reviews.indd ARL member library are directory entries with brief descriptions of additional col- lections located at each of the libraries represented in this volume. These entries include addresses, URLs for collections available on the World Wide Web, and telephone and fax numbers. Readers are also invited to explore, free of charge, the companion Web site to this volume (www.celebratingresearch.org/). A subject and proper name index completes this volume, making it useful for comparison purposes and for identifying similar col- lections at diff erent institutions. This volume is a treat for the eye as well as the intellect. It should grace the coffee tables or shelves of lovers of books and those who enjoy delving into the magnificent, the bizarre, the humorous, the fascinating, and the paradoxical. Aca- demic libraries should have Celebrating Research available as a reference guide to rare and special materials that are as close as our fingertips through the Internet and, perhaps, a sampling of sites for online or onsite research, discovering, or just plain enjoying.—Plummer Alston “Al” Jones, Jr., East Carolina University. Matthews, Joseph R. The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlim- ited, 2007. 372p. alk. paper, $50 (ISBN 1591585325). LC 2007-17726. This handbook on the evaluation and measurement of library services merits ac- claim as the definitive work on the subject. An instructor at the San Jose State Univer- sity School of Library and Information Services and a consultant specializing in strategic planning, assessment, and evalu- ation of library services and the use of per- formance measures, Joseph R. Matthews knows whereof he writes. The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services brims over with useful and detailed advice for library administrators seeking to measure the effectiveness of extant library policies and practices and to implement meaning- ful change when warranted. The book covers major areas of library evaluation Book Reviews 391 and measurement strategies, along with providing invaluable bibliographical references and sample measurement instruments. Administrators considering evaluating or reevaluating library services would do well to consult this text before proceeding. Initially, Matthews outlines the rea- sons that library evaluation might be necessary. Are there service-derived questions about cost or effectiveness of library practices? Should the status quo stand or would innovation be in order? What are the organizational goals and what resources are necessary to reach them? What purpose would the evaluation serve for staff and users, and how would this benefit the library? Who gets to decide what happens as a result of the evalu- ation and assessment? These are just a few of the considerations that must be examined before launching a full-blown evaluation. The Evaluation and Measurement of Library Services is composed of four parts: “Evaluation: Process and Models,” “Methodology Concerns,” “Evaluation of Library Services,” and “Evaluation of the Library.” The chapters, twenty in all, build in logical increments, articulating in detail the process whereby libraries might best be evaluated. These chapters cover such issues as evaluation models, qualitative and quantitative tools, analysis of data, as well as evaluation of the physical library and all of its departments and resources. While too extensive to evaluate individually, each chapter provides step- by-step advice for conducting a sound library evaluation. Especially helpful are the chapters offering precise models for evaluation. This book includes sample surveys and survey questions; online and Web-based surveys, as well as traditional paper and pencil questionnaires, are cov- ered, as are relevant sampling procedures. Presumably, these measurement instru- ments could be adopted wholesale by library administrators who are unfamiliar with research strategies and the scientific http:www.celebratingresearch.org 392 College & Research Libraries measurement processes that will yield accurate results. Also informative are the chapters on data collection and analysis, crucial in determining what the results, once assembled, actually mean. Ultimately, the underpinnings of any successful library evaluation include an understanding and articulation of the library’s mission, vision, and values, as well as its particular purpose. What characterizes the library’s users, and what stake do they hold in the library’s evolu- tion? Furthermore, how should a library use performance measures to assess the success of the newly implemented strate- gies? Finally, how does a library foster a culture of assessment that includes and recruits staff members in ongoing moni- toring of library progress? Without staff support of strategic plans, the evaluation and assessment process is for naught. The true strength of this book is the author’s expansive knowledge of his subject. Not only does he raise signifi cant questions, but he also provides valuable answers.— Lynne Maxwell, Villanova University. Staikos, K. The Mirror of the Library. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll, 2006. 49p., $45 (ISBN 1584561793). I am not certain that a pamphlet (less than fifty pages by definition, though the un- numbered colophon does bring it up to fifty pages, and there is also a separately paged foreword by Robert D. Fleck ) can be a “coffee table” book—especially one without pictures. This homage to the book, published as “a private press keepsake of significant text and delightful design,” certainly should be on the coffee table of every collector and book lover. The two hundred signed and numbered copies and additional seven hundred copies printed for the masses will not be sufficient to serve all of those who would delight in its simple praise of the book. Konstantos Staikos’ work in the history of the book and library history has been published by Oak Knoll previously. His contributions in the scholarly realm are considerable, and this translation from July 2008 the Greek original by Timothy Cullen is elegant. The book itself, as is typical of Oak Knoll productions, is a masterpiece of the book arts. It is a book that feels right in the hand, looks right to the eye, and even smells right. It is a physical object that completely realizes the author’s and the publisher’s commitment to the celebration of the book. Staikos begins with the conceit derived from Stephane Mallarme: “The world exists to end in a book.” Every human action, every thought, every sin, every salvation is recorded. It ends on the same mystic note that “all of us … are writing chapters in a book that is constantly being expanded but never completed.” Earlier reviewers of Staikos’ work have objected to his somewhat haphazard scholarship, but this book cannot be included among those. This is not a work of scholarship but a hymn of praise to the book and to its creator(s). It stands outside the narrow realm of scholarship in its antiphonal alternation between fact and faith. The introduction by Robert D. Fleck, founder of the Oak Knoll Press, is equally a delight. Few people readily admit to reading A. Edward Newton any longer. Fewer confess to his having had an influ- ence on their lives. Newton became the preeminent American book collector of the first half of the twentieth century largely because of his popular books on collect- ing. The sale of his collection in 1941 was a national event (at least, in the book world). Newton’s reputation suffered from his spirited defense of the integrity of Thomas James Wise even long after the evidence of Wise’s duplicity was overwhelming, and Newton’s books, perhaps partially because of this and because of the changes in collecting tastes since their publication, have fallen into some obscurity. This is unfortunate. Newton’s books are excellent excursions into the delights of book collecting and, if not scholarly, serve, as does Staikos’ book, as the inspirational literature of the bibliophilic faithful. Fleck has named his business opera- tion after A. Edward Newton’s home, Oak