ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 904 / C&RL News in th e archival setting, literatu re searching at 2400 baud, browsing p attern s o f library use, fiction ap ­ proval plans, an d English literatu re selection. C u rre n t P D C w orkshops are being developed on th e topics o f library planning and m anagem ent in anticipation o f an off-cam pus library faculty retre a t next year. T h ere is no d o u b t th a t b u d g et constraints may continue to restrict th e am o u n t o f library support w hich can b e provided for continuing education and professional developm ent opportunities for librarians. N onetheless, one library has shown that by librarians taking responsibility, pooling local talents, m otivating each other, and investing in a collaborative approach to professional develop­ m en t, successful an d innovative program s can re ­ sult. ■ ■ Using a spreadsheet program to shift a journal collection By Dennis C. Tucker H ead o f Serials M ishaivaka-Penn Public Library, Indiana Letting the computer perform the more complex calculations involved in stack-shifting. N o one enjoys moving library materials. No m a tte r how it’s done, it’s a tim e-co n su m ­ ing, m entally and physically exhausting task. T h e task can b e m ade easier and less tim e-consum ing how ever by applying th e m o d ern technology th a t is available. T he secret to a successful move o f a periodicals collection is p ro p er planning, req u irin g a grasp o f several elem ents: th e size o f th e cu rre n t collection in linear inches, th e am o u n t th e collection grows in o n e year (also in linear inches), th e length o f a sh elf in inches, and th e n u m b e r o f shelves available to © 1989 D ennis C. Tucker. D ennis C. T u ck er is th e au th o r o f From Here to There: M oving a L i­ brary (Bristol, Ind.: W yndham Hall, 1987). hold th e collection in th e new location. Basically, th en , p lanning a move is an arith m eti­ cal operation. T he co m p u ter technology w hich is b est designed to handle arithm etic is th e spread­ sheet. D u rin g a rec en t shift o f o u r periodicals collection th e use o f a sp read sh eet saved us hours o f staff tim e an d red u c ed o u r m argin o f arith m eti­ cal error. T h e first step was to gather th e data. W e used a 3 x 5 card like th e one shown in F igure 1 for each journal th a t was to be moved. O n th e card we supplied th e following data: th e title o f th e journal, and th e h eig h t and thickness o f a volum e. Because th e h eig h t an d thickness o f a volum e can vary as issues change in size from y ear to year, som e librar­ ies m ight wish to n o te runs o f th e sam e title on separate cards, each according to its size. November 1989 / 905 An indication o f th e dates o f th e run will answer any questions th a t may arise later as to w h eth er certain volumes w ere included in th e count or p erhaps overlooked. Journals w hich will no longer grow because they have b e e n d ropped, suspended publication, o r changed title, etc. should b e m arked as a closed entry and they will have no en try for “one y ear’s grow th.” O p en entries will, o f course, show how m any inches p e r y ear th ey grow. I f a periodical is retain ed only for a specified n u m b e r o f years and th e n discarded (e.g. “c u rren t year plus four years”), an appropriate figure will be supplied for “retain ed for . . . years.” T h e length o f the p rese n t ru n in feet and inches (or in inches alone) is vital to o u r calculations later on. T he last two lines on th e card are for calculations w hen figured manually. W e will b e using a sp read sh eet to p e r ­ form th ese functions for us and will th e re fo re leave them blank on th e cards. L ibraries w hich classify th e ir periodicals will also w ant to include th e call n u m b e r som ew here on each card for quick refer­ ence. B ecause o u r collection is shelved in two differ­ en t areas, w e used two separate sets o f cards for data-gathering. th e cads w ere identical for both locations, b u t they w ere color-coded to avoid the