A Research Survey on the Reserved Book System of Pilot Universities in Korea

실험대학 과제도서실 운영에 관한 조사연구

This is a survey of the reserved book system in the pilot universities in Korea. We have surveyed only 22 university libraries among 29 pilot schools as of 1977, because of the differences in the library users, library organization, library facilities, and library materials between universities and colleges. In 1972, the Korean Ministry of Education developed a reformation plan for their higher education based on the teaching method of curriculum-oriented faculty instead of that of the faculty-oriented curriculum. The former puts emphasis on the cultivation of a student's thinking, creativity, and judgement through self-teaching to do a given assignment. The reserved book system in a college or university library is one of the most important methods necessary to accomplish the above educational aim. The survey used a questionnaire with 50 question on 28 items concerning the various aspects of the reserved book system in 22 pilot universities. the survey result discovered many problems needing correction. The following list describes the measures needed to correct the problems found in the pilot universities. 1. The management of a centralized reserved book system is much more effective and economical than the decentralized reserved book system when a university is located on the same campus. 2. In the university library, an independent reserved book department requires to gain the desired educational aims as compared with the reserved book room controlled by any other department in the library. 3. The reserved book system should not be adopted by all the departments at once but enlarged gradually, for it needs the understanding and support of faculty members and the university itself. 4. As competence is essential to the effective operation of the reserved book room, the university library should not place an unqualified person in charge of the reserved book department. 5. The librarian in charge of the reserved book department is required to do more professional works such as analysis of users, collection and analysis of syllabuses, maintenance of faculty member cooperation, establishment of measures to acquire unavailable materials, and drawing up an effective management plan. However, he is spending most of his time in clerical works, that is, non-professional works. 6. Three to five titles of each reserved book are considered reasonable and required materials should be shelved in proportion to the number of students, that is, one copy per eight or ten students if the materials are allowed to lend for two hours at a time. For the supplementary materials, the library needs to place two or three copies per subject. 7. Professors must select reserved books with care so that they can be used year after year. 8. Few universities are asking professors the number of class students and the date when the reserved material will no longer be needed on reserve. 9. The library should gather all the lists of reserved books from every professor at least three to five months before the courses open, because it takes a long time to obtain foreign materials. 10. It is desirable that the reserved book department should collect the lists and prepare the materials with promptness and consistency. 11. Instead of block buying, it is desirable to purchase reserved books at the time the library gets the reserved book list from the professors. The library should also inform faculty members whether it obtained each reserved book or not before the course open. 12. The library should make a copy of materials if a professor requires to reserve an out-of-print book or partial contents of a book, journal, and thesis. 13. An independent budger for reserved books from the budget for general materials is desired. 14. The shelf arrangement of reserved books by courses or professors under the same department is much more preferable than a classified arrangement. 15. While most of the universities adopted the open shelves system for all the reserved books, it is more effective and economical to take a compromise system, that is, closed shelves for requires materials and open shelves for supplementary materials. 18. Circulation of reserved books needs a different system between required materials and supplementary materials: two or three hours and/or overnight loan for the former and two and/or three days loan for the latter. 17. A reserved book room should be open a long time after class so that students can have sufficient time to use the room. 18. The library must take daily and monthly statistic as well as statistics on every aspect of the reserved book system in order that the library ma decide on policy and management of the reserved book room in collaboration with the university. Furthermore, regular reports on the use of the reserved book room should be made to the president and the executive council by the library to acquire their understanding and cooperation for the reserved book system. 19. Cooperation of faculty members is indispensable to the effective management of the reserved book department and it is desirable to make a committee which will fix various decisions about the system. Whenever the director of the library make his decision, he must consult with his staff in order to involve them earnestly in the operation of the system.