bkrevs 96 College & Research Libraries the meaning of data, but also what the relevant cultural constructs are. Other papers take diverse approaches. Brian Petheram thinks the mess that is IS has to do with insufficient philosophical sensibility. Rather than select a philo­ sophical package or adopt a single ap­ proach, Petheram echoes Spaul’s call for eclecticism. Paul Wernick and Russel Winder apply the terminology developed by Thomas Kuhn with regard to scientific revolutions to the various moments in software engineering (SE). Their appro­ priation of Kuhn actually does little to il­ luminate this issue; indeed, their use of paradigm contributes to the plethora of widely divergent appropriations of this term. Stephen Probert, in contrast, offers a closely argued critique of soft systems methodology (SSM) via illumination of contradictions in its epistemological as­ sumptions. His essential position is that, although SSMers overtly justify their ap­ proach in terms of a subjectivist episte­ mology, its more general rationale is firmly grounded in early science objec­ tivist ontology. A set of papers on the organizational context of IS shifts attention away from conceptual issues toward empirical ones. Nick Plant’s efforts to help community organizations develop “sustainable” IS raise, he believes, important issues for IS philosophy. He identifies several distinc­ tive features of IS in this domain, discov­ ered via previous work in community IS development. Stuart Maguire critiques previous efforts to develop organizational IS as “product-led.” He advocates a “mar- ket-led” approach as a “new philosophy.” Like Plant, he argues that IS is different in organizations that are not directly profit oriented. Like many people with a more social orientation to IS, George Bakehouse, Chris Davis, Kevin Doyle, and Sam Wa­ ters evoke anthropology in conceptualiz­ ing their role developing IS for a specific purpose. The philosophical contribution is to derive from General Systems Theory, Soft Systems Methodology, Cartesian philosophy, social science, and a large list January 1999 of other domains, a set of conceptual nug­ gets they feel are related to the “quick and dirty” ethnography they employ on their project. The philosophizing is also sup­ posed to support a complex analytic framework oriented primarily to cost con­ siderations. This is illustrated in several pages of charts, data for which are only indirectly related to their ethnography. The book ends with two papers on IS and the biologically human. John Gammack and Carolyn Begg consider the implications of the phenomenon of syna­ esthesia, the integration of sensory mo­ dalities in experience, for IS. Ian Beeson argues more generally that IS thinking, including even its more socially progres­ sive forms, pays insufficient attention to the body in concentrating on disembod­ ied mind. He argues for designing sys­ tems that develop fully into lived, situ­ ated experience. Although predisposed to appreciate a philosophical approach to IT, I found this eclectic collection ultimately disappoint­ ing. In general, the pieces were well writ­ ten and intelligible to a nonphilosopher, but I wanted sharper arguments over obvious points of difference between au­ thors. I urge the group involved to have another go at specifying more exactly where current philosophy of IS is on the wide spectrum between “anything goes” eclecticism and demands that systems developers line up behind a single philo­ sophical approach or methodology.— David Hakken, SUNY Institute of Technology. Shiflett, Lee. Louis Shores: Defining Edu- cational Librarianship. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Pr., 1996. 304p. $36, alk. pa­ per (ISBN 0-8108-3114-7). LC-95­ 050041. Louis Shores conceived of librarians working in American universities as teachers and worked for their promotion to a level equal to that of other faculty. His other contributions to librarianship include serving as editor of Collier’s En- cyclopedia; developing “educational li­ brarianship,” and establishing the ALA’s Library History Round Table. Book Reviews 97 His interests in education and writing led Shores to earn an undergraduate de­ gree in English in 1926 from the Univer­ sity of Toledo. The following year, he en­ tered City College of New York (CCNY) to obtain a master’s degree in education as preparation for teaching high school English. Having difficulty in obtaining a teaching position in New York, Shores entered the School of Library Service at Columbia University in 1927. In 1928, he accepted a position at Fisk University, where his library career began in earnest. In 1933, Shores left Fisk to become head of the library and library school at George Peabody College, and in 1946, he was hired by Florida State University to es­ tablish its library school. Among his in­ novations in library school instruction was the creation and implementation of curricula for audiovisual librarianship. Shores’s major contribution to the teach­ ing of library reference was his Basic Ref- erence Books, published in 1937 by ALA. Basic Reference Books was well received by the library community, and by 1940, re­ placed Wyer’s Reference Work as a teach­ ing tool in library schools. Shores’s work as editor of Collier’s En- cyclopedia began in the mid-1930s. From the beginning, his editorship created many problems and frustrations among his colleagues. In a richly detailed chap­ ter, Shiflett presents Shores’s contribu- Index to advertisers American Inst. of Physics 70 ACRL 99 and 102 BIOSIS 90 Blackwell’s Book Srvcs 2 EBSCO cover 4 ISI 44 Library Technologies 1 Marcive 30 Minolta 54–55 OCLC 78 Primary Source Media cover 3 PNAS 5 Science Direct cover 2 tions to Collier’s, including