College and Research Libraries


seemed to be with it, as it reflected some spe-
cific focus of their operation not captured by 
a more generic term. 

Despite the inclusion of automation in the 
subtitle, there is not great emphasis on this 
aspect of library/information work in there-
port. The questionnaire asked about current 
usage and desire to automate, but readers are 
left to draw their own conclusions about its 
future impact.-Charlene Renner, Iowa 
State University, Ames. 

Chen, Ching-chih. Zero-Base Budgeting in 
Library Management: A Manual for Librar-
ians. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1980. 290p. 
$27.50. LC 80-12055. ISBN 0-912700-18-
l. 
The author, who describes herself as nei-

ther advocate nor detractor of zero-base 
budgeting (ZBB), has addressed her work to 
library managers who seek information 
about this recently heralded theory/process, 
"to decide whether ZBB can be a meaningful 
and suitable process for them in planning, 
budgeting, evaluation, and control." Por-
tions of the material presented were devel-
oped for institutes on ZBB directed by the au-
thor in 1978. 

Following a section on "Fundamentals of 
Budgeting" (ten pages), Chen offers general 
background (eight pages), and some thirty 
pages of more detailed explanation of the 
special elements (e.g., "decision packages") 
of ZBB. She concludes the narrative section 
of the book with a short chapter (four pages) 
on advantages and disadvantages of ZBB, 
and then six pages on "Managing ZBB and Its 
Implications for Library Managers." Most of 
the remainder (some two hundred pages) of 
the book is taken up with examples, almost 
entirely reproductions of both blank and 
completed ZBB budget documents from 
three special libraries: a state library, two 
medium-sized university libraries, and one 
college library. A glossary, bibliography, 
and index complete the volume. 

The fundamental weakness of the work 
stems from its origins as a collection of mate-
rial intended for use in an institute, where an 
instructor or leader can provide both context 
and answers to questions. The book is 
wanting-certainly as a "manual" -in that 
both the general discussion and the examples 
of ZBB applications are presented without 

Recent Publications I 411 

context or the critical analysis and commen-
tary needed by many readers, especially 
those not well versed in budgeting issues. A 
more substantive review of general budget-
ing principles and theory (more than one 
paragraph to describe program or perfor-
mance budgeting, for example) would have 
strengthened this work considerably. Fewer 
examples, with explication of and fuller com-
mentary on the details of library applications 
of ZBB would have been most useful. Nu-
merous stylistic, and some grammatical, 
lapses also suggest haste in editing and pro-
duction. 

While references to other works on ZBB 
are many and valuable, all but a scattered 
few date from ZBB's halcyon period of 
1975-77. There are more recent and useful 
comprehensive analyses of ZBB, such as 
Hammond and Knott's Zero-Based Look at 
Zero-Base Budgeting (published in 1980), 
that the librarian-manager should consult. 

This would be an appropriate acquisition 
for larger library-science collections, but, es-
pecially at the quoted price, it is not recom-
mended to others.- William]. Crowe, Ohio 
State University Libraries, Columbus. 

Boss, Richard, and Raikes, Deborah. Devel-
oping Microform Reading Facilities. West-
port, Conn.: Microform Review, 1981. 
198p. $39.95. LC 81-3963. ISBN 0-
913672-09-2. 
The latest volume in the Microform Re-

view series in library micrographics manage-
men.t, Developing Microform Reading F acil-
ities, is magazine sized, with lots of 
photographs and not much text, considering 
the size. The price, moreover, is a rather 
steep $39.95. Nonetheless, the information it 
contains is accurate, complete, well illus-
trated, and certainly useful to anyone con-
templating designing a microforms-reading 
area. It is clear that the authors have had 
"hands on" experience with microforms and 
know whereof they speak; their recommen-
dations are both practical and reasonable. 

