College and Research Libraries 356 I College & Research Libraries· July 1982 there is a selected bibliography as well. An earlier edition for 1978-79 was pub- lished, but this reviewer was unable to ob- tain a copy; it was missing from the shelf. Recommended. -Jean Walter Farrington, University of Pennsylvania , Philadelphia. University Librarianship. Ed. by John F. Stirling. Handbooks on Library Practice. London: The Library Association, 1981; dist. in the U.S. by Oryx Press. 229p. $32.50. ISBN 0-85365-621-5. This manual is well done and will cer- tainly provide American readers with a basic understanding of principal philosophies of academic library management that are as applicable in this country as in Great Britain. The university libraries whose head or se- nior librarian wrote these chapters include: Exeter, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Stirling, Lancaster, Leeds, Surrey, Sheffield, Lon- don, Loughborough, and Nottingham. Each of nine chapters begins with a gen- . eral treatment of a subject such as acquisi- tions and relegation , rare books and special collections, reader services, or automation. Following that concise theoretical treatment is a case study of that topic as treated in the author's own library. A tenth chapter covers library building planning "in an era of finan - cial constraint." The several chapters range in quality from very good to superb; and the first one by J. F. Stirling of Exeter, which treats "The Library within the University,'' is the latter. Stirling provides an excellent section on relations with the university at large, finance, and staff structure. For example, he writes about a change gradually taking place in British ac- ademic libraries that affects staffing struc- tures: "The decreased mobility of senior li- brary staff over the past decade has meant that the proportion of older to younger mem - bers of the academic-related grades has grown steadily. Consequently, there is now a large body of experienced men and women in academic libraries who see no prospects of promotion, either in their own institution or elsewhere, but who wish to contribute in a greater measure than has been possible in the past to the running of their library. This mir- rors the situation in academic departments and has led to a demand for a more general staff-representation on library committees, and for involvement in library manage- ment." Stirling adds somewhat later: "While it is important that there be good communica- tion at all levels within the library and that 'there be appropriate consultation and par- ticipation of interested and competent staff members on important decisions affecting them,' it is equally important to remember that 'the library's critical strategy decisions involve a world outside the library and must usually be made by the director and his chief associates. Staff committees can give good advice on such matters, but they simply do not have the information, the knowledge, or the perspective required to make those decisions-and they cannot take responsibil- ity for the results.' " (The interior quotations were from Richard DeGennaro.) The authors provide political as well as administrative factors. There are a good amount of useful statistical data, some exem- plary tables, and a good set of references that include American as well as British publica- tions of recent date. The authors intended that the case-study approach serve as a general textbook of uni- versity librarianship, replacing the Manual of University and College Library Practice issued forty years ago by the Library Associa- tion and edited by Woledge and Page. The present volume is identical in size and may well be intended as a manual to supplement the ten-year-old Introduction to University Library Administration by James Thompson of Reading. Thus , the volume is intended for two purposes- "Firstly, it will bring home to the student that there is seldom one definitive answer to a given set of problems and that theory must be adapted to a particular local circumstance. Secondly, at a time when there is less opportunity for librarians to move between institutions to climb the pro- motional ladder and enrich their experience, a glimpse into the workings of other libraries could be especially useful.'' The volume has succeeded well in these purposes. Some of the flavor of the treatment may be of interest. Speaking of automation, A. J. Evans states that at Loughborough, "many mistakes have been made and blind alleys ventured into, although this is not atypical of any research and development program. Whether such errors ever appear in the liter- ature is another question. It may be said without undue cynicism that the converse is possibly nearer the truth- there is little doubt that the literature is well dotted with 'gleams in the eye' and hopes that have as yet not come to fruition." C. K. Balmforth, in treating management information, reminds us that "the medieval chained book implies an earlier decision based on the statistics of theft, or conceivably on even more reliable data about the Fall of Man." And R. F. Eatwell of Surrey has a sound and contempo- rary treatment of what we Americans call bibliographic instruction. The volume reads easily, has a commend- able index, is on nonacidic paper, has a brief glossary (the only curiosity being that OCLC is explained as the "Ohio College Library Centre"), and the masculine pronoun is seen to be the accepted editorial style of the Li- brary Association. -David C. Weber, Stan- ford University, Stanford, California. Martin, Murray S. Issues in Personnel Man- agement in Academic Libraries. Founda- tions in Library and Information Science, V.14. Greenwich, Conn.: Jai Press, 1981. 266p. LC 81-81649. ISBN 0-89232-136-9. This book, as stated in the preface, "is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to per- sonnel practices, but rather a consideration of major issues which are likely to persist over the next decade." The author's intention is to show how research in sociology, operations, management, and organization can be drawn upon to improve personnel manage- ment in libraries, and he approaches this goal through a series of essays on a broad range of topics, ranging from the rationale for personnel management to libraries and the future. The author demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of primary sources in his discus- sion of such familiar territory as the organi- zation of libraries, leadership, professional- ism, communication, staff development, management styles, and salaries. His ap- proach, however, is often fresh, providing new insights into issues that academic librar- ians have been grappling with for decades. Not the least of the strengths of the book is its clear, concise, and fluid writing style. One leaves the book with the feeling of having spent several worthwhile hours with a Recent Publications I 357 knowledgeable, concerned, and justifiably critical academic library administrator. Martin offers no easy solution to the many problems in personnel management facing academic librarianship, but he seems to be optimistic about their eventual resolution de- spite his recognition of the inertia inherent in the profession. For example, in the chapter on "The Organization of Libraries," he briefly discusses the harsh realities of insuffi- cient funds for library support in a period of manifest technological change. It may be clear to some that these realities cry out for innovative, if not revolutionary, approaches to the organization of academic libraries. Martin, in quoting Brunelle, points out that "academic libraries seem better prepared to provide stability than to initiate change." The danger of such tendencies is clear: "As heirs of a conservative tradition, and as man- agers within a conservative academic envi- ronment, today's librarians are faced with the difficult choice of introducing change quickly and effectively or surrendering their role in the information world." Many would argue that academic librarians have already abrogated their responsibilities to the infor- mation world. But, although Martin ac- knowledges that "the last few years have been remarkable for nothing so much as for failure to unite the libraries of the country in the face of these changes," he holds out hope that academic libraries will meet the chal- lenges of the technological revolution and emerge with much different organizational structures in the years ahead. It is undoubtedly a moot question, but could academic librarians have come to grips with such pressing problems as technological change and library education in the 1970s if less time had been spent on the status of li- brarians in books, articles, and seemingly endless discourses at ALA Council meetings? Unfortunately, however, the problems of professionalism and status are still with us. Perhaps the author sums it up for too many academic librarians when he states that like the old adage about money, "Nobody dis- cusses status as much as those who don't have it." Faculty status, which promised to pro- vide all the answers for some in the early 1970s, has failed to live up to the great expec- tations for many who lobbied long and hard for its recognition at their home institutions