ABSTRACT
During the period 1969-1990, the literature of library technical services increased in volume and in degree of specialization. While monographic treatments and library tools comprised an important sector of technical services literature throughout the period, particularly in areas concerned with application of codes, dominance of the journal format became more pronounced. The number of journals publishing technical services articles increased; several new journals established themselves as core publications in their fields. Technical services literature defined itself more precisely in some subject areas (e.g., acquisitions) while its coverage extended into other new areas, notably the application of computer technology to the control and retrieval of bibliographic materials. Some topics experienced a sharp increase in treatment, then leveled off; some topics showed cycles of increased and reduced treatment apparently related to the release of new codes or versions; a few topics (e.g., preservation) seem barely past the heroic stage–no slackening in publication is in sight. Technical services literature included standard tools and handbooks, codes and their revisions, news reports, editorials and opinion pieces, analysis and “think pieces,” reports of professional practice in specific institutions, and basic research. Though many authors lamented the relationship (or lack thereof) of research to technical services practice, few explored the exact nature of that relationship in a systematic manner. Few examined libraries and technical services in terms of organizational behavior, external constraints upon decision making, or other perspectives which might illuminate some of the reasons for that relationship’s contours and condition.
