Library Instruction in the University of Malaya LibraryDevinder Kaur Chall*

Abstrak: Rancangan bimbingan untuk menunjuk ajar cara-cara menggunakan perpustaka-an dan khazanah ilmu di dalamnya telah dikendalikan secara formal di PerpustakaanUniversiti Malaya. Di dalam rencana ini rancanqan tersebut dihuraikan dengan perinci disamping mengenal pasti beberapa masalah yang dihadapi di dalam pengendaliannya. Be-berapa cadangan diutarakan demi perkembangan rancangan ini pada masa hadapankhususnya ke arah menjadikannya sebahagian daripada perkhidmatan perpustakaan.

Abstract: An attempt has been made in the University of Malaya Library for a moreformalised library instruction programme. The article describes the programme in somedetail, identifies constraints currently faced and makes recommendations for its futuredevelopment and in particular the institutionalisation of library instruction.

The literature relating to reader education makes adistinction between 'library orientation' and 'libraryinstruction' (often used synonymously with biblio-graphic instruction). The Bibliographic InstructionHandbook defines library orientation as 'serviceactivities designed to introduce potential library usersto the services, facilities, and organisation of a parti-cular library. The primary purpose is to familiarisethe user with the library as a system'. I It continues todefine library instruction as 'any planned activities,outside the reference interview ... designed to teachthe library user how to locate information efficiently.The essential goals of this process are an understand-ing of the library'S system of organisation and theability to use selected materials. In addition, instruc-tion may cover the structure of the literature and thegeneral and specific research method appropriate fora discipline'." Based upon the above definitions, onecan say that the University of Malaya Library (UML)since its inception has had an elaborate and variedlibrary orientation programme ranging from the tra-ditional guided group tour, tape-slide programme,

one-to-one explanation and the setting up of a refer-ence enquiry desk as an advisory service to servereaders who request assistance, to the current moresophisticated orientation programme that uti lises thevideo-cassette with its advantages of versatility, adapt-ability, duplicity and repeatability.

The more specific, more in-depth user educationthat focuses on the use of subject oriented referencetools and search strategies has been handled by theprofessional librarians in UML although heretoforenot on a systematic and regularised fashion but moreon an ad hoc basis. For years subject knowledge andlinguistic abilities of the librarians in UML have beendepended upon by users. Academic staff from parti-cular departments in the University liaise directlywith librarians possessing subject knowledge andinterest in their fields. Library instruction based on avaried mode and method of teaching that is morestructured, course-related and reliant on tool-specificinstruction usually presented in a classroom environ-ment, has been conducted by interested librarians,but again on an ad hoc basis. In a sense every

=Libr arian, Reader Services Division, University of Malaya Library.

IBibliographic Instruction Handbook. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 1979.pp. 58-59.

2lbid., p. 57.

10 Kekal Abadi 6(3) September 1987

librarian in UML in her/his own way educates usersby introducing them to information services and inhelping them to exploit the library's resources. Inlibrary parlance the term library orientation at oneti me referred to all types of user education but si ncethe early 1970s with the resurgence of the user edu-cation movement, library instruction has been dis-tinguished from library orientation and has taken ona more formal, structured approach to educating theuser.3 In UML a more formalised library instructionprogramme called the 'Reader Education Programme'initiated by the Reader Services Division in 1982 aimsto instruct users in the effective and efficient use oflibrary resources. It has been felt that classroom-based instruction confined to a group of students andstructured around a particular course or disciplinewou Id be more effective and usefu I as a method ofteaching library skills.

Course-integration, course credited instruction andassessment of students' performance via tests, areelements which the programme aims to incorporatein the formalisation and the institutionalisation ofbibliographic instruction. This mode of library in-struction has become all the more imperative with thecomplexity in volume and structure of librarycollections and the specialisation of literature invarious disciplines as well as the development of newbibliographic tools and methods, so much so thatusers' acquisition of special library skills to locatespecific information has become a pre-requisite foreffective information retrieval. The advent of newtechnology in the form of Computer Output Micro-fiche catalogues and other new media has exacerbatedthe situation.

