College and Research Libraries I wonder if this second edition (the first was a local publication which I've never seen) isn't also only the second draft. The standardized format mentioned above is, on the whole, an advantage, but, at least in some of the cases, it reduces the book to the literary quality of a police report. A lit- tle more style would be appreciated even by the most businesslike library science stu- dent. Some stated causes of the problems un- der study seem rather simplistic, even for a simulation. I remember at least two kids who avoided books because their "mother works." Perhaps a little more imagination in the third edition would add to the real- ism. Another problem is stereotyping. Are all reading-guidance school librarians really as pushy as the one in the second case, who hounded some poor kid until he began to read in self-defense? I hope not. If so, per- haps Mr. Coburn should include a case on subtlety or diplomacy in the next edition. Other typed characters also appear here and there in the book. Poor old Flora, age fifty-five, a "teacher-librarian," always seems to be messing up, but young (hand- some?) Kurt, from the Accredited-Library- School, usually saves the day. Actually, a little of this kind of stuff adds a light touch to a textbook, but perhaps Mr. Coburn's touch was not quite light enough. My general impression of this book, and certainly of the idea of case studies as an instructional resource, is positive. In a pro- fession like library science, which is really just a trade after all, on-the-job training (simulated or otherwise) is the coming thing. Louis Coburn, along with Thomas Galvin who wrote the introduction, seems to be in on the ground floor of a new and promising instructional strategy. I recom- mend that you read it and even buy it if you have the funds. I like.d it but I confess that I can hardly wait to see the next revi- sion.-James Doyle, Head of Reference, University of Detroit Library. Reynolds, Michael M., ed. Reader in Li- brary Cooperation. Washington, D.C.: NCR Microcard Editions, 1972. 398 p. $12.95. Novices in librarianship may not under- stand what all the fuss concerning library Recent Publications I 137 cooperation is really about. In their inno- cence, they have probably equated the li- brary mission to disseminate knowledge with a seemingly obvious notion of cooper- ation among all libraries in their pursuance of that objective. It may indeed be sacrilege in this age of ecumenism to start this re- view with a heresy by saying that, contrary to all the preaching, the concept of coop- eration is not unequivocally supported. At least, not yet. Otherwise, there would be no need for the multitude of articles writ- ten on this subject, nor could the collection of such reprints ever be justified. A lot of convincing and educating has to be done before cooperation in librarianship becomes the proverbial American apple-pie. Thus, the Reader in Library Cooperation is a timely and welcomed restatement of the is- sue. The book is itself a part of a coopera- tive venture, "intended as a means of ex- ploration for the practicing librarian and as a textbook for the library school stu- dent," and it admirably draws "attention to significant social, behavioral, theoretical, organizational, functional, and operational generalizations about library interrelation- ship . . . [and] cooperative endeavor'' (p.l). The underlying, and occasionally under- scored, theme of the collection is a concern about the basic value of cooperation. Many essays in this collection deal competently with cooperation as an efficient means for achieving the objectives of library service; some of the authors, however, also reflect on the real effect of cooperation on the li- brary user. They seem to warn the reader that cooperation in itself is not a panacea for all the headaches of disseminating in- formation, but rather it is an effort to iden- tify and to solve similar problems together. One may almost detect a common non- theme, characterizing all essays. Although a lot is said in these essays about the dif- ficulties in establishing and maintaining meaningful networks, no one attempts to solve the basic problems inherent in the concept of cooperation, since to resolve them would, in effect, eliminate the need for cooperation itself. Library cooperation is not just an activity, an efficient device for lowering costs or for speeding up library services. It is what an unindoctrinated stu- dent of librarianship might think it is: an 138 I College & Research Libraries • March 1974 inherent part of an essential and basic force in librarianship, fulfilling an even more ba- sic concept of equal, cooperatively shared access to information. The collection contains thirty-nine re- prints of articles published in the last three decades. Most papers were originally pub- lished in the 1960s (twenty-eight papers), four articles appeared in the 1940s, four in the 1950s, and three in 1970. Thus, the most recent article in the collection is al- ready three years old, the oldest has reached the classic age of thirty-three. More than half of all contributors were li- brarians; twenty-three were library admin- istrators, and ten were library science teachers. Among the non-librarians, thir- teen were practitioners and nine were uni- versity professors in fields other than li- brarianship. Most of the papers discuss cooperation among American libraries, with few contri- butions from England; passing references to other countries were made in some articles. Except for a few misprints and omissions, the typography of the book is attractive. The collection is divided into four parts, covering the theory, practice, and trends in cooperation together with the study of relevant methods and research. The major sections and all individual articles are pre- ceded by succinct and useful editorial com- ments; some readers may find, however, that the conciseness of the language slows down their reading speed. The introductory section on the theory of library cooperation includes the studies of the social, political, and financial aspects of cooperation. This is a desirable introduc- tion to the subject, since the traditional lit- erature in this area often "exhibits a high degree of sophistication, while lacking a substantive understanding of fundamental social processes" ( p.3). The overall objectives of cooperation are considered in terms of increased reference and research services through interlibrary exchanges. The complexity of the services together with the constantly increasing costs of services are given as causes for the recurring surge of interest in cooperation. The difficulties in developing a cooperative movement are