College and Research Libraries 394 College & Research Libraries edge Industry Publications, 1983. 231p. $27.50 paper. LC 82-18726. ISBN 0- 86729-002-1. This is an important book. It defines, and provides a context for, preservation as a library function equal to cataloging or reference work. It is for seasoned, senior administrators, who have just realized the need for a coherent preservation program, and for novice preservation administra- tors, who have just been handed the task of starting one . Library administrators will find all the arguments they need to con- vince their colleagues and university offi- cials of the necessity for allocating budget dollars for preservation; preservation ad- ministrators will find graphically illus- trated organization plans, position de- scriptions, decision-making apparatuses, case studies, and enough technical infor- mation to point them in the right direc- tion. Morrow begins by succinctly describing the organic composition of library materi- als from books to videotape and why they tear, fade, crumble, warp, break, mold, or spontaneously combust. Enough scien- tific data is offered to underscore the argu- ments for the preservation practices of- fered, but not to impede general understanding by tl}e intelligent reader. Discussions of preservation issues for each type of material focus on special problems, controversial points of view, and trade-offs between treatment options and costs . The strength of Morrow's work lies in the chapters on how to develop a preser- vation program and case studies concern- ing conservation of rare and unique items. Administrators will find useful the budget and cost figures that appear throughout; this kind of data is elusive, and even more cost analysis would have strengthened the work . Morrow concludes with an overview of the latest technological exper- iments, including optical disk, deacidifica- tion, freeze and vacuum drying of water- damaged materials, accelerated aging tests, cold storage, and encapsulation. A final chapter describes the various organi- zations and funding agencies active in preservation matters. Gay Walker contributed a chapter on September 1983 preserving the intellectual content of printed materials, based on her very suc- cessful program at Yale. While she con- centrates heavily on the process of preser- vation microfilming (or "microfiching"), there is a section on in-house photocopy- ing that may be unique in the literature. In her introduction, Pam Darling, author of the profession's most readable preserva- tion lore, gently but firmly explodes yet another myth. "The survival of thoughts beyond the life of the thinker gives signifi- cance to the human experience," she writes, "and so we are comfortable in be- lieving that the materials on which we rec- ord those thoughts will live on after us. But it has never been true.'' As a first step, Morrow's book will help libraries face this reality and engender a commitment to change. Academic li- braries may then want to turn to the Pres- ervation Planning Program, An Assisted Self- Study Manual for Libraries and Resource Notebook (Washington, D.C., Association of Research Libraries, 1982) for more in- depth help. Trained conservators don't need this book. Libraries that have not yet accepted the preservation challenge do.-Nancy E. Gwinn, Research Libraries Group, Inc. Myers, Marcia J. and Jirjees, Jassim M. The Accuracy of Telephone Reference/Infor- mation Services in Academic Libraries: Two Studies. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1983. 270p. LC 82-10785. ISBN 0-8108- 1584-2. If one accepts the fact that Myers and Jir- jees have developed a statistically valid re- search study, and they spend the great majority of this book explaining their methodology in such detail that this re- viewer is convinced, then they have some important conclusions that every public service administration should find inter- esting. According to past studies, which have only been done in-depth for public li- braries, telephone reference service is only about 50 percent accurate. These studies done in the Southeast by Myers in- volving forty academic libraries ranging from two-year colleges through universi- ties and in the Northeast by Jirjees (in five, four-year state colleges with graduate pro- grams) arrived at very similar percent- ages, 50 percent and 56.6 percent respec- tively. Variables, such as, library budget, collection size, service population, num- ber of full-time professional reference li- brarians, hours the library was open, and physical facilities were considered to see what impact they have on reference ser- vice. The size of the library and the hours open had a substantial association with the number of correct answers, most other variables had little or no significant rela- tionship to effective telephone reference. The method used in both studies was unobtrusive measurement for the evalua- tion of telephone service to factual refer- ence questions. There are concerns about the ethics of such a study but the authors deal with these issues in a clear manner, and the questions asked seemed fair and certainly comparable to the type asked at academic reference desks in the experi- ence of this reviewer. The conclusions are startling and important for planning the future of telephone reference service in ac- ademic libraries. Myers says "if academic libraries can answer fact-type queries cor- rectly only 50 percent of the time, they should be emphasizing other aspects of Recent Publications 395 reference services that, one hopes, they perform better, such as, readers' advisory service, guidance, and teaching." Per- haps, but reference administrators should look carefully at their operations and make improvements wherever possible. Only 56 percent of the staff in Jirjees' study offered sources of their information to the patron. Staff attitudes can be im- proved, programs for regular in-house training in new as well as traditional sources should be instituted, and written reference policies are also necessary. Ref- erence staff need to think beyond their own sources to those outside of their own institution and certainly they must use any staff subject expertise available on site before answering negatively. If the staff feel pressured by the immediacy of tele- phone service then "call backs" should be encouraged. It is not difficult to come to the conclusion, as Jirjees does, that pa- trons of this information age will not be satisfied with only a 50 to 60 percent suc- cess rate for their information needs. The summaries of these two studies should be read by all reference librarians, library ad- ministrators, and educators.-Florence Kell Doksansky, Brown University. ABSTRACTS The following abstracts are based on those prepared by the ERIC Clearinghouse of Infor- mation Resources, School of Education, Syra- cuse University. Documents with an ED number here may be ordered in either microfiche (MF) or paper copy (PC) from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service, P.O. Box 190, Arlington, VA 22210. Orders should include ED number, specify for- mat desired, and include payment for docu- ment and postage. Further information on ordering documents and on current postage charges may be obtained from a recent issue of Resources in Educa- tion. Job Characteristics of the "Traditional" University Librarian versus the "Learn- ing Resource" Librarian. By Mary M. Flekke. 1980. 29p. ED 224 487. MF- $0.83; PC-$3.32. This paper, compiled for a class at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, compares the job characteristics of traditional university library staff, who are most comfortable handling print material, with the job characteristics of univer- sity learning resource center staff, who handle all forms of instructional media including such nonprint materials as films, tapes, videotapes, records, videodiscs, and realia. Differences in service functions, education, duties, and com- petencies for the two types of librarian are dis- cussed, with mention of a progression from one type of librarianship to the other. The develop- ment of learning resource center specialists from audiovisual librarianship is noted, and a list of seven competencies for school media spe- cialists is provided. Acceptance or nonaccep- tance of new technologies in the field of librari- anship, including computer technologies, is identified as the major area of contrast between traditional and learning resource center librari- ans. A thirty-item bibliography concludes this paper.