Personnel administration: the case method of teaching.

Only recently are case materials being used in the area of personnel administration, general library administration, and reference services. These permit more intellectual involvement on the part of the student than do the generalizations which result from the traditional lecture-discussion techniques. The medical library field has a professional character quite particular to itself. This is illustrated by its highly specialized clienteles, the quite special nature of the materials involved and their control, and the aura of special ethical considerations involved in any aspect of medicine. The development of a body of case materials would seem to have merit as a teaching vehicle for the medical library course, for in-service training in larger medical libraries, for workshops and institutes, and as a learning vehicle for the individual medical librarian.