College and Research Libraries 92 College & Research Libraries libraries in terms of policy formulation, planning, decision making, staffing, and services. The specific topics covered are research, particularly national data and statistics and in-house research; the prob- lems and solutions presented by library and information technology and coopera- tion and resource sharing; and the future for librarians as managers and the future prospects for academic libraries in En- gland. While practically all of the examples are drawn from the impact of the retrench- ment on British academic libraries, which in many cases is much more severe than the austerity encountered by North Amer- ican academic libraries, the suggestions and advice offered by the presenters is generally universal. The presentations stress the need for political awareness on the part of librarians, cooperation and co- ordination among libraries and library consortia, research to gather data to guide and support resource allocation, and lead- ers who can ask the right questions . This work is recommended reading for all.- Stella Bentley, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington. Automated Circulation: an Examination of Choices; Proceedings of a Preconference Sponsored by the Circulation Services Sec- tion, Library Administration and Manage- ment Association, American Library Associ- ation July 8-9, 1982, Philadelphia. Ed. by Joseph R. Matthews and Kevin He- garty. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1984. 126p. $15. LC 83-22441. ISBN 0-8389-0402-5. The objective of these proceedings and of the preconference on which they were based has been to provide a basic intro- duction to the issues involved in choosing an automated circulation system. The overview goes considerably beyond the basics in some areas. Taken as a whole, the publication is a checklist of matters that need to be addressed by anyone plan- ning such a system. Appropriate refer- ence is made to the fact that an automated circulation system is often but the first component of a library's online biblio- graphic system, and many of the princi- ples apply equally to automated systems January 1985 in other areas of the library. The reader will want to update references to specific systems; however, this is a review of the choices involved in selection and imple- mentation, not a state-of-the-art catalog of systems available. Introductory chapters by Don Sager and Joe Matthews provide a very basic over- view concerning types of systems avail- able and a glance at the marketplace. Thereafter, the book becomes more de- tailed and, perhaps, more useful as a checklist for management decision mak- ing. An often-neglected area is contract negotiations and the drafting/ acceptance of specifications. Kevin Hegarty walks us through the issues, and section-by- section, through a standard vendor- drafted contract. He points out the short- comings and additions that are necessary to ensure a smooth-working relationship between library and vendor. A vendor's view of this process, by Jane Burke, offers some practical advice that transcends the bias of the contributor. Bill Adiletta' s brief summary of telecommuni- cations issues provides an adequate orien- tation to a complex area, one that is suffi- cient to meet the needs of the library man- ager within the context of what can be ex- pected from a book of this kind. George Rickerson has provided an especially lucid view of the complexities, and the politics, of sharing systems . Later chapters deal ef- fectively, if somewhat briefly, with figur- ing costs, alternative financing, database creation, site preparation and mainte- nance, and in rather general terms with the process of implementation. Public re- lations is dealt with in cursory fashion. In- house-developed systems are addressed through accounts by those who worked in building the Virginia Tech and Salem Pub- lic Library systems. The section on micro- computers is good in principle, but the consumer looking for a system based on this technology should secure more recent information in view of rapid progress in this area. The chapter remams a useful summary of what a micro can and cannot do. ยท The usefulness of this book is in its pro- vision of brief and highly readable intro- ductions to each of the above areas. In some, the reader will want to go to more detailed material rather quickly or to a consultant. This is a good first book for anyone; and except for the most experi- enced library manager working in this area, it is difficult to see how anyone would not gain useful practical advice from the more detailed chapters.- Lawrence Miller, Florida International University- Tamiami Campus. A Reader on Choosing an Automated Li- brary System. Ed. by Joseph R. Mat- thews, Chicago: American Library Assn., 1983. 390p. $35. LC 83-11821. ISBN 0-8389-0383-5. Intended to complement the editor's earlier publication, Choosing an Automated Library System: A Planning Guide (ALA, 1980}, this collection of forty articles ex- tends considerably beyond the concept of . merely choosing an automated library sys- tem. The book's seven sections encom- pass topics ranging from needs analysis and the selection process and contracts, to installation, implementation, and the im- pact of automation in libraries. The latter section comprises 40 percent of the book and contains subsections on acquisitions; cataloging, the catalog, circulation, and online search systems. Although badly dated in some respects and neglecting some applications of li- brary automation, the selections are gen- erally well chosen. Most derive from pa- pers presented at conferences or are reprints from monographs or the standard library literature representing such au- thors as John Kountz, Paul J. Fasana, Mi- chael Gorman, Susan K. Martin, Richard Boss, S. Michael Malinconico, and D. Kaye Gaypen. In addition, there are a handful of articles written for this collec- tion and selections from outside the li- brary literature. The latter include useful essays on cost analysis and contracts re- printed from Computing Surveys and Data- mation. Of the new articles, those most welcome are Kevin Hegerty' s essays on contracts and vendor and/or system selection, Wil- liam F. Adiletta's "primer" on data com- munications (which suffers, however, from being written prior to the breakup of Recent Publications 93 AT&T) and Nolan Pope's article on con- tracts, which provides an excellent expla- nation of the RFI/RPI process, good advice on writing RFPs, and clear explanations of such terms as benchmarks, performance bonds, escrowed software, and accep- tance tests. The editor's introductions to each of the sections are generally helpful in stating the problems and setting the stage for the articles that follow. On p. 23-24, however, there is unfortunate confusion between "standard bibliographic records," ''MARC records,'' and LC cataloging dis- tributed by the MARC distribution ser- vice. An index adds to the book's useful- ness although at least one entry (Cataloging in Publication) contains only blind references. Considering that the earliest of the thirty-five reprinted articles dates from 1967, and that half of the others stem from the years 1979-80, this useful collection can be utilized either for its historical viewpoint or as a rapidly aging but useful aid for library managers involved in the automation process.-Charles W. Simpson, University of Illinois at Chicago. Amy, Linda Ray. The Search for Data in the Physical and Chemical Sciences. New York: Special Libraries Assn., 1984. 150p. $17. LC 83-20376 ISBN 0-87111- 308-2. The title of this work will pique the inter- est of any scientific or technical reference librarian; we are daily challenged with re- quests for reliable data on sometimes ob- scure properties of often obscure sub- stances. Linda Ray Amy is an obviously experienced reference librarian who used a sabbatical to "investigate the nature, generation, collection, and retrieval of physical and chemical data in general, and to analyze and index National Bureau of Standards' compilations in particular.'' The first part of her book begins by discus- sing the nature of physical and chemical data, the difficulties involved in locating and critically evaluating data, and data centers that have been established to com- pile reliable data. Amy presents a brief but thorough review of the problems in- volved, and although she does not cite my