reviews.p65 82 College & Research Libraries January 2004 braries’ financial dilemma, these vendors tend to concentrate on such topics as the history of publishing, the changing e- books market, and electronic archiving. Several provide updates of their online services, informational talks that also serve as instructional sessions useful to those of us “nontechies” who needed (at least in 2001) explanations of concepts and terminology (DOI, SFX, etc.) Other paper topics include the “article economy” (the purchase of individual articles rather than journal subscriptions), OpenURL compliance for effective link­ ing (the navigation tools for linking from database citations to journal Web sites to full-text articles and/or the OPAC), FAST CAT processing of materials, restoration of Oviatt Library and its collections at California State University after an earth­ quake, citation studies (finding that books are still important), recruitment into the profession, and the “new age” consortia. Also of note is the “Charleston Panel on Usage Statistics 2001,” chaired by Denise M. Davis (National Commission on Li­ braries and Information Science). With the caveat that usage statistics themselves can be misleading, this paper includes valu­ able lists of Web sites related to issues of data collection and vendor–library statis­ tics. The overall message of the papers in this volume is one that encourages us to become comfortable with change. Tech­ nology, as it evolves, promises new and unknowable opportunities and possibili­ ties, and current conflicts that cloud our vision (such as library–vendor divisions) will eventually be resolved. Librarianship today, with the ongoing revolution in the new digital information world order, is exciting; the whole world is changing in reaction and we have a front-row seat. But we must remember that technology is simply a tool that we need to harness for meeting the needs of libraries and their users. National meetings such as the Charleston Conference keep us up-to­ date on professional issues needing to be addressed, and they stir up new ways of thinking about and analyzing what our users need, when they need it, where, and why. In terms of studying information- seeking behavior, we’ve not yet scratched the surface. As David Nicholas and An­ thony Watkinson (City University, Lon­ don) note in the subtitle of their paper “The Digital Information Player: We Have the Data But Not Yet the Understand- ing.”—Shelley Arlen, University of Florida. The Ethics of Librarianship: An Interna­ tional Survey. Ed. Robert W. Vaagan. Munchen, Germany: K.G. Saur (IFLA Publications, 101), 2002. 344p. alk. pa­ per, $58 (ISBN 3598218311). LC 2003­ 437710. In 2002, IFLA conducted two major cam­ paigns to strengthen freedom of access to information. First, it launched the IFLA Internet Manifesto (http://www.infa.org/ III/misc/im-e.htm), which stresses that freedom of access to information is a cen­ tral responsibility of the library and infor­ mation profession, regardless of its me­ dium or of national boundaries. The second event was the Glasgow Declaration on Libraries, Information Services and In­ tellectual Freedom (http://www.ifla.org). The theme of this book echoes these two IFLA documents. The authors are from seventeen countries, including the United States; they discuss the historical back­ ground of librarianship, the role of pro­ fessional library associations, the develop­ ment of ethics codes, and the foundations and philosophies on which ethics codes are based in their respective countries. To help readers understand the ethics codes of the library profession in a global context, the editor of this book compiled a list of potentially divisive issues as they concern librarians and library associa­ tions internationally: globalization, digi­ tal inclusiveness, privacy, authenticity, confidentiality, trust and censorship, copyright, intellectual property rights, gray literature, electronic filters, confi­ dence in cyberspace, as well as the digi­ tal gap between the information rich and poor, the commercialization of informa­ tion versus interactive online public ser­ vices, and the consequences of the Gen­ http:http://www.ifla.org http:http://www.infa.org eral Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS). Among the seventeen countries included in this volume, twelve have es­ tablished ethics codes for the library pro­ fession: Canada, Costa Rica, Estonia, Fin­ land, Iceland, Japan, Lithuania, Russia, Sweden, Thailand, the U.K., and the U.S.A. Argentina, South Africa, and Uganda are without ethics codes for librarianship. Mexico and Norway are in the discussion phase of establishing codes for all library workers. Readers are in­ formed about how these authors view the code of ethics for the library profession in their unique situations and, in addi­ tion, how these codes relate to each other. In each chapter, the author discusses the ethics code of the library profession in terms of his or her own country’s situ­ ation. For example, the author of the Canada chapter noted an emphasis on li­ brary employees’ freedom of speech on professional and policy issues; in Canada, intellectual freedom is an important issue for library workers and not just the pub­ lic they serve. The chapter on Costa Rica examines the historical background of evolving professional ethics that has served the librarianship movement in that country. The author’s perspective on how third-world countries could benefit from the global connection through the Internet is quite insightful: It is important to dis­ seminate information at no cost in order to foster sustainable development in the third world. Furthermore, this author believes that information policies must integrate ethical considerations as the basis of universal access to free, truthful, and relevant information for all. The dis­ cussion of the code of ethics of the Japan Library Association focuses on ethics in relation to the professional status of librar­ ians because the professionalization of librarianship is not firmly established in Japan. The two authors of the Russian chapter offer a different picture: Russian libraries were subject to the strongest pressures