College and Research Libraries


140 I College & Research Libraries • March 1978 

gineering journals, and handbooks, while 
scientists go first to scientific journals and 
last to textbooks. Whatever source they use, 
engineers tend to acquire and use the mate-
rial for themselves, with recourse to the 
library only about half as often. When the 
library is used, engineers prefer to do the 
searching themselves, rather than obtain 
help from the library staff. In the case of 
unpublished reports, engineers' colleagues 
are the largest source of supply. 

6. Throughout the studies, it was demon-
strated that internal communication within 
the companies was of overwhelming impor-
tance for reaching successful conclusions of 
the assigned projects, with the most suc-
cessful projects using more and more di-
verse local communicants; however, outside 
consultants also played an important role. 

7. In most organizations there were a 
small number of key people to whom others 
turned for information, so-called "technolog-
ical gatekeepers." These people read widely 
in both scientific and technological journals 
and had a broad range of contacts both 
within and outside the company. They were 
thus able to translate information into terms 
that were meaningful for their engineer col-
leagues. Networks of such "gatekeepers" 
also existed, through which the "gatekeep-
ers" themselves maintained communication, 
thus increasing their effectiveness to their 
own groups. Once information entered the 
group, it became diffused through internal 
subgroupings. All of this developed spon-
taneously, with no administrative fiat. 

8. Since communication within a 
technological oi'gariization is so important 
for succe-ss, organizations should strive to 
make such communication easy. Propinquity 
of individuals, good office layouts, or the 
removal of office walls anCl substitution of 
open bays, the location of stairs and 
elevators, and traffic patterns all must be 
examined for this purpose. 

From all his study and experimentation, 
the author comes to the general conclusion 
that much more attention should be paid to 
informal, person-to-person communication 
of technological information within organiza-
tional settings than has been done in the 
past, where the focus has been on the tra-
ditional published literature and the 
framework of supporting bibliographic ap-

paratus. The . author would, it is felt, be 
pleased with the many studies now being 
undertaken to describe the various facets of 
organizational communication in differing 
fields, but it is likely he will be somewhat 
disappointed in his hope that commercial R 
& D firms will begin experimentation 
within their organizations on these topics. 
The need of such firms to make a profit 
probably precludes such rearrangements of 
physical and administrative set-ups.-Estelle 
Brodman, Librarian and Professor of Medi-
cal History, Washington University School 
of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri. 

Birmingham Libraries Co-operative Mecha-
nisation Project (BLCMP). Final Report. 
Written by D. G. R. Buckle, T. French, 
A. R. Hall, G. N. Metcalfe and D. J. 
Wilkins. Compiled by G. N. Metcalfe. 
Final Report to the British Library Re-
search and Development Department on 
Project Number Sl/G/027, January 
1969-March 1975. Birmingham: BLCMP, 
University Library, 1976 176p. £5.00. 
ISBN 0-903154-05-6. 
This is the final report on the activities 

through March 1975 of the Birmingham Li-
braries Co-operative Mechanisation Project 
(BLCMP). The BLCMP began with three 
libraries (the universities of Aston and Bir-
mingham and the Birmingham Public Li-
braries) and added four additional libraries 
(Birmingham Polytechnic, Bradford Univer-
sity, Warwickshire County, and Aalborg 
University in Denmark) by the end of the 
grant period. After an initial cost analysis 
and feasibility study (comparing manual 
cataloging costs with estimated costs of an 
automated system), the BLCMP elected to 
proceed with an automated shared catalog-
ing system. 

The proJect resulted in the design and 
implementation of the batch computer sys-
tem to utilize MARC records and locally 
generated records in MARC format, the 
creation of a union data base accessible to 
participating libraries, and the generation of 
a variety of outputs required by the partici-
pants. In addition, early project work in-
cluded feasibility studies on the usefulness 
of centrally produced bibliographic records; 
the definition of standards for local record 
variations, cataloging practices, filing rules, 



etc.; a common costing approach for 
before-and-after comparisons; and the appli-
cation of the MARC format to serials and · 
music and sound recordings . 

