School of Information Management & Systems.   Spring 2001.
285  Design of Library Services.   Buckland.

PAST TESTS

CLOSED BOOK, IN-CLASS TEST - MARCH 24, 2000
One hour only. Answer no. 5 and two other questions, in any order. (Recommendation: Ration your time.) Try to give as complete an answer as you can within the time available. When applicable, use real or imaginary examples to illustrate your answers. In any answer, draw on any parts of the course that are relevant. Write legibly. Use clear English.

1. Mintzberg identified several different managerial roles. Provide library examples of these roles.

2. Library services are not a usually a source of income. They cost money. University students pay tuition to take classes, but not to visit the library. Corporate libraries are not profit centers, but "overhead." A consultant has been hired to prepare a report on whether (or how far) the investing in library services can be justified and asks you advice. What approach(es) or arguments would you recommend?

3. Library Science has to do with techniques. So what do values have to do with it?

4. The term "access" is broadly used in library circles, e.g. Indicative (or bibliographic) access, physical access, linguistic access, conceptual access,... Explain what is meant and how library services help, with illustrative examples.

5. Either (i) What do national libraries do? Why should they acquire large collections when other libraries collect research material?

Or (ii)What is special about special libraries?

CLOSED BOOK, IN-CLASS TEST - MAY 5, 2000
One hour only. Answer question 1 and two other questions, in any order. (Recommendation: Ration your time.) Try to give as complete an answer as you can within the time available. When applicable, use real or imaginary examples to illustrate your answers. In any answer, draw on any parts of the course that are relevant. Write legibly. Use clear English.

Answer Question One.
1. The Library Services textbook says that "the provision and use of library services are deeply rooted in their social contexts." Explain what was meant and add some examples of your own of how this is true.

Answer any two of the following questions:

2. Answer either 2 (a) or 2 (b). Not both.
2 (a) Assess the success and weaknesses of the San Francisco Public Library Main Library building. Do you think that the results might have been different if the designers had paid attention to the Design Wars video of Chicago and/or the UC Program Planning Guides?

2 (b) How would you re-design the Doe-Moffitt complex – and why? If you can relate you answer to your readings, to the San Francisco Public Library, so much the better.

3. What are the likely benefits and difficulties of providing reference service over the Web?

4. What are the likely cultural, political, and social consequences of introducing Western-style library services to a non-Western culture. Are the effects likely to be neutral?

5. What should a public library's service priorities? By what process should those priorities be established?

CLOSED BOOK, IN-CLASS TEST - MARCH 11, 1999
One hour only. Answer three questions, in any order. (Recommendation: Ration your time.) Try to give as complete an answer as you can within the time available. When applicable, use real or imaginary examples to illustrate your answers. In any answer, draw on any parts of the course that are relevant. Write legibly. Use clear English.

1. Either (i) In what ways was James Burke's video Printing Transforms Knowledge relevant to this course?

Or (ii) James Burke said that Gutenberg destroyed our memories. The instructor talked about libraries being part of some "external memory." Explain what each meant and what the relevance to the purpose and design of library services might be.

2. Either (i) "Collection as the first stage of retrieval" is a heading in the textbook. Compare and contrast (i) document retrieval and (ii) making document collections.

Or (ii) In what ways relevant to library planning does the technology of paper differ from the technology of digital documents? Explain the consequences for the provision of library services.

3. Either (i) In what ways would the naming of the topics that documents are about be problematic?

Or (ii) What problems arise and what are the options when the topic of a document involves two related topics, e.g. a book about the economics of railroads.

CLOSED BOOK, IN-CLASS TEST - APRIL 30, 1999
One hour only. Answer three questions, in any order. (Recommendation: Ration your time.) Try to give as complete an answer as you can within the time available. When applicable, use real or imaginary examples to illustrate your answers. In any answer, draw on any parts of the course that are relevant. Write legibly. Use clear English.

1. Either (a) What is "marketing among sponsors"? What are the alternatives? Explain in relation to library services.

Or (b) What might people mean by "library goodness"?

2. Either (a) In Library and Information Science, "access" has sometimes been seen as a unifying concept. Explain in relation in relation to library services.

Or (b) Explain "Efficiency", "Effectiveness", and "Cost-effectiveness" in relation to library services.

3. Either (a) Summarize the basic objectives and trade-offs in collection development.

Or (b) Evaluate the San Francisco Main library building as a library building.