College and Research Libraries 384 I College & Research Libraries • july 1979 and those in philosophy being much more inclined to find needed material at their home university or in their own private col- lections. This study tends to confirm the hypothesis that information in the humanities does not readily go out of date. There is, however, considerable variation within the five humanities areas studied as to extent of library use, and types of mate- rials used by researchers in these areas. Composed of some sixty pages of text and seventy-four pages of tables, plus appen- dixes that include the two sets of cover let- ters and questionnaires, this study reflects thoughtful and meticulous scholarship. Many of the findings are of the "impressions confirmed" nature, and the confirmation is itself of obvious value. The step-by-step discussion of the prepa- ration, method, procedures, and findings is readable and enlightening. The survey has clear implications and usefulness for similar investigations in the .U.S. and could serve as a model for future researchers in this (and related) areas.-Charles E . Perry, North Texas State University, Denton. Compaine, Benjamin M. The Book Industry in Transition: An Economic Study of Book Distribution and Marketing. White Plains, New York: Knowledge Industry Publications, Inc., 1978. 235p. $24 .95. LC 78-7527. ISBN 0-914236-16-4. Ben Compaine begins The Book Industry in Transition by saying, "This report was written 4 7 years ago under a different name." So he compares the work with Cheney's Economic Survey of the Book In- dustry 1930-1931 (New York: National As- sociation of Book Publishers, 1931). And in fact Cheney's work has been the primary reference on the book industry for almost half a century. The present work is a direct result of market research activities con- ducted by Knowledge Industry Publications (KIP) on behalf of book industry clients. Compaine, a KIP officer, has a background in marketing and communications, and this background is evident throughout the report. It should be pointed out that this book was previously issued as Book Distribution and Marketing, 1976-1980, in 1976. At that time the price was $450, or $395 to sub- scribers to KIP publications. Compaine de- scribes the differences between the 1976 report and this 1978 publication as being a matter of price and minor updating of statis- tics. The high price of the original report, while perhaps appropriate for KIP's book industry clients, was evidently unacceptable to most libraries. The OCLC data base indi- cates only a handful of holding libraries. On the other hand the $24.95 price for the 1978 book has evidently permitted numerous libraries to acquire essentially the same book-albeit two years later. An updating of Cheney's survey is long overdue. And The Book Industry in Transi- tion accomplishes this quite well-at least in the areas of book distribution and market- ing. The author identifies five results of the study. First, there is an analysis of the gen- eral status of the book industry, its history, and its direction. Second, the study pre- sents a description of the way general books are marketed and distributed. Third, there is a sharing of techniques, innovations, and experiments that will hopefully benefit the industry as a whole. Fourth, the study pro- vides an outsider's evaluation (Compaine's expertise in marketing and communications) of the effectiveness of certain distribution practices and marketing programs. Fifth, the study provides a sense of direction in regard to solving long-standing problems in the book industry. The problems of the book industry today are much the same as those identified by Cheney in 1931. Distribution of literally hundreds of thousands of unique products (titles) is a problem not faced by any other industry. Market research, an essential ele- ment in production and marketing for most other industries, is not widely used in the book industry-and then primarily by the mail order publishers. These and related problems are the focus of the author's con- cern as he surveys how the book industry is organized, who buys books and why, how books get to readers, and comments over and over again on the economic factors that are unique to this industry. Each of fourteen chapters provides a suc- cinct description of a particular aspect of the book industry. Four chapters are devoted to "Getting Books to the Reader" -one chap- ter each for trade books, libraries, mass market paperbacks, and book clubs and mail order publishers. As might be expected from his background, Compaine devotes much attention to the chapter on "Promo- tion, Advertising, and Market Research." All chapters have an ample supply of exam- ples and statistics that effectively support the summary and conclusions offered. Statistics are fairly up to date and come primarily from Bowker publications, the As- sociation of American Publishers, the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and Knowledge In- dustry Publications' own files. The very nature of this study and the cur- rent emphasis on the needs and rights of consumers make a chapter on "Who Buys Books, Where, and Why" of considerable