tim e-consum ing task o f having to label w hich loca­ tion th e data referre d to. W e call o u r two locations “public access” o r “referen ce serials” w hich is on o u r m ain level in op en stacks, and th e “M obilex” w hich is on movable shelving on th e low er level in an area restricted to staff use only. W e u sed w hite stock for prin tin g th e cards for th e main level and blue for th e low er one. (Later, w hen the data was e n te re d into the spreadsheet, we interfiled th e titles for b oth loca­ tions in a single alphabet, b u t th e d ata for each location was placed in a separate colum n and calcu­ lated separately.) T o g ath er th e inform ation, we sent a student w orker to th e stacks w ith ayardstick. T he portion o f o u r collection to b e m oved was small by m ost academ ic standards— some 250 titles— and we only n ee d ed betw een four and six hours to g ath er all th e data from o u r referen ce serials area. Ap­ proximately th e same am ount o f tim e was spent collecting th e inform ation from th e Mobilex. One o f th e reasons th a t th e n u m b e r o f titles was low co m pared to our n u m b e r o f actual titles on hand was th a t m any titles are k ep t only for th e cu rren t y ear o r are discarded w hen th e microfilm o r m icro­ fiche arrives and thus do n o t take up storage shelf space. T he next task was to key th e inform ation into the spreadsheet. W e w ere fo rtu n ate to have a list o f our jo u rn al titles already on a spreadsheet th at had previously b ee n used for budgeting purposes. F o r us, it was simply a m a tte r o f deleting th e unw anted colum ns, leaving only colum n A with th e titles in it, an d saving th e w orksheet u n d e r a new nam e. (We u sed “movelist.”) M any spreadsheets have an “im p o rt” function w hich will translate files from e ith er a database o r a w ord processor; libraries w hich have a list o f th e ir holdings in som e o th e r electronic form at may be able to use this function to avoid re-keying th e titles into a spreadsheet. B ecause th e collection is h eld in two locations (the old er volumes being held in storage), our layout was slightly—b u t only slightly— m ore com ­ plicated than th a t n ee d ed by libraries w ith a single location. Libraries w ith a single location n ee d use only colum ns A, B, C, and D. W e used a setting o f thirty-two characters for th e w idth o f colum n A. (See F igure 2.) I f th e colum n is narrow er, longer titles will b e tru n ca ted (e. g. Jour­ nal o f th e American Society of...); if it is wider, it will 906 / C & RL News be difficult to p r in t th e s p re a d s h e e t o n 8 1/2-inch- w ide p ap er. Som e sp re a d sh e e ts have a “s o rt” capability. I f possible, w e r e c o m m e n d u sin g it to so rt th e list on colum n A at th is tim e, u sing an a lp h ab etical so rt in ascending o rd e r. T h a t way, th e c o m p u te r will p u t titles in th e p r o p e r o rd e r, an d w e w o n ’t have to w orry ab o u t having to shift b ec au s e w e h av e g o tte n th em o u t o f o rd er. (L ib raries w h ich classify th e ir m aterials co u ld ad d a c o lu m n fo r call n u m b e rs an d sort o n th a t colum n.) T h e in fo rm atio n co n ta in e d in th e o th e r colum ns and th e ir co lu m n -w id th settings w ere: C o lu m n B— th e len g th o f th e c u r r e n t co llectio n o n p u b lic access shelves in lin e ar in c h es (10 c h a ra c te rs w ide). C o l­ um n C— th e n u m b e r o f n u m b e r o f in ch es th a t th e title grows in o n e y e a r in th e p u b lic-access section (10 ch aracters w ide). C o lu m n D w as re se rv e d for a form ula w h ich w e w ill discuss la te r (9 ch a racters wide). C o lu m n E c o n ta in e d th e sam e in fo rm atio n as co lu m n B— th e n u m b e r o f lin e a r in c h es o f th e title cu rre n tly h e ld — b u t fo r th o se vo lu m es in s to r­ age (.10 ch a racters w ide). T h o u g h o u r co lu m n w id th s co u ld have b e e n som ew hat n a rro w e r a n d still c o n ta in e d th e n e c e s ­ sary data, w e allow ed th e a fo re m e