The Reader Education ProgrammeWith some previous experience in library instructionabroad, some splattering of notes from the TravellingWorkshops Experiment (TWE), copious reading ofthe literature on reader education and literaturesearching techniques was undertaken in preparationfor this instructional task. The most timely approachby the coordinator of the Southeast Asian Studiesprogramme of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciencesof the University of Malaya for library instruction totheir second and third year students, set in motionthe need to seek a direction in institutionalisinglibrary instruction. The inadequacy of library schoolcourses in preparing librarians for the task of

instructing readers in the exploitation of library re-sources is amply demonstrated in times like these.'The skills and techniques that librarians need forcommunicating, interviewing, supervismg andteaching may be lacking from most library schoolcourses'." What are the appropriate teaching techni-ques to instruct students? Under what circumstancesis most effective learning achieved? These were someof the questions that came to mind. With no formaltraining in educational methodology it was an uphilltask to strike a balance between librarianship andteaching. Nevertheless, as reference librarians, andhaving dai Iy dealt with and gained some practicalexperience in handling readers, and utilising know-ledge of their behaviour acquired in the process, weresorted to some commonsense measures in teachingand imparting knowledge, hampered however with allthe usual physical constraints, and uncertainties onefaces in a pioneering venture.

To ensure a structured and systematic approach,the course content had to be analysed so as to gearinstruction to equip students with basic library skillsfor the efficient and effective use of the library reosources and for the identification and procurementof requisite materials needed in pursuing their course.Literature searching techniques that includedperusing periodical indexes and abstracting journalswas the ultimate goal. The course outline of theSoutheast Asian Studies programme was examined.Its aims, objectives, boundaries, scope and coverageof the courses offered and their description with theappended bibliographical reading lists were studied.The calibre of the undergraduates, and the stagereached in their course of study were taken intoaccount and the following assumptions and observ-ations were made:1. That being a specific-course related group, the

intended programme would have to take cogni-zance of a multidisciplinary appoach but withinthe confines of a definite geographical area, thatbeing Southeast Asia.

2. The audience was a sufficiently self-motivatedgroup who being in their second and third yearsof study, were either just about to research theirchosen topics for the preparation of academicexercises or were already in the midst of it and hadexperienced the exasperation and frustration oftheir inability in locating requisite materials in thelibrary.

3Beaubien, Anne K., Sharon A. Hogan and Mary W. George. Learning the Library: Concepts and Methods For Effective Bibliu-graphic Instruction. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1982. p, 6.

4 Roberts, Ann F. Library Instruction for Librarians. Littleton: Libraries Unlimited, 1982. p, 25.

11

3. We worked on the assumption that, based uponour knowledge of the lack of exposure to libraryinstruction in Malaysian schools, (having our-selves come from the same schooling system), thestudents possessed no library. skills. This thereforemade a pretest to gauge the library knowledge ofstudents quite futile. Besides it was wise to starton this premise as aptly stated by C.A. Kirkendallthat librarians do otten 'forget how complex ourlibraries are, how difficult and esoteric our wealthof professional knowledge really is'.sThe mode of instruction employed was the single

one-shot lecture - apparently the most prevalentform of bibliographic instruction in an academicsetting. Our venue was any available vacant room thatcould accomodate an average of 15 students at atime. Transparencies and an overhead projector wereused. We had to cramp all that we wanted to instructin one four-hour lecture with no chance of anothersession with the same group. With such a time con-straint, our preparational task had to be impeccable.In the selection of appropriate reference tools on thesubject matter of Southeast Asian studies, preferencewas given to those providing wide subject coverageand not confined to a specific area. Being itself amultidisciplinary course, it was impossible to cover allthe related subject fields but this drawback wassolved to a certain extent by the teaching of searchstrategy that employed various topics as examples toillustrate the use of each selected subject tool. Biblio-graphic instruction is indeed a most time-consumingand labour-intensive activity. To meet the time con-straint printed handouts summarising the lecture andevaluating the various tools used by way of illustra-tion were given out to the students. These savedvaluable time in copying of notes during the class andparticipants were able to concentrate on actuallyexamining and getting the feel of the reference toolsselected for each lecture. We shunned the theoreticalapproach where concepts and principles on know-ledge organisation and the charting of the researchprocess, its corresponding literature and the conductof inquiry are focused on and chose instead to con-