his main goal that the encyclopedia be used as a fact- finding tool for the self-education of the general public. Library history/historiography was another important concern for Shores, and he was relentless in making the Li­ brary History Group a part of ALA. In the mid-1960s, Shores successfully launched the Journal of Library History (now known as Libraries & Culture). Shores’s idea of educational librarian- ship in which academic librarians play a significant role in university education is a theme that runs through his profes­ sional life. In his writings, from which Shiflett quotes extensively, Shores pre­ sented his argument that library-related courses should be required of all educa­ tion students, if not the entire student body, and that librarians should teach these courses. Unfortunately, this idea was not well received by either faculty or librarians. Shiflett suggests that Shores’s noncomformist activities and views tended to fuel disagreement and contro­ versy within ALA and the greater library community. Numerous debates ignited by Shores are described and well docu­ mented in the extensive endnotes. One of these debates revolved around his oppo­ sition to librarians becoming specialists. Shores felt that librarians should be edu­ cated broadly so that their skills could be utilized in any library. Shiflett does not take sides on this issue but argues both Shores’s position and that of his opposi­ tion. A capable writer, Shiflett has the reader feeling Shores’s frustrations when he is not getting what he wants, or attaining his goals, or being in the limelight. Using Shores’s personal papers, as well as ex­ amining other collections including the Anita Hostelter papers at ALA Archives and the William Couch papers at Univer­ sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Shiflett has thoroughly researched his subject. Reading this book, one gets the impression that Shiflett enjoyed his re­ search. 98 College & Research Libraries An authoritative and readable biogra­ phy, Shiflett has reintroduced Louis Shores to the library world. His ideas will continue to generate discussion in library schools and among library historians.— Anne Rothfeld, University of Maryland. Transforming Libraries and Educating Librar- ians: Essays in Memory of Peter Harvard- Williams. Ed. John Feather. London: Taylor Graham, 1997. 155p. $46 (ISBN 0-94758-72-7). This is a collection of essays focused on a variety of topics in international librari­ anship dedicated to the memory of Peter Harvard-Williams, British librarian and library educator who had an impact on the profession far beyond the United Kingdom. Harvard-Williams worked at a number of institutions in Britain as well as in Canada, New Zealand, and Botswana. He carried out many consult­ ing assignments for UNESCO and the Council of Europe that had an impact on a much greater number of countries, par­ ticularly in Africa. His work in the Library Association and IFLA was wide-ranging, and he was especially instrumental in the IFLA translation service as it affected Af­ rica. In 1972, Harvard-Williams arrived at Loughborough University as the first head of the newly established Depart­ ment of Library and Information Studies, and remained there until his retirement in 1987. In retirement, Harvard-Williams served as professor of library and infor­ mation studies at the University of Botswana. There are nine essays in this work, a foreword, and a eulogy delivered at Harvard-Williams’s funeral in 1995. Of the essays, the majority focus on issues of librarianship and library education in Africa and Asia. The contributors are pri­ marily former students and colleagues at Loughborough. At Loughborough, a ma­ jor component of the library education program Harvard-Williams built focused on students from the third world. The January 1999 goal was not only to prepare library and information professionals, but also library and information educators. During Harvard-Williams’s tenure as department head, 450 students came from 63 coun­ tries to pursue degrees and 350 disserta­ tions in library and information studies were completed. The first essay, by Ann Irving, gives an overview to Harvard-Williams’s educa­ tional philosophy as it was manifested throughout his career. Numerous quota­ tions from his writings clearly demon­ strate his focus. Among the most impor­ tant were a career-long emphasis on the library as a separate teaching entity within a broader academic institution and the education of library and information specialists in third-world countries. This essay makes a perfect introduction to the remaining contributions, each of which is a specific case study. It is in these case studies that one can see the impact Harvard-Williams had on the authors as they address topics that were of impor­ tance to Harvard-Williams. Two of the essays, by Michel Menou and K. J. Mchombu, look at issues from a broad African perspective. Three others focus on specific issues related to differ­ ent African countries, including Malawi by Paul Sturges, Ethiopia by David Baker, and Algeria by Behdja Bourmarifi. Other essays explore issues focused on Korea by Young Ai Um, Pakistan by Rafia Ahmad Sheikh, and France by Genevieve Patte. All the essays are in-depth studies. Most are very well documented and in­ clude citations that can lead the reader to additional resources. They range in focus from a review of the political economy of information over a thirty-year period in Malawi, to an overview of library educa­ tion in Korea, to a history of library de­ velopment in Algeria. This collection makes a unique and important contribu­ tion to the literature of international li­ brarianship.—David L. Easterbrook, North- western University.