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GENEW\L C MICROFilM OMP~Y 100 Inman St. , Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel. (617) 864-2820 and librarians, and the responses to those changes have never been unanimous. Perhaps an underlying theme to these es- says can be stated in this way: The effective management 'of the human resources avail- able should be realized in a fair and mean- ingful way, and individuals should grow, develop, and become contributing members of a maturing profession that fully ap- preciates the value of each one. It is important that individuals, as persons and as librarians, recognize the worth and value of themselves and the tasks they are performing. Believing in one's self and one's work is necessary in order to realize the overall worth and value of the profession as a whole. Until that is accomplished, we may well remain, as one essay indicates, "a pliant and passive profession." Another essay, by Kenneth J. LaBudde, calls for "a national voice for university li- braries." It is all well and good and true that there is a need for a strong, effective voice, but perhaps it should be a voice for librarians as librarians and not just as uni- versity or school or public or special or, even, male or female librarians. As Benja- min Franklin remarked to John Hancock on July 4, 1776, "We must indeed all hang to- gether, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Special Report #10 should be an excel- lent catalyst for further thought, discussion, and research.-]. Wayne Baker, Ohio Northern University, Ada. McCoy, Donald R. The National Archives: America's Ministry of Documents, 1934- 1968. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 1978. 437p. $19. LC 78- 2314. ISBN 0-8078-1327-3. The appearance of Donald R. McCoy's history of the National Archives is even more timely given the circumstances that led to the recent resignation of the archivist of the United States, James B. Rhoads, and the rather murky process by which Rhoads' successor will be selected. The. National Ar- chives, as McCoy so thoroughly documents, has been immersed in a swirl of politics since its inception. It appears that the pres- ent situation does not represent a substan- tial departure from firmly entrenched tradi- tion, as the archives stands just five years short of celebrating its first half century of existence. One might have picked up McCoy's ac- count of the origins and growth of the Na- tional Archives fully expecting a soumo- lent house history replete with tedious nar- rative and adulatory gloss-overs. Not so on either count. A best-seller it's not, but McCoy somehow managed to build a suf- ficient momentum into his chronicle of the institution that houses· the official records of the American nation to propel the reader forward at a surprisingly brisk pace. Meticu- lously researched, skillfully put together, McCoy's National Archives: America's Ministry of Documents tells a story that de- serves an audience, and if s not a bad story at that. Given McCoy's onetime connection with, and obvious affection for, the National Ar- chives, he may well have been excused had he erred on the hagiographical side. Yet he carefully did not. On the whole, his treat- ment of the various internal and external political disputes that marked the first thirty years of the National Archives is remarkably candid and fair. Indeed, McCoy, who is presently a member of the history faculty at the U ni- versity of Kansas, was recently honored by his archival colleagues in the Society of American Archivists at their forty-third an- nual meeting when they bestowed upon him the society's prestigious Waldo Gifford Leland Prize in recognition of the high standards of scholarship evidenced by his history of the archives. McCoy is at his best when he describes the behind-the-scenes machinations that led to the appointment of the first archivist of the United States, Robert Digges Wimberly Connor, and when he discusses the demise of the National Archives as an independent governmental agency primarily concerned with a cultural mission and its enforced subordination as a distinctly subsidiary component of the General Services Admin- istration (GSA), the bureau responsible for the mass purchasing of toilet paper and other governmental necessities. While McCoy's evaluation of the impact of the subordination of NARS (the National Archives and Records Service) to GSA is not nearly as critical as H. G. Jones is in his su- Recent Publications I 77 A.N.Z.A.AS. CONGRESS Contributions in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Between 400 and 900 indiv- idual papers each year, most not published anywhere else! Now indexed in Chemical Abstracts and APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service). Proceedings of Annual Congresses of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, now available: • from 1970 (42nd Congress) onwards, on diazo microfiche at 24x reduction • with author index ( 1970-76) • with author, title and KWOC indexes (1977-) eby standing order or singly Contact: Technical Services Librarian University of New South Wales P.O. Box 1, Kensington .N.S.W. Australia . 