has been made possible by the appropria tion, by the university, of $18,000 and an agreement with Lockheed that provided several special educational accounts at a discounted rate. The total value of com puter time thus made available has been approximately $36,000. As a result, approximately 450 students enrolled in the library science program have been given individualized, hands-on experience and instruction in the tech niques of accessing the data bases avail able through Lockheed's information re trieval service. To increase the impact of the amount allotted each student, they usually worked at the terminals in groups of two or three, allowing them to learn from the experience of their peers, as well as from their own practice with the sys tem. The format consisted of lectures for each class, followed by small group ses sions at the terminal. In determining the contents of the lec tures, use was made of training techniques developed by others57 as well as personal experience. The first lecture covered the definition of terms that would be used throughout the sessions, the operations of Boolean logic, and a detailed description of how a bibliographic tool is transmuted into a data base. Succeeding lectures cov ered the commands and operations of Lockheed's DIALOG system, search strategy and design, retrieval system selection, and various problems with which the computer searcher is likely to have to deal. In discussing the qualifications of a search strategist, Wanger's study8 was cited. This study found that information service managers felt that a reference service, data base, or subject background was the most important characteristic of a good strategist. Other characteristics men tioned in the report were a logical, thor ough, analytical mind, a willingness to learn, ease with mechanical devices, abil ity to deal with system failures, patience, and persistence. To these qualifications were added another believed to be of critical impor tance to the success of the retrieval proc

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