. centrate on the use of specific selected tools and thedevelopment of skills in the use of these referenceand bibliographic tools. After having discussed theimportance of keeping research records preferably inthe form of cards, we outlined the actual steps in asearch strategy on Southeast Asian studies in a hand-out entitled 'How To Find Out in Southeast Asian

Studies' detailing a most basic forrnof searching on avariety of topics illustrating the search methodologyand the use of tools. The search strategy involvedfirstly defining the research topic in words andphrases as well as by period using basic referencesources like dictionaries and encyclopaedias. Thevoluminous International Encyclopaedia of theSocial Sciences was a fairly familiar tool. The morerecent The Social Science Encyclopaedia" was intro-duced as an example of an alternative source. In theselection of terms for searching the library cataloguesand for later scrutiny of indexes, the use of theLibrary of Congress Subject Headings was stressed asa vital preliminary step. In accessing the catalogues,the author-title and the subject files were differ-entiated, the concept of the main-entry described andthe filing rules explained. Some time was spent onillustrating the use of the Computer Output Micro-fiche (COM) catalogue, a new technology in thelibrary. In particular the identification of subject-specific dictionaries, encyclopaedias and handbookswas described. Special attention was paid to ex-traction of bibliographical works on various topicsfound in UML holdings. In a multidisciplinary coursesuch as this, a wide variety of tools covering variousaspects of, if not exclusively Southeast Asiancountries, the Asian nations in general were selectedas concrete examples. These included the Biblio-graphy of Asian Studies, Donald Clay Johnson'sIndex to Southeast Asian Journals, G.R. Nunn'sAsia: a Selected and Annotated Guide to ReferenceWorks, and Southeast Asian Research Tools issuedby Southeast Asian Studies, Asian Studies Program,University of Hawaii, highlighting research tools foreach Southeast Asian country. The fact that the com-ponent countries of the region have their own nationalbibliographies and indexes was stressed. Malaysia waspicked as an example to show the variety of referencebooks that exist on a country level and participantswere given detailed instruction at various levels ofliterature searching in this field. By analogy materialson other countries could be traced. Selective Malay-sian reference tools which the class could comfort-ably cope with in respect of time and space constraint,and hold the audience interest were retrieved for dis-play. Malaysian biographical sources (e.g. Who's Whoin Malaysia & Singapore), directories (e.g, Federationof Malaysian Manufacturers Directory, and the Malay-sia Livestock Directory & Index), and handbooks (e.g.The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Annual Com-

5Kirkendall, CA. [ed.). Bibliographic Instruction and the Learning Process. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1984. p, 97.

" The Social Science Encyclopaedia. Edited by Adam Kuper and l essica Kuper. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985.

12

panies Handbook, Information Malaysia and KompassBuku Merah), were introduced to the students asuseful sources of information. For report literatureon the social, economic and demographic aspects,government publications as a source of such infor-mation were shown. Such knowledge being essentialfor statistical backup, publications of the StatisticsDepartment, (Yearbook of Statistics) and of vzriousministries such as the Ministry of Labour and Man-power (e.g. Labour and Manpower Report) werehighlighted. Accessing the catalogues for the retrievalof these various publications under the governmentdivisions, departments and ministries as well as byquasi-governmental bodies was described, and theactual documents displayed. Papers presented atconferences and articles in current journals are ex-tremely important as indicators of the 'state of theart' in a given field. UML's comprehensive collectionof conference papers indexed and maintained oncards in the National Collection Division and the in-house Malaysiana periodicals index in the ReaderServices Division admirably filled this need. Thepublished conference indexes and the periodicalindexes by the National Library of Malaysia, entitledIndeks Persidangan Malaysia and Indeks MajalahMalaysia respectively, albeit their limitations incurrency, were identified as supplementary sourcesto UML's in-house indexes. The fact that similartools exist for the various Southeast Asian countrieswas continually stressed. Malaysian newspaper indexembodied in Indeks Suratkhabar Malaysia, served toillustrate the tracing of newspaper reports. Its limit-ation on currency was pointed out but the mainten-ance of current newspaper clippings on selectedtopics by the National Collection Division filled thelucana. Back issues of selected Malaysian newspapersare maintained in microfilm format and students wereadvised on how to access them. Guidance was givenon the use of guides to theses, newspapers andperiodicals as well as manuscripts. Finally the cover-age of periodical indexes and abstracting journals wasintroduced with definitions of new terms in currentusage as well as the definition of 'citation'. With apassing mention of the Readers' Guide to PeriodicalLiterature, we elected, due to the time constraint,to instruct the use of the most useful tools, namelythe Social Science Index, as an example of a scholarlyWilson style index, and the Public Affairs Inform-ation Service Bulletin, an index with a differentapproach in coverage and style from the usualperiodical index. The use of Sociological Abstractswas illustrated as an example of an abstracting journal.

