College and Research Libraries


122 I College & Research Libraries • March 1970 

the research function of libraries and li­
brarians, and centralization vs. decentrali­
zation arguments. Separate chapters deal 
with auxiliary technical processes, repro­
duction problems, conservation of library 
materials, building efficiency, personnel, 
organizational structure and legislation. 
Each topic is treated systematically, with 
a careful analysis of the problem involved, 
a discussion of national and foreign 
trends, and a list of specific recommenda­
tions with suggestions for implementation. 
In a final chapter the committee lists pri­
ority recommendations for the period un­
til 1972 with regard to legislation and or­
ganization, library education and the status 
of library personnel, together with a reca­
pitulation of the most important topics for 
further study. 

With regard to legislation the commit­
tee recommends the establishment of a 
legal depository in the Royal Library in 
The Hague and a subsequent change of 
the current trade bibliography into a na­
tional bibliography. Other proposals in­
clude clear legal status for libraries in the 
academic structure, changes in copyright 
laws, and the establishment of a national 
executive body to coordinate and guide 
future library developments. Of special in­
terest is the request for government sup­
port for the acquisition of significant man­
uscripts and early printed materials. Bet­
ter guidelines are needed for library ed­
ucation, the status of academic librarians, 
professional and supporting staff. There are 
recommendations for the special training 
of restorers, translators and information 
specialists. 

As major fields of further study the 
committee mentions: a national plan for 
collection development, a depository for 
little-used materials, mechanization and 
automation, standards for library buildings 
and equipment, and a national plan for 
research in the fields of manuscript study 
and historical bibliography. 

Much of what the committee discusses 
and most of its recommendations are of 
wider relevance than the Dutch scene only. 
An English translation of the full text of 
the report would make a most stimulat­
ing document available to a world audi­
ence.-Hendrik Edelman, .Joint University 
Libraries. 

The Government and Control of Librar­
ies. By Kenneth Alan Stockham. London: 
Andre Deutsch, 1968. 110p. 18s. ( 68­
107466 GB). 

Characterized as a textbook for non­
graduate British library science students 
preparing for their General Professional Ex­
amination, this slim volume might be bet­
ter described as a syllabus. The first chap­
ter on government of libraries presents an 
excellent summary of the role played by 
the central government in financing and 
controlling national, academic, and pub­
lic libraries in the United Kingdom. The 
composition of major governing boards is 
delineated with excellent internal refer­
ences to government documents containing 
additional information. Major elements of 
The Public Libraries and Museums Act of 
1964 are contrasted with earlier legislation, 
indicating the probable impact of the 1964 
act. 

Chapter three details the sources of na­
tional and local revenues and methods of 
allocation to library functions. An adequate 
summary with examples of a revenue and 
a capital budget identifies the elements 
which comprise the annual and long-range 
needs of the library. Only one item in the 
bibliography deals with finance, and it is 
restricted to public library finance. 

The remaining chapters are of conside~­
ably less value. Chapters on "management" 
and "staffing" are a series of broad, gen­
eral truisms on the qualities of a head li­
brarian and the need for clear-cut lines 
of authority. It is noteworthy that no men­
tion is made of staff involvement in the 
decision-making processes, goal identifica­
tion, or basic personnel management prac­
tices such as staff evaluation conferences. 
Basic concepts such as scientific manage­
ment and systems analysis receive no rec­
ognition. The chapter on "stock control" 
seems more appropriate for a book on 
technical services, since it deals with op­
erational techniques rather than manage­
rial skills or administrative options; even 
so, the paragraph on the role of the com­
puter seems an inadequate recognition of 
its potential. 

Library schools offering courses in com­
parative library systems will find the chap­
ters on "government" and "finance" of 



value as well as the appendix which gives 
the examination questions from previous 
years. Some pertinent monographs are con­
tained in the bibliography of suggested 
readings, but a heavy emphasis on public 
library titles is evident. Despite the lucid 
style and a few informative chapters, the 
general paucity of descriptive or inter­
pretive information makes this volume in­
appropriate for general library purchase. 
-]ames Foyle, Univ ersity of Denver. 

Computerized Library Catalogs: Their 
Growth, Cost, and Utility. By J. L. Dol­
by; V. J. Forsyth; and H. L. Resnikoff. 
Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1969. 

The principal value of this book is as a 
catalog of considerations relevant to the 
design of mechanized catalog production 
systems. Some research results and some 
suggestions on specific design features are 
presented. The book is particularly recom­
mended to library administrators and li­
brary systems analysts. Computer jargon 
is used only when necessary, and, when 
used, is defined for the nontechnical reader. 

The "growth" in the title is dealt with 
in terms of the fact that libraries tend to 
grow at an exponential rate. Estimating 
the growth rate for individual libraries can 
be difficult because of the unavailability of 
reliable statistical data. A method of using 
imprint dates as a basis for such estimates 
is suggested. In addition, an original meth­
od of predicting the language breakdown 
of future acquisitions is presented. Using 
this method, the authors predict that for­
eign-language materials will constitute a 
constantly increasing percentage of future 
acquisitions of research libraries-a predic­
tion that will be of interest to all library 
administrators. 

A chapter entitled "An Analysis of Cost 
Factors" concentrates on hardware-related 
costs. It includes a particularly lucid sec­
tion on the problems of choosing a pro­
gramming language, and a useful com­
parison of input devices. The claimed po­
tential for cost savings should be viewed 
warily, since it is not clear what costs are 
included in those presented. A brief ap­
pendix to this chapter, surveying some 
linguistic data manipulation languages, will 
probably not interest the nontechnical 
reader. Another chapter, on typography 

Recent Publications I 123 

and format, discusses the important prob­
lem of achieving maximum information 
density on the printed page while main­
taining legibility. 

Among other values of the book are a 
stimulating discussion of publication sched­
ules for book catalogs and supplements, 
and a chapter on automatic error detec­
tion. It is regrettable (but easily explained 
by the paucity of work on the problem) 
that the latter does not concern itself with 
the more general question of automatic 
editing, since a hefty portion of the cost 
of most mechanized cataloging systems is 
attributable to the necessity of human edit­
ing. In backflle conversion projects espe­
cially, it appears that automatic editing 
routines could be devised that would prof­
itably make use of the large amount of 
organization aheady present in catalog 
card data. 

On-line catalogs are not discussed, prob­
ably because, for most libraries, it now is, 
or shortly will be, feasible to use com­
puters to produce human-readable cata­
logs (perhaps in microform) , while plac­
ing the catalog on line is a possibility only 
for the more distant future. A more seri­
ous shortcoming is the failure to discuss 
the use of machine-readable catalog rec­
ords acquired from extramural sources. 
There are serious problems to be solved 
before local systems can make effective 
use of such records, but their availability 
will radically affect the costs of mechaniz­
ing catalog production. Nothing in the 
present book is invalidated when external­
ly produced catalog records are consid­
ered, but to the extent that they are 
available, they must be taken into ac­
count in system design.-Kelley L. Cart­
wright, Univ ersity of California, Berkeley. 

Directory of Library Consultants. Ed. b y 
John Berry III. New York: R. R. Bowker 
Co. , 1969. 141p. $10.75. 

It seems to me that this volume will, 
because it is enumerative and not evalu­
ative, serve a very limited purpose. Li­
brarians of large libraries usually know who 
the real experts are for the projects for 
which consultation help is needed. Repre­
sentatives of small libraries probably do 
not know this and they cannot find out