ADMINISTRATION PROBLEMS OF A SPECIAL LIBRARY: A. THE SERVICE AND ITS STAFF

The problems of an information service or special library discussed are those of staffing. The problems are greater because a solution in one organization is seldom applicable in another. This difficulty in arriving at a common solution arises not so much from the extremely varied activities of many information services, but rather from the infinitely varied nature of the organizations of which they form part. These variations are in several dimensions—in size, in subjects covered, in the organizational structure of the undertaking, and the status of the information officer within the organization itself vis‐à‐vis his administra‐tive, technical, and commercial colleagues. These variations are so considerable, yet at the same time so indeterminate, that the information services themselves frequently defy comparison. Their staffing problems, unless considered individually, become major problems. For these reasons this paper attempts to survey only certain facets of the problem, and its scope has been restricted so as to exclude all but the larger industrial libraries. At the same time, it is hoped that the paper will have some bearing on related problems in other types of libraries.