reviews 578 College & Research Libraries November 2002 578 Book Reviews Collecting and Safeguarding the Oral Traditions: An International Confer- ence. Eds. John McIlwaine and Jean Whiffrin. Munich: K.G. Saur (IFLA Publications 95), 2001. 158p. $53 (ISBN 3598218257). When oral data began to be widely and seriously collected about forty years ago, there was no satisfactory infrastructure in place to store and disseminate them. Li- braries, still resolutely book oriented, were not inclined to welcome the new format. Tapes were difficult to conserve and preserve, and providing efficient ac- cess proved a costly nightmare. An un- anticipated, but decidedly grievous, out- come was that scholars who used materials collected orally kept them to themselves, in effect, daring their read- ers to criticize their conclusions without the evidence to do so. (See Henige, “‘In the Possession of the Author’: The Prob- lem of Source Monopoly in Oral Histori- ography,” International Journal of Oral His- tory 1 [1980]: 181–94.). Despite the eventual establishment of depositories such as the Archives of Traditional Music at Indiana University, a scholarly mo- nopoly developed, was found congenial, and largely continues today. In the meantime, research libraries, the natural home for such materials, evolved from a stack space to cyberspace environ- ment, which was no more friendly to oral data. When libraries did find room for oral materials, it was generally in the form of transcripts rather than tapes; that is, the primary source was enthusiastically eschewed in favor of its simulacrum. Still, materials were added, perhaps even at an increasing pace. However, this was in the face of trends (e.g., subaltern studies) in several disciplines that fostered the gath- ering of oral information at an ever faster rate. There is no way to know, but it would not be unreasonable to guess that at least 90 percent of the materials gath- ered since the 1960s either re- mains in their collectors’ posses- sion and/or has deteriorated to an unusable state. As a result, those interested in the conclu- sions based on them, for in- stance, in African history or U.S. social history, have the choice of believ- ing or disbelieving, but not the chance to find out which is the better option. The work under review illustrates that, although the news is bad, it is by no means all bad. Included are seventeen relatively short chapters, of which three address general concerns or are global in focus, whereas three deal with Africa, another four with southeast Asia, two with Latin America and the Caribbean, three with Oceania, and one each with Europe and North America. This distri- bution is fairly symptomatic of the state of play, in which developing nations, once mercilessly interrogated by the West, are now interrogating themselves. Several of the essays are accounts of case studies, in which an organization of one kind or another mobilizes to collect specific kinds of data from selected groups, usually those not well repre- sented in the normal course of events. By and large, the enthusiasm of the authors of these accounts is boundless, and they nearly all reiterate in one guise or another the Platonic refrain that literacy homog- enizes, inhibits, and ossifies the produc- tion, growth, and transmission of knowl- edge. This is fair enough as long as the primary purpose is to supplement rather than replace other forms of information. Perhaps it is best to consider that literacy and orality can coexist in a synergistic way—in fact, have done so in countless societies for at least five thousand years. For many, the most useful paper is the one on the technical aspects of collecting and preserving oral data. Although often proffering counsels of perfection, the pro- Book Reviews 579 cedures outlined might eventually come to be a model for this process. Yet, it may be quixotic to expect the initiatives de- scribed here—many of them sustained by enthusiastic, but not always trained vol- unteers—ever to possess the wherewithal to acquire and maintain both the equip- ment and the labor-intensive procedures that are recommended. Still, in a field where there are few standards, those pro- posed here can serve as a handy target. There are surprisingly few mentions of that bête noire—resource-sharing. Al- though presumably an implicit goal, very little is said about the mechanics, or even about the overall desirability of this in principle. With digitization all but the norm, at least in better-favored reaches of the library world, such sharing of tran- scripts can only be a formality. As for shar- ing the audio and video tapes (the real primary source, remember), no sugges- tions are advanced. All this requires that knowledge about these collections be made available in the now-usual expedi- ent of the Web site and listserv, about which, again, little is bruited. Just the same, these essays are impor- tant in reinforcing the apparently not-so- obvious notion that there is a rewarding and symbiotic relationship between libraries and oral materials waiting to happen. One has the sense that the collectors of oral ma- terials would like nothing better than to work closely with librarians in effecting the dissemination of their materials. Are librar- ies ready to pick up the gauntlet? Surely, even those unduly enamored of the elec- tronic should be able to recognize the pos- sibilities for symbiosis. At any rate, they should bear in mind the need to anticipate the ravages of passing time. It might prove to be that these tapes have a useful life no longer than the electronic version of the Domesday Book, but without either an original or numerous editions as backup. Finally, I have to report that this work, whose message is all about access, has no index. Did the editors not appreciate the sad irony of this? Is compiling an index really that onerous?—David Henige, Uni- versity of Wisconsin-Madison. Crosbie, Michael J., and Damon D. Hickey. When Change Is Set in Stone: An Analysis of Seven Academic Libraries De- signed by Perry Dean Rogers & Partners. Chicago: ACRL, 2001. 104p., alk. paper, $60 (less 10% for ACRL members) (ISBN 0838981364). LC 2001-16069. ACRL has sponsored publication of a striking book on the libraries designed, in the late 1990s, by the architectural firm of Perry Dean Rogers & Partners of Bos- ton. This firm has been “designing cam- pus libraries for the last thirty years,” and one might therefore assume they should know something about creating buildings that function well as academic libraries. This book might serve as a source of ideas and inspiration for any academic librar- ians involved with building projects. Gathering seven contemporary projects into one richly illustrated work is perhaps this book’s greatest virtue. It gives the reader a rare opportunity to view pictures, study plans, and read about a wide vari- ety of academic library types—from the huge complexes at Colorado State Univer- sity and University of Maryland-Baltimore to the almost-petite Science Library at the College of Wooster—all in one volume. Librarian Hickey’s introductory overview of the then-current factors affecting library design is particularly insightful and still useful. It is notable how many similar fea- tures and details—despite the wide range of needs, size and fundings—crop up in all the seven projects. This may have more to say about how architects have certain “shticks” that they feel compelled to im- pose on all their designs than about the common needs of all academic libraries. Crosbie, an architectural journalist, practicing architect, and instructor at Roger Williams University, brings a wide range of experience in writing about build- ings to this work. Hickey, his coauthor, is director of libraries at the College of Wooster and has been involved with sev- eral library building projects, two of which are featured in this book. They have taken on a difficult task in their attempt to pro- vide an impartial description and critique of each of the projects. 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