of the totalitarian state and were considered primary instruments for ideo­ logical influence. In the Soviet era, the development of professional ethics was Book Reviews 83 impossible. When the USSR collapsed, the library associations began discussions concerning the Russian Librarians’ Pro­ fessional Ethics Code, which was ap­ proved in 1999 at the Russian Library Association Conference. Today, courses on library ethics are taught in every li­ brary science program in Russia. In the chapter on the United States, the author reports that the ALA adopted a code of ethics as far back as 1939. The code has subsequently been revised several times; the latest revision was in 1995. The au­ thor identifies sixteen professional library organizations in the U.S. that have codes of ethics. Most of them were adopted in the 1990s. The author also lists nineteen national organizations that include “eth­ ics-like” elements in their mission or pur­ pose statement. In the countries that lack ethics policies or codes for libraries and librarians, efforts have been made to develop such codes. The author of the South Africa chapter states that apartheid required the suppres­ sion of the views of the majority of the people. After the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) was launched in 1997. The first draft of a code of ethics for library work­ ers in South Africa is presently in circula­ tion among LIASA officials. In Argentina, the author recognizes the absence of an ethics code but states that, instead, the rules of ethical behavior are understood by all officials and librarians. The author of the Mexico chapter discusses the long tradition of printed books and rich librar­ ies in Mexico. The Colegio Nacional de Bibliotecarios (an association for librarians who hold an academic degree) approved a code for professional ethics in 1992. How­ ever, the code is still unfamiliar to the li­ brary workers outside the association. Furthermore, the ethics code has not been sufficiently valued and studied by the li­ brary science community in Mexico. The Mexican Library Association will have an important role to play in establishing the ethics codes of the library profession in that country. 84 College & Research Libraries Alex Byrne, chairman of IFLA’s com­ mittee on Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), wrote an introduction for this volume. This book can serve as a primer for anybody wish­ ing to know more about library associa­ tions in general and about the develop­ ment of codes of ethics in particular.—Sha Li Zhang, Wichita State University. Expectations of Librarians in the 21st Cen­ tury. Foreword by Leigh Estabrook. Ed. Karl Bridges. Westport, Conn.: Green­ wood (Greenwood Library Manage­ ment Collection), 2003. 235p. alk. paper, $67.95 (ISBN 0313322945). LC 2002­ 28438. This is the third book in the Greenwood Library Management Collection series and consists of fifty-three short essays by information professionals. The contribu­ tors share their insights on what skills they think librarians of the twenty-first century must have to meet the growing demands of users and the resulting changes to library services and opera­ tions. This collection of essays will cer­ tainly be of interest to future librarians, but seasoned professionals also will find much that is thought provoking. These essays confirm that the changes and chal­ lenges many of us currently face are com­ mon to all academic libraries (only three of the essays are from public librarians). There are several recurrent themes in these essays, including technology, li­ brary use patterns, communication, im­ age, customer service, and, above all, change. The issues of change—what has changed, why it has changed, and how we deal with change—motivate nearly every essay. One contributor notes that change has become so prevalent that it permeates everything we do and that we should not expect a job description to re­ main stable for more than a couple of years. Though never articulated, the es­ says seem to fall into two broad catego­ ries: how the profession has changed, and what skills future librarians will need in order to work within this changing envi­ ronment. January 2004 Several contributors claim that technol­ ogy is undeniably the major cause of change. This change means that we must be able to provide assistance to users in a variety of software and hardware appli­ cations. The ability to distinguish between new technology and necessary technol­ ogy is, perhaps, even more important. If it were just about technology, librarians would have been replaced with machines long ago. In her foreword, Leigh Estabrook cat­ egorizes the characteristics that will be needed by future librarians into three broad areas: knowledge, skills, and atti­ tudes. Other contributors emphasize that librarians of the twenty-first century need to have a broad general education, good communication skills, flexibility and open-mindedness, and the capacity to multitask. A sense of humor also was mentioned in several essays. Surprisingly few of the contributors emphasized strong subject specialties; instead, most recommended that future librarians be good communicators who have a broad overall education. On the other hand, subject specialization was emphasized within the context of the research univer­ sity in which librarians work as fellow researchers with their teaching faculty colleagues. Research on library user behavior in­ dicates that patrons access information differently today than in the past. Because of this, the traditional dichotomy between public and technical services is blurring. Several contributors suggested that the distinction will disappear entirely be­ cause everyone who works within the li­ brary will focus equally on providing ac­ cess to information. Most of the essays, especially those by Angela Horne and Lorena O’English, emphasize strong cus­ tomer service skills; I encourage both of them to expand their essays in a future publication. So what kind of person will most likely possess the new skills? All of the contribu­ tors addressed this question, but a couple of them were especially creative in envi­ sioning the personal qualities needed.