discussed frankly, singling out idiosyncrasies of librarians as the most serious obstacles. "The Present Day Alternatives," de- scribed in the second part of the collection, relate the projects of yesteryear to more re- cent developments, citing examples from the Farmington Plan, through various re- gional union catalogs, to the Center for Re- search Libraries, the ERIC, and the MARC projects. It seems that the prevailing thesis of this part of the book is the conviction that "for all the ideals of a service-oriented profes- sion, libraries themselves are very prag- matic organizations . . . [which] must deal with hard political and economic realities rather than with aspirations to the ideal" (p.103). This struggle seems to be ever- lasting, and is easily identified today. The very recent ( 1973) cuts in the ERIC Clear- inghouse budget, by some 35 percent, il- lustrate the impact of economics on coop- eration. Future trends are summarized by the subtitle of the third section, "The Move- ment Toward National Systems." In the words of the editor, "The central issue, then, is not whether the change should take place but rather, how best to share with the federal government the responsibility for raising the level of information services" (p.329). The evolving national information net- works discussed in these articles, such as EDUNET and ISRD, for example, aim at providing a multiplicity of open, voluntary, and independent subsystems, while being consistent with the requirements of efficient and effective operations. Such networks are envisaged as supplementing the activities of individual libraries and improving the ILL system, which presently "is based more on responses to pressures than on conscious planning [and hence] functions with less facility and at lower volume than is desir- able" (p.309). The collection ends with its most recently published essay on the methods and goals of research relevant to the design of infor- mation networks (part four). The prediction made a few years ago for the 1970s was not far off the target. The "new" approach to cooperation involves more and more federal support, with em- phasis on nationally based services and re- sources. The trend has shifted from federal support of the '1ocal retailer of infonna- tion" to the "investment of the wholesale area, in the interface between the producer and the library retailer, to ensure the qual- ity and availability of needed products, at prices, which the retailer can afford." 0 Reading the essays for the first time, or reading them over again, is a therapeutic experience. It sharpens one's philosophical perspectives and strengthens one's patience, both very useful attributes in analyzing the slow evolutionary process of cooperation. It is easy to update the Reader's sense of urgency. A few of the many obstacles yet to be overcome include recent attempts to increase subscription rates to join coopera- tive networks; the mushrooming of locally designed automated systems with total dis- regard for national standards; and the copy- right controversy. On the other hand, a continuous interest in the development of networks, expressed by national and local organizations; spec- tacular achievements in fields such as shared cataloging, for example; and en- couragement fr om hindsight knowledge re- corded in the Reader in Library Coopera- tion suggest a flicker of hope for better li- brary cooperation in the years to come.- ]oseph Z. Nitecki, Temple University, Phil- adelphia, Pennsylvania. Borko, Harold, ed. Targets for Research in Library Education. Chicago: Ameri- can Library Association, 1973. 239 p. $10.00. This is an important book. It is impor- tant not because of the use of the "Delphi Technique," that controversial, much-ma- ligned, and generally misunderstood method for predicting research needs and priorities, but rather because it contains what I view as some of the most provocative and pro- ductive thinking on the subject of library education ever brought together in any one volume. At first one is puzzled at the rather con- siderable success of this book, especially in comparison to earlier cooperative attempts to "understand" library education. The key °From the "Statement by William S. Buding- ton . . . representing the Association of Re- search Libraries before the Subcommittee on Education of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare on July 24, 1973." Recent Publications I 139 appears to be Harold Borko, the editor, who recruited a dozen knowledgeable and artic- ulate library educators, assigned them top- ics worth thinking about, and then carefully and finnly directed and focused their work. The authors include Jesse Shera, Mar- garet Monroe, Gerald J ahoda, Irving Lie- berman, Robert B. Downs, Page Ackennan, and Leon Carnovsky, and their papers dis- cuss such matters as the goals of library education, general versus specialized study, library school administration, library school faculty and students, and continuing educa- tion. Each author was asked to define the problem under discussion, to critically an- alyze previous research in this area, to sug- gest needed research, and finally to specu- late on how the findings generated by such research might be utilized to improve the quality of library education. The ten papers produced using this formula constitute Part I of Targets for Research in Library Education and are at once infonnative and provocative, and represent required reading for anyone interested in library education. Part II of this book is comprised of one paper describing the "Delphi Technique" and another by Borko entitled "Predicting Research Needs in Library and Infonnation Science Education." In the latter, Borko at- tempts to assess accurately "group opinion on the relative importance of the various research projects which had been identi- fied." Library educators will be pleased or displeased with his work in direct propor- tion to the "priority" rating given to their pet projects. But then, the priority ratings should not be taken as definitive, for the rapid changes in economic and social condi- tions that we are now witnessing will sig- nificantly alter our "priorities" in library ed- ucation over the next few years. Thus the findings reported in part two of this book must be considered tentative and indeed perhaps even dated. At the same time, it must be reiterated that the essays in part one are extremely valuable and will continue to provoke, in- spire, and guide library educators for years to come. Harold Borko deserves a large bouquet indeed for his masterful direction of what must have been an unruly but bril- liant ensemble.-Michael H. Harris, Col- lege of Library Science, University of Ken- tucky.