College and Research Libraries


182 I College & Research Libraries • March 1976 

model for future experiments resulting in 
interesting journal articles.-Michael ]. Mc-
Gill, School of Information Studies, Syra-
cuse University, Syracuse, New York. 

McGarry, K. J. Communication, Knowledge 
and the Librarian. Hamden, Conn.: Lin-
net Books, 1975. 207p. $10.50. (LC 75-
4864) (ISBN 0-208-01369-3) 
K. J. McGarry has produced a primer for 

librarians in an area in which librarians 
urgently need a primer. He covers an enor-
mous span of knowledge concisely and well. 
He structures a viable approach to a field 
of intellectual endeavor which, in common 
with several newly emerging fields of study, 
represents a confluence of several older dis-
ciplines and new concepts. Most remark-
able of all, he recognizes and points out 
clearly that this new approach, while po-
tentially extremely fruitful, provides only 
a partial view and leaves out of the discus-
sion some very important aspects of librari-
anship and human knowledge. 

McGarry's object is to discuss the library 
in terms of its place in the communication 
system of society. To do this he first treats 
the current state of knowledge of commu-
nication from the cybernetics, linguistics, 
sociological, psychological, and anthropo-
logical viewpoints. He surveys literature 
and concepts, discussing the use of models, 
information theory, entropy and redundan-
cy, symbols, culture and the concept of self, 
social role theory, and other pertinent mat-
ters. He then examines the process of inter-
personal communication and the necessities 
of that process. 

Perhaps McGarry's gloomiest conclusion 
in relation to the human condition is that 
hierarchy is an omnipresent necessity of all 
life and interaction, including communica-
tions. One hopes that Warren Bennis and 
others of his school of thought have what 
will prove to be a more correct viewpoint 
in this regard. It would be very disturbing 
to many people and institutions if we were · 
to discover that democratic processes of hu-
man interaction are inherently impossible. 

McGarry proceeds, through a brief dis-
cussion of nonverbal communication, to an 
excellent analysis of the impact of the de-
velopment of communications on society. 
In this context he discusses McLuhan' s 

ideas, set forth in English and treated in a 
sane and productive manner. He rightly 
points out the fallacy of subscribing to yet 
another form of simplistic determinism 
while recognizing the seminal nature of the 
concepts McLuhan presents. This discus-
sion is long and very valuable as a con-
ceptual framework for the study of the his-
tory of books, media of other sorts, and 
libraries. 

The attempt to make direct application 
of the theories so well discussed in this vol-
ume to the library scene is not entirely suc-
·Cessful. This is usually the case when at-
tempts at practical application are made 
early in the development of a new body of 
knowledge. · 

The attempts must, of course, be made 
because it is from them that a significant 
force and direction are given to further 
theoretical development. The importance of 
the process of theory building and practical 
application is underscored by a quotation 
from Eric de Grolier (p.l23), "Now the 
death of a civilization can be interpreted 
as the death of its information mecha-
nisms." We, whose civilization has devel-
oped and become dependent upon an in-
formation mechanism of unprecedented 
magnitude, complexity, and fragility must 
struggle successfully to preserve and im-
prove that mechanism. The consequences 
of failure could be as cataclysmic as the 
consequences of failure to keep the peace. 

This terse and literate book provides a 
carefully selected and structured guide to 
the study necessary to achieve understand-
ing of the subject. Hopefully, the book will 
serve as a starting place for course work in 
many library schools.-Ernest W. Toy, ]r., 
California State University, Fullerton. 

tJberregionale Literaturversorgung von 
Wissenschaft und F orschung in der Bun-
desrepublik Deutschland: Denkschrift. 
(Supra-Regional Provision of Literature 
in the Federal Republic of Germany: 
Memorandum.) Bibliotheksausschuss der 
Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft. Bop-
pard: Harald Boldt Verlag KG, 1975. 
116p. (ISBN 3-7646-1621-0) 
One of the major goals of the Library 

Committee of the German Research Society 
(GRS) has been the development of an ef-