College and Research Libraries


Beyond this, however, the chief impor-
tance of the book is its timeliness. As li-
brary networks evolve beyond theory, the 
coordination of purchasing and processing 
may be one of the last tasks undertaken, 
but when it is tackled, the Colorado study 
will be invaluable in planning such opera-
tion. It is a welcome relief to have a re-
search report appear while the findings are 
still usefuL-Donald Hendricks, Sam Hous-
ton State University. 

Scientific and Technical Communication: 
A Pressing National Problem and Rec-
ommendations for Its Solution. Nation-
al Academy of Sciences-National Acad-
emy of Engineering. Washington, 1969. 
322p. 

The SATCOM report, as this work has 
now become known, is basically the report 
of a committee made up of representa-
tives from both the government and pri-
vate enterprise. Its charter was to exam-
ine the communication problems of both 
areas, in broad perspective, paying special 
attention to information activities, policies, 
relationships, etc., of private groups and 
organizations, and their interaction with 
federal agencies. Further, it was to make 
recommendations based on the present 
status and future needs of an effective na-
tional and international information sys-
tem. The result acquits itself quite well. 

Using the charter as a base, the report 
is divided into several parts: recommenda-
tions, state-of-the-art background, and the 
extension or explanation of the recommen-
dations. Placing the recommendations in 
the beginning is very effective. The only 
weakness in format is the lack of an index. 

The recommendations are presented in 
groups: those dealing with planning and 
coordination (establishment of a joint com-
mittee, leadership at the national level, 
shared responsibility, copyright legislation, 
standards) ; those concerning services for 
the user; those on classical services ( ab-
stracting, indexing, meetings) ; those on 
personal information communication; and 
finally, those involving research and ex-
periments. In content the recommenda-
tions do not propose anything radically 
new. They are relatively broad and as a 
result lack force. For the first time, how-

Recent Publications I 121 

ever, they do take into serious considera-
tion both governmental and private in-
formation activities and strive for closer 
coordination and in some cases integra-
tion. Unlike some of its predecessors, this 
report also provides detail for each recom-
mendation, resulting in cohesiveness. 

The greatest contributions of the report 
are the state-of-the-art background chap-
ters: "primary communications, the basic 
access services, consolidation and repro-
cessing, and new technologies and their 
impact." These chapters are well-written, 
imaginative compilations of both the ma-
jor concepts and the literature. They are 
well documented and the selection ap-
pears to be excellent. 

The report stresses the role of the pro-
fessional societies, services to special user 
groups, coordination efforts in both gov-
ernment and private areas, and the par-
ticipation of the whole community. The 
recommendations are well stated and firm-
ly based, and the reader can see from 
whence they came through the documen-
tation. The international scene is included, 
but the orientation is definitely national. 
There is a certain weakness in the lack of 
recommendations for implementation. They 
do recommend a Joint Commission on Sci-
entific and Technical Communication, but 
this appears more advisory than imple-
mentative. Anyone working in the infor-
mation communication field will find some-
thing of interest in this report.-Ann F. 
Painter, Indiana University. 

De wetenschappelijke bibliotheken in 
Nederland; programma voor een beleid 
op lange termijn. Netherlands. Rijks-
commissie van advies inzake het biblio-
theekwezen. 's-Gravenhage, Staatsuitge-
verij, 1969. 72p. $1.25. 

The important activities of the National 
Advisory Committee for Libraries in the 
Netherlands have now resulted in the pub-
lication of a long-term plan for coordi-
nation and development of academic and 
research libraries in that country. 

In an attractively produced publication, 
the committee reports in detail on some 
major issues facing academic libraries: 
problems of information retrieval and bib-
liographic access, collection development,