240 College & Research Libraries March 2015

collections, while preserving the resources necessary to support various stakeholders 
with varying needs. Similarly, library directors must grapple with the challenge of re-
structuring academic space to best accommodate shifting needs for study and research 
space. Finally, library directors are compelled to devote scarce temporal and financial 
resources to marketing the library and its centrality to the academic institution. All 
of these demands create the need for additional entrepreneurial skills on the part of 
library leaders. Last, the book concludes with another coauthored essay, “Marriage 
between Participatory Leadership and Action Research to Advocate Benefits Equality 
for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered People: An Extended Human Rights 
Role for Library and Information Science.” Authors Bharat Mehra and Donna Braquet 
draw attention to the fundamental role of library leaders in orchestrating change and 
increasing diversity within their institutions. Moreover, they encourage library leaders 
to actively advocate for human rights and social justice by employing research-based 
evidence to support proposals that advance social justice. They also suggest that library 
leaders must become actively involved in political decision making and administrative 
policy development. Academic library leaders must encourage participation within 
their libraries, and they must also recognize that, in the end, action is necessary to 
generate optimal change.

Ultimately, Leadership in Academic Libraries Today: Connecting Theory to Practice is a 
valuable tool for extant and aspiring leaders of academic libraries. It is an ambitious 
book in that it covers a broad area: from theory to practice to strategies for systemic 
institutional and professional change. Nonetheless, breadth does not preclude the 
depth of the individual chapter essays, all of which provide significant contributions to 
the library management literature. In addition, each chapter includes a salient “Refer-
ences” section that can guide an interested reader to an even larger body of relevant 
literature. In the end, leaders of academic libraries would be remiss to overlook this 
book. It offers something of significance to every reader. Most important, it shares 
a critical vision that can guide us to a more equitable, efficacious future.—Lynne F. 
Maxwell, West Virginia University College of Law. 

Dania Bilal. Library Automation: Core Concepts and Practical Systems Analysis, Third Edi-
tion. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited, 2014. 279p. $55.00 (ISBN 978-1-59158-922-8). 

In her book, Library Automation: Core Concepts and Practical Systems Analysis, Third Edi-
tion, Bilal discusses at length integrated library systems (ILS), provides an overview 
of the Library Automation Lifecycle (LALC), and emphasizes throughout the fact that 
technology changes rapidly. As a result of technological change, libraries will always 
be involved in some kind of ILS implementation project. The book is specifically de-
signed for MLIS graduate students, educators, and researchers interested in library 
automation and ILSs, yet the author also created a valuable resource that any type of 
library can use as a reference. 

In the first chapter, Bilal provides a short description of hardware and software 
components and characteristics of an ILS, including purpose, environment, interfaces, 
and constraints. The author also discusses proprietary and open source ILS software, 
modules, and functions. Bilal mentions the idea that the discovery interface delivers 
a Web 2.0 experience by delivering multiple resources in one search, as well as social 
tagging and the ability for users to generate their own content about the materials 
within new ILSs. The shift from traditional ILS to cloud-based library service platforms 
is also discussed.

Most of the rest of the chapters describe the phases of a LALC project. The second 
chapter covers the planning process within the framework of the LALC. Bilal describes 
the first phase, system identification and planning, and its tasks, such as researching 

doi:10.5860/crl.76.2.240



Book Reviews 241

existing technologies and advancements (of which the author provides recommenda-
tions), and outlining responsibilities of the project manager. She provides examples 
of worksheets for estimating projected tangible costs of a project. Assessing potential 
risks, as with every new project, is also an important part of this phase. 

In chapter 3, Bilal covers the second phase of the LALC, gathering user require-
ments. She describes characteristics of gathering user requirements, methods for 
collecting essential data, and outcomes of gathering user requirements. Methods for 
information gathering that she includes are interviews, surveys, observations, and 
qualitative and quantitative methods. Bilal provides valuable information in regard 
to conducting information gathering, especially in regard to the various interviewing 
methods. She also breaks down data-gathering methods, outcomes, and tasks into an 
easy-to-reference table.

