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, 122 I College & Research Libraries • March 1970 the research function of libraries and li- brarians, and centralization vs. decentrali- zation arguments. Separate chapters deal with auxiliary technical processes, repro- duction problems, conservation of library materials, building efficiency, personnel, organizational structure and legislation. Each topic is treated systematically, with a careful analysis of the problem involved, a discussion of national and foreign trends , and a list of specific recommenda- tions with suggestions for implementation. In a final chapter the committee lists pri- ority recommendations for the period un- til 1972 with regard to legislation and or- ganization, library education and the status of library personnel, together with a reca- pitulation of the most important topics for further study. With regard to legislation the commit- tee recommends the establishment of a legal depository in the Royal Library in The Hague and a subsequent change of the current b·ade bibliography into a na- tional bibliography. Other proposals in- clude clear legal status for libraries in the academic structure, changes in copyright laws, and the establishment of a national executive body to coordinate and guide future library developments. Of special in- terest is the request for government sup- port for the acquisition of significant man- uscripts and early printed materials. Bet- ter guidelines are needed for library ed- ucation, the status of academic librarians, professional and supporting staff. There are recommendations for the special training of restorers, translators and information specialists. As major fields of further study the committee mentions: a national plan for collection development, a depository for little-used materials, mechanization and automation, standards for library buildings and equipment, and a national plan for research in the fields of manuscript study and historical bibliography. Much of what the committee discusses and most of its recommendations are of wider relevance than the Dutch scene only. An English translation of the full text of the report would make a most stimulat- ing document available to a world audi- ence.-Hendrik Edelman, .Joint Univ ersity Libraries. The Government and Control of Librar- ies. By Kenneth Alan Stockham. London: Andre Deutsch, 1968. 110p. 18s. ( 68- 107466 GB). Characterized as a textbook for non- graduate British library science students preparing for their General Professional Ex- amination, this slim volume might be bet- ter described as a syllabus. The first chap- ter on government of libraries presents an excellent summary of the role played by the central government in financing and controlling national, academic, and pub- lic libraries in the United Kingdom. The composition of major governing boards is delineated with excellent internal refer- ences to government documents containing additional information. Major elements of The Public Libraries and Museums Act of 1964 are contrasted with earlier legislation, indicating the probable impact of the 1964 act. Chapter three details the sources of na- tional and local revenues and methods of allocation to library functions. An adequate summary with examples of a revenue and a capital budget identifies the elements which comprise the annual and long-range needs of the library. Only one item in the bibliography deals with finance, and it is restricted to public library finance. The remaining chapters are of conside:J;- ably less value. Chapters on "management" and "staffing" are a series of broad, gen- eral truisms on the qualities of a head li- brarian and the need for clear-cut lines of authority. It is noteworthy that no men- tion is made of staff involvement in the decision-making processes, goal identifica- tion, or basic personnel management prac- tices such as staff evaluation conferences. Basic concepts such as scientific manage- ment and systems analysis receive no rec- ognition. The chapter on "stock control" seems more appropriate for a book on technical services, since it deals with op- erational techniques rather than manage- rial skills or administrative options; even so, the paragraph on the role of the com- puter seems an inadequate recognition of its potential. Library schools offering courses in com- parative library systems will find the chap- ters on "government" and "finance" of value as well as the appendix which gives the examination questions from previous years. Some pertinent monographs are con- tained in the bibliography of suggested readings, but a heavy emphasis on public library titles is evident. Despite the lucid style and a few informative chapters, the general paucity of descriptive or inter- pretive information makes this volume in- appropriate for general library purchase. -]ames Foyle, University of Denver. Computerized Library Catalogs: Their Growth, Cost, and Utility. By J. L. Dol- by; V. J. Forsyth; and H. L. Resnikoff. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press, 1969. The principal value of this book is as a catalog of considerations relevant to the design of mechanized catalog production systems. Some research results and some suggestions on specific design features are presented. The book is particularly recom- mended to library administrators and li- brary systems analysts. Computer jargon is used only when necessary, and, when used, is defined for the nontechnical reader. The "growth" in the title is dealt with in terms of the fact that libraries tend to grow at an exponential rate. Estimating the growth rate for individual libraries can be difficult because of the unavailability of reliable statistical data. A method of using imprint dates as a basis for such estimates is suggested. In addition, an original meth- od of predicting the language breakdown of future acquisitions is presented. Using this method, the authors predict that for- eign-language materials will constitute a constantly increasing percentage of future acquisitions of research libraries-a predic- tion that will be of interest to all library administrators. A chapter entitled "An Analysis of Cost Factors" concentrates on hardware-related costs. It includes a particularly lucid sec- tion on the problems of choosing a pro- gramming language, and a useful com- parison of input devices. The claimed po- tential for cost savings should be viewed warily, since it is not clear what costs are included in those presented. A brief ap- pendix to this chapter, surveying some linguistic data manipulation languages, will probably not interest the nontechnical reader. Another chapter, on typography Recent Publications I 123 and format, discusses the important prob- lem of achieving maximum information density on the printed page while main- taining legibility. Among other values of the book are a stimulating discussion of publication sched- ules for book catalogs and supplements, and a chapter on automatic error detec- tion. It is regrettable (but easily explained by the paucity of work on the problem) that the latter does not concern itself with the more general question of automatic editing, since a hefty portion of the cost of most mechanized cataloging systems is attributable to the necessity of human edit- ing. In backfile conversion projects espe- cially, it appears that automatic editing routines could be devised that would prof- itably make use of the large amount of organization aheady present in catalog card data. On-line catalogs are not discussed, prob- ably because, for most libraries, it now is, or shortly will be, feasible to use com- puters to produce human-readable cata- logs (perhaps in microform), while plac- ing the catalog on line is a possibility only for the more distant future. A more seri- ous shortcoming is the failure to discuss the use of machine-readable catalog rec- ords acquired from extramural sources. There are serious problems to be solved before local systems can make effective use of such records, but their availability will radically affect the costs of mechaniz- ing catalog production. Nothing in the present book is invalidated when external- ly produced catalog records are consid- ered, but to the extent that they are available, they must be taken into ac- count in system design.-Kelley L. Cart- wright, University of California, Berkeley. Directory of Library Consultants. Ed. b y John Berry III. New York: R. R. Bowker Co., 1969. 141p. $10.75. It seems to me that this volume will, because it is enumerative and not evalu- ative, serve a very limited purpose. Li- brarians of large libraries usually know who the real experts are for the projects for which consultation help is needed. Repre- sentatives of small libraries probably do not know this and they cannot find out