n tio n e d w id th s to accom m odate th e h e a d in g a t th e to p o f ea ch col­ umn. O u r c o m b in e d c o lu m n w id th gave us a to ta l o f 89 ch aracters. By u sin g an E lite ty p esty le (12 pitch), w e w ere able to p r in t o u t o u r d ata le n g th ­ wise o n 8*/2-inch-wide p ap e r. It m u st b e n o te d th a t so m e o f o u r titles go im m ediately u p o n re c e ip t to th e M obilex (usually d ep e n d en t u p o n ex p e c te d usage). T h e s e titles will show a sp ecified le n g th fo r “g ro w th p e r y e a r” in column F. M ost titles, ho w ev er, go to “re fe re n c e serials” fo r several years u n til th e y have outliv ed their p o p u la rity a n d a re th e n sh ifted in b u lk to th e Mobilex, sev eral y e a rs ’ w o rth a t a tim e. T h e s e titles will sh o w a “z e ro ” in th e g ro w th p e r y ea r” co lu m n fo r th e M obilex (co lu m n F ). T h u s, th e tw o co llec­ tions d o n o t grow' in th e sam e m an n er. A fter w e h a d e n te r e d o u r list o f titles a n d alp h a­ b e tiz e d it, w e to o k th e stack o f card s from th e “r e fe re n c e serials” se ctio n an d e n te r e d th e d a ta for co lu m n s B a n d C — c u r r e n t le n g th o f th e holdings a n d g row th p e r year. N o te th a t if a title was h e ld only in th e M obilex, co lu m n s B an d C re m a in e d blank. I f a title is k e p t fo r th e c u r r e n t y e a r only, it th u s o ccu p ies n o s h e lf o r th e M obilex, a n d was n o t e n te r e d in to th e s p rea d sh ee t. L ikew ise, w e to o k th e stack o f card s fo r th e M obilex a n d e n te r e d th e d a ta fo r co lu m n s E an d F — c u r r e n t le n g th o f th e holdings a n d g row th p e r year. As m e n tio n e d , b ec au s e m o st titles in th e M obilex te n d to grow as th e re s u lt o f b u lk shifting ra th e r th a n o n an a n n u a l basis, co lu m n F o ften re m a in e d em p ty . I f n o issues o f a title w e re h e ld in th e M obilex, b o th co lu m n s E an d F re m a in e d em pty. O n ce th e d a ta w as e n te re d , it w as tim e to b u ild o u r fo rm u la fo r co lu m n D . W h a t w e w a n te d to show in th is co lu m n w as th e n u m b e r o f in ch es to leave fo r ea ch title so th a t w e w o u ld b e ab le to shelve th e c u r r e n t holdings p lu s “X” y ea rs’ grow th. By usin g a fo rm u la w ith a variable “X” in ste a d o f a specific value, w e c o u ld ch a n g e th e v alu e o f “X” to stu d y various o p tio n s fo r achieving o p tim u m p la c e ­ m e n t. T h e v alue o f “X”— th e n u m b e r o f y ears w e w a n te d to allow for— w o u ld b e p la c e d in cell D 1, so th a t is h o w w e b u ilt th e form ula. T h u s, th e fo rm u la fo r cell D 5 (am o u n t o f space r e q u ir e d for th is title) is “B 5 + (C 5 * D I ) . ” (S ee fig u re 2.) In o th e r w ords “c u r r e n t holdings + (1 y e a r’s g row th " X (or D I ) years).” O n c e w e h a d e n te r e d th e fo rm u la in to cell D 5, w e u s e d th e s p re a d s h e e t’s p o w erfu l co p y fu n ctio n to co p y it in to ev ery cell in c o lu m n D , m aking th e November 1989 / 907 row n u m b e r relative so th a t it w ould correspond to th e p ro p er row; th a t is, th e form ula for cell D 6 w ould b e “B6 + F 5 * G l) .” T h en w e copied it into every cell in colum n G. As we w an ted to allow the same n u m b e r ofy ears’ growth in each location (upstairs and down), we m ade cell G l relative to cell D I by th e use o f th e form ula “+D 1 L ibraries wishing to allow a differ­ e n t rate o f growth a t each location could simply e n te r an absolute into G l, as well as into D I. W e th e n u sed su m ” function to total each colum n w ith th e following result: At th e bo tto m o f colum ns B and E, w e h ad th e length in inches o f th e c u rre n t collection in each respective location. In colum ns C an d F, we h ad th e length in inches th at each collection w ould grow in one year. In colum ns D and G, w e h ad th e total o f lin ear feet n ee d ed to house th e c u rren t holdings in each location plus X