College and Research Libraries 318 I College & Research Libraries • July 1971 tate against upgrading any of the existing schools to such stature. The advanced stage of Singapore's library profession, however, her central geographic location, her multi- lingual base, and her seeming economic and political stability combine to create a favor- able climate for such a school. Will the li- brary profession be able to benefit from this excess capacity with as much alacrity as the publishers have shown? Time will tell. This will be a valuable book for publish- ers, booksellers, and librarians with interest in the comparative aspects of their work or in Southeast Asian affairs .-David Kaser, Cornell University. Library Systems Analysis Guidelines. Ed- ward A. Chapman, Paul L. St. Pierre, and John Lubans, Jr. New York: Wiley Interscience, 1970. 226p. This book attempts to be what its title says it is, a volume of guidelines, not a how-to-do-it book. In the preface the au- thors state that "this book aims primarily to provide guidelines for library administra- tors and library systems analysis in analyz- ing and evaluating existing operating sys- tems and in designing new or improved ones." They then go on to state that "this guide is also adaptable for introducing li- brary school students to the concepts of sys- tems study in the library." The authors re- fer the reader to other volumes when dis- cussion touches methodologies such as time study, sampling, organization charts, etc. There is also much internal cross-referenc- ing which sometimes makes the volume in- convenient to use. This volume . has had a long genesis, which its authors readily admit. It began as the proceedings of an institute held at Rensselaer in the mid-60s; parts of it after- ward were used at a preconference tutorial for the American Society for Information Science; and parts were published as a por- tion of a LARC report; finally, portions ap- peared in the ALA volume, Library Auto- mation: A State of the Art. Many changes have occurred of course since these original attempts, but the concepts discussed all have their bases in an analysis done at Rensselaer. The needs and advantages of systems studies are well delineated and defined. The multiple authors may be the reason one feels unevenness of treatment of certain portions . Chapter two, "Planning and Con- ducting and Systems Study," is particularly pertinent and well written. However, even here, that unevenness can be seen. The chapter begins with "In the Introduction the causes of the increased complexity in libraries have been given in some detail." Although it may be a matter of relativity, when one turns to the introduction (five pages long) , the reader is given four rea- sons: (1) The increased quantity and so- phistication of the demands of library users (twenty-four lines); ( 2) The substantial increases in library book funds (fourteen lines); ( 3) The increase in interinstitution- al cooperation (twenty lines) ; and ( 4) The shortage of professional librarians (six lines). The data used and assumptions made seem based on 1965-66 and earlier data and are extrapolated on a straight-line basis which is contrary to the economic world of today. We wonder if the person who handled Chapter two read the intro- duction? The volume states that the necessity of studying and improving on-going systems is necessary in and of itself, and does not necessitate commitment to mechanized or computerized solutions, yet the trend that systems analysis studies will aid in justify- ing computerized or mechanized solutions is felt throughout the book. The aforemen- tioned feeling is emphasized by the use of nonconventional expression for library func- tions: '1ibrary functions in the framework of two major types of systems: the data processing and the informational. The data processing system may be defined as the or- ganization and the methods involved to perform operations necessary to effect the form or content of information needed to satisfy the library's management require- ments and goals." Then the word data proc- essing systems is used throughout the book within this context. However, the reader must remain aware of the authors' defini- tion lest he be misled. The library is still modelled in the tra- ditional linear form although displayed in the form of intersecting circles as if they were Venn diagrams. This concept of the total library system is expanded in the text between the display in figures 1-2 and 11-1. Many subjective statements are made which contradict the authors' contention of the precision inherent in systems studies. For example: "The total systems concept is more completely and successfully imple- mented in terms of preciseness and time- liness of needed information through ma- chine methods than by laborious econom- ically unjustified, and error-prone manual methods." (p.12-13); "Although formal time-study techniques are applicable here, standard rates can be approximated with a high degree of validity simply by subjec- tive observation." (p.57); "Time and mo- tion and use studies may be required for definitive answers but initially considerable reliance can be placed on the interviewee's estimates of time taken in processing the input and the observed frequency of con- sultation and the extent of the usefulness of ,the proofcard file." (p.74, 77) There is a great emphasis on the use of forms and their completion. But only the forms used in the Rensselaer study are shown as the examples of the kind to use, with little consideration being given to forms analysis and design. The chapter on How-charting is replete with diagram's, some containing closed loops. It is debatable whether the chapters on the case studies and on how to write the reports are neces- sary, or whether they are being used as filler. The volume has some typographical er- rors, the most glaring of which is in the chapter heading of How charting. There are twenty-one pages of forms and nineteen pages of How charts in the text. The volume lacks discussion of error tol- erance, of constraints imposed by the sys- tem, of other newer systems analysis thoughts such as probability analysis, utility theory, and queuing theory.-Henry Voos, Rutgers University. Die Fachliteratur zum Buch- und Biblio- thekswesen (Handbuch der technischen Dokumentation und Bibliographie Band 2), 9. Ausgabe. Munich: Verlag Dokumentation, 1970 ( dist. by R. R. Bowker Co.) 650p. $24.50. Besides the usual updating, two things are new about the ninth edition of this Recent Publications I 319 standard international bibliography of the book trade and librarianship. First of all the publisher has attempted to reach a wider audience by providing bilingual title page, preface, table of contents, and headings. Unfortunately, the English translations are abominable and do a grave injustice to an otherwise fine bibliographic effort. Book se- lectors should not be put off by the poor English-the sloppiness here is not sympto- matic of the rest of the work. Furthermore, the excellent organization of the material does make this bibliography useful so long as the reader has at least some knowledge of German. The second new feature is the inclusion of a large section devoted to information science. In the past, material was divided into three groupings: book trade, librarian- ship, and book production. Now the cate- gory of documentation or information sci- ence has been added. The material in this bibliography is en- tered, within the four large categories men- tioned above, under 102 separate subject and form classifications. This classified ar- rangement is supplemented by an author index, an alphabetical listing of all period- icals, and a directory of publishers with their addresses. Publishers are entered al- phabetically under counb-y. The countries are also listed alphabetically, so it becomes important to know that Hungary is Ungarn, Cuba is Kuba, and Austria is bsterreich in German. This ninth edition contains some 5,250 citations, down considerably from the eighth edition published in 1967. The cur- rent volume is more useful for acquisitions purposes, however, because all monograph- ic works published prior to 1965 have been eliminated. Most entries provide author, ti- tle, place and date of publication, and name of publisher. In many oases frequen- cy, collation, and price are also included. To utilize collation and frequency informa- tion, knowledge of German bibliographic abbreviations is necessary. In any large international bibliography there are bound to be errors, and this re- viewer found quite a number, particularly among American publications. But because American users are unlikely to need the work for U.S. publications, this is not a se- rious drawback. The work is bound to be