2033 MCGREGOR "PERSONALIZED SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE" Every customer is assigned an experienced ''Home Office" rtpresentattve. You correspond direct; any title nHds, changes, cancellations or problems can be handled promptly by letter or phone. This makes your job easier and keeps you abreast of your subscription needs at all times. With over 45 years expertflnce, McGregor has built a reputation of prompt and courteous service on both domestic and International titles. We prtpay subscrip- tions ahead of time. Our customers, large and small, like the prompt attention we give them. We think you would tool Ask about McGregor's "Automatic Renewal" plan de- scribed In our new brochurt. Writl today for your fret copy. OUR 47th YEAR Mount Morris, llllnolal1054 78 I College & Research Libraries • january 1980 perb book on the National Archives, The Records of a Nation (Atheneum, 1969), McCoy clearly and fairly defines the issues involved in this rather momentous shift in the status of the archives. One ·should, in fact, read McCoy and Jones in tandem. Both help to demystify the aura surrounding the National Archives. For those librarians and archivists who are interested in following or attempting to influence the selection of the archivist of the United States (this ought to include all ar- chivists), McCoy is a must. Indeed, if the motto adorning the approach to the National Archives building in Washington, What Is Past Is Prologue, has credence insofar as the appointment of the new archivist is con- cerned, then McCoy is even more perti- nent. If the new appointee is not a profes- sionally trained archivist, then his or her appointment will occasion a hue and cry similar to the one that ensued in the wake of Daniel Boors tin's appointment as Librar- ian of Congress. Should this occur, perhaps McCoy will have to provide us with a weighty epilogue!-Patrick M. Quinn, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. OCLC: A National Library Network. Edited by Anne Marie Allison and Ann Allan. Short Hills, N.J.: Enslow, 1979. 248p. $14.95. LC 78-11948. ISBN 0-894·90- 019-6. This collection of eight original essays and a selected bibliography calls attention to the fact that OCLC has become one of our in- stitutions. Whether it is a or the national network is the subject of a debate not cov- ered by this typescript paperback. The brief introduction reviews OCLC' s origins and services. The essays that follow, by Clyn Evans ("OCLC: The View from Regional Networks") and Teresa Strozik ("Staff Training and Development within the Network"), describe the functions of a network and its relationship to OCLC. This information has been buried in network bylaws, annual reports, newsletters, and workshop proceedings, and both descrip- tions are desirable entries in Library Litera- ture. Two chapters are noteworthy for the "on- line" librarian. "Cataloging: Workflow and Productivity" by D. Kaye Capen documents procedural changes in implementing the OCLC cataloging subsystem at Ohio State University. Capen's review provides those responsible for system design and evaluation with a comparative model and useful obser- vations. The best contribution is the seventy- three-page annotated bibliography, a "selected list of English language materials published by or about OCLC through 1977." Its value lies in its organization, selection of 244 entries, and descriptive an- notations. OCLC: A Bibliography issued by OCLC in May 1979, and compiled by Alli- son and Allan, is a somewhat abbreviated (192 entries), updated, and cost-free alterna- tive, without benefit of the useful annota- tions. Other essays-"On-Line Cataloging and the Library School : Curriculum" (reporting a 1977 survey), . "OCLC and Management in a Medium-sized University Library," "Accep- tance of Cataloging Contributed by OCLC Members," and "Seria 1 ls Control and OCLC" -are self-descriptive. In a rapidly changing technological and political environment, this publication be- comes a historical overview. Its most recent textual reference is the A. D. Little report, and the succeeding twenty-four months have witnessed .the delivery of the interlibrary loan sub-system, the testing of the acquisitions sub-system, planning for the implementation of AACR 2, the organization of the OCLC Users Council, issues concerning use of the OCLC-MARC subscription tapes, and recommendations for the enforcement of OCLC standards prepared by the Inter-Network Quality Control Council. Equally significant are the growth of other utilities such as RLIN/RLC (BAL- LOTS), WLN, and UTLAS (briefly men- tioned in the introduction) and the effects of catalytic agents such as CLR' s Bibliographic Service Development Program and a Bat- telle study to examine the feasibility of link- ing on-line data bases. The history of OCLC will not be recorded in isolation from these external (some say "competitive") forces. Because of the limitations outlined here, this collection is not considered a top prior- ity purchase. It can be helpful to librarians and students seeking information on