n u m b e r o f years’ growth. (See figure 3.) O u r shelves m easure 35.5 linear inches in “refer­ en ce serials” an d 34.5 inches in th e Mobilex. At th e bottom o f colum n B (cell B247 for us) we placed th e form ula “+ B 2 4 5 135.5” (the total len g th o f th e c u rre n t collection I th e n u m b e r o f lin ear inches p e r shelf). W e p laced basically th e sam e form ula in colum ns D, E , an d G, giving us th e n u m b e r o f shelves n e e d e d to house th e c u rre n t collection in th e “referen ce serials”plus X years (colum n D ), th e n u m b e r o f shelves n ee d ed to house th e c u rren t collection in th e M obilex (colum n E), an d th e n u m b e r o f shelves n e e d e d to house th e c u rren t collection plus X y ear’s grow th in th e M obilex (colum n G). In th e fo u r cells below th o se figures, w e en te re d th e n u m b e ro f shelves currently available: in “refer­ en ce serials” in colum ns B an d D, an d in th e M obilex for colum ns E and G. In th e next row 250, we e n te re d a form ula o f “n u m b e r o f shelves available m inus n u m b e r o f shelves n e e d e d ” (cell B249 - cell B247). T h e result is th e n u m b e r o f shelves rem aining after th e collec­ tion has b e e n housed. If th e n u m b e r re tu rn e d in colum ns D an d G was a positive n u m b er, w e knew th a t we h ad am ple room for X years’ growth and could continue to increase th e value o f X (cell D 1 or G l) u n til a negative n u m b e r was retu rn ed . I f th e value re tu rn e d was a negative o n e , we knew th a t we did n o t have enough room for X y ea rs’ grow th and n ee d ed to decrease th e value o f X until a positive n u m b e r was retu rn ed . W h en w e discovered th e low est possible positive n u m b e r in cells D 250 and G250, th e n u m b e r showing in cells D I and G l was th e op tim u m n u m b e r o f years o f growth to allow room for. B ecause o f th e arithm etical pow er o f a sp read ­ sheet, w e n e e d e d only change th e value o f cell D I (or o f D 1 and G l if we w anted to calculate different growth allowances), and a w hole new set o f m ea­ surem ents ap p eared w ithout th e tedious task o f a m anual recalculation, m uch subject to error, each time. A library moving into a new location and w anting to d eterm in e how m uch shelving is necessary forX years’ growth may simplify th e formula. T hey may stop w ith th e figures in row 247— n u m b e r o f shelves need ed ; th a t is, th e colum n total in D o r G divided by th e length o f a shelf. Please n o te th a t th e figures so far are valid only if titles are going to co n tin u e to grow in th e ir c u rre n t location. W e will see in a m o m en t how we shift volumes in bulk from one location to another. In our case, how ever, w e next n ee d ed to d ecide w hich titles, and how m uch o f each, w ould be shifted to storage.U nfortunately, th e re are no magic form ulas for this p o rtio n o f th e job. It is simply a professional ju d g m e n t call— deciding w hich journals th e referen ce staff is least likely to have to traipse to th e b asem en t for. W e decided th a t tw o m em b ers o f th e referen ce staff w orking to g e th e r could probably m ake a b e tte r decision than a single individual, an d th e re was often some discussion. O u r tools w ere a yellow legal p ad an d a 9 0 8 / C&RL News red p en — though any color will do. W e simply took a walk through th e “referen ce serials” stacks and gave it o u r b es t shot, taking careful notes as to w hich title was to be m oved (or discarded in certain cases) and w hich years. O nce we h ad d eterm in e d th e titles w hich w ere to be m oved to th e Mobilex an d th e years o f each to b e moved, we h ad to make a rough d eterm in atio n o f th e n u m b e r o f lin ear inches to be moved. W e chose to go with th e figure already shown in colum n C— th e len g th o f grow th p e r year, realizing th a t th e figure may n o t b e exactly co rrect as volum e sizes som etim es change from y ear to year: A weekly may change to a bi-weekly o r to a m onthly; o u r