The Catholic University of America

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS
DAY 1: Friday, July 18, 2008

Question 1
The need of people in modern society for a "third place" (neither home nor work) is widely acknowledged. Some writers believe libraries can be such a "third place". For a library or information center setting of your choice (public, academic, school, special, etc.), discuss how library and information professionals can make creative use of library's physical space to meet user needs and discuss at least three management strategies for managing library space in this environment. Include references to the literature as appropriate.


Question 2
Information professionals use metadata to organize resources in libraries, archives, and other types of information centers. For this reason many metadata schemas have been developed, such as AACR, MARC, Dublin Core, Encoded Archival Description, Visual Resources Association Core (VRA Core), and others. Discuss at least three key issues information professionals need to consider as they select metadata schemas to organize information resources for short-term and long-term access in a networked environment. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 3

In a recent article in The Washington Post, Monica Hesse examines truth in our current information society and the impact of the wiki on information literacy. Discuss the pros and cons of how collaborative and socially developed information resources such as wikis affect provision of reference services and promotion of information literacy in a type of a library or information center setting of your choice. Include references to the literature as appropriate.


Question 4

Needs assessment and feasibility analysis are important activities in developing, acquiring, or managing a library, archive or other information system. Explain the significance of these two activities and describe the important elements of each activity. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 5

A patron of your public library presents you with a petition that has 100 signatures supporting the removal of the Harry Potter book series from your library due to its inappropriate content for children. How would you respond to this petition as a library and information professional? In your answer, discuss the ethical, philosophical, and practical issues you would consider in your response to the patron's concerns. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

DAY 2: Saturday, July 19, 2008

Question 6

In a recent Library Journal editorial, John Berry wrote, "Information is only one of the many things found in a library." Compare and contrast the ways that public, academic, school, and special libraries do more than provide access to information. Justify your answer using specific examples to support your statements. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 7

Librarians are often called upon to design instructional modules to support information literacy. Discuss principles and best practices of instructional design that are applicable to both on site instruction and online instruction. In addition, discuss unique aspects of online instruction that must be addressed by information professionals. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 8

Select two areas of library operations where library professionals need to work with stakeholders in order to meet the library's goals. Explain why such collaboration is important and discuss steps library information professionals can take to ensure successful collaboration in these two areas. Some examples of areas of library operation include collection development, media services, information organization, and acquisition of information systems. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 9

One approach to finding information is subject access. Define subject access and explain how library professionals provide subject access to information. In your discussion you should address two challenges of subject representation and search, and describe at least one recent innovation that could enhance subject searching. Include references to the literature as appropriate.

Question 10

There are many models that describe users' information seeking and use behavior, for example, Dervin's Sense-making model, Kuhlthau's Information Search Process (ISP) model, Taylor's four information needs, and Ellis' Behavioral Models of Information Seeking. Describe one model in detail and explain how it can inform the design and provision of information services for users. Include references to the literature as appropriate.