896 College & Research Libraries November 2014 definitely recommend this book as a beginning “how-to” guide. In Part B the reader will find clearly outlined steps, while part A provides a rich, historical perspective. I would recommend this valuable resource book to all librarians. —Kieren Bailey, Oakwood University, Huntsville, Alabama Anthony Aycock. The Accidental Law Librarian. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc., 2013. 247p. $39.50 (ISBN 9781573874779). LC 2013008051 The Accidental Law Librarian purports to be the “first comprehensive, non-scholarly book on law libraries in 20-plus years” written for those librarians who have been thrust into law librarianship. In satisfaction of this ambitious goal, the introduction promises to take the reader beyond the usual research basics to a discussion of a wide variety of topics that will help librarians develop and maintain appropriate collections and deliver high quality legal information services. The end result is a survey book that addresses the perceived educational gaps in graduate library and information programs for those librarians that “accidentally” end up working as law librarians in public, public law, and private firm libraries. Aycock’s writing is clever and his tone enlivening. He starts the work with an introductory overview of legal information resources. The chapter concludes with a historical discussion of modern legal publishing and the impact of rising publication costs on law library collections. Chapter 2 is Aycock’s nod to legal research. The chapter opens with a film noir re- search scenario. He then details the primary law (i.e., statutes, cases, and regulations) followed by a descriptive march through a variety of individual secondary research resources. The detail in this chapter would have benefited from some illustrations to break up the text. It is much easier to imagine a reader unfamiliar with the resources distinguishing and identifying the various sources if there were illustrations. He draws the chapter to a close by walking through the process necessary to research and resolve our sultry film noir heroine’s legal problem. Patrons and the reference interview follow next. Among the usual stories about the varied patrons that come to our reference desks, the chapter does provide a useful reminder that regardless of context, the reference interview is a reference interview. Respecting your patrons and understanding their information needs is always the first step! Also included is a lengthy discussion of the unauthorized practice of law that should be of particular interest to those librarians in public settings. In Chapters 4 through 8, Aycock focuses on how the work of law librarians is done. These chapters take the reader through the world of legal looseleafs, online subscription databases, free websites that provide legal information and resources, and the ever-evolving world of mobile research apps. Although he notes that the resources discussed are but a fraction of those available, it does seem unusual that some of the more well-known resources are not included: Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute (www.law.cornell.edu), Digital Commons Network (network.bepress.com), or Social Sciences Research Network (ssrn.com). This section concludes by noting that the work performed by law librarians will go well beyond the usual conception of legal research as librarians in firms seek personal and company information to support competitive intelligence as well as client-based legal work. The two most valuable chapters for any librarian are the last two. In Chapter 9, Aycock provides an array of educational tools and an honest discussion of the role of the JD and MBA for purposes of career advancement. The educational tools include everything from blawgs (law blogs) to research guides to encouragement to join pro- fessional associations and networks. Chapter 10 is the call to innovate and reinvent law libraries, and by extension, law librarianship. Survival depends not only on the ability of those that manage libraries to develop and deliver high quality services, but doi:10.5860/crl.75.6.896 Book Reviews 897 also on the ability to successfully and continuously educate the user on the value of those services. Although cleverly written, the content is rarely novel and in some instances sloppy. For example, Figure 2.1 is separated from the related text, and Paul Healey’s name is misspelled on page 56. In some instances, screenshots are faded and difficult to make out. On other occasions, ideas are randomly interjected into a chapter. For example, Chapter 2, which focuses on the patron, includes a discussion of law firm billing and non-legal research. On one hand, Aycock provides good career tips. For example, he suggests skim- ming newsletters to build familiarity with legal concepts and terms. On the other, he annoys the reader with a list of looseleaf supplement types that includes instructions on how to open a compression post binder and a list of problems that includes such inane items as “holes not aligning.” Wouldn’t we expect that anyone hired as a law librarian to be smart enough to figure this out? These annoyances and the production sloppiness detract from the quality of the writing and the research that is well docu- mented in each chapter’s endnotes. The work is perhaps too ambitious in its attempt to discuss law librarianship in all settings other than academic. Important messages such as understanding the full context in which you find yourself working are lost in the disjointedness. For example, the chapter on anxiety in the board room covers law firm specific topics such as client development, billing time, and cost recovery, but then flips to the public law library topic of dealing with trustees. The switching back and forth creates a disjointedness that can’t be overcome no matter how interesting the war stories. In the end, the book is an interesting read, though hardly surprising and less informative than one accidently “thrust” in law librarianship may actually need. Those readers seeking more advice might well look to John Azzolini’s Law Firm Librarianship, Issues, Practice and Directions (2012).—Catherine A. Lemmer, Head of Information Services, Ruth Lilly Law Library, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, Indiana.