College and Research Libraries


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BOOK REVIEWS 
Markuson, Barbara Evans, et al., Guide-

lines for Library Automation, Santa 
Monica, Calif.: System Development 
Corporation, 1972. 

- This ho-okjs one of the products of a con-
tract initiated b y the Automation Task 
Force of the Federal Library Committee, 
sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education, 
and carried out b y the System Develop-
ment Corporation. It presents the results 
from a questionnaire survey made in 1970 
to identify those federal libraries with op-
erational automated systems or with plans 
to create one. In addition to that data, the 
book provides descriptive material and 
guidelines for evaluation and development 
of automated library systems. 

Turning first to the results of the ques-
tionnaire survey, a total of 67 libraries out 
of the worldwide community of over 2,100 
federal libraries reported that automation 
projects were either operational or planned. 
Of those, 59 p rovided sufficient detail in re-
sponse to the questionnaire to be described 
in the book and, of those, 33 were in the 
Department of Defense. The description in 
each case includes the following data: per-
son to contact for information, functions 
automated and the current status of them, 
background to establish context, description 
of system materials and parameters, equip-
ment hardware and software, documenta-
tion, references, and future plans. These 
data are presented on pages 157 to 288 in 
a sequence roughly by major federal agen-
cy (Agriculture, DoD, HEW, HUD, etc.). 
Special attention is paid to the three na-
tional libraries on pages 289 to 293. Sum-
mary tables give the reader an overview of 
locations, agencies, applications, and pa-
rameters. Indexes are provided to the de-
tailed listing which serve for access by type 
of system and equipment, and systems with 
special features. As a comprehensive sum-
mary of specific library automation efforts, 
this portion of the book serves as a useful 
reference. 

Recent Publications 

The guidelines for evaluation include a 
"guide to feasibility assessment'' which dis-
cusses the general evaluation of need, of 
equipment availability and suitability, of 
personnel resources, of budget, of local at-
titudes, of file conversion, of planning 
needs. More specific guidelines are~ present..;; 
ed for each of the major functional areas 
of application-cataloging, acquisitions, se-
rials, circulation, reference and bibliogra-
phy, administration. "System development 
guidelines" present issues in system plan-
ning and management, systems analysis and 
design, and system implementation. 

The descriptive material covers a pot-
pourri of topics: automation programs in 
nonfederal libraries, machine-readable data 
bases, commercial services, use of micro-
forms, input/ output hardware, recom-
mended reading. 

The unique contribution of the volume 
would seem to lie in its summary of auto-
mation projects in federal libraries since the 
other material, on system evaluation and 
on topics peripheral to the primary discus-
sion, seems to duplicate what has. been cov-
ered in several other monographs. It will, 
therefore, have primary value to those who 
are reviewing the overall progress of li-
brary automation and to those looking for 
examples comparable to their own situation. 
-Robert M. Hayes, Becker & Hayes, Inc. 

King, Donald, and Bryant, Edward C. The 
Evaluation of Information Services 
and Products. Washington, DC: Infor-
mation Resources Press, 1971. $15.00 
ISBN 0-87815-003-X. 

This reviewer's reaction to the book was 
one of ambivalence and, in some ways, dis-
appointment. King and Bryant have made 
an impressive effort to delineate both a 
model and a methodology for the evalua-
tion (including experimentation) of infor-
mation transfer systems which ". . . record 
and transmit scientific and technical knowl-
edge by means of documents. " Such 

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