The typewritten final report discusses the 
work of the entire project in eight sections : 
(1) project background and overview, (2) 
implementation of the automated cataloging 
system in the three original libraries, (3) 
computer system and data b<:ise overview 
and detailed description of system modules, 
(4) cost analysis methodology and before-
and-after cost comparisons in the three orig-
inal libraries, (5) analysis of feasibility of ex-
panding system participation to other librar-
ies, (6) proposed order system module (and 
expansion of the cataloging system), (7) 
project publicity activities, and (8) .conclu-
sions . Appendixes include project staff, 
BLCMP programs and macros, project 
documents, and a key to symbols used in 
flowcharts. There is an index . 

The final report is very much like a case 
study of a cooperative library automation 
project. The reader will find an amazing 
amount of historical detail, presented in a 
chatty, easy-to-read manner, especially in 
those sections dealing with the cost studies, 
the computer system and data base, and the 
implementation decisions and strategies in 
each of" the three original libraries . In the 
brief conclusions section, the reader is given 
a glimpse of future activities planned for the 
cooperative venture (deemed a success by 
the participating libraries), i~cluding direct 
data input and increased access to the data 
base. 

Since the report deals with events and 
decisions begun almost eight years ago and 
finished three years ago, it cannot he 
viewed as a how-to guide for those libraries 
wishing to begin a shared computer system 
today, especially in light of networking de-
velopments in this country, such as the 
Ohio College Library Center (OCLC). 
However, the sections dealing with the im-
pact of the computer system on the indi-
vidual libraries and the reason decisions 
were made as they were, plus the detailed 
description of the cost analysis meth-
odology, could be useful for libraries con-
templating automation today.-Eleanor 
Montague, University Librarian, University 
of California, Riverside. 

Recent Publications I 141 

Bibliotheek en documentatie. Handboek ten 
dienste van de opleidingen . Onder redac-
tie van Th . P. Loosjes and others. Bib-
liotheek en documentatie, vol. 1 De-
venter: Kluwer/van Loghum Slaterus, 
1977. 421p. Hfl. 65. LC 77-481892. ISBN 
90-311-0012-9. 
Despite the fact that this hook is written 

in Dutch for the use of Dutch librarians, it 
deserves wider attention. The concept of a 
comprehensive text and handbook for the 
field has not been tried in America for quite 
some time, but various plans for such a ven-
ture are being discussed at the present. 

Written by a team of some forty spe-
cialists for use in various library training 
programs, the book's emphasis is on 
academic and special libraries. 

The opening chapter deals, appropriately, 
with library materials as physical objects. 
There is a useful glossary of types of mate-
rials with French, German, and English 
equivalents, a brief description of manu-
scripts, old and modem, and a section on 
graphic techniques, including reprographics. 
After a discussion of types of libraries, li-
brary education, physical planning, shelv-
ing, and preservation, there is a chapter on 
collection development. It is, acknowl-
edgedly, based on Redenbacher' s excellent 
(yet untranslated) contribution in Milkau' s 
Handbuch der Bibliothekswissenschaft (2nd 
ed., 1961), but this compilation is most in-
formative. It underscores the lack of any in-
troductory literature in the English lan-
guage . The chapter on internal library or-
ganization and technical services procedures 
does not offer any new viewpoints. Of 
interest should be the European approach 
in separating bibliographic description from 
subject treatment in cataloging practice. 

A good part of the volume is devoted to 
documentation techniques as applied in 
European special libraries of which, of 
course, there are so many. The chapters on 
public services pay attention to user studies 
as well as library instruction. The book con-
cludes with contributions on national and 
international library organizations, library 
legislation, and copyright. 

There are obviously problems in the dual 
approach to a text as well as a handbook. 
There are even greater problems in trying 
to arrive at a uniform treatment while using