Chapter 4 covers the third phase of LALC, structuring user requirements and se-
lecting a system. Bilal discusses analyzing acquired user requirements and examines 
sources for identifying ILS software. Creating a request for proposal (RFP) document 
and discussing the advantages and disadvantages of creating such a document takes 
up a good portion of this chapter, and with good reason: it is a massive undertaking 
and, once started, needs to meet the needs of the client and the vendor. Bilal describes 
what is needed in an RFP very clearly. The appendix has an excellent example of an 
RFP and illustrates quite well each of the steps Bilal outlines. She also discusses a 
selection of ILS products in this chapter. 

Phase IV is split into two chapters. Chapter 5 covers the first part of system imple-
mentation, preparing the collection for the ILS. This involves weeding the collection, 
collection inventory, shelf list analysis, retrospective conversion, cost analysis, ensur-
ing compatibility with bibliographic standards, barcoding the collection, and more. 
She provides a list of outsourcing options if libraries want to go that route. Chapter 
6 describes the second part of phase IV, which entails more on system implementa-
tion aspects of the project. These include methods of installing the new ILS, testing a 
proprietary or open source system, and configuring the ILS, reminding the reader that 
each library needs to customize its ILS to reflect its institution’s branding. There is also 
discussion on importing data into the new ILS as well as getting cataloguing and MARC 
21 data transferred into new ILS, hardware and ILS documentation, maintenance, and 
support. Bilal includes a useful list of security systems vendors. The topic of staff and 
patron training on using the new ILS is also an essential step in this phase.

In chapter 7, Bilal describes software, hardware, and network architectures used in 
libraries and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The author includes on-site 
software and hardware hosting, cloud software and hardware hosting, software-as-
a-service, single-tenant software hosting, and remote software hosting. Particularly 
interesting is her inclusion of advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing, as 
well as the section on network protocols, topologies, and standards. 

Bilal discusses system migration and outlines reasons and processes for migration, 
and she lists tasks for the completion of in-house data migration in the eighth chapter. 
She also mentions outsourcing as an option. Bilal carefully points out essential elements 
that the ILS project team needs to be mindful of during the migration process, such as 
data cleanup and system requirements. Data and understanding schemas and scripts 
are central to this phase, and Bilal recommends reviewing current literature on library 
automation, looking at the automation software packages, and reading case studies on 
how other institutions have handled the ILS migration process. Why start at ground 
zero when other institutions have probably already made the move and have been kind 
enough to pass on their processes? Something key that she mentions, especially as libraries 
adopt new technologies and systems, is that library automation is a constant endeavor.



242 College & Research Libraries March 2015

In chapter 9, the final phase of LALC, she discusses usability assessment methods 
for evaluating the organization’s and library’s websites, and the discovery interface. 
The focus on this chapter is primarily the user. Bilal describes various user groups, 
system attributes, and task attributes, and also discusses the importance of collecting 
data about users and information-seeking behavior, citing names that should be familiar 
to library students and professionals, such as Carol Kuhlthau and Donald Normand. 
The final chapter includes discussion of the dynamic nature of library automation in the 
rapidly changing computing and information technologies environment. Bilal also adds 
to the discussion regarding the shift of physical collections to more electronic content 
and collections. The increase in next-generation automation systems, advancements 
in computer technologies, and various other topics are also at the heart of this chapter.

Bilal has an extensive background in the material. She earned her doctorate in library 
and information from Florida State University and is professor of information sciences 
at the School of Information Sciences, College of Communication and Information at 
the University of Tennessee. She is well versed in information systems design and 
implementation, human-computer interaction, research methods, and mining the web, 
and teaches on these subjects. She has written extensively on user information behav-
ior, interaction with information systems, system usability assessment, and interface 
design from the users’ perspectives. 

Bilal provides a thorough and excellent example of what libraries should put to-
gether from phase I. With the inclusion of the appendix, various lists and tables, and 
focus on developing technologies in regard to ILS changes, this book can provide any 
library with guidelines and tasks to follow to ensure its system is up and running. 
Since she provides information for small, special, and large libraries, Bilal has created 
an all-inclusive resource. The author also discusses proprietary and open source soft-
ware, as well as cloud services. The only drawback to this book is the in-text citations 
with the full link to a site, which could be distracting to the reader. It is possible this 
is better for the e-book, although less so for the print version. It may have been better 
to include the in-citation link in terms of a superscripted number. At the end of each 
chapter, she includes references and websites, which may be quite helpful to anyone 
wanting more information on what is discussed in each chapter. Also included in the 
book are a comprehensive glossary of terms and a decent and well-organized index 
of terms.—Lizzy Walker, Wichita State University.