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Followup-to: sender
Summary: This is a brief document giving various kinds of information 
about libraries and librarianship, including where to find resources on 
the internet?
Expires: 02/16/96

Archive-name: libraries
Posting-Frequency: bimonthly
Last-modified: 12/16/95





=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-LIBRARIES FAQ V.1.0=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

PART 4

3.3 What conferences can I attend in 1996 to keep my knowledge and 
skills up to date?
American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter: San Antonio Jan. 19-25
                                   Annual: New York Jul. 4-10
  For info: American Library association, Conference Registration, 50 E.  
           Huron St., Chicago, IL, 60611-2729
Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL): Park Plaza Hotel, Toronto, ON, 
                                       CANADA Jun. 16-19
  For info: Edmond Lipsitz, 58 Glen Park Ave., Toronto, ON, M6B 2C2 or 
phone (416)785-7941 or e-mail mailto:75567.3155@compuserve.com
Canadian Library Association (CLA): Halifax, NS Jun. 6-9
International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA): Beijing Aug.     
                                                     19-24
Medical Library Association (MLA): Kansas City, Mo. May 31-Jun. 5
Public Library Association (PLA): Portland, Oregon Mar. 26-30
Special Libraries Association (SLA): Boston Jun. 8-13

4.0 Work

4.1 What distinguishes the work of shelvers, library assistants, library 
technicians and librarians?
In 1927, "The Report of the Bureau of Public Personnel Administration 
submitted to the Committee on the Classification of Library Personnel of 
the American Library Association proposed 'a separation of clerical from 
non-clerical duties.'" [Baker, P. (1986) _What About the Workers?: A Study 
of Non-professional Staff in Library Work_. London: Association of Library 
Assistants, pg.2]. Shelvers are the minimum wage teenagers (usually) who 
shelve the materials after they have been returned. Library assistants or 
technicians might do any of the following: shelving (in the absence of 
shelvers), circulation duties (check in, check out, supervision), derived 
cataloguing, programming, ordering, answering ready reference questions or 
materials processing. Librarians might do any of the following 
professional tasks: book selection, original cataloguing, making library 
policy, evaluating performance of others, answering more complex reference 
questions, or dealing with the complaints and concers of patrons. 
Librarians may do nonprofessional tasks in the abscence of technicians and 
shelvers. Library technicians and assistants may do professional tasks in 
the absence of professional staff. There is a "Staff Support Issues" page 
on the WWW at the URL http://rodent.lib.rochester.edu/ssp
4.2 Who decides the attitudes, policies and actions of libraries?
It depends on who you ask. Librarians will proudly tell you that, being 
professionals, they make independent judgements based on sound, ethical 
principles. They will flaunt the infamous Library Bill of Rights (adopted 
1948; revised 1961, 1967 and 1980) to prove it. The sad truth is that 
librarians have often been caught between their professional principles 
and nonprofessional antagonists. One type of antagonist is is the library 
board member/politician seeking to avoid controversy or to win votes at 
the expense of the library, its staff or its patrons.The other type of 
antagonist is the the narrow-minded patron who insists that his/her 
opinion (on policy, book selection, hiring, etc.) is decisive because it 
is his/her library (this particularly is a problem in tax-supported and 
public libraries). Recently a large group of anti-library antagonists met 
to discuss ways to fight/control library policy at the "Family-Friendly 
Libraries" conference held during the summer.

