College and Research Libraries 384 I College & Research Libraries • july 1981 used. He identifies and examines five ques- tions : Who will pay? Who will have access? Who will profit? How will conflicts be re- solved? and Who will provide what services and under what conditions? Obviously these are fundamental questions and the answers to them are illusive , but Compaine manages to capture the essential elements that should be considered. Wedgeworth and Cummings ad- dress some practical everyday matters and re- late the focus of discussion to current prob- lems in library service. Lacy's contribution is a strong postscript that reflects a clear aware- ness of some basic issues . For example, he states that , " Power is at the center of these questions-power: both its effective use and its equitable distribution. " One can only nod in agreement after reading the preceding papers. The second book ,carries an intriguing title and an outrageous price for such a slim vol- ume of essays . It claims to be "one of the first statements in what is expected to be a con- tinuing debate of increasing importance in the area of the new communications technol- ogy. " Most of the contributors are British academicians , theoreticians , or librarians, al- though two Americans are included in the group . They provide the reader with a rather uneven look at a topic that is at once provoca- tive and perplexing. Nevertheless , some of the thirteen essays are worthy of one's time and attention. John M. Strawhorn , Maurice B. Line , Donald W. King, A. J. Meadows , and A. J. Kent all identify issues of substance and avoid dealing with trivial matters. Simply put, "The Future of the Printed Word" ad- dresses the changes that are taking place in forms and methods of communication from traditional print on p 3p e r to the electronic transmission of words , while attempting to predict the implications of such change. The central theme is that the electronic dimension may have a profound effect on the dissemina- tion of much of the information that tra- ditionally has been published in ink on paper. How we manage the transition to new forms of communication is the question over which much debate will occur. Librarians who ·wish to obtain a good perspective on the potential effects of recent developm e nts in information technology will find these books useful. Of special value is the contribution that ALA and Carlton C. Rochell have made to the literature of the topic through the publication of the NYU col- loquium papers.-Richard A. Olsen , Rhode Island College , Providence. Martin , Susan K. Library Networks, 1981- 82. White Plains, N .Y.: Knowledge Indus- try Publications, 1981. 160p. $29.50; $24 . 50 softcover. LC 80-26710. ISBN 0-914236-55-5; 0-914236-66-0 softcover. Library Networks , 1981-82 is a compen- dium of information written from the perspective of a professional active in systems planning, development , and implementation and a current member of the Research Librar- ies Group (RLG). The book comprises eleven chapters , ranging from " Networks for Librar- ies : An Evolving Resource" to "Implications of Machine-Readable Data" to " Network Or- ganizations" to " Major Efforts" to " Networks and Libraries in the Years Ahead. " The book's strength lies primarily in chapters 8, 9, and 10 in which Martin discusses the history of the national network movement , the technologi- cal elements of communicating, communica- tions systems , systems analysis , standards, and the administration of libraries in the net- work environment. I found the remainder of the book, how- ever , to be sometimes inconsistent, many times in error , often aggravating, and gener- ally failing to reflect the reality of networking that I have experienced in the past ten years. The most serious problem with the book is Martin's misunderstanding of the nature of OCLC' s membership and governance ele- ments . On page 36 (among others) she states that when OCLC changed its organizational structure in 1977 it "became purely a network resource rather than a membership organiza- tion. " This is simply not true since OCLC' s Code of Regulations clearly defines the mem- bership of OCLC as those general members that participate in the OCLC system , outlin- ing their membership in the Users Council and their relationship to the Board of Trust- ees. Because OCLC continues to be a mem- bership organization, its relationship with li- braries is not becoming "more a vendor/ customer relationship than a cooperative rela- tionship" (page 36). This is an essential ele- ment to be considered when comparing cooperatives , and such error is disturbing in a major work. Not only is Martin in error in these state- ments whenever OCLC is used as an example of some network development (and OCLC is the predominant example throughout the book), the nature of the analysis lacks the neutral tones used in describing other net- works. While OCLC' s longer history may have revealed problems (and solutions) that other cooperative activities have yet to ex- perience, other networks have , in turn, their own strenuous history. One example of in- consistent comparison begins on page 34 in which concerns facing OCLC and RLG are raised. OCLC undergoes rather stern ques- tioning on lack of replicability, lack of author- ity control, questionable database qualities, inadequate availability of local library data, the regularity of requiring original input cataloging, and delayed implementation of systems. RLG is queried only in the areas of rescheduling the database, the provision of patron access, and the menu of tasks yet to be undertaken . The same sort of stern questions, however, could be asked of RLG; for exam- ple, What are the implications of "limited" cooperative activities? Why are many RLG libraries pressing for continued involvement in OCLC? Why do many RLG libraries re- portedly use only LC cataloging or that of a few selected libraries when the quality of the RLIN database is supposed to be exceptional? What are the capital problems that have forced institutional loans? Why has the database reconfiguration continually been de- layed? What about the manner in which some granting agencies