A rather comprehensive list of indexing and abstract-ing journals in the various disciplines of the socialsciences was given to the students and examples ofsome shown in the class to prompt self-study. Ourapproach was therefore more skill development andtool-specific in which a vast array of reference itemswere presented in a search strategy order - anapproach we considered the most appropriate in thecurrent setting.

Like all experimental trial and error methods, withthe passage of time we realised various shortcomingseven whilst instructing, some of which were subse-quently reflected in answers to the questionnairesgiven to the students. Being over zealous, too manyresearch tools were employed as illustration, and itseemed to overwhelm the students. 'It is possible inthese 'one-shot' [or one session 1 lecture to cover toomuch material, in too great a degree of complexity,in too short a time'," Our handout was pitched at toohigh a level and beyond the undergraduates' compre-hension. With hindsight, in later sessions, we rectifiedand modified our instructional methods to the mutualsatisfaction of the parties concerned. A select numberof research tools were employed with more stress onthe conceptuals and principles of planning and organ-ising research. Time constraints again compelled usregretfully to leave the teaching of the mode ofcitation of bibliographical sources completely in thehands of the teaching staff.

Response to the questionnaires to assess what theparticipants had learnt was positive and most en-couraging. All the respondents averred that the pro-gramme would help them in pursuing research in thelibrary while some expressed regret that these skillshad not been taught earlier, and that it certainly wasmore useful than a library tour. 10% of these respon-dents stressed the need to combine a tour with thesession. This need was met by the video presentationof the library and its services. As we had anticipated,many students - a good 30% - indicated that toomuch information was cramped in each session whichcould have been more usefully spread over manymore sessions for better comprehension. When askedif they were confused by any part of the instruction,most students expressed confusion over the use ofperiodical indexes and abstracting journals than withany other area of instruction. This could be due tothe fact that to the undergraduates this was a newsource of information which required fairly in-depthknowledge of the topic being researched to select thecorrect terms for the search. Perhaps instruction onthe use of these tools could be delayed until the

7Beaubien, Anne K., Sharon A. Hogan and Mary W. George. op. cit., p. 157.

13

students are half-way through their course. But ex-tension of the instruction over a longer period doesseem imperative and effort must be made to give in-dividual attention at the cost of limiting the coursecontent.

In the early years informal student and facultyfeedback was very encouraging. Whilst this was anindication that the programme had been well received,a more systematic method of assessing the partici-pants' improved library competence was needed. Tothis end, since 1985, a one hour test has been given toparticipants immediately after each session, to testskills acquired in accessing the card and COM cata-logues via the subject and author-title files. Thoughnot perfect answers were always given, overall, theparticipants seemed able to trace documents in thelibrary. In the second part of the test, they wereassessed on the use of some specific periodicalindexes and abstracting journals on a research topic.The results were indicative of the students havingacquired the rudiments of effective retrieval skills.In the last question, they were asked to pick a biblio-graphical source of their choice for selection of titles.A handful of students displayed remarkable origin-ality in this, but most students seemed too tight fortime to complete this part. The most heartening factof these sessions was the rapport established with thestudents who used the library throughout theircourse with greater competency and did not hesitateto approach us for further clarification and help.

