College and Research Libraries of this century someone, perhaps Veaner himself, will produce such a book with the more inclusive focus of Rutherford D. Rogers and David C. We- ber's University Library Administration or Guy Lyle's The Administration of the Col- lege Library. In the meantime, academic librarians will profit from this work, es- pecially if they follow the author's ad- vice selectively and if they balance his portrayal of the land of academic librari- anship with the titles noted above and with other reading, including Beverly Lynch's recent The Academic Library In Transition. -Richard Hume Werking, Trin- ity University, San Antonio, Texas. Academic Libraries Research Perspec- tives. Ed. by Mary Jo Lynch and Arthur Young. ACRL Publications in Librarianship no. 47. Chicago: Ameri- can Library Assn., 1990. 271p. acid- free $27.50 (ISBN 0-8389-0532-3). LC 90-32120. This important book marks a stage in the development of librarianship as a science with an empirical base. The eight essays published here demonstrate that our profession, like other sciences, can build on research. We can cumulate it, replicate it, expand it where needed, and eschew pointless duplication. Moreover, we can apply the findings of empirical research to advance our prac- tice. What have we learned from research into the functions of academic libraries in the last twenty years? The eight writ- ers here, in chapters on collection devel- opment and management (Charles Os- burn), bibliographical control (Elaine Svenonius), access services (Jo Bell Whitlatch), instructional services (Mary W. George), bibliometrics (Paul Metz), the application of advanced technology (William Gray Potter), analysis and li- brary management (Malcolm Getz), and management theory and organizational structure (Beverly P. Lynch), character- ize, summarize, and direct our applica- tion of our research literature. They tell us what research has discovered and what remains to investigate. The biblio- graphic citations for each chapter, rang- Book Reviews 99 ing from seventeen (Getz) to 204 (George), also provide us with a map to the research literature. Compared to other disciplines, there- search base for librarianship is relatively new, not very deep, and often unused. Osburn characterizes the research in col- lection development and management as having started slowly and using di- verse methods; as applied, not basic; as pieces of a puzzle; and perhaps ready to move to a new plateau. Lynch observes, ''The literature on management of aca- demic libraries is large and diverse, and is comprised, by and large, of expert opinion. Little of this literature has a re- search orientation. The research that does exist is reported, for the most part, in doctoral dissertations and master's theses. These reports, unless revised and published in the journal literature, have little impact on the field as it is prac- ticed." Can we incorporate research findings into our work? This book suggests we can and should. For example, Sveno- nius, summarizing research on the data elements in descriptive cataloging, writes that library patrons use only a few of the data elements in the bibliographic record. "Full-level cataloging, particu- larly as rendered in the MARC biblio- graphic formats, is probably wasteful and excessive; it is certainly redundant. The present demand is for simpler and cheaper cataloging." While that de- mand is justified, she cautions that stan- dards for minimal level cataloging be de- veloped in light of research on all users of the catalog, including serious scholars, and acquisitions and reference librarians, as well as students and casual users. This book is full of information that we can apply on the job. For example, Whitlatch concludes that, in evaluating the job performance of reference staff, ''expert librarian judgment can serve as a substitute for surveying users." Or, we learn that patrons in the reference service tend to "approach staff who [are] standing rather than sitting." Li- brarians thinking of weeding collections should know that older books and peri- 100 College & Research Libraries odicals ''that received disproportionate use in their youth will continue to be more popular than their contemporaries as they age.'' In addition to provoking us to re- examine our work in light of research findings, the authors provide us with ideas for research that needs to be done. Whitlatch advises, "There are no good studies that look at loss rates across many libraries and systematically iden- tify variables influencing book loss rates." Metz urges that "local library use studies should focus more on the use of periodicals and especially on the surprisingly high use accorded current periodicals.'' These informed, specific suggestions are far more useful than the research agendas fashionably promul- gated by committees. The authors also identify research that merits replication. According to Osburn, the survey of cooperative col- lection development programs by Joe Hewitt and John Shipman is ''thorough enough to permit inferences about the general status" of cooperative collection development, but it should be repeated with medium-sized and smaller aca- demic libraries. George commends Margaret Steig's study of historians' use of information sources: "No other re- search on faculty library use approaches this article in scope and clarity. It should be undertaken in other disciplines with- out delay.'' All authors but one identify problems already sufficiently investigated. For ex- ample, since we know the low number of subject access points in the catalog is probably inadequate, further inquiries into the number of access points relative to recorded use ''do not appear likely to add much to our understanding." Or, unobtrusive studies of one measure of reference effectiveness, accuracy of an- swers, have provided enough informa- tion that there may be no need for addi- tional research on that topic. Unfortunately, small technical faults mar this exciting book. The lazy title is vague; the occasional weak editing toler- ates jargon and, in some places, a lack of synthesis. The citation style for disserta- January 1991 tions is inconsistent, and uneven spac- ing within the notes slows reading. The subject index could integrate the chap- ters more thoroughly. And the paper- back cover quickly kinks up like curly hair on a humid day. One wishes that the production had reached a standard as high as the book's intellectual con- tent. This book will be useful in library schools, to staff and administrators of academic libraries, and to people doing research. Although each chapter covers one function of librarianship, the reader- ship of each chapter should not be lim- ited to that specialty. Because the biblio- graphic record underlies all of our work, Svenonius on bibliographic control should be mandatory reading for every- one. Metz offers insights and informa- tion on the use of library materials valu- able to us all. Potter's clear synthesis of the literature of the last five years on ap- plications of advanced technology will enlighten anyone. The book deserves a wide audience, and, if it prods us to do better research and to apply its results, it will have a great effect in our profession.-Marcia Pankake, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 37 ~I /0 "2- ""' 6 3g7q EPX Beclier, Tony. Academic Tribes and Terri- tories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Cul- tures of Disciplines. Milton Keynes [En- gland] and Bristol, Pa.: Open University Pr., 1989. 197p. $65 (ISBN 0-335-09221-7); paper, $26 (0-335- 09220-9) LC 89-34087. During the past three decades, an in- creasingly useful and accessible body of data and theory on the sociology of aca- demic disciplines has been published. Academic librarians should begin to de- vote closer attention to it. The latest ad- dition to these investigations, written by Tony Becher, a professor of education at the University of Sussex, is clearly pre- sented, neatly structured, well documented-and overpriced-but it is definitely worth reading, especially by those librarians, such as administrators, bibliographers, and public service staff, whose success depends directly upon their ability to comprehend and respond