College and Research Libraries Recent Publications COllEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES Morehead, Joe. Theory and Practice in Library Education: The Teaching-Learning Process, re- viewed by Irene B. Hoadley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 A Unifying Influence: Essays of Raynard Coe Swank , reviewed by Elaine Sloan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Progress in Communication Sciences, Volume II, reviewed by RobertS . Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Abstracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Other Publications of Interest to Academic Librarians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 BOOK REVIEWS Morehead, Joe. Theory and Practice in Li- brary Education: The Teaching-Learning Process. Research Studies in Library Sci- ence, no.16. Littleton, Colo: Libraries Un- limited, 1980. 139p. $17.50 U.S., $21 else- where. LC 80-17431. ISBN 0-87287-215-7. The primary thesis of this book argues for "a teaching-learning strategy that empha- sizes student-centered, heuristic activity." From that premise, the author expands on the development of the debate of theory versus practice in library education, and then goes on to describe alternative teaching-learning processes that could be used to help resolve the continuing dilemma. The book begins with a description of the evaluation of professional education in the context of the university milieu. There is a brief description of professional education in medicine, engineering, law, social work, and teaching. The balance of theory and practice in these curricula is shown as being present and as being desirable. A description of the development of library education and the debate concerning the in- clusion of theory and/or practice in the cur- riculum follows. There are restatements of the effects of the studies by Williamson and Reece and of the later developments and opinions concerning the professionalization of library education. The more recent thrust has been to develop a body of theory to com- plement the prior reliance on practice. The value of "field work" or "practice work" con- tinues to be of interest. The years of debate on theory versus practice have not produced a resolution. According to Morehead, there is a need to return to the early theoreticians to find alternatives to practice or field work, which can then be incorporated into the teaching-learning process. The modes of instruction that are deline- ated include face-to-face instruction and in- dependent study. The various applications include class presentations, problems, obser- vations, projects, and laboratory work. The library-centered library school is based on Patricia B. Knapp's work at Mon- teith College on library-centered teaching. From this concept a logical next step is "a specialized library which could function as the locus of the teaching-learning process." For library education, the specialized library is the library science library. Learning strate- gies that are discussed are the critical incident theory and the Dewey inquiry model. In seeking a resolution of the theory-practice di- lemma, it will be necessary for library educa- tors to try new methodologies even if there are risks, in hopes of finding a better way of educating today's students. To devise a conceptual structure for a spe- cific need is never easy, particularly when there is no unifying theory. However, to inte- I 155 156 I College & Research Libraries • March 1982 grate theory and practice there is a need for a learning environment such as a working li- brary, which becomes, in essence, the labora- tory. This model would allow the interrela- tionship of theory and practice. Freedom, relevance, and discovery · are the elements seen as necessary to provide the methodology of integrating theory and practice into the teaching-learning process. This volume brings together most if not all of the arguments pertaining to the discussion of theory versus practice in library education, and in that sense serves a useful function. The bibliography and references are extensive and add depth to the work. There are also, unfortunately, some as- pects of the book that detract from its strengths. The text is laborious to read, pri- marily because of the extensive use of hyper- bole and a vocabulary that does not lend itself to readability. The other shortcoming is the lack of analytical as~essment of the material that has been gathered. The material is pre- sented in a straightforward way, but few conclusions are drawn from the available in- formation. The final conclusion that is put forward is perhaps too simplistic: freedom, relevance, and discovery will reconcile the- ory and practice in the teaching-learning process. The expectation of an actual theory or model to address the question was not met.-Irene B. Hoadley , Texas A&M Uni- versity, College Station , Texas. A Unifying Influence: Essays of Raynard Coe Swank. Ed. by David W. Heron. Metu- chen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1981. $13.50. LC 80-28595. ISBN 0-8108-1407-2. Raynard C. Swank's distinguished career in American librarianship included service as a director of two research libraries, as an as- sociation executive, and as a library school dean. Swank received his doctorate from the Graduate Library School at the University of Chicago in 1944. After several years as direc- tor of the University of Oregon library, he moved to Stanford, where he directed the Stanford University Libraries from 1948 to (~\ PUBLICATIONS FROM THE ~UNITED NATIONS Statistical Yearbook 1979-1980 . 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