College and Research Libraries


412 I College & Research Libraries • September 1978 

and some present and projected impacts 
upon librarianship of on-line methods of 
reference service. 

Part II (the remaining hundred pages of 
text) reproduces the laboratory exercises 
used in teaching practical search skills. A 
feature of particular interest to the teacher 
or librarian specializing in this area is that 
five systems are covered: As long as this re-
flects classroom exposure to multiple sys-
tems (as it apparently does here) and not 
the substitution of comparative-theoretic 
study .for actual hands-on training, it is to 
be welcomed, for it both widens the knowl-
edge and sharpens the discrimination of the 
student. · 

The systems are discussed in two groups: 
first, Lockheed's DIALOG and the Euro-
pean Space Agency's RECON-these are 
similar in being direct descendants of the 
original Lockheed RECON system; and, 
second, SDC's ORBIT, NLM's ELHILL, 
and the British Library's recent crucial ef-
fort, BLAISE (British Library Automated 
Information Service). However, all the 
BLAISE examples are drawn from its first 
on-line operation, i.e., MEDLINE using 
ELHILL III C and, apart from the log-on 

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procedures, are combined with the NLM 
MEDLINE examples. 

The book contains a fair number of in-
complete or misleading statements, espe-
cially in Part I. "Display terminals normally 
operate at 30 cps" (p.16). "The costs in-
volved in on-line access to bibliographical 
data-bases can be divided into the capital 
expenditure of acquiring the terminal, and 
the actual costs of searching" (p.30). There 
are also frequent careless errors with refer-
ence to U.S. agency, place, and personal 
names, and the authors overindulge that 
fatal tendency to present sample searches 
on the topic of computerized information 
retrieval systems. Somehow, the points al-
ways come across more clearly when they 
use examples like "Shrimp Fishing" or 
"Hypoglycemia" or "Disadvantaged Youth." 

I doubt that this work could serve its 
primary purpose, i.e., as a textbook, in the 
U.S., but it may be of interest to specialists 
in, and teachers of, on-line systems for its 
comparative approach.-Peter G. Watson, 
California State University, Chico. 

Running Out of Space-What Are the Al-
ternatives? Gloria Novak, editor. Pro-
ceedings of the Preconference, June 
1975, San Francisco. Sponsored by the 
Buildings for College and University Li-
braries Committee, Buildings and 
Equipment Section of the Library Admin-
istration Division. Chicago: American Li-
brary Assn., 1978. 160p. $14. LC 78-
1796. ISBN 0-8389-3215-0. 
Conference proceedings, unless they are 

drastiaally edited for publication in book 
form, usually come out something like min-
utes of a meeting-not very good reading. 
This volume is no exception, especially in 
records of discussion at the end of each 
series of speakers. Although the presenta-
tions by the speakers are reasonably well 
organized, discussions are often recorded as 
disjointed comments made by a mixture of 
program speakers and conference attendees. 
The latter are sometimes identified only by 
surname. 

Looking at the substance rather than the 
form of this volume, the following alterna-
tives to running out of space are examined: 
(1) Book storage (at Harvard and University 
of Washington); (2) microforms; (3) compact 



shelving (by Frazer Poole) and an auto-
mated retrieval system (compact storage a Ia 
carte by Harold Roth); (4) regional coopera-
tion (the Research Libraries Group, ·which 
then included Harvard); (5) new buildings, 
additions, and renovations (Metcalf on 
renovation, going underground at the Uni-
versity of British Columbia, and abandoning 
the tower at Texas). 

The volume ends with a view from the 
outside given by Robert Propst of Herman 
Miller Research Corporation and Doug En-
glehart, director of the Augmentation Re-
search Center. The latter's presentation is 
particularly noteworthy as he deals with 
"similitude" and concludes that, "The 
steady increase in scale of total quantity, 
rate of production and access requests for 
our recorded knowledge is bound to hit 
limits where the current form of our librar-
ies simply cannot function." The library as a 
document warehouse is doomed. The future 
library will be less a repository and more a 
service agency providing access to informa-
tion. The implications for space problems 
are obvious. 

These proceedings, published in 1978, 
record a conference held in June 1975. One 
wonders why the three-year gap before 
publication. A number of developments re-
lated to some of the discussions of specific 
facility planning in this volume are noted 
here to serve as an update: (1) The partially 
under-the-Yard Pusey Library at Harvard 
has been occupied. (2) Mr. Skipper's 
thoughtful presentation of the Research Li-
braries Group goals and strategy must be 
tempered by the recent pulling back of 
Harvard as the biggest of the Big Four from 
this regional cooperative·, as well as by po-
tential further division as a result of adopt-
ing BALLOTS. Regional cooperation has 
many problems and is not seen as a sig-
nificant alternative to running out of space. 
(3) The third largest academic library build-
ing in the United States, the University of 
Texas at Austin Perry-Castaiieda Library has 
opened with a capacity for more than three 
million volumes and 3,200 user stations in 
its over 500,000 gross square feet. (4) 
Harold Roth's truly automated retrieval sys-
tem (ARS) at the Nassau County Research 
Library never made it past the planning 
stage. ARS, the new building it was to be 

Recent Publications I 413 

housed in, and finally the research library 
itself have fallen victim to withdrawal of 
funds. It does cost hard-to-find money to 
save space, to cooperate, and to build new 
buildings. 

Some startling and important facts regard-
ing the academic library space problem 
come to light in this volume. For instance, 
each of the four libraries of the Research 
Libraries Group must find two to three 
linear miles of shelving to accommodate 
each year's acquisitions. Also, the heavy ex-
pense of a volume-by-volume selection 
process for a "lesser used" storage collec-
tion, followed by the modification of catalog 
records, may exceed the value of the space 
saved. 

The conference covered a number of al-
ternatives and was limited primarily to the 
problems of book space rather than user, 
staff, or other library space. Metcalf points 
out that even Harvard, with its 10,000,000 
volumes, uses more space for readers and 
services and nonassignable purposes than it 
does for books. 

These proceedings could have been en-
hanced by floor layouts, sketches, and pic-
tures of specific buildings described. Visuals 
are usually part of such conferences. 

Although there is no index or bibliogra-
phy, this· paperbound $14 volume has some 
helpful and a little new material for those 
facing book space problems. One must con-
clude, however, that it would have been 
more interesting to hear these papers and 
discussions in person at the conference than 
to read them now in the published 
proceedings.-Selby U. Gration, State Uni-
versity of New York, College at Cortland. 

Woodward, A. M. Factors Affecting the 
Renewal of Periodical Subscriptions. A 
Study of Decision-Making in Libraries 
with Special Reference to Economics and 
Inter-Library Lending. London: Aslib, 
1978. 114p. $25.20 North America; $21 to 
Aslib members. £8.40 UK; £7 to Aslib 
members. 
The reasons why librarians decided to 

purchase, to cut some, or to cancel particu-
lar periodicals provide the material for this 
independent study conducted by Woodward 
at the Aslib Research and Development 
Department. The British Library Lending