are tying continued grant support to membership in RLG-is this good marketing on RLG' s part or something else? And so forth. These are the kinds of hard questions that could have been asked consis- tently throughout the book of all networking activities but were not. Consistency of com- parison would have been especially appro- priate in the ·chapters "Computer Utilities" and "Network Organizations." It would have been more effective in the chapter "Com- puter Utilities," for example, to delineate the key issues and then specifically compare the policies and practices of all network coopera- . tives on points such as the following: costs, governance, development schedules, mod- ules, response time, computing equipment, capital availability, standards, duplicate rec- ords, and so forth. Recent Publications I 385 In fact, the discussion of "networks" as dis- tinct from "utilities" fails to deal with some of the essential problems and questions that still face administrators: the generation of suf- ficient capital to operate, the generation of capital to innovate, the difficulties of main- taining adequate training staff, ties to gov- ernment and governing bodies, the financial and government relationships to utilities, in- creasing competitiveness among networks, and so forth. · The only chapter that might have spoken directly to such specific problems is chapter 5, . "Network Organizations." The information contained here unfortunately reads like pub- licity blurbs from each of the networks in question, with no analytical assessment or discussion appearing. It is also a minor an- noyance to find that while RLG and WLN are included as network organizations, OCLC is not, and neither is its activities in England included in the section "Networks throughout the World ." In part, this confusion may result from the lack of specific enough terms for dis- tinguishing networks such as OCLC and RLG from other operations ("utilities" being a Back Order Problems? We are tenacious at Book House. In our concern about your order, we con- tinue to birddog it unti I we deliver the book or find it out -of-print. Only upon your instructions do we cancel. We call our program "Concerned Service" and it pays off for academic libraries through- out the U.S.A. Let us show you! For · any book in print (U.S. and Canada), send your orders to the Book House. Call Toll Free 800- 248 - 1146 Michigan Customers Call Collect the SAN 169-3859 BOOK HOUSE JOBBERS SERVING LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT SINCE 1962 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET jONESVILLE . MICHIGAN 49250 386 I College & Research Libraries • july 1981 rather inadequate descriptive term), but it shows the same misunderstanding of the na- ture of OCLC as a cooperative activity as did the earlier incorrect statement on OCLC' s membership. As a result of not presenting a complete picture of problems facing networks today (such as complexities and developments), when Martin comes to the concluding chap- ter, "Networks and Libraries in the Years Ahead," she fails to include any mention of the increasingly important networks' compe- tition for decreasing revenues, the implica- tion of the difficulties of initiating develop- ment capital, governance in all cooperative activities, network linkage, and the implica- tion of OCLC' s recent governance manage- ment changes. These factors are as important in the years ahead as the growth of RLG and the diminishing role of the Library of Con- gress. In conclusion, while I found many points of interest in this book, the errors of fact about OCLC, the absence of a consistently objec- tive assessment of the major computer-based networks, the lack of analytical discussion of the regional or state networks, and general Heritage on Microfil111 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. ~~t}~[M ~COv\P?NY 70 Coolidge Hill Road Watertown, MA 02172 (617) 926-5557 unevenness of detail all result in confusion and misunderstanding for the uninformed and frustration for the more experienced.- D. Kaye Capen, Iowa State University, Ames. Advances in Librarianship, Volume 10. Ed. by Michael H. Harris . New York: Aca- demic Pr., 1980. 268p. $23. LC 79-88675. ISBN 0-12-785010-4. Like recent volumes in this series, this vol- ume of Advances in Librarianship is a mixed bag of longer essays on various aspects of con- temporary librarianship. Despite the lack of any apparent unifying theme for the series, or the volume, both contain a useful examina- tion of issues and ideas not readily available elsewhere. It is, and perhaps this is its chief virtue, one of the few library publications that offers space for relatively current and some- what longish essays. It is a series, and a vol- ume, that is difficult to review because of the disparate and uneven nature of the contribu- tions. It is a series that academic librarians should probably examine regularly, and the present volume contains at least three essays of particular interest and value to academic librarians. Axford's "Academic Library Management Studies: From Games to Leadership" is a critique of management science and the academic library with particular emphasis on the Association of Research Libraries' Office of Management Studies' Management Re- view and Analysis Program (MRAP) and, to a lesser degree , on the Pittsburgh collection study and the National Enquiry into Scholarly Communication. Like most of Axford's work this essay is provocative. His criticisms of MRAP are will thought out and, on. reflection as an MRAP participant, I would agree that "the potential for the MRAP for improving academic library performance seems to be modest at best"; but at the same time I would point out that it has other values, especially in staff development, that Axford fails to recog- nize. On the other hand, his views that the Pittsburgh study, the National Enquiry, and the development of RLG/RLIN are likely to produce significant changes in the manage- ment of academic librarianship are largely speculative and seem somewhat naive. Young's essay, "And Gladly Teach: Biblio- graphic Instruction and the Library," is among the few really critical examinations of