Library instruction has also been conducted forpostgraduate students. The programme is adapted andtailored to meet the requirements of the Master ofPublic Administration and Master of Educationcandidates, with the latter group being given greateremphasis on the use of the Educational ResourcesInformation Center (ERIC) system. UML currentlyholds this invaluable educational source of approxi-mately 160,000 full-text documents in microficheformat from 1976 to date.

The culmination of our efforts in user educationwas reached when the Chief Librarian approached usto offer a similar programme to the Master of Philo-sophy (M. PhiL) candidates of the Institute ofAdvanced Studies of the University. The Institute'sliaison with the library serves as an excellent exampleof faculty support and an integration of the library in

academic activity. The Institute proved to lend effect-ive support and reflect a positive attitude so essentialto the success and effectiveness of library instructionprogrammes. As Constance A. Mellon says, 'facultyattitude, not instructional excellence, is the realbarrier to effective library instruction prograrns'i''

The bibliographic instruction to the M. Phil.students was course-integrated and credit worthy to-wards the candidates' final grades in the HC 502course, 'General Research Methodology'. In develop-ing this programme, we approached it in a similarfashion as that adopted for the Southeast AsianStudies programme by studying and surveying thestudent composition and the course outline as wellas aims and objectives of the M. Phil. programme.Being postgraduate entrees the calibre of thesestudents in respect of academic achievement and in-tellectual level was naturally superior to the under-graduates tutored by us. The course too is generallymultidisciplinary but very project-oriented. Candi-dates undertook projects in the scientific field or inthe area of human development and land use. Dis-tinctly different tools and research methodology wererequired for each category and separate sessions wereorganised with students attending the sessionsaccording to their choice of projects. A basic searchstrategy was introduced, with emphasis on the

, various alternatives in formulating a search. Beingproject-oriented each candidate had a research topicin mind. Working on this premise the appropriate in-structional strategy seemed the problem analysisscheme or approach as elaborated by Beaubien,Hogan and George," in which the user performshis own question analysis and on receipt of instruc-tion on the mode of accessing the library tools in-cluding the catalogues, he is able to select the appro-priate bibliographic tools. But instruction on theelementary but very essential processes, searchingfor definitions of terms and placing the topic inhistorical and subject context, accessing the cata-logues, use of the Library of Congress SubjectHeadings and illustrating the use of the COM cata-logue was effected. The stress here was howeveron the use of the subject catalogue to retrieverelevant reference tools ranging from dictionariesto abstracting journals. As far as po sible the studentswere made aware of the parallel growth in the biblio-

8Mellon, Constance A. 'Systematic Development for Library Instruction Programs: Issues of Design and Change', in BibliographicInstruction and the Learning Process: Theory, Style and Motillation, papcr presented at the t w c lft h Annual t.lbrarv InstructionConfcrence held at Eastern Michigan University. May 6 & 7, 1982. Edited by Carolyn A. Kirkendall. Ann Arbor: Picrian Pre s,1984. p. 73.

9Beaubien, Anne K., Sharon A. Hogan and Mary W. George, op, cit.

14

graphic control of the literature that is generated in adiscipline. The instruction was geared towards con-cepts and principles of knowledge organisation andthe types of bibliographic tools that exist to captureand record the information that proliferates. Moreadvanced tools like book reviews, sources for evalu-ation of completed research or those in progress,sources that capture essays and miscellaneous worksnot indexed in periodical indexes, current contentstype of indexes, and state of the art publications, like'Advances in .. .' 'Reviews in .. .', and 'Currentissues in .. .' were discussed.