collec­ tion may contain a gap w hich w ould cause th e n u m b e r o f volumes to be m oved to b e sm aller than expected; freq u en tly publishers red u c e th e n u m ­ b e r o f pages p e r issue in o rd er to cu t costs,etc. W e d ecid ed to ignore such differences because they w ould b e such a small p erc en ta g e o f th e total mass th a t errors in calculation caused th e re b y w ould n o t provoke a m ajor location shift. Rare book cataloging rules to be revised T h e Bibliographic Standards C o m m ittee o f A CR L’s R are Books an d M anuscripts Section has b eg u n w orking on revisions for a second edition o f Bibliographic D escription o f Rare Books, th e L ibrary o f Congress descriptive cataloging rules for early p rin te d books and o th e r special collections m onographs, p am ­ phlets an d broadsides. Ben R. T ucker, ch ief o f descriptive cataloging policy at th e L ibrary o f Congress, will serve as LC liaison to th e C om ­ m ittee. A prelim inary survey o f rare book catalogers has revealed w id esp read in te rest in issues such as re-exam ining rules relating to title page tra n ­ scription an d original p u n ctuation, in co rp o rat­ ing th e LC guidelines for cataloging rare serials, developing rules for making special access points, co rrectin g a variety o f m inor errors, an d adding an index and M A RC -tagged examples. T h e C o m m ittee w elcom es w id esp read p a r­ ticipation in this effort and will ad d to its mailing list all those w ho co n tact Belinda Urquiza, Rare Book an d Special Collections Division, Library o f Congress, W ashington, D C 20540. Specific com m ents on th e new edition o f B D R B should b e su b m itted as soon as possible. D ocum ents for discussion at th e ALA M idw inter M eeting will b e m ailed in D ecem b er. F o r fu rth e r infor­ m ation, contact Jackie Dooley, C hair o f th e RBM S Bibliographic Standards C o m m ittee; (619) 534-1273. As m en tio n ed above, o u r figures so far show only how m uch space to leave for each title to grow in its p re se n t location. I f volumes are to be shifted from one location to another, th e ir length m ust b e sub­ trac ted from th e colum n th a t indicates th e ir cu r­ re n t location and ad d ed to th e colum n for th e ir new location. O n o u r sp read sh eet we su b tracted from colum n B (length o f th e c u rren t collection in th e “referen c e serials”) th e n u m b e r o f inches to be m oved to th e M obilex an d ad d ed it to colum n E (length o f cu rre n t collection in th e Mobilex). M ost spreadsheets have an ed it function w hich allows th e u se r simply to in se rt “m inus X” after th e n u m ­ b e r in colum n B an d “plus X” after th e figure in colum n E w ith o u t th e n e e d to recalculate m anu­ ally an d e n te r com pletely new figures in to th e respective columns. O nce all th e nu m b ers w ere en tered , colum n D im m ediately p rovided us w ith th e n u m b e r o f years’growth we could have room for uptasirs and colum n G gave us th e sam e inform ation for th e Mobilex. W e could now experience w ith th e value o f D I (and G l) to achieve optim um placem ent. At this p o in t w e w ere ready to begin shifting. F ortunately, w e h ad gained th re e rows o f stacks and w ere able to backshift. As soon as th e first title was p laced on th e shelf, o u r stu d e n t m over was in stru c ted to leave how ever m any inches o f room w h ere in d icated in colum n G o f th e spreadsheet, w h e th e r o r n o t th a t space was actually filled. E ven if th e re w ere no issues o f a title cu rren tly in th e Mobilex, w e h ad already m oved th e m on th e sp read sh eet an d colum n G told us how m uch room to leave for th a t title w h en it actually appeared. B ecause we h ad d ecid ed to allow for five years’ grow th in th e M obilex as well as in th e “referen ce serials” area, w e h ad ab o u t 114 shelves left over in th e Mobilex. (See cell D 250 in figure 3.) W e d e ­ cid ed to take u p som e o f th a t slack by leaving th e bo tto m sh elf o f each stack em pty. This w ould elim i­ n ate