The book is divided into five chapters, plus 
an introduction and a conclusion. The first 
three chapters discuss the various micro-
formats and such things as reduction ratios, 
silver versus nonsilver film, and the physical 
care of microforms. Other topics covered in 
these chapters are locating and preparing a 



412 I College & Research Libraries • September 1982 

site for a reading area (with attention to 
heating and lighting requirements); desk-
and table-space needs and room arrange-
ments; and selecting and maintaining micro-
form equipment, including a detailed discus-
sion of microform cameras and film 
processing for in-house work, as well as the 
usual readers, printers, and microfiche du-
plicating machines. 

Successive chapters deal with storage 
equipment and training and orientation of 
staff. The chapter on storage equipment pro-
vides a thorough discussion of all the differ-
ent types of cabinets, boxes, panels, and 
stands that can be used to accommodate mi-
croform, with emphasis on the desirability of 
each in open- and closed-stack collections. In 
terms of new material, the most significant 
chapter in the book is on training and orien-
tation of staff and student assistants. While 
most librarians would recognize the need for 
staff training in the use of microforms, it is 
probable that few have devised a detailed 
program for accomplishing this goal. The ex-
cerpts from the Princeton program along 
with the other suggestions for user orienta-
tion are very fine. Wisely, the conclusion 
comments on the existence of video-disk 
technology, but offers the opinion that it will 
be some time before video disk will replace 
microforms in libraries. 

On the whole, this handbook presents 
sound, practical information. Much of it is 
not new information, but the book's useful-
ness is enhanced by the many accompanying 
photographs. There is a complete bibliogra-
phy, a glossary of microform terms, and an 
index, which make it a good reference point 
for newer microform librarians.-]ean Wal-
ter Farrington, University of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia. 

Slote, Stanley J. Weeding Library Collec-
tions- II. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Un-
limited, 1982. 198p. $21.50. LC 81-20724. 
ISBN 0-87287-283-1. 
This edition adds little to Slate's 1975 edi-

tion. The first eight chapters are identical, 
with only a few new literature references 
added. As before, Slote advances " shelf-time 
period" as the objective variable which 
should be used to predict future use of any 
given volume. Shelf-time period is the length 
of time a book remains on the shelf between 

successive uses. The new material describes 
how to select a method for weeding and gives 
detailed instructions for each possible 
method. 

The method selected depends upon the li-
brary's circulation method. Slote details each 
circulation method, giving sample forms, 
and how to identify a core collection satisfy-
ing a given percent of user requirements. 
Where permanent circulation records al-
ready exist (e. g., charge slip or book cards), a 
sample of these is analyzed to determine the 
shelf-time period to be used as the cutoff pe-
riod for removal of titles from the shelves. 
Where records do not exist (primarily in 
transaction card or computer systems), the 
spine dotting method is recommended. Spine 
dotting can also be applied to noncirculating 
materials. 

It is interesting that Slote considers only 
(1) identification of titles to be weeded, and 
(2) their removal from the shelves as weed-
ing. As to adjusting the card catalog (the only 
type of catalog mentioned) , the author states 
that he is not adverse "to leaving the cards 
representing weeded works in the catalog" 
(p.166). He does not state whether or not he 
is in favor of marking the cards to indicate 
that a title has been withdrawn (to be dis-
carded or stored), and his methods do not in-
clude any mention of adjusting the library's 
catalog or any other records. He questions 
the necessity of an accurate, up-to-date card 
catalog in a nonresearch library. 

Slote devotes scant attention to the diffi-
culties of weeding a large academic collec-
tion (one page) or special libraries (one-half 
page) although, in the literature discussed, 
he does include a review of work done in uni-
versity collections that support shelf-time pe-
riod as the best predictor of future use. He 
does state that his methods are applicable in 
university libraries and that the weeded titles 
should be removed to secondary storage. 
(How the user is to know that they are there is 
not mentioned.) He does not address the fact 
that special libraries, which are character-
ized by in-depth collections in a narrow sub-
ject field or format, can often find little to 
weed, and that what is weeded must most of-
ten be discarded, rather than stored. 

Although it is nowhere stated as such, 
Slote seems to be addressing only the weed-
ing of monographs and does not mention the