College and Research Libraries


280 I College & Research Libraries • May 1979 

sense of what influenced and what was in-
fluenced by these two decades of the 
American publishing industry. This view of 
the publishing trade in its wider context 
does much to compensate for the long trek 
through the hundreds of pages of detail. 

The publisher represents one of a soci-
ety's primary brokers of ideas and illusions, 
a point of exchange between what a public 
thinks and wants and is told. Because of 
this, Tebbel's History, however much an 
omnium-gatherum of a single industry it 
may appear, achieves a further dimension, a 
further significance that makes it that much 
more worthwhile an acquisition for any 
academic library.-Charles Helzer, Univer-
sity of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. 

Gough, Chet, and Srikantaiah, Taverekere. 
Systems Analysis in Libraries: A Question 
and Answer Approach. Hamden, Conn.: 
Linnet Books; London: Clive Bingley, 
1978. 158p. $9.50. LC 78-7539. ISBN 
0-208-01753-4 Linnet; 0-85157-278-2 
Bingley. 
Despite ongoing arguments whether 

management is a science or an art, much 
progress has been made in recent years in 
our ability to describe scientifically the op-
erations and activities of a library. Yet 
paradoxically, the application of systems 
analysis techniques appears to be of less 
importance today than during the early 
1970s. Perhaps management science from 
the business world when applied to libraries 
loses something in the translation! Nonethe-
less, this volume by Gough and Srikantaiah 
attempts to stress the importance of library 
systems analysis for scientific analysis of li-
brary services. 

The authors tell us that the volume is in-
tended for students and is a guide or con-
cise aid that synthesizes common elements 
of library systems analysis. They emphasize 
the conciseness of the volume rather than 
its comprehensiveness. Although the struc-
ture of a dialectic conversation throughout 
the volume adds to its uniqueness, the book 
is well written and straightforward. This 
combination of conciseness and the 
question/answer structure is both the 
strength and the weakness of the book. 

The first five chapters, i.e., understand-
ing systems, the library as a system, stating 

goals, methods of description, and systems 
engineering, are excellent summaries of 
basic system concepts and applications. 
They may tend to be too concise for pur-
poses of teaching, but they should be re-
quired reading for the many academic li-
brarians who are not familiar with systems 
analysis as an ongoing management process 
in the library environment. 

The volume falters somewhat during the 
next three chapters, evolution of computers, 
programming languages, and library auto-
mation. Although the discussions, in them-
selves, are useful, they tend to be general 
essays and are not tied into the systems 
analysis process. Implications of the com-
puter in terms of its usefulness for systems 
analysis, management information systems, 
and statistics are not discussed. The tra-
ditional role of automated circulation, 
cataloging, and acquisition systems is de-
scribed but not integrated into the concept 
of systems analysis for library management. 

The text concludes with excellent obser-
vations on cost studies and the evaluation 
process. After the 102 pages of text, 25 
pages of PERT, keeping a flowchart, work 
sampling, and other exercises are pre-
sented. An extensive bibliography and a 
somewhat limited index complete the vol-
ume. The exercises and bibliography them-
selves are worth the purchase price of the 
volume. 

Because the volume is a concise sum-
mary, specific techniques cannot be 
explained adequately. Furthermore, the 
process of model building and the 
induction-deduction process are not ad-
dressed although they are critical compo-
nents in the analysis and design of library 
systems . . Nonetheless, the volume accom-
plishes its stated objective and provides a 
useful guide to 'library systems analysis. 
Readers will look forward to an expanded 
edition that provides details on specific 
techniques, research methods, and model 
building and integrates automated systems 
into the systems analysis process of the li~ 
brary as a whole.-Charles R. McClure, 
University of Oklahoma, Norman. 

Kirk, Thomas G., · Jr. Library Research 
Guide to Biology: Illustrated Search 
Strategy and Sources. Library Research