th e necessity o f dro p p in g to o u r knees in a poorly lig h ted area to find m aterials on th e bo tto m shelf, a n d it w ould allow a little extra grow th room scattered th ro u g h o u t th e collection. In case we d ecid ed to shift an o th er title from upstairs, o r add a n ew o n e to th e collection, th e re w ould b e room to do so w ithout a m ajor shift. A fter th e M obilex h ad b e e n com pletely shifted, w e b egan bringing journals dow n from upstairs a booktruck a t a tim e, using th e notes taken on o ur yellow legal p ad as o u r guide for w hat should be moved. T h e sh elf was ready and w aiting for them . B ecause th e space h ad already b e e n left in th e M obilex for each title, it was n o t necessary to move o u r sp read sh eet, it was easy to see a n ew jo u rn al should be p laced in relation to th e p rio r and follow­ ing titles. O nce w e h ad m oved o u r volumes from th e “referen c e serials” to th e Mobilex, we began at the November 1989 / 909 beginning o f th e alphabet upstairs and shifted our collection to allow room for five years’ grow th (our optim um figure). T he en tire process, from d ata collection to th e physical move, was as sm ooth as a baby’s skin. W e en co u n te red no major snags and found th a t p e r­ haps th e hard est p a rt was adjusting to th e feeling o f let-dow n once th e excitem ent o f th e move was over. ■ ■ ALA Library/Book Fellows for 1989-1990 E ight individuals, seven o f th em from academ ic and research libraries, have b een selected to re p re ­ sent th e A m erican Library Association and U.S. librarianship as Library/Book Fellows overseas. T h e jo in t program o f ALA and th e U.S. In form a­ tion Agency places U.S. library and publishing professionals in institutions overseas for up to one year. K aren J. Starr, assistant professor at O regon State University, Corvallis, will train N orwegian librarians in online searching o f U.S. databases at th e Norwegian School o f L ibrary and Inform ation Sciences in Oslo. T h e appointm ent began in S ep­ te m b e r and will en d in June 1990. Alicia Sabatine, library inform ation specialist at Jefferson C ounty Public School, Golden, C olo­ rado, will teach online searching o f U.S. databases to students from 16 E nglish-speaking C aribbean countries and develop course outlines in this area. She is w orking at the at th e University o f the W est Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, through June 1990. B arbara G. Kile, d irecto r o f th e division o f gov­ ern m e n t publications and special resources at Rice University, H ouston, will assist the N ational C en­ tral L ibrary in Taipei, Taiwan, in developing and organizing its U . S. governm ent publications collec­ tion. She will b e in T aipei from January to June 1990. L inda E ileen Williamson, docum ents librarian at th e University o f Illinois at Chicago, will assist in organizing and prom oting a U.S. governm ent docum ents collection at th e University College, D ublin, Ireland. H e r appointm ent is from April to S ep tem b er 1990. H en ry F. R aine, senior cataloger at the F olger Shakespeare Library, W ashington, D .C., will plan Left to right: (back row) Henry F. Raine, Katherine Van de Vate, Faye Powell, Alicia Sabatine, Helen Amabile, Donald Hausrath; (front row) Karen J. Starr, Dorothy C. Woodson, Linda Eileen Williamson, Barbara G. Kile. Janet M. Gilligan. 910 / C&RL News an d im p lem e n t retro sp ectiv e conversion o f th e A lexander T u rn b u ll C ollection o f pre-1801 im ­ p rin ts (approxim ately 9,500 titles) fo r th e N ational L ibrary o f N ew Z ealand, W ellington. His ap p o in t­ m e n t ends in S e p te m b e r 1990. D o ro th y C. W oodson, social sciences su b ject specialist at th e S tate U niversity o f N ew York at Buffalo, will w ork w ith th e special collections d e ­ p a rtm e n t at th e U niversity o f Swaziland L ib rary to identify an d collect m aterials o n Swaziland h e ld in U.S. libraries. She will also h elp develop th e Swaziana collection by advising on acquisition p ro ced u res. T h e a p p