470 The Review Section

istic project with a thought-provoking application: articles requested by other libraries can be stored in a compressed form, eventually creating a database that might hold as much as 400,000 typewritten pages (or many thousands of articles) and resulting in a full-text database of periodical literature that can be called up, downloaded, or faxed. Almost in an after- thought, the author adds at the end “Naturally, security and copyright considerations must be addressed.”

In my opinion, the best article in the entire volume is “The Effect of Technology on Resource Sharing in a School Library Media Program” by Gail K. Dickinson. This article describes the revolutionary changes to operations and service that were brought about by tech- nology. When the school library media center entered an interlibrary loan network and at the same time implemented electronic access to bibliographic information, a whole new world of resources suddenly became available to the users. The key here is the bibliographic availabil- ity as well as the access to interlibrary loan- two elements that need to exist simultaneously but are not characteristically available in schools. Furthermore, the school librarians in this district play a direct role in instructional support, as described by the solution they found to the problem of teaching the use of proper bibliographic citations. They developed a standard bibliographic format for the district, then took an active part by preparing sample style sheets and by offering to correct that portion of the student’s research papers. “This offer was quickly accepted, and is now a common practice.”

While the articles in this volume are mixed in quality and originality, there are a few gems that make it worthwhile for those who are serious followers of the trends and directions in resource sharing in the 1990s.

Dora Biblarz Associate Dean for Collection Development

Arizona State University University Libraries

Tempe, AZ 8528 7- 1006

The Libraries Directory 2991-2993. Edited by Richard S. Burnell. Cambridge: James Clarke & Co. Ltd, 1992. 232 pp. 00.00. ISBN O-227-67924-5. ISSN 0961-4575.

The introduction to this new edition proudly states that “The Libraries Directory started life in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.” However, it is only the second edi- tion under its new name; from 1910 it had been known as The Libraries, Museums and Art Galleries Year Book. One reason for the change of title was that the intention is now to pub- lish biennially, as disclosed in the introduction to the previous (1988-90) edition, which was published in May 1991.

The new edition includes descriptive entries for 1,718 British and Irish libraries, which rep- resents an increase of 396 over the previous edition’s total of 1,322, a very impressive growth rate of almost 30%. The entries are grouped under four headings, each group arranged alpha- betically by place-Public libraries (173); Special libraries (the heading for every other library category) (1,489); Irish public libraries (20); Irish special libraries (36). The special libraries sections include academic, industrial, ecclesiastical, museum and gallery libraries, together with a representative listing of archive and county record offices.

The Review Section 471

As my colleagues in the Bodleian would readily admit, there are both advantages and dis- advantages in working in a library of legal deposit. The main advantage is the right to receive all British (and Irish) publications free of charge under the terms of the Copyright Act. We are thereby spared the need to choose between competing British reference books-we get them all. Looking at the comparative value for money of this book in relation to its rivals was quite an enlightening experience. One of the disadvantages of legal deposit is that some pub- lishers do not supply books particularly promptly. The Bodleian has still not received the new edition of this book, several months after copies were first available, and we were kept wait- ing nine months for the 1988-90 edition.

In terms of price, The Libraries Directory (at 00) treads a middle path between Libraries in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, published annually by the Library Asso- ciation in paperback at f18.50, and the irregular ASLIB Directory of Information Sources in the United Kingdom, 6th ed. 1990, which weighs in at two volumes for f195.00. The former offers very brief and basic entries, with no subject index, but has the advantage of annual updating. The latter offers over 5,500 full entries and a more reader-friendly layout, with the whole of the second volume devoted to a very valuable and effective subject index. However, there have only been five editions in the last 34 years.

So much for its rivals. What are the particular strengths and weaknesses of The Libraries Directory? One strength is the depth of information given. Information on public libraries is given under 38 headings, many of them subdivided; for special libraries, there are 18 head- ings. These headings are not given however in the body of each entry, although they are sum- marized at the top of each double page. This gives the entries an extremely dense appearance, with the text reduced on occasion to cabalistic strings of numbers and abbreviations; I feel this must be considered a minus point. The summarized headings can also seem fairly im- penetrable (e.g., “18. Ad Idg. 19. Ad ref.“) and they do not include codes for all the neces- sary subheadings, particularly in the special libraries section. Additional information that would have been useful and could perhaps be included in future editions includes details of access for the disabled. Acquisitions librarians will find the heading for for library publica- tions useful, although it is a pity this is included only for special libraries and not for public libraries.

