SUBJECT SPECIALIZATION IN BRITISH UNIVERSITY-LIBRARIES - A 2ND SURVEY

Reports results of a survey of UK university libraries to study the na ture and degree of subject specialization practised there, as a follow up to a similar study conducted 15 years earlier (Journal of Libraria nship, 14, (2), April 1982, 93-108, (LISA ref. 834342)). For the purpo ses of comparison the present survey, which was sent to chief libraria ns, covers those same institutions studied in 1981 and, consequently, does not include the new universities that were formerly polytechnics. Libraries are classified into the same five categories of specializat ions as in the previous study: functional; dual; hybrid; 3 tier; and s ubject divisional. The expectation from the earlier study - that subje ct specialization would become less feasible in the future - has not b een realized. Whereas the question had appeared to be one of whether u niversity libraries could afford the services of subject librarians, 1 5 years later the challenge to their existence appears more profound.