5.0 Classification

5.1 How does the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) work?
There are ten main categories in DDC. These are divided into ten 
subcategories, which in turn are divided into further subcategories. The 
more specific the subject of the item is, the longer the number assigned 
to it is. Today the classifications are the responsibility of Forest 
Press.
5.2 What are the ten major classifications of the DDC?
000-099: General works (encyclopedias and similar works)
100-199: Philosophy and Psychology
200-299: Religion
300-399: Social Sciences
400-499: Languages (including dictionaries)
500-599: Natural science
600-699: Applied science
700-799: Arts
800-899: Literature
900-999: History, Geography and Biography
For a further breakdown, go to the 3 summaries site on the WWW at 
  http://www.oclc.org/oclc/fp/ddc/ddcsumm/ddcsm1.htm
There is also a "Quick Guide to Subjects with Dewey Numbers" site at 
  http://www.state.wis.us/agencies/dpi/www/dewey.html
5.3 What are the twenty major classifications of Library of Congress 
(LCSH)?
A: General works B: Philosophy and religion C: History - auxiliary 
sciences D: History and topography (except America) E-F: American history 
G: Geography, anthropology, folklore, recreation H: Social sciences       
J: Political science K: U.S. law L: Education M: Music N: Fine arts      
P: Language and literature Q: Science R: Medicine S: Agriculture          
T: Technology U: Military science V: Naval science Z: Bibliography and 
library science
5.4 What are the major Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)?
QS: Human Anatomy QT: Physiology QU: Biochemistry QV: Pharmacology       
QW: Bacteriology & Immunology QX: Parasitology QY: Clinical Pathology     
QZ: Pathology W: Medical Profession WA: Public Health WB: Practice of 
Medicine WC: Infectious Diseases WD 100: Deficiency Diseases             
WD 200: Metabolic Diseases WD 300: Diseases of Allergy WD 400: Animal 
Poisoning WD 500: Plant Poisoning WD 600: Diseases Caused by Physical 
Agents WE: Musculoskeletal System WF: Respiratory System                
WG: Cardiovascular System WH: Hemic & Lymphatic Systems                 
WI: Gastrointestinal System WJ: Urogenital System WK: Endocrine System  
WL: Nervous System WM: Psychiatry WN: Radiology WO: Surgery WP: Gynecology 
WQ: Obstetrics WR: Dermatology WS: Pediatrics WT: Geriatrics. Chronic 
Disease WU: Dentistry. Oral Surgery WV: Otorhinolaryngology             
WW: Opthalmology WX: Hospitals WY: Nursing WZ: History of Medicine
5.5 What other classification systems are there?
In Canada, _Canadian Subject Headings_ is often used. Sears is another 
classification, but I am unfamiliar with it. Randall W. Scoytt at Michigan 
State University Libraries has developed a schedule (which he uses in 
conjunction with LCSH) for sequential art material (i.e. comic books and 
strips). This appeared in his _Comics Librarianship_. For more information 
on it, e-mail Peter Coogan at mailto:cooganpe@msu.edu . Sanford Berman has 
written lists of politically-correct subject headings to 
supplement/replace traditional LCSH. They appeared in his _Subject 
Cataloguing: Critiques and Innovations_ (New York: Haworth, 1984). He is 
currently working at Hennepin Public Library. There is a Wiene 
Classification for Jewish libraries that is available from the Association 
of Jewish Libraries.

6.0 Organizations
6.1 What organizations can I join to network with fellow professionals?
There is an excellent list of library organizations on the WWW at 
   http://witloof.sjsu.edu/organizations.html
(Thanks to Bruce Hamilton <bhami@netcom.com> for pointing me to it.)
Major organizations are:
Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) 
  http://aleph.lib.ohio-state.edu/www/ajl.html
American Library Association (ALA)  http://www.ala.org                    
Association of Research Libraries (ARL)  http://arl.cni.org   
Canadian Library Association (CLA)    
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/freeport/prof.assoc/cla/menu
International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA)    
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/home.htm                                     
Medical Libraries Association (MLA)  http://www.kumc.edu:80/MLA/        
Ontario Association of Library Technicians (OALT)   
mailto:brahm_gilman@yr.com
Ontario Library Association (OLA)
Public Library Association (PLA)
Special Library Association (SLA)  http://ils.unc.edu/SLA/home/sla95.html
Toronto Association of Law Libraries (TALL)
Toronto Area Library Technicians Association (TALTA)    
mailto:acaritox@reach.com

7.0 Culture

7.1 How did the "Marian the Librarian" stereotype start?
"Marian the Librarian" is a song and a character from the musical _Music 
Man_ (which was made into a film in 1962). In it, Marian is a shy, 
conservatively-dressed, bespectacled, hair-in-a-bun woman who shushes 
anyone who makes the slightest noise in the library. Someone added the 
charactersitic of being elderly and the image was complete. The stereotype 
has been used and copied in various media time and again. During the past 
summer, a Saturn commercial became a noticeable, recent example, which 
caused quite a discussion on news:bit.listserv.medlib-l ["You mean they 
designed a car for noise reduction and didn't consult you?"]. The 
periodical _American Libraries_ occasionally runs an "AL Aside - Image" 
column to keep us all up-to-date.
7.2 How can I get a list of sources of librarian images in comics?
E-mail me at mailto:ziwolke@ibm.net or mailto:yu121249@yorku.ca for the 
list.

















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