Another strength is accuracy. Information on the libraries I know best is commendably accurate, and even if it had not been, I would feel inclined to suspect the library concerned, rather than the publisher. The information is, after all, gathered in response to questionnaires, and we all know how busy librarians react to questionnaires that land with a dull thud on our desks. We turn to the back page of the questionnaire, check the deadline, and shelve it until the week before the due date. On the day before (or more often, the week after), we are smit- ten by conscience, and fill it in at breakneck speed, just to get it off our desk and into the post. Or maybe I’m the only librarian in the profession who sometimes responds like that.

What did surprise me was the omission of several important Oxford academic libraries. There is no entry for one of the three “central” libraries, the Ashmolean (201,000 volumes), and only half the ten “faculty” libraries are included: the omissions are the Cairns Library (48,000 volumes), the English Faculty Library (81,000 volumes), the History Faculty Library (49,000 vol- umes), the Philosophy Library (12,000 volumes), and the Theology Faculty Library (16,000 volumes). On the other hand, 14 of the generally smaller departmental libraries of the Uni- versity of Oxford are included. This may merely indicate that the libraries concerned failed to respond to the questionnaire. It does however tend to give the Oxford list an unbalanced appearance, which I suppose should be considered a further weakness.

472 The Review Section

It has to be said that the quality of the indexing is mixed. There is, for instance, an entry under “School of” which has become confused with the entry below it in the index. The Queen’s College Library (Birmingham) does not receive an index entry under “Methodism,” nor does John Wesley’s House and the Museum of Methodism (London), or the Wesley His- torical Society Library (London), although all are listed as having significant collections. Under “Methodism,” the “see also” reference to “Dissent” merely leads to a further reference “see under Church History.” Elsewhere, my own preference would have been for an index entry under “John Johnson Collection” in addition to “Johnson, John, Cohn (ephemera).” All in all the subject indexing is somewhat rudimentary, and much less helpful than the index to the ASLIB Directory.

In the past I have tended to turn to the ASLIB Directory in dealing with reference enqui- ries. I now feel that I may well use The Libraries Directory rather more often, on the basis of the depth of information given and the currency of coverage, notwithstanding the index- ing shortcomings. Fifty pounds may sound a lot of money, but I believe it represents good value for reference libraries, at a quarter of the price of its less current rival.

Richard Bell Head of Reader Services

Bodleian Library Oxford OXI 3BG

UK

Technical Services in Libraries: Systems and Applications. Edited by Thomas W. Leonhardt . Foundations in Library and Information Science, Volume 25. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1992. 275 pp. $63.50. ISBN 1-55938-214-7.

The subtitle of Technical Services in Libraries establishes the scope of this monograph. The book describes workflow and procedures associated with several departments typically part of a technical services division, discusses basic management strategies for many of these areas, and analyzes the impact of technology on technical services work. Additionally, it includes topics not found in recent books about technical services including a chapter on education for technical services librarians, and selecting and using vendors, as well as how to conduct a ven- dor performance study.

The book concentrates on technical services in academic libraries with individual essays overwhelmingly written by academic librarians who are well known and respected in the pro- fession. Contributors range from administrators in technical services functional areas such as acquisitions or cataloging to past and present administrators of technical service departments. Each speaks from a strong base of practical experience and knowledge.

For the novice to technical services operations, many of the “how-to-manage” chapters on basic functions provide very useful information. Marion Reid’s “Managing Technical Ser- vices,” Alice Allen’s “Managing the Catalog Department,” Kurt Murphy’s “Copy Cataloging: Management and Organization,” Katherine Soupiset’s “Managing Acquisitions,” and Barbara Winters’ “Serials in an Automated Environment” all provide fundamental information about the “nitty gritty” of daily operations.