The M. Phil. bibliographic instruction programmegave us an opportunity to test our skills in the con-struction of an assessment or a test that couldexamine appropriately and fairly the candidates'abilities and progress in the acquisition of specificlibrary skills and ability to locate relevant literature intheir field. This also worked as a yardstick in evaluat-ing our worth as instructors. The candidates' efficientuse of the author-title as well as the subject cata-logues was the focal point of the test. Since the cata-logues serve as the key to a library's holdings, intelli-gent and efficient use of these tools is vital to the in-tellectual process of identifying materials on one'stopic of research. In the second part of the test, theefficient use of periodical indexes and abstractingjournals was assessed. Using techniques taught in thesessions, identification of relevant indexes andabstracts was tested. Proper bibliographic identifi-cation and citations were expected in the compilationof a short bibliography of selected works. Using toolsin UML's reference collection, the candidates weregiven two and a half hours to complete the test. Theresults were most gratifying. As we were at hand toiron out any confusion or irregularities (it also beingour first attempt at such an exercise) grades weretipped towards a high average. Our objective was notonly to test them strictly on correct answers but alsoon the processes adopted in literature searching. Weregarded the test as an education in itself. Informalfeedback was positive and candidates actually en-joyed doing the test.

Future development of the Reader EducationProgrammeTo date about 500 students of the University havebenefitted from the Reader Education Programme.

The future development of the programme dependsmuch on the success of the instruction librarians incontending with the current constraints of staff andtime. Currently only the two professionals from theReader Services Division are engaged in this pro-gramme in addition to shouldering the daily routinereference functions. More participation in this pro-gramme would be welcome. The librarian of theEngineering Library of UML has also begun biblio-graphic instruction for students of engineering. Thelack of physical infrastructure proves an encumbranceto the smooth implementation of the programme.The allocation of a permanent location for readereducation classes would alleviate the irksome task ofhaving to scout around for an instruction room every-time there arises a request for a session. With a fixedvenue to house a permanent collection of referencetools and equipment, staff could be relieved of thistime-consuming and laborious task of retrievingrelevant materials on an ad hoc basis.

Integration of bibliographic instruction into thecurriculum of each discipline will lead to rapid devel-opment, expansion and further refinement of readereducation. The availability of a graphic designer,for example, would help tremendously in thechurning out of attractive and concise handouts ineye-catching styles to capture and maintain students'interests in the programme. Faculties in the Univer-sity endowed with technical expertise and graphicstaff could lend support in sharing their facilities toboost the programme. A positive faculty attitude too,as that displayed by the Institute of AdvancedStudies, towards the role librarians can play in theeducational process is a pre-requisite. As John Cowleylaments, 'there is little doubt that in most collegesmuch work remains to be done to convince academiccolleagues of the importance of the library in relationto the development of new courses and the fullestintegration of the library with academic activity [andthat] cooperation between the librarian and academiccolleagues is essential to the success of user edu-cation'i!" In the pioneering of library instruction, thelegitimacy of librarians playing the role of teachershas been questioned. In UML, only a few librarianshave either any semblance of instructional trainingor any form of teaching experience. This shortcomingcan be overcome with cooperation· between ourexcellent and well established Faculty of Education

10c~wley, John. 'User Edu~a~ion in the Traditional Library', in Library User Education: Are New Approaches Needed? Pro.ceedings of a Conference, Trinity College Cambridge 1979. Edited by Peter Fox. London: The British Library Bo rd 1980 36and 37. a, . p,

15

and the Chief Librarian encouraging and facilitatingthe enrollment of instruction librarians in theFaculty'S programme to improve their teaching tech-niques. Mellon stresses the importance of the learningof teaching by librarians by saying, 'It is time forthose engaged in library instruction to become awareof the growing body of literature on learning theoryand to incorporate what is known about how peoplethink and learn into the design of user instruction'. II

The subject specialisation of the corps of librariansthat UML is justifiably proud of could be drawn uponto further refine the programme. UM L Iibrarians notonly hail from a varied background of academicachievement but are deemed to be amongst the mostexperienced librarians in the country. Thus in-depthbibliographic instruction on specific subjects could bemeaningfully undertaken by librarians in their respect-ive fields. Instruction on the use of BiologicalAbstracts or Chemical Abstracts by librarians with ascience background and those specialising in thehumanities and fine arts handling reference tools inthese areas could be of tremendous help in instructingstudents pursuing these courses. Bibliographic instruc-tion can also be offered on very specific courses, e.g,on rural sociology, urban social development, crimin-ology or legal research.

