lib-s-mocs-kmc364-20141005043703 68 BOOK REVIEWS Indiana Seminar on Information Networks (ISIN). Proceedings. Compiled by Donald P. Hammer and Gary C. Lelvis. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Li- braries, 1972. 91 p. (Available at no charge from the Extension Division, Indiana State Library, 140 North Senate Avenue, Indi- anapolis, Indiana 46204 as long as the supply lasts). The Indiana Seminar on Information Networks (October 26-28, 1971) was an attempt to introduce Indiana librarians to the benefits (and presumably problems) of library networking. Papers included in the proceedings are Introduction to Net- works (Maryann Duggan), Library of Congress MARC & RECON (Lucia J. Rather), NELINET (Ronald F. Miller), An On-Line Interlibrary Circulation and Bibliographic Searching Demonstration (Gary C. Lelvis and Donald P. Hammer), Ohio College Library Center (Frederick G. Kilgour), User Response to the FACTS (Facsimile Tran.smission System) Netu1ork (Lynn R. Hard), Indiana TWX Network Discussion (Margaret D. Egan & Abbie D. H eitger), and How Does the N etwork Serve the Researcher? (Irwin H. Pizer) . As with any collection of written papers or oral presentations, the quality is mixed. The papers are introductory in nature, the Pizer article being the exception. The ma- jority report "case studies" of particular automated operations and/ or networks (MARC & RECON, NELINET, OCLC, FACTS) . The FACTS article is the most interesting of these "case studies" because it moves beyond simply reporting "how we done it good" into an evaluation of why the network did not succeed (the network did not meet a real and/or consciously recognized need of the libraries it was pro- posing to serve) and emphasizes the im- portance of careful planning. Any would- be network planner should read this article; there are many lessons to be learned. Although the collected papers have all of the disadvantages usually associated with a collection of oral presentations (material is loosely organized and lacks continuity, introductory and oversimplified, repetitive, and out of date), they are a valuable ad- dition to the growing body of literature dealing with networks both from the ideal- ized conceptual view and, perhaps more importantly, from the practical reality view of existing networks. Kenneth J. Bierman Systems Librarian Virginia Polytechnic Institute Computers and Systems; An Introduction for Librarians, by John Eyre and Peter Tonks. Hamden, Connecticut, Linnet Books (Shoe String Press), 1971. 127 p. $5. 75. ISBN: 0-208-01073-4. At last an inexpensive introductory text specifically written for librarians and li- brary students! Not since N. S. M. Cox's The Computer and the Library have we had such a short, easy to read, yet compre- hensive, description of the essentials. Com- plementing the text are twenty-nine figures illustrating everything from batch and real-time processors, disc drives, program process, and systems flowcharts to data elements, formats, and input procedures, MARC II records on magnetic tapes, and sample pages from a computer-produced author catalog. The text reads like a well-organized glossary, treats the subjects of library use of computers and systems analysis in a way at once simple and informative. The authors had tested the material with students in courses at the School of Li- brarianship of the Polytechnic of North London. Thanks to the British-American cooperation surrounding MARC efforts, this book will be as useful in our library school classes as it is in theirs. The index d eserves a special note be- cause it was compiled after the style of PRECIS developed by the British National Bibliography. It is a facet analysis of the text featuring access to "activity:thing: type:aspect" in a prescribed permuted order. Although there is not much empha- sis in such a text on subject access or in- formation retrieval, this is not entirely overlooked and this index serves as an ex- cellent example of what could be done by computer. Truly an excellent introduction to com- puters and systems analysis for librarians! A two-page bibliography contains sug- gestions for further reading on the topic or for an expanded reading of various applications of computers in libraries. Pauline Atherton School of Library Science Syracuse University ISIS: Integrated Scientific Information Sys- tem; A General Description of an Ap· proach to Computerised Bibliographical Control, by William Schieber. Geneva: International Labour Office, 1971. 115p. $1.50. This document is a well-written descrip- tion of the computerized library system developed at the International Labour Office. Planning and development for the system began in 1963. It has been imple- mented and is now in operation within the Central Library and Documentation Bmnch of the ILO. The ISIS Bibliographic Control System is a large file system for storing, processing, and retrieving bibliographic information. The ILO data base consists of some 45,000 records of books, periodical articles, and other documents. Each record consists of conventional bibliographic data (with less detailed definitions than MARC data, how- ever) plus an abstract. In form, the ab- stract appears to be written in natural language, but all descriptor words used in the abstract are taken from a controlled vocabulary and, in fact, provide subject indexing. On-line terminals are used for IDe searches. The search system allows searches by subject descriptors, language, and date of publication. Sequential