interest. Unfortunately, the little new in- formation included in this chapter is derived from a very small sample of bookstore customers-hardly adequate for substantial conclusions about who buys books and why. Recently, however, and possibly because of the transition climate described by Com- paine, two major studies have been pub- lished that provide valuable insight into the publisher-consumer relationship. Consumer Research Study on Reading and Book Pur- chasing (Darien, Conn.: Book Industry Study Group, 1978) was released in the fall of 1978 at a prepublication price of $1,000, after publication $1,500. Reminiscent of the arrangements for the work being reviewed, a recent announcement from the American Library Association offered the Consumer Research Study on Reading and Book Pur- chasing to ALA members for $60.00. Price notwithstanding, this study adds much in- formation to the existing body of literature about the reading and book-buying habits of Americans. There appears to be some correlation between "Factors Important in Book Selection" reported in this Consumer Research Study and those reported by Compaine in The Book Industry in Transi- tion. Another recent contribution in the area of publisher-consumer relationships is Getting Books to Children: An Exploration of Publisher-Market Relations by Joseph Turow (Chicago: American Library Assn., 1978). The emphasis of Turow's book is clearly on the .. relationship" between the Recent Publications I 385 publisher and market. Nevertheless, in ex- ploring this relationship and its implications, his findings are quite similar to those of Compaine in The Book Industry in Transi- tion. During this transitional period, Compaine supports greater utilization of wholesalers to relieve the magnitude of the distribution problem and to offset the .. horror of re- turns" to publishers. He is very supportive of jobbers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor and feels their role in distribution has not reached its potential. He views the de- velopment of the bookstore chains (B. Dal- ton, Walden, etc.) as positive influences in the industry. In spite of the severe problems facing the industry, not the least of which is gaining new markets (consumers), Compaine is op- timistic. He applauds the use of new technology by publishers, jobbers, and re- tailers. However, little mention is made of the potential for on-line data bases during this transition period. In addition to the summaries and conclu- sions contained in the individual chapters, Heritage on Microfilnt Rare and out-of-print titles and documents on 35mm silver halide microfilm. • French Books before 1601 • Scandinavian Culture • 18th Century English Literature • Victorian Fiction • Literature of Folklore • Hispanic Culture Send for catalog and title information today. GENEW\L C MICROFilM OMPA\JY 100 Inman St. , Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel. (617) 864-2820 386 I College & Research Libraries • july 1979 one chapter is devoted to a summary and conclusions of the entire study. Also, a final chapter consists of "Profiles of Selected Companies." Anyone interested in the book industry will find these profiles quite in- teresting. An appendix provides an analysis of the book buyers survey that supplied the data for the chapter on "Who Buys Books. " The book, although first published at $450 and now available for $24.95, is still overpriced. And there are several glaring typographical errors. Nevertheless, among librarians, communications faculty, book dealers, and publishers there is a ready au- dience for this current assessment of the book industry. Compaine's book may not last as long as the Cheney report . Hope- fully, the changes expected and suggested for the book industry will preclude that possibility.-Don Lanier, Auburn Univer- sity, Auburn, Alabama. Turow , Joseph. Getting Books to Children: An Exploratio·n of Publisher-Market Rela- tions. ALA Studies in Librarianship, no. 7. Chicago: American Library Assn . , 1978. 137p. $8.50. LC 78-24130. ISBN 0-8389- 0276-6. A careful attempt to examine factors that can predetermine which books will be pro- duced, in even one segment of the publish- ing world , is noteworthy. In Getting Books to Children , Joseph Turow, assistant profes- sor of communication at Purdue University, applies the perspective of mass communica- tions research to children's publishing in a way that bears upon fundamental concerns of librarians, the consideration of quality in books selected for a library collection, and the desire to satisfy the needs and wishes of readers. Basing his study on material gathered for his 1976 Ph.D. thesis , the author examines the organizational relationships that have reinforced the two major markets for chil- dren's books , the one library oriented and the other the mass market. His work is di- vided into two main parts as he investigates , in detail, the two different patterns of pub- lishing to see what effect the relationships of publishers and their markets (not children , but in the one case , librarians, and in the AMBASSADOR BOOK SERVICE, INC. ; AMBASSADOR - BOOK SERVICE, INC. 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