Preface.

Schaffner, Bradley L.

Books, Bibliographies, and Pugs

There are a number of practicing Slavic librarians, as well as other academics, who received their first introduction to the profession and world of Slavic resources by taking Murlin Croucher's bibliographic methods course at Indiana University. One would think that a course dedicated solely to the review, or perhaps more accurately "show and tell," of Slavic reference tools and bibliographic resources would be boring beyond belief. However, Murlin's humorous approach to the discussion of each resource made the classes extremely enjoyable and almost hid his thorough knowledge of the bibliographic tools of the Slavic studies trade. We found ourselves anticipating each class, when new bibliographic wonders would be discussed during each geo graphically thematic session. Surprising, at least at the time, was the fact that once introduced to them, we all used these resources as we conducted research for our other courses. Murlin succeeded in teaching us how to conduct research in a thoughtful and organized manner, rather than simply going to a call number range in the stacks. One interesting side-effect of this course is that thanks to Murlin many of us also became interested in pursuing a career in Slavic librarianship.

While one can prepare for a class lecture by selecting key resources to review, one cannot prepare for the broad range of reference questions that a Slavic librarian deals with on a daily basis. Unlike Slavic studies faculty, who have the "luxury" of focusing on a specific discipline with a thematic research program, hence developing a deep understanding of the resources in their chosen field, area studies librarians have to be able to direct patrons to answers to reference questions from a broad range of disciplines and on almost unlimited topics. Adding to the challenge is the fact that most people need the information immediately. One of Murlin's great professional skills was the ease and accuracy with which he ably answered reference requests. Once in a while a reference title would not come to mind, so he would simply take the patron to the appropriate resource within the library stacks. At the end of most of Murlin's class sessions, students would make use of his fount of knowledge and quiz him on specific Slavic reference resources. While we all tried to make it appear that these were simply questions that interested us, Murlin surely knew that we were using him to help point us in the right direction for research projects in other classes!

Murlin's bibliographic course was not only informative and useful, but it was also enjoyable. Murlin enhanced the classroom experience by inviting each class to his home for a wonderful dinner where it was mandatory to meet his house mates, two very social pugs who enjoyed parties as much as the students. Many of us became close friends not only with Murlin, but also with his dogs. During the 1980s and 1990s, Murlin went on numerous business and research trips to East Central Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union and because of this, many of us had the opportunity to "pug sit" while Murlin was out of the country.

In essence, a symbiotic relationship formed between Murlin the Slavic librarian/teacher and the students taking his course. The courses allowed Murlin to review and discuss numerous bibliographic resources in an organized manner. Much of what was discussed in his courses served as the basis for his wonderful bibliography Slavic Studies: A Guide to Bibliographies, Encyclopedias, and Handbooks (1993). In addition, he developed a pool of people willing to dog sit for him as he traveled. Students who took his class developed the ability to conduct research in an organized and thoughtful manner, utilizing general and obscure reference tools. And, because of Murlin's work and example, many of us went on to become Slavic librarians.

Bradley L. Schaffner, June 2006