formulation of the search allows control of the number of responses to a desirable size. Records are also indexed on various data fields, such Book Reviews 69 as author and title. Display of records and browsing are handled on line, but printing of lists or bibliographies is handled through subsequent batch printing jobs. Regularly scheduled outputs of the system include printed catalogs, indexes, and au- thority lists. Two other systems have been developed at the ILO using some programs and files of the Bibliographic Control System. One is for controlling loans of library books, the other is for serials data and includes a subsystem for routing library periodicals. These three major systems are described in some detail in this report. A fourth sec- tion deals with system monitoring and control. Costs are discussed here. The ISIS system is an interesting and unique one even though the system is geared primarily to a special library en- vironment. It is evident that much careful thought and attention to detail went into the system design and development. The integrated use of programs and files as described here and the details of some design elements make this a useful docu- ment. The report itself is well done. Describ- ing a complex system for a varied audience is a difficult task. The author, William D. Schieber, has put together an excellent example of a systems report document. Charles T. Payne Systems Development Office University of Chicago Library Title Derivative Indexing Techniques: A Comparative Study, by Hilda Feinberg. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, 1973. x+297p.; index and bibliography. This book is primarily a survey of key word indexes, with some discussion of is- sues in indexing. The survey is quite good, but already out of date. The discussion is unfortunate. The survey covers a wide range of com- puter-based article title key word indexes, including extreme cases such as Permu- term. Sample pages are included for fifty-six indexes, and thirteen lists of ex- cluded words ("stopwords") are· given. Reproduction of samples is generally ex- 70 Journal of Library Automation Vol. 6/ 1 March 1973 cellent, and this portion is valuable in showing the virtues and defects of various approaches to key word indexing. Since this survey, at least three major libraries have begun publication of key word in- dexes to serial titles, a type of index with different problems which is likely to be more common in the future. The discussion suffers from a lack of focus. There are no clear standards for key word indexes or the traditional tools they complement or replace, and studies of user preference and convenience have been limited and inconclusive. It is dif- ficult to say what makes a key word index more or less workable, and this book seems to cloud the issues even more. Ms. Feinberg makes some questionable and unsupported assumptions about what users think, want, and need, and a number of recommendations which are at best only applicable to indexes of article titles in scientific fields. Take three major recommendations: plural and singular forms should be inter- filed, synonyms and similar words should be interfiled, and foreign titles should be translated. The University of California (Berkeley) library found "College," "Uni- versity," "Company" and "Papers" to be good exclusion words, while "Colleges," "Universities," "Companies," and "Paper" are good subject words. Synonym control increases homonym problems, makes for longer (and thus more difficult to use) lists, and entails difficult decisions as to what con~titute true synonyms. Translation raises the qm ..., tion of whether a user should be guided to a publication he may not be able to read. In sum, these and similar decisions should depend much more on the field of study and user popu- lation than on this type of general treat- ment. There are other problems reflecting de- ficiencies in the areas of technical back- ground, understanding of typography, and appreciation of some reasons for key word indexing. Ms. Feinberg comes out strongly in favor of "title enrichment"-adding artificial titles to improve indexing. This, however, adds cost and time to the key word approach, and subtracts from its clear advantages. A large section is de- voted to an experimental study of different indexing programs, with the result that different programs produce different in - dexes. Generally, the discussion detracts from the survey. Finally, the title chosen seems unfor- tunate. "Key word indexing" may not be an ideal term, but it is fairly well known; must we introduce yet another vague, polysyllabi<, phrase, "title derivative in- dexing"? Walt Crawford University of California Berkeley Accountability: Systems Planning in Edu- cation. Leon Lessinger & Associates. Creta D. Sabine, Editor. Homewood, Ill.: ETC Publications, 1973. 242 pages. "Accountability" has become a rallying cry in many educational circles of late: for the public in its demand for visible results for educational dollars, and for educators as they attempt to define and defend new programs. This well-sequenced collection of nine papers on this subject addresses the problem of accountability at all levels of the educational 'enterprise. First is a conceptualization of systems- planning through an explanation of the systems approach, cost effectiveness, and cost analysis. Next are specific methods of systems-planning at the classroom, com- munity college, university, and state