College and University Library Problems, A Study of a Selected Group of Institutions Prepared for the Association of American Universities by George Alan Works

Date:
1927
Reference:
WA/HMM/CM/Sal/52/73
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: College and University Library Problems, A Study of a Selected Group of Institutions Prepared for the Association of American Universities by George Alan Works. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Introduction S: CE the beginning of the twentieth century American col- leges and universities have undergone an essential transfor- mation. The enormous growth in the number of students has been accompanied by changes of function and of method less gen- erally appreciated but no less significant. The body of knowl- edge with which higher institutions are called upon to deal has been vastly augmented. The natural sciences have had an espe- cially rapid development. New methods both for the creating and the imparting of knowledge in these fields have been devised. The technical application of the sciences to professional pursuits has enlarged the scope of professional training. To meet these new demands in pure and applied science, universities have spent im- mense sums for laboratories and apparatus, and the annual ex- penditure for such physical equipment continues to increase. Undergraduate instruction in the humanities has likewise been radically modified. The single textbook has given way to a wide range of reference material, and the increasing output of scholars tends to make existing materials quickly obsolete. Most im- portant of all, graduate instruction and research are no longer mere by-products. They have become a major activity of uni- versities, involving nearly all the members of the teaching staffs and a rapidly growing body of mature students. It is obvious that these changes have completely altered the position of the university or college library. Demands are now made upon it that twenty-five years ago were unknown. Has it been able to keep abreast of these? Has its support increased proportionately with its obligations? In the gradual formulation of a satisfactory technique for the administration of the great university, has the problem of the library been adequately con- sidered? Have its needs, physical and other, been forecast, and has provision been made to meet them as they arise? Many uni- versity librarians have been convinced that all these questions should be answered in the negative. In the autumn of 1924 a group of representative librarians presented to the Committee on Administrative Units, a subdivi- Vv
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