Outline for a proposed MA-level course

Developing a collection

What to buy

• Standing orders
• Tracking subscriptions
• Acquiring old or out-of-print items
• Gifts and exchanges – advantages and disadvantages
• Special gift collections
• Acquiring items that are of special interest to women
• Using the Internet for additional materials
• Which non-Chabad books do you need?
• What books are needed for a basic Chabad collection?
• Cataloging non-book items
• Locating non-book items

Keeping track of your collection

• Classifying materials in a collection
• Learning DDC quickly
• Allowing patrons to borrow materials
• Finding out who borrowed materials
• Finding out when patrons will return materials
• Keeping books on the right shelf
• Dealing with books that are lost or stolen
• Knowing what is on your shelf right now

Dealing with patrons

• Children who visit the library
• Individual visits from Beis Chana girls
• Class visits from Beis Chana girls
• Patrons who make a mess of the library
• Visits from the outside public
• Limiting the visitors to the library
• Preventing materials from being stolen
• Dealing with clients who want/do not want Meshichistic materials
• Dealing with objectionable materials

Reference work

• Knowing what is in all of the materials in the library
• Find out what a patron really wants
• Giving the patron what he really wants
• Locating information in your collection
• Dealing with people who need urgent information
• Dealing with books in strange languages

Bibliographies

• Why you should develop bibliographies
• How to develop bibliographies
• Getting bibliographies from other sources
• Becoming a worldwide resource for bibliographies
• Letting clients know which bibliographies exist

Administration

• Creating a library budget
• Letting people know which new materials have arrived
• Letting people know which new materials are on order
• Arranging to borrow items that are not in the library, for special temporary or one-time requests
• Repairing damaged books
• Dealing with missing pages
• Dealing with sticky books
• Determining library policy
• Helping patrons know about the library policy
• Finding out more information about running libraries independently
• Becoming involved with Israeli libraries
• Israeli library organizations
• Worldwide library organizations
• Staying in touch with other librarians

Computerization

• What computer to buy
• How many computers to buy
• Using a computer to keep track of materials
• Finding the right system to classify the books on the shelf
• Making a library computer program
• What happens when the computer loses your information?

Staff development

• What routine shelving can be done by an assistant
• What cataloging can be done by an assistant
• What work with patrons can be done by an assistant
• What acquisition work can be done by an assistant
• What other routine work can be handled by an assistant
• Training temporary staff or assistants
• Our course
• Can I visit the library sometimes?
• Can you do computer work on a computer?
• Can you buy books for the course?

Not in course

• Introduction to librarianship
• Theory of librarianship
• History of librarianship
• Libraries around the world
• Philosophy of librarianship
• Different kinds of libraries
• History of books and printing
• Multicultural librarianship
• Specialized librarianship: Music, Law, Medicine...
• Staff Training
• Staff Evaluation
• Work Standards
• Work Quotas
• Staff Motivation