College and Research Libraries


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BOOK REVIEWS 
Social Issues and Library Problems; Case 

Studies in the Social Sciences. By Ken-
neth F. Kister. New York: R. R. Bowker 
Co. , 1968. xxv, 190p. $7.95 (68-27447). 

The purpose of this book, Professor Kis-
ter informs us in his preface, is "to train li-
brarians for professional work with the lit-
erature of the social sciences" by means of 
the case study method. On the whole, it is 
a useful book and goes some distance to-
ward achieving this objective. The thirty 
cases pose signiRcant library problems in 
the social sciences as well as related fi elds 
~uch as history and education. The settings 
mcl~de academic, public, and special li-
branes of various sizes; but most of the 
problems are pertinent to social science li-
brarianship generally. The questions em-
phasize bibliographical matters , reflecting 
the author's very sensible view that " th e 
first requirement for professional [sic] li-
brarians is an understanding of the formal 
bibliographic system which provides access 
to the literature and its contents." Kister 
goes on to argue that bibliographical ex-
pertness "becomes the basis for professional 
j'!dgments regarding the selection, acquisi-
tion, organization, and retrieval of the lit-
erature." This contention is well d emon-
strate.d in the cases, which are complex 
and mvolve problems in collection devel-
opment, reference techniques, public rela-
tions , professional and ethical judgments , 
an.d that bete noire of librarianship, censor-
ship . The introduction provides a brief but 
useful appraisal of the nature and develop-
ment of the social sciences, their literature 
and its bibliography. ' 

Much of the book's strength derives from 
the case study method. By using cases to 
pose his problems , Kister is able to dem-
onstrate the complexity of library problems , 
the ~napplicability of simple answers, and 
the Importance of evaluation and judgment 
based on expert knowledge. The situation 
presented in "Science of Man," for exam-
ple, requires not simply the development 
of a basic reading list, but also the evalua-

446 I 

Recent Publications 

tion of bibliographical sources, judgments 
regarding reference practice, and a consid-
eration of the "scientific" nature of the so-
cial sciences. "The Balancing Act" calls for 
an appraisal of reviewing media, a discus-
sion of the merits and possibility of an ide-
ologically balanced collection, and a con-
sideration of the role of the public library. 
Such an approach is commendable and 
should help to produce librarians with the 
breadth and flexibility that today's infor-
mation problems require. The sample anal-
yses appended to the last case provide a 
welcome added dimension: a guide to the 
book's use for both the student and the in-
structor as well as a demonstration of the 
amount and variety of thought and effort 
that the case study method can provoke. 

Unfortunately, this method has serious 
pitfalls as well as advantages, and Kister is 
not able to overcome them all. Much of 
the material in this book is characterization 
or background which has no relevance to 
the problems posed. At best, it is unneces-
sary weight or poor amateur fiction; at 
worst, it conveys "information" which 
seems most inappropriate-stereotypes of 
old maid librarians, bumbling scholars, cal-
low young librarians, and ludicrous inter-
personal situations which present a vision 
of libraries and librarians that is trivial, em-
barrassing, and quite at odds with the seri-
ous and sophisticated approach that per-
vades the book's problems and introduc-
tion. Anyone assigning this book to library 
school students should recognize these 
shortcomings and their implications. How-
ever, if used as its author suggests, to com-
plement other materials and teaching 
methods, Social Issues and Library Prob-
lems should prove an asset to courses in 
social science bibliography.-EZdred Smith, 
University of California at Berkeley. 

The Management of Libraries and In-
formation Centers. By Mildred Hawks-
worth Lowell. Metuchen, N.J .: The 
Scarecrow Press, 1968. 3 vols; $17.50 
( 68-12642) . 

Perhaps the most refreshing thing about 



these volumes is that Dr. Lowell has ex-
panded the concept of management far 
beyond the building of budgets and plot-
ting of work Bows to include the impor-
tance of people in all of these efforts, and 
has therefore produced three excellent 
works which will be of great value to all 
students of librarianship. 

The set comprises three volumes, each 
with a different purpose and subtitle. Vol-
ume I, entitled "The Case Method in 
Teaching Library Management," begins 
with a short introduction discussing the 
concept-or concepts-of "management," its 
definition by various authorities in the past, 
and its relation to librarianship, and then 
proceeds to chapters discussing the case 
method as a teaching technique, its history 
and development, and the types and kinds 
of cases that can be isolated . The following 
chapters on using the case method in class 
and the techniques for gathering data and 
writing cases are very good. The final 
chapter contains five library "in-basket 
cases" which we are told will be "useful in 
evaluating a student's or a participant's po-
tential in coping with the administrative 
aspects of a managerial situation ... (etc.)." 
They are nice cases, but I am not quite 
sure why they are here except to make the 
book 168 pages long instead of 99. An ap-
pended bibliography of A-V aids for teach-
ing management completes the book. 

Since Volume I deals with the essentials 
of a rather dry subject, namely how to 
teach management, it tends to be dry. It is 
to Dr. Lowell's credit that she has made it 
thorough, scholarly, and yet not totally un-
readable. Little gems like: "An ingredient 
of maturing in a profession is the haunting 
trepidation about one's own adequacy to 
assume a more responsible leadership role" 
come over you with the suddenness of 
Tom Lehrer's "sliding down the razor 
blade of life," and suggestions like the de-
velopment of a body of library manage-
ment principles from the raw data of col-
lected cases point nicely toward areas for 
research. 

