College and Research Libraries r ful companion to this reader, as many of the manuscripts discussed are reproduced in this series. Winckler introduces the student to the history of books and printing. As we enter the era of Gutenberg II, a period of rapid technological development and an explosion of information, it is good for the student of librarianship to have a historical perspec- tive. This reader provides it. -Susan G. Swartzburg, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Reader in Undergraduate Libraries. Edited by Billy R. Wilkinson. Readers in Librar- ianship and Information Science, 25. En- glewood , Colo.: Information Handling Services, 1978. 447p. $20. LC 78-9504. ISBN 0-910972-76-1. This new volume in the Reader Series in Librarianship and Information Science goes a long way towards filling the gap in litera- ture available on undergraduate libraries. The paucity of literature on the subject is reflected in the number of times the writers chosen for inclusion (both from the U.S. and the UK) refer to the other selected arti- cles or to their authors. It suffers from a fault common to all publications of this type, in that its major role is to republish items that have previously been available in a variety of sources and is, therefore, re- stricted to material that is already familiar to most of its potential audience. Most of Billy Wilkinson's present selec- tions have been readily available-even out- side the U gLi fraternity. Bringing them all together in this way, however, justifies the undertaking, but why are there only passing references to more recent articles? And was the cutoff date for the "general reading list" really May 1, 1971? Ellen Keever, in one of the two more recent articles included, lists a few more modern references, and Wilkin- son himself refers to the 1976 statistical edi- tion of the UgLi Newsletter and to Win- gate's 1978 article in C allege & Research Libraries. But one does wonder if he might not have been able to include some more up-to-date references and statistics from the UgLi Newsletter and other sources. For this reviewer , at least, the book's value would have been enhanced if the editor had expanded his brief introductory Recent Publications I 471 comments for each section. A critical as- sessment from Wilkinson would have made for interesting reading-though it was prob- ably not within the terms of reference for this series! The material presented effectively takes undergraduate libraries into the 1960s and early 70s (at least until the early months of 1973), and the summary of Braden's 1967 thesis still provides a realistic checklist of the special contribution that can be made by an undergraduate library , especially where it supplements a major research li- brary. The articles are well written and touch on a fairly wide spectrum of the topic. The his- torical aspects receive most space and are well covered by a list of writers that sounds like a miniature "who's who" in academic librarianship-Keyes Metcalf, Philip McNiff, Edwin Williams , Arthur McAnally, William Dix, Frederick Wagman, Ellsworth Mason, and so on. Wilkinson devotes almost half of this vol- ume to the proceedings of four conferences. Patricia Knapp's chapter should be required reading far beyond the undergraduate li- brary, as should the papers of the Institute on the Undergraduate Environment. James Davis ' contribution to this institute eloquently sums up the U gLi role as "Coping-an UgLi Way of Life." This at- titude may well be the bridge that carries some undergraduate libraries over the pres- ent budget crises and beyond the doubts expressed by Wilkinson, into the future. If that future is based on the objectives spelled out by Braden (and others) there should indeed be a future volume on the 1970s and 1980s. For, as Davis says in the one quote Wilkinson gives from a later arti- cle, " undergraduate libraries are not a nos- trum for many of the ills presently besetting academic libraries. Many undergraduate li- braries have needlessly been established as unrealistic solutions to problems unrelated to service for undergraduate students . But judiciously conceived and properly sup- ported, both administratively and fiscally, they can infuse all components of the com- munity of an academic library with a new spirit of enthusiasm and interest. " 1 This reviewer would like to have seen more critical and analytical material on the 472 I College & Research Libraries • September 1979 special services for undergraduate students , which Braden lists among her top ten priorities. Maybe such articles have been omitted from this volume because they are being saved for that future volume? Maybe they are still waiting to be written? Despite these gaps , this volume certainly deserves a place on the shelves in most academic libraries and in all faculties and schools of library science . It should be read by all U gLi librarians-perhaps even ~s preparation for some new substantive and objective articles on why and how we pro- vide the services this volume describes.- Sheila M. Laidlaw, University of Toronto , Toronto , Ontario. REFERENCE 1. James Davis, " The Changing Role of the Undergraduate Library in Uni versities," in E. ] . ] osey, ed., New Dimensions for Academic Library Service (Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow, 1975), p. 73. Taylor, P . J. Information Guides: A Survey of Subject Guides to Sources of Informa- tion Produced by Library and Informa- tion Services in the United Kingdom. British Library Research & Development Report No. 5440. London: British Li- brary, Research and Development De- partment, 1978. 106p. £6. $12. ISBN 0-905984-22-6 . ISSN 0308-2385. (Avail- able from : Publications , British Library , Research and Development Dept. , Shera- ton House, Great Chapel St. , London S1V 4BH.) A survey of 1,600 library and information services in the United Kingdom by Aslib in 1977 investigated the form and range of production of brief printed subject guides to sources of information. This study also iden- tified areas of overlapping effort and possi- ble strategies for the coordination of effort. Emphasis was placed on the instructional function of the guides. The 530 guides ex- amined indicate that compilation and pro- duction of such publications is not a major activity of the agencies, and the material is more often produced by higher education units with "considerable investment of re- sources in their production within these sec- tors." Three series of information guides produced in the United States are also de- scribed. Analysis of the guides compared subject coverage, duplication of coverage, subject specificity, content, form of entry and lay- out, physical format, design features, style of presentation and written expression, page layout, use of annotations, and arrangement of contents. Some of the outstanding guide series are discussed (appendixes include copies of Sci- ence Reference Library [British Library] Guidelines and MIT Pathfinders and Library of Congress Science Tracer Bullets) as well as the role of guides in user education. Useful even beyond survey results for U.K. librarians is an appendix indexing sub- jects covered by information guides with reference to issuing institutions. Other ap- pendixes include a bibliography of pub- lished guides to literature/information sources and examples of design work. Those already printing information guides and those contemplating it will find valuable sections on responsibility for production , pricing, and sale of guides , tests of readability of guides , and design considera- tions. With the increasing popularity of this type of publication , this survey identifies important considerations to be taken up by U .S. librarians as well as those in the U.K. The report should be included in collections of academic libraries planning printed user service projects.-Mary Pound , The Univer- sity of Texas at Austin. Progress in Communication Sciences. V.l. Edited by Melvin J. Voigt and Gerhard J. Hanneman. Norwood, N.J .: ABLEX Pub- lishing Corp., 1979. 198p. $17.50. ISBN 0-89391-010-4. ISSN 0163-5689. Pretentious and heavy handed at times , volume one of the series Progress in Com- munication Sciences, edited by Melvin J. Voigt and Gerhard J . Hanneman, never- theless bears monitoring. The stated objective of the series is to document specific aspects of the great number of rapid changes occurring in com- munication systems and, along with these changes, to focus on the concomitant and inevitable fallout: social change. Moreover, an important goal of the series is to keep abreast of, and report on, research-in-