reviews.indd


284 College & Research Libraries 

of the engaged academic library in the 
information-literate community, we can 
find important lessons in this collection 
that can help us to bring our own efforts 
to reform evaluation of professional 
performance into a broader campus con-
text.—Scott Walter, University of Kansas. 

Grassian, Esther S., and Joan R. Kaplow-
itz. Learning to Lead and Manage Infor-
mation Literacy Instruction. New York: 
Neal-Schuman (Information Literacy 
Sourcebooks), 2005. 322p. alk. paper 
(+ CD-ROM), $65 (ISBN 1555705154). 
LC 2005-9356. 

Most books about information literacy 
instruction (ILI) address valuable topics 
such as teaching methods, scheduling, 
and IL standards. Grassian and Kaplow-
itz’s focus on the overall management of 
ILI and the qualities of good ILI leaders, 
therefore, is a welcome addition to the 
literature. Both authors have experience 
in managing and leading ILI in academic 
libraries and have added to the research 
base on the topic by writing articles 
and jointly authoring Information Lit-
eracy Instruction: Theory and Practice (Neal 
Schuman, 2001). 

Although this book is aimed at librar-
ians who participate in instruction, its 
main audience includes those who wish 
to focus on changing ILI in positive ways. 
ILI librarians are in the unique and chal-
lenging position of staying up-to-date on 
databases, IL trends, library policies, and 
evolving issues in information science, 
while also developing instruction for the 
library’s users, most of whom are unfa-
miliar with the nuances of fi nding aids 
and the nature of information. 

Learning to Lead and Manage Information 
Literacy Instruction progresses logically 
from a discussion of leadership and man-
agement, in general, to sections on doing 
ILI research, securing relevant grants, and 
determining the role of technology within 
the instruction librarian’s duties. Grass-
ian and Kaplowitz distinguish between 
managers and leaders, hence the title of 
the book. Managers, by nature of their 

May 2006 

duties, are in a position to control how 
and when things are accomplished in 
libraries, whereas anyone may be a leader 
(“grassroots leaders”) regardless of their 
position. Leaders direct the what and 
why in libraries: “Each time an individual 
takes a stand, expresses an opinion, or 
suggests a new way of doing things, that 
person is taking a leadership role.” 

Much of the first half of the book 
covers ways of communicating and col-
laborating. This is another area central 
to the authors’ ideas on eff ective ILI pro-
grams. Even the subsequent discussions 
on building teams, working through 
change, cooperating within and outside 
the library, fostering growth, developing 
grants, and marketing and promotion 
are grounded in communication and 
collaboration. 

This book has three main strengths: (1) 
inclusion of many ideas for promotion 
and marketing (and the authors do not 
shy away from answering the tough ques-
tion of handling the workload associated 
with successful promotion), (2) discussion 
of the realities of the technological side 
of the ILI librarian’s job, and (3) recom-
mendations for additional reading on ILI 
and management/leadership topics. One 
weakness is the authors’ failure to discuss 
their ideas and successes with integrating 
standards, such as ACRL’s Information 
Literacy Competency Standards for 
Higher Education, into ILI programs. The 
book regretfully concludes immediately 
after the technology chapter; no wrap-up 
or cohesive conclusion synthesizes the 
ideas presented in the chapters. A full 
bibliography and index follow the last 
chapter. 

The CD-ROM is a helpful feature of the 
book package. The sample syllabus stands 
out as the most interesting section, with 
many sound ideas on working IL into 
the curriculum of an English course. Two 
sample proposals, one for a grant, serve as 
good, concrete examples of the text such 
documents may contain. A sample letter 
to faculty discussing the potential of ILI 
for their students is a nice surprise. There 



also is a sample memo to an administra-
tor addressing local ILI problems and 
solutions, but it is just a list of questions 
unaccompanied by a concrete example. 
The book’s bibliography is repeated and 
is appropriate considering that two-thirds 
of the bibliography contains links to Web 
sites. 

As with most subjects, this book can-
not stand alone as the sole introduction 
to managing and leading ILI programs. 
Grassian and Kaplowitz’s book, however, 
serves as the best starting point on the 
topic. One would benefit from reading 
this book along with Michael Eisenberg’s 
Information Literacy: Essential Skills for the 
Information Age (Libraries Unlimited, 
2004) and Julia Nims and Eric Owens’s 
(eds.) Managing Library Instruction Pro-
grams in Academic Libraries (Pierian Press, 
2003), the latter being a compendium of 
papers and materials from the 2001 LOEX 
conference. I recommend Learning to Lead 
for all academic librarians and for use in 
all libraries where ILI is a focus.—Margie 
Ruppel, University of Southern Indiana. 

Licensing in Libraries: Practical and 
Ethical Aspects. Ed. Karen Rupp-Ser-
rano. Binghamton, N.Y.: Haworth, 
2005. 210p. alk. paper, $29.92 (ISBN 
0789028794). LC 2004-30491. 

Licensing of electronic resources has 
become commonplace in most library op-
erations in the United States. As the avail-
ability of such resources has increased, 
virtually no library is too small, too 
specialized, or too isolated as to be with-
out access to them. In fact, these smaller 
libraries may have the greatest need for 
access to such databases, as publishers’ 
prices and budget constriction make it 
difficult to build appropriate and timely 
collections. Consortial licenses oft en solve 
such problems for small libraries. Without 
teams of lawyers, how will these smaller 
libraries or groups of libraries master the 
complexities of the licensing process? 

Licensing in Libraries seeks to resolve 
this conundrum. From a quite basic level, 
it provides examples of various types 

Book Reviews 285 

of licenses, offers resources for model 
licenses, outlines the history of licensing, 
and describes the pitfalls of this complex 
process. The twelve chapters, simultane-
ously published as Journal of Library Ad-
ministration (vol. 42, nos. 3–4), eff ectively 
cover in depth various perspectives on 
licensing. Most notable are the bibliogra-
phies following each chapter; these alone 
will lead the reader to a comprehensive 
library on the topic. 

Kristin Gerhard, Iowa State University, 
describes the ways in which electronic 
resources are priced. These methods 
range from restrictive to inclusive and 
may latch onto a range of IP addresses, 
or allow access through portals, or with 
log-ins. Gerhard emphasizes that one 
must be vigilant to find pricing that can 
be afforded and databases that serve the 
needs of the library’s users. Jill Emery, 
University of Houston, investigates—for 
the purposes of informing the public of 
their responsibility and for avoiding vio-
lations—the ways in which end users can 
be made aware of licensing terms. 

In two successive chapters, Janet Bren-
nan Croft, University of Oklahoma, and 
Tracey Armstrong, Copyright Clearance 
Center, discuss the impact of electronic re-
source licensing on interlibrary loan and 
its implications for copyright. Particularly 
helpful is Croft’s reference to sources for 
model licenses and her admonishment 
that libraries must understand the data-
base vendor’s terms for ILL use. Stephen 
Bosch, University of Arizona, follows 
with a detailed guide to using model 
licenses, an exceedingly helpful tool for 
librarians who may be struggling with 
negotiations with publishers. 

The publishers’ perspective is not 
ignored. Richard Fyffe and Beth Forrest 
Warner, both of the University of Kansas, 
present the case for digitization contracts 
with commercial interests, partnering to 
build a database. Andrea Ramsden-Cooke 
and Priscilla McIntosh, from LexisNexis, 
discuss the concerns and priorities of the 
database producers and aggregators. Both 
articles are effective in showing that there