To me, however, Volumes II and III are 
the real prizes, perhaps because the enig-
mas of library administration have filled 
my waking (and some sleeping) moments 
for many years. In the course of this time I 

Recent Publications I 447 

have read many so-called "case studies" of 
administrative problems and have found a 
large proportion of them dull, implausible, 
or ridiculous, attempting perhaps to eluci-
date a principle by offering the situation in 
the extreme, but often making librarians 
seem to be fanatics or simple-headed nin-
nies-of which, of course, like any profes-
sion, we have some but not, I submit, the 
number implied by these cases. Dr. Lowell 
admonishes us not to "forget that most li-
brary employees are dedicated ·and effi-
cient," though of necessity they play prob-
lem roles in these cases . The admonition is 
well taken but, more than anywhere else I 
have read, the cases here "tell it like it is" 
and present the fairest picture I know of 
people, places, and situations in the library 
world. 

Both volumes (II and III) are really 
combinations of textbook and syllabus, 
containing lecture notes, lists of reading as-
signments, bibliographies, and texts of case 
histories. 

Volume II, subtitled "The Process of 
Managing," presents the history and de-
velopment of management and its applica-
tion to library situations in lecture outline 
form, and over 300 pages of cases studies 
on various well-chosen segments of library 
administration. 

In Volume II personnel problems are in-
geniously avoided, so that Volume III, sub-
titled "Personnel Management," may deal 
in a similar fashion with employees and 
their cares. Again the cases are grouped by 
type of problem, such as "Recruitment, 
Selection, and Employee Appraisal," "Dis-
cipline, Grievances, and Justice," and so 
forth. 

In the past I have questioned most seri-
ously the content of "adminisb·ation" 
courses simply because I do not believe the 
student has the background to appreciate 
the problems. Here Dr. Lowell has care-
fully developed the background with the 
problem, and has, one is tempted to say, 
reduced the essence of libraries (which are 
mostly people, not books) to clear and 
graphic forms. I would hope that many 
library school students will have the op-
portunity, through these cases, to learn 
more of what libraries are all about.-
Gustave A. Harrer, University of Florida. 



448 I College & Research Libraries • Septe1nber 1969 

Carnegie Libraries; Their History and 
Impact on American Public Library 
Development. By George S. Bobinski. 
Chicago: American Library Association, 
1969. 257p. $·8. ( 68-54216). 

In this adaptation of his doctoral disser-
tation Mr. Bobinski treats in factual detail 
the history of Carnegie public library phi-
lanthropy in the United States. His com-
prehensive study of the expenditure of 
more than $40,000,000 for the erection of 
1,679 public library buildings in 1,412 
communities, covering all aspects of the 
subject, including a survey of 225 com-
munities which had Carnegie grants avail-
able and did not use them, is both detailed 
and yet easy-to-read and charming. Per-
haps the only faults one might find with it 
are in the relatively short six-page "per-
sonal appraisal of Carnegie's philanthropy" 
and, in light of the emerging social con-
sciousness of librarians, in his dismissal of 
the lack of influence that Carnegie exerted 
on the provision of integrated library serv-
ice for Negroes in the South and of the 
question that was raised in some communi-
ties of the source of Carnegie's wealth. His 
comment is that, "It seems unnecessary 
now to consider the question of how Car-
negie made his money and whether it was 
morally right for communities to accept it 
as library philanthropy. Andrew Carnegie 
was no worse, and perhaps even better, 
than the other capitalists and indusb·ial 
leaders of his time in respect to wages and 
working conditions" (p. 186-7). More per-
sonal comments and evaluation on a num-
ber of the matters dealt with, especially on 
these two matters of social significance, 
would have added a great deal to the 
book. 

~.- There is little in this book of specific in-
terest to the academic or research librarian . 
Apart from a paragraph on a few joint use 
facilities, such as that provided for Cornell 
College and the community of Mount Ver-
non, Iowa, academic libraries are entirely 
outside the scope of this book; and as Car-
negie's aim was to improve popular access 
to books, his grants to large city libraries , 
such as the New York Public Library, to 
which he gave over $5,000,000 in 1899 to 
build sixty-six branch libraries, were gen-

erally to provide for branches and other 
facilities to be used by the general public 
rather than to provide for research facili-
ties. Carnegie's philanthropy did have an 
impact on academic libraries. Primarily in 
the period between 1902 and 1908 some 
$4,283,048 was given toward the construc-
tion of 108 academic libraries; and, while 
Bobinski stresses the fact that grants were 
not made to public libraries for collections, 
311 academic libraries, mainly in the 
1930s, did receive grants totaling $2,592,800 
for library development which, in general, 
meant the purchase of books. Hopefully, 
someone will devote the same care and 
effort to that aspect of Carnegie philan-
thropy as Mr. Bobinski has to the public 
library aspect, for that story is as important 
and worthy of study and could well result in 
as pleasant .and readable a book as this one. 
-Norman D. Stevens, University of Con-
necticut. 

Library Effectiveness, A Systems Ap-
proach .. By Philip M. Morse. Cambridge: 
M.I.T. Press, 1968. 207p. $10. ( 68-
25379). 

Professor Morse has attempted the most 
difficult task of bridging the gaps between 
the librarian, the systems analyst, and the 
operations researcher. The latter two in 
some areas are considered to be synony-
mous. His book, divided into two cate-
gories (namely, the theoretical models and 
the application of theory) , is well organ-
ized and provides an introduction to th e 
theory before it is discussed and applied 
to the libraries at the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology. It would appear from 
the standpoint of reviewer, however, that 
to comprehend the material fully the read-
er should have at least one semester of 
probability theory. The librarian with little 
or no mathematical background will have 
considerable difficulty comprehending the 
models, although the b·ained systems an-
alyst and the operations researcher will 
comprehend them with little or no difficul-
ty. It would seem that the book is more 
readily suited to the systems analyst and 
the operations researcher who currently are 
workfng in library systems analysis. The 
book is of value to the librarian only to the