User education in MalaysiaThis paper's main concern has been user education inUML. It is suggested that library instruction pro-grammes which are in the 'infancy' stage in Malaysiashould be developed further in academic libraries inMalaysia and offered as an integral part of libraryservices. There certainly exists a user-oriented aware-ness, a sensitivity to user needs besides the greaterattention given to acqu ire, catalogue and storematerials for immediate and future use. With collec-tions being what they are today attention needs to befocussed upon users' information needs with a criticalappraisal of the research strategies expertise or thelack of these in library users. A concerted effortcoupled with innovative programmed instruction inthis area is required. Financial, staff and time con-straints cannot always be cited for the snail's pace ofprogress in this field. Library administrators mustplan for the establishment and continued develop-ment of user_ education programmes and exploitationof expertise amongst their staff.

The Library Association of Malaysia could emulatethe American Library Association and enhance itsefforts via varied cooperative methods to developprogrammes and play the professional and inspir-ational role in developing and promoting user edu-cation. It could organise seminars and workshops onthe theme. Through newsletters, interested librarianscould be kept informed on the state of the art oflibrary instruction programmes in the country. Likethe Annual Conference on Library Orientation forAcademic Libraries initiated and organised by theEastern Michigan University, the Library Associationhere could in concert with academic libraries in thecountry help highlight user instruction and conductvarious activities in this area of librarianship.

Librarians in the country could organise them-selves into projects like the Library Orientation Ex-change Project (LOEX) at the Center of EducationalResources, Eastern Michigan University and its Britishequivalent, the Library Instruction Materials Bank(LIMB) and the Travelling Workshops Experiment(TWE) and through these establish various clearing-houses, exchange programmes for instructionalmaterials and conduct courses in order to institution-alise user instruction in libraries in Malaysia.

Training and exposure to developments abroad inreader education are invaluable in acquiring newmodes and methods of instruction that could be putto the test locally. On the other hand, as Girja Kumarand Krishan Kumarl2 prescribe, user education indeveloping countries is part and parcel of a develop-ing country's socio-economic development and itsimplementation depends much on the policy makers'efforts in incorporating it into the education policyof the country. Meanwhile we as 'bare-foot' librarianscan create an impact in our own little way in pro-moting library instruction through our own trialand error method as we plod untrodden paths insearch of a direction in this vital area of librarian-ship.

References

1. Beaubien, Anne K., Sharon A. Hogan and MaryW. George. Learning the l.ibrory: Concepts andMethods for Ettective Bibliographic Instruction.New York: R.R. Bowker, 1982.

I IMellon, Constance A. 'Information Problem-Solving: A Developmental Approach to Library tnstructlon', in Theories of Biblio-graphic Education: Designs for Teaching. Edited by Cerise Oberman & Kalina Strauch, New York: R.R. Bowker, 1982. p.75.

12 Kumar, Girja and Krishnan Kumar, Philosophy of User Education, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1983.

16

2. Bibliographic Instruction and the Learning Process:Theory, Style and Motivation. Papers presented atthe Twelfth Annual Library Instruction Confer-ence held at Eastern Michigan University, May 6 &7, 1982. Edited by Carolyn A. Ki rkendall. AnnArbor: Pieri an Press, 1984.

3. Directions for the Decade: Library Instruction inthe 1980s. Papers presented at the Tenth AnnualConference on Library Orientation for AcademicLibraries held at Eastern Michigan University,May 8-9, 1980. Edited by Carolyn A. Kirkendall.Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1981.

4 .. Kumar, Girja and Krishan Kumar. Philosopy ofUser Education. New Delhi: Vikas PublishingHouse, 1983.

5. Library User Education: Are New ApproachesNeeded? Proceedings of a conference, TrinityCollege, Cambridge 1979. Edited by Peter Fox.London: The British Library Board, 1980.

6. Roberts, Anne F. Library Instruction for Librari-ans. Littleton: Libraries Unlimited Inc., 1982.

7. Theories of Bibliographic Education. Edited byCerise Oberman and Katina Strauch. New York:R.R. Bowker, 1982.

8. The Travelling Workshops Experiment in LibraryUser Education. By D. Clark et al. London: TheBritish Library Board, 1981.

17