College and Research Libraries


to present quality programs, as well as the 
responsibility of participants in such 
programs.-Sheila Greth , University of 
Connecticut, Storrs. 

National Library and Information Services: 
A Handbook for Planners. Edited by C. 
V. Penna, D. J. Foskett, and P. H. 
Sewell . London, Boston: Butterworths, 
1977. 231p. $16.95. LC .76-54296. ISBN 
0-408-70818-2. (Available from Butter-
worths, 19 Cummings Park, Woburn, MA 
01801.) 
Librarians familiar with the works of C. 

V. Penna will find that this volume is an 
elaboration and expansion of his theories 
and earlier works on planning library ser-
vices for underdeveloped nations. In this 
handbook , in collaboration with P. H . 
Sewell, formerly senior library advisor in 
the Department of Education and Science 
in Great Britain, and D. J. Foskett, librar-
ian of the University of London Institute of 
Education, Penna makes a case for " con-
scious and systematic" planning of. national 
library and information systems at the high-
est government level. 

The authors propose, furthermore, that 
effective and efficient systems can only be 
developed if planned within the nation's so-
cial and economic structure and submit that 
these systems are successful only if manage-
rial control is similar to that used in large-
scale industry. ., 

Librarians, interestingly enough, are not 
the target audience for this book. The au-
thors state that , in their treatment of this 
topic, they have deliberately catered to the 
"political, educational and administrative au-
thorities who, in many cases, have had to 
assume responsibility for LIS planning with 
very ·little information or precedent to guide 
them." They hasten to add, however, that 
they recognize that library professionals 
have been trained by many library schools 
in the principles and techniques of planning 
but unfortunately have had few occasions to 
use their expertise. 

The authors have likewise been careful to 
point out that centralized planning is more 
apt to take place in countries such as the 
USSR where centrally planned economies 
are the norm , rather than in countries such 
as the United States and western Europe 

Recent Publications I 15 

whex:e national libraries and information 
centers have developed in a decentralized 
and more happenstance fashion. 

Although extremely informative, the 
scope and content of the handbook are so · 
broad that coverage of each topic is uneven. 
At times it appears that the authors cannot 
decide whether they are writing a textbook 
or a handbook and end up doing a little bit 
of both. Educators can find a list of topics 
useful for teaching a course in planning li-
brary information systems; others will find 
this a compact guidebook. 

Two-thirds of the book deals with meth-
odology, principles, and techniques of plan-
ning; the preparation of plans and matrixes; 
policy making ; the relationship between 
formulation of policy and financial control; 
and the relationship of library and informa-
tion systems to other government agencies. 
The authors touch upon problems unique to 
underdeveloped nations such as lack of pub-
lishing houses, use and maintenance of 
nonbook materials, accountability, and dif-
ficulties of forecasting manpower needs and 
supply. 

Only the last chapter of the book deals 
with implementation and hastily covers such 
topics as staffing; acquisitions and selection 
policies and procedures; cataloging and bib-
liographic control; the variety of classifica-
tion schemes that lend themselves to sys-
tematic arrangement of an information sys-
tem ; abstracting and indexing; thesauri ; and 
use of automatic data processing. 

It is unfortunate that, although the au-
thors appear to have used an extensive 
amount of documentation in collecting data 
for this volume, they chose to limit their 
bibliography to a few selected items. In 
spite of its limitations, the handbook is a 
worthwhile addition to library collec-
tions.-Sylvia G. Faibisoff, Northern Illi-
nois University , De Kalb. 

Books Are for Use. Final Report of the 
Subject Access Project to the Council on 
Library Resources. Pauline Atherton, Di-
rector. School of Information Studies, Re-
search Studies #4. Syrac.use, N.Y. : 
School of Information Studies, 1978. 
172p . $10 (10% handling costs and N .Y. 
sales tax if applicable). (Order [IST-10] 
from: Printing Services, Syracuse Univer-