556 College & Research Libraries May 2017 tion and disposition of data, and creating a preservation strategy). The final chapter of the book examines the current status of trustworthy systems and ideas about what trustworthy systems may look like in the future. This chapter would be of particular interest for anyone who is responsible for long-range planning of developing and/or maintaining a trustworthy repository. Bantin did an admirable job in his selection of authors for this book. Each section is written in a way that is beneficial for both new and seasoned practitioners in the field, including those chapters that are more technically based that are traditionally more challenging for nonexperts to read. Many of the implementation articles also include useful tables and figures that provide a valuable visual aid to the chapter content. However, the print quality of some of the more detailed images is poor, rendering some of the diagrams illegible. Although the content of each chapter is exceedingly valuable to the reader, some of the typical conventions of an edited volume fall a bit short. Each chapter features its own list of notes and works cited, but a comprehensive bibliography covering all of the resources addressed throughout the book would have been a welcome addition. The index includes cross-references of the acronyms referenced in each chapter. Lacking, however, is a glossary of some of the unfamiliar terms used throughout the book that would be of particular benefit for people who are newer to the topic or less versed in a certain aspect of digital repositories. The index is fairly comprehensive, although it is focused a bit more heavily on the institutions represented in the case studies as opposed to some of the topics that were addressed. For example, the term “metadata” is not listed in the index, despite the fact that there is an entire chapter dedicated to it and metadata is referenced in several chapters throughout the book. Despite the minor issues mentioned above, Building Trustworthy Digital Repositories is a well-written and thoughtfully constructed book. Depending on their individual focus and personal expertise, readers may be interested in reading the volume in its entirety or selecting only certain chapters to read to gain a deeper understanding of a particular topic. Bantin and his highly qualified authors have assembled a book that more than succeeds in its goal of providing a comprehensive overview of the full pro- cess of creating, supporting, and preserving a trustworthy digital repository. —Lisa M. McFall, Hamilton College Library Technology Buying Strategies. Ed. Marshall Breeding. Chicago: ALA editions, 2016. 136p. Paper, $55.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1467-0). Writing about technology, especially writing guides for technology, has often been compared to hitting a moving target or trying to nail gelatin to a wall. In fact, the process is more akin to trying to nail smoke to a wall; at least one can hold gelatin in place. Changes in the technology landscape happen at such a pace that a guide composed a year ago is nearly obsolete, while anything greater than five years old often has little more than historical value. So, when writing a guide for technology, it is important to focus on concepts that will hold true over time rather than dwelling on particular providers or specific systems. With a few exceptions, Library Technol- ogy Buying Strategies falls neatly into this category. Of equal importance, the book meets its stated objective: “My aim is to provide substance beyond the buzzwords and hype” (viii). Initially, one notices the lack of a chapter about hardware in this book about library technology. Items such as PCs, tablets, and other physical devices are discussed only in terms of how they relate to services. However, the introduction, that too often ig- nored section of any book, clearly lays out the scope and purpose of the work. In the case of this book, the term “library technology” refers to the framework of systems doi:10.5860/crl.78.4.556 Book Reviews 557 and electronic resources that undergird a library’s services, things like the Integrated Library System (ILS) or resource-sharing tools. The work is broken into well-organized chapters with meaningful subheadings. Most chapters also include sidebars or highlight boxes that bring out important con- cepts, which are useful for quick reminders or an overview. As the book is designed as a handbook, this feature allows needed information to be found easily. A robust index follows the last chapter. The first two chapters of the book, both written by Nikki Waller, discuss the writ- ing of a request for proposal (RFP). This placement is not by accident—the processes outlined in these chapters are the first steps to help library staff focus on what they really expect from new technology and how to realistically examine the available op- tions. The chapters are broken into sections that describe and explain the components of an RFP. Of great value are some examples of the vendor perspective—something not often encountered when one reviews RFPs produced by other libraries or institutions. Waller emphasizes that an RFP requires lots of hard, original work. Merely copying and pasting from RFPs produced by others is a false economy that can lead to poor results. Suggestions for creating and maintaining a task force to prepare an RFP are especially helpful, as are practical tips such as “Resist your inner Charlton Heston … if a specification reads like something Moses may have found etched on stone tablets … rewrite it” (20). Vendors and library staff alike appreciate clear language. Chapters 3 through 7 are all written by Marshall Breeding and deal with large-scale technologies such as resource sharing and cloud computing. In each chapter, Breeding puts the current state of technology in a historical context. For example, in the chapter 6 discussion of Software as a Service (SaaS), he describes the technology arc from servers and dumb terminals through powerful desktops to the current web-based solutions. He also takes the time to plainly define concepts such as SaaS and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) as well as explain their use in libraries. Each chapter describes the benefits and pitfalls of each type of technology. For instance, while moving to a hosted, web-based online catalog can show savings in personnel time and hardware expense, an institution would need to have a reliable high-speed Internet connection to fully realize the benefits of a remote server. Lacking that infrastructure, a library runs the risk of offering poor service in the way of slow- loading search results or frequent outages. He does not advocate technology for its own sake, as alluded to in the introduction, but emphasizes that each library will need to make decisions based on its own unique needs and circumstances. The last chapter of the book deals with e-book platforms, the task of writing about this electronic morass being bravely undertaken by Mirela Roncevik. The chapter follows the form of the rest of the book by addressing large concepts rather than suggesting current solutions. Roncevik describes the various issues one needs to take into account when reviewing an e-book provider, such format of the materials (PDF, ePub, HTML), technical requirements for viewing and so on. She also highlights considerations such as permanence of the collection. Does the subscriber own the material or merely rent? Library Technology Buying Strategies is an effective tool for “big picture” planning for new services. Specific vendors and services are mentioned only as illustrations of types of technology rather than as recommendations. There are a few examples of the pace of change outrunning the publishing cycle in the form of some URLs that no longer work and one product, Kuali OLE, having been subsumed by FOLIO. However, these minor quibbles can be overlooked due to the quality of the rest of the information in the book. The clear scope, understandable writing, and shortcuts like the sidebars make this volume valuable for any library staff considering purchasing library technology. —Michael C. McGuire, Colby College doi:10.5860/crl.78.4.557 _GoBack _GoBack _GoBack _GoBack _GoBack