ABSTRACT
In the Fall of 1991, Science & Technology Libraries issued a general call for papers on the life and times of small liberal arts college science libraries and/or the workday life of librarians serving scientists at small liberal arts colleges using a main campus library. We thought that the small school scene deserved its own volume. By no means do we intend to be pejorative in our use of the word “small.” We just find it to be a highly useful descriptor relative to most ARL-class institutions and as much a point of pride as any claim to be large. By “small” we mean schools with generally less than three or four thousand students with the overwhelming emphasis of the school on the bachelor’s degree, although some entirely reputable graduate programs may also be present. The “liberal arts sciences” we are dealing with in this group tend to be academic subjects like fundamental biology, chemistry, geology, math, physics, and perhaps what used to be called physiological psychology, as opposed to applied topics like engineering, agriculture, nursing, medical technology, sports physiology, and the like, although some schools could conceivably have both types of programs.