o in tm e n t runs from O cto b er 1989 to A ugust 1990. F aye Powell, social science librarian at P o rtlan d S tate University, will advise o n collection analysis an d d ev elo p m en t at th e A m erican Studies R e­ search C e n te r in H y d erab ad , India. H e r a p p o in t­ m e n t runs u n til January 1990. K ath erin e Van d e Vate, A rabic cataloger at P rin ­ ce to n U niversity Library, will train 12 library em ployees in cataloging at th e Asad N ational L i­ b rary in D am ascus, Syria, from April to S ep te m b er 1990. L ibrary/B ook Fellow positions available for 1990-1991 will b e an n o u n c ed in late D e c e m b e r 1989. The 2nd Pacific C onference on N ew Inform ation Technology By Augurio Collantes Catalog L ibrarian Hostos C o m m u n ity College L ib ra ry /C U N Y T h e 2n d Pacific C o n fere n ce on N ew In fo rm a­ tion Technology, a n o n -p ro fit forum for library and inform ation professionals, ed u catio n al m ed ia s p e ­ cialists, an d technologists, was h e ld on M ay 2 9 -3 1 , 1989, at th e Glass H o tel in Singapore. It was d e ­ signed to give librarians an d inform ation specialists from Asia an d th e Pacific region an o p p o rtu n ity to see for th em selves som e o f th e m any inform ation systems an d p ro d u cts available in o th e r p arts o f th e w orld, to m ake th e m aw are o f th e tre n d s in in fo r­ m ation technology an d th e ir application to lib rar­ ies, to en ab le th e m to talk ab o u t th e ir accom plish­ m en ts in th e field, an d to discuss th e ir needs, in terests, p roblem s, an d req u irem en ts w ith o th e r know ledgeable colleagues. M ore than 2 0 0 p articip an ts from th e Asia/Pacifìc region an d th e U n ite d States w ere p rese n t. D u e to logistical p ro b lem s th e location h ad to b e ch an g ed from Bangkok to Singapore. T h e L ibrary Associa­ tio n o f S ingapore an d th e S ingapore C onvention B u reau w ere k ind an d gen ero u s to co-sponsor th e forum. C h in g -C h ih C h en , ch ie f organizer, o p e n e d th e co n fe re n ce by looking back a t th e success o f th e F irs t Pacific C o n fere n ce h e ld in Bangkok in 1987. T h e th re e official p ro g ram days f e a tu re d ab o u t 24 m eetings w h ere a t least 74 p ap e rs w ere p rese n ted . M ost o f th e se w ere le ctu res o r forum s, c o n trib u ted p ap ers on topics ranging from C D -R O M , in fo rm a­ tion retrieval, m ic ro co m p u te r applications, n e t­ works, databases to h y p erm edia, hypertext, an d p ro d u c t reviews. Specific topics in clu d ed P ro ject Z E N (Zoom E ncyclopedic N avigator) an d ZGJKJ (C hinese C o m p u te r Science an d T echnology D o cu m en tatio n D atab ase System) w ere discussed. Exhibitors c o n d u c te d inform al talks to p artici­ p an ts an d th e y show ed systems in operation. C om p an ies b ased in S ingapore h ad optical p ro d ­ ucts, h y p erm e d ia applications, eq u ip m en t, and softw are on display. Especially for d eveloping countries, fu n d in g to a tte n d such regional co n feren ces as this is a luxury unless you h ap p e n to live h ere . As an incentive th e organizers o ffe re d free registration to p a p e r p r e ­ sen ters from th e region an d p artial fellowships to som e p a rtic ip a n ts. I t is gratifying to learn o f th e efforts th a t librari­ ans an d in form ation professionals in developing co u n tries (particularly in Asia an d th e Pacific) have m ad e in applying inform ation technology in th e ir respective organizations. Professional librarians in this area have th e skills an d know ledge; given th e p ro p e r reso u rces th ey could p ro d u c e as m uch and b rin g o u t results th a t are a t least com parable to th o se from th e m o re d ev elo p ed countries. A 480-page volum e containing th e co n feren ce p ap e rs was m ade available o n o p en in g day. E d ite d by C hing-chill C h e n an d D avid I. Raitt, th e volum e m ay b e o rd e re d for $57.50 from M icroU se In fo r­ m ation, 1400 C om m onw ealth Ave., W est N ew ton, MA 02165. ISB N 0-931555-06-X. ■ ■