College and Research Libraries The chapters devoted to assessing the quality of library collections offer a solid overview of the various method- ologies available to the librarian. Col- lection developers and bibliographers will find them very useful. In contrast, the chapter on evaluation of catalog use initially seems too brief and far too superficial (only eight pages in length), but the author supplements it with im- portant sections of a later chapter de- voted to database searching. His assessment of the research leads him to conclude that the transformation of the card catalog into an online data- base has not improved subject access. While catalogs have grown larger since the advent of automation, ac- cording to Lancaster there has been no significant increase in their discriminat- ing power. He concludes "that signifi- cant improvements are not possible within the constraints of existing subject cataloging practice." The section on evaluation of reference service focuses primarily on answering of factual ques- tions. The author devotes considerable attention to a single unobtrusive study. While other such studies are briefly noted, he does not review various re- search approaches. He discusses instead a variety of'factors that affect the quality of question answering services in librar- ies in a very useful fashion. Lancaster often comments on his own published evaluative research con- ducted throughout his long career as a library science educator. For instance, his investigation of the teaching-related- ness of library and information science journals leads him to argue that this fac- tor, as well as research-relatedness, needs to be considered in the evaluation of journals in an academic library. He also frequently injects his assessments of research and methodologies with pro- vocative suggestions, such as "One sus- pects, in fact, that a colorful display on 'Books that have never been borrowed' might be a great success." The book of- fers an excellent mix of research on aca- demic and public libraries. Lancaster cites numerous review articles in addi- tion to articles reporting empirical re- Book Reviews 377 search, and surveys both U.K and U.S. research as well. Current debates do not escape Lancas- ter's attention. He frequently empha- sizes evaluating access, noting in his introduction that "access, rather than ownership, should be the main criterion by which a library's resources should be evaluated." While somewhat ironic, it is also perhaps predictable that access to If You Want to Evaluate Your Library ... for most librarians will mean the local collec- tion, if not one's personal professional li- brary. This book is an important achieve- ment that most librarians will want to find near at hand.-Cmig S. Likness, 1tinity Uni- versity, San Antonio, Texas. Rethinking Reference in Academic Li- b~aries. Ed. Anne Grodzins Lipow. Berkeley, Calif.: Library Solutions Press, 1993. 242p. $32 (ISBN 1-882208- 02-1). This publication presents the proceed- ings and "process" documents of a three-day institute held in 1993 at the University of California, Berkeley and repeated at Duke University. According to organizer Anne Lipow, the impetus for the institute was the need to raise new questions and generate new ideas concerning academic libraries. Lipow chose to focus on reference librarians, a group she characterizes as a receptive and change-oriented audience. Audio- tapes of the formal presentations from the Berkeley gathering are also available for purchase. This book is divided into three parts: the proceedings, the process documents, and the appendices. Keynote speaker Jerry D. Campbell calls for participants to search for new foundations for refer- ence and recognize that new models will have a profound impact on the library as a whole. This lead article is followed by equally eloquent contributions by an im- pressive array of library leaders, con- sultants, educators, administrators, and practitioners, including Terry Mazany, Charles Bunge, Suzanne Calpestri, Vrr- ginia Massey-Burzio, Frances 0. Painter, Janice Simmons-Welburn, Karen Wil- liams, Larry Oberg, and James Rettig. 378 College & Research Libraries Several themes are repeated and woven throughout: the fundamental impor- tance of an ongoing, aggressive needs- assessment program; value-added serv- ices that librarians can offer; new part- nerships and alliances outside of the library that benefit the user; a user-cen- tered emphasis; and great expecations for new and innovative service models. Rettig summarizes the trends emerging as the old paradigms begin to crack: tiered service structures; floating refer- ence librarians; going out to users; and user studies. The authors discuss in de- tail reference models in place at Bran- deis, Johns Hopkins, University of Iowa, Vrrginia Tech, and the University of Ari- zona. Each model presents a slightly dif- ferent framework, but all are predicated on multifaceted reference and informa- tion services in which the traditional ref- erence desk is but one component, if it continues to exist at all. Part I concludes by reproducing the results from "brain- storming" sessions, outlining how the momentum of the institutes is being sus- tained, and offering views-in-progress concerning the evolving future of bibli- ographic instruction. In Part II, institute organizers Upow and Lou Wetherbee reproduce institute planning documents, including program principles, tips for replicating the institute, and major costs. Anyone wishing to recre- ate the institute at one's local library, as a consortia! continuing education oppor- tunity, or for a library school class would do well to consult this section. ~Part III is comprised of useful appen- dices that support and extend the value of the proceedings. These include exam- ples of homework contributions from Berkeley and Duke, an excellent bibliog- raphy, a twenty-first-century job de- scription, a summary of reorganization efforts in reference deparbnents across the country, and a year 2010 draft plan for the Duke University Libraries. Rethinking Reference ties together many threads of discontent with current models of reference service found in the literature, at conferences, in electronic discussion groups, and at each of our own institutions. The excitement and in- July 1994 terest generated by the institute are pre- served by Lipow and associates in this well-crafted publication. The text is in- terspersed with highlight boxes and bul- leted thoughts, making it enjoyable and fruitful to browse or read cover to cover. This book both engages the reader in a thoughtful examination of critical is- sues and suggests avenues and strate- gies for action. For reference managers, the publication offers a structure for cus- tomizing their own home-grown institute. Library administrators can build on the authors' wisdom and the institute's con- ceptual framework to initiate a far-rang- ing dialogue on current and future service· models. Lipow and her colleagues have positively influenced and advanced ref- erence service with this important pub- lication.-Lizabeth A. Wilson, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. SHORT NOTICES Leipziger Jahrbuch zur Buchgeschichte. Ed. Mark Lehmstedt and Lothar Po- ethe. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Ver- lag, 1991- . Approx. $55/yr. (ISSN 0940-1954). The city most closely associated with German publishing and the German book trade from the eighteenth century through World War II, Leipzig, is now trying to reclaim its identity and assert its role in a radically redefined political and economic environment. The estab- lishment of this yearbook devoted to the history of the book, begun shortly after the fall of the Wall and now with three issues published, is a part of this effort. It is clearly also a manifestation of recent scholarly interest, until now most closely associated with France, in the book as a critical site of cultural history. The focus of the Yearbook tends· to be German, though it aims for a wider reach, and only the occasional piece is in a language other than German. Follow- ing a consistent format, it includes four sections: articles-roughly ten per is- sue-addressing topics such as Rous- seau's ideas concerning literary property as revealed in his correspondence with his publisher Marc-Michel Rey, a history of the early Brockhaus enyclopedia, Ger-