College and Research Libraries 234 I College & Research Libraries • May, 1966 pects of library planning, including library objectives, financial matters (must reading not only for the librarian but also for the college or university administrator who wants to understand something of the many variables that influence library building costs), the concept of modular design ( cer- tainly the most comprehensive treatment of this subject in print), ceiling heights, traffic patterns (a broad-scope chapter de- voted to all aspects of the problem from the location of stairways and elevators to the spatial relationships of each element of the building), lightning, mechanical prob- lems, and furniture and equipment. The treatment of each of these topics is pains- takingly thorough as Dr. Metcalf brings every possible point of view to bear on the discussion. Each chapter warrants the most careful study, although the material on furniture and equipment (because the au- thor was relying on publication of a man- ual on library furniture, in preparation by the Library Technology Project of the American Library Association but not yet available) is the least satisfactory. Library design has few stock answers and in some instances there may be three, four, or more, possible solutions to a given problem. Dr. Metcalf's detailed analysis of such building problems not only reveals their complexities, but very often requires that the reader make his own value judg- ments based on the factors inherent in his own situation. In some cases the author provides no answer but is content simply to ask the basic questions that must be answered before a solution can be identi- fied. Since many of these discussions are fairly technical, the first section of the book is probably more useful to the library plan- ner with some prior experience and knowl- edge-be he architect, consultant, or li- brarian. At the same time, these chapters will repay careful study by the inexperi- enced librarian who is planning a new building, and especially by the architect who has not previously designed a library. The six chapters that comprise Part Two cover such topics as planning preliminaries, assignable space requirements, initial plan- ning steps, and the construction period and final stages of building, up to and including dedication ceremonies. Five appendices, in- cluding a selective bibliography, a glossary, and an index, complete the volume. The il- lustrations are generally excellent. Much of the material in the book is ap- plicable to libraries of any size, but where size is a consideration, the author is quick to point out its possible effects on planning. Strangely, however, to this reviewer at least, the illustrations are, save for those of the Lamont library, exclusively of large research libraries, and one wishes that plans of at least a few of the excellent small col- lege libraries constructed in recent years might have been included. Audio-visual facilities, which form an im- portant feature of many recent college and university library buildings, as well as those now in the planning stage, receive only brief treatment. Design criteria for indi- vidual and group listening facilities, acous- tical problems, the layout of control center equipment, and related problems are not touched upon. Nor does Dr. Metcalf dis- cuss the design or potential use of the electronic or environmental carrel, although there seems little doubt that this will be a feature of many academic libraries in the future. But these omissions are minor and undoubtedly reflect the severe lack of in- formation in these areas. This book should be read by every aca- demic librarian involved in a new build- ing. Hopefully, it will also be widely known and read by library architects. As a ref- erence work and as a contribution to the literature of the profession, it belongs on the shelves of every library of any signifi- cance-public as well as academic.-Frazer G. Poole, University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. Alphabetical Subject Indication of In- formation. By John Metcalfe. Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers, The State University (Rutgers Series on Sys- tems for the Intellectual Organization of Information, Susan Artandi, Ed.) New Brunswick, N.J., 1965. 148p. The Coming Age of Information Tech- nology. Ed. by Vladimir Slamecka. Doc- umentation Incorporated (Studies in Co- ordinate Indexing, v.6). 1965. ix, 166p. $5.- The Coming Age of Information Tech- nology comprises a dozen papers published between 1961 and 1964 dealing mainly with problems of terminology control in indexing; it continues the series of Studies in Co-ordinate Indexing. At least one half of the papers included in this volume are by active or past members of Documenta- tion Incorporated. The selection thus re- flects an orientation of specific corporate provenance rather than typical coverage of the chosen field. Although in the lead article it is stated that librarianship is a particular application of information technology (p.5) and fur- ther it is admitted that libraries are store- houses of recorded information (p.17) the volume is not devoted to problems of application of information technology on a general scale as the title of this book sug- gests. Most of the papers included in this volume are devoted to the techniques of terminology control in specific and narrow fields of application. The universality of the principles and techniques of informa- tion control claimed to be now available for those who care to employ them (p.4) is not at all explored in this volume with reference to collections of information rec- ords of general scope and large size. The techniques examined are only those ap- plied to specialized documentation centers, and they do not appear to be readily trans- ferable to more general situations of the conventional library. In this sense the title of the book is rather optimistic. Notwithstanding these qualifications the volume constitutes a valuable contribution to the reading shelf of the librarian. Most of the papers reprinted in this volume would otherwise likely escape the attention of the librarian who too often allows himself to be overwhelmed by the current prob- lems of the existing situation with too little time left for analyzing the causes of his imminent predicament. The most significant contribution to the existing practical problem of library auto- mation is found in the paper entitled "Ma- chine Compilation and Editing of Printed Alphabetical Subject Indexes," by Vladimir Slamecka (originally published in Ameri- can Documentation, v. XV, no. 2, April 1964. pp.132-35). In his analysis of subject heading structure the author puts the finger on the problem of machine control of sub- ject terminology. The isolation of "formal" Book Reviews I 235 or predictable (i.e. generic and invariable) relationships between terms as distinct from variable relationships (unpredictable seman- tic relationships between terms) may be considered to constitute a restatement of the obvious. However, the practical disre- gard of this fundamental distinction, which has been also almost systematically over- looked by theoreticians of the library pro- fession, has turned most of the recent mechanized systems of bibliographic con- trol into rather ineffective imitations of the conventional subject catalog. Two other papers merit particular in- terest. "Automatic Subject Indexing from Textual Condensations," by Vladimir Sla- mecka and Pranas Zunde indicates a . po- tentially effective alternative to subject terminology control by subject headings. "Documentation, Information Retrieval and other New Techniques," by the late Morti- mer Taube, originally written for the Li- brary Quarterly in 1961, deals among other problems with the failure of our library schools to respond to the changes brought about by the new developments in informa- tion technology. Still valid is Taube's argu- ment that instead of concentrating on spe- cific techniques and skills, applicable to li- braries or documentation centers, the li- brary schools should equip their students with the underlying theory that would per- mit them to devise techniques appropriate to the objectives of any particular situation. Little has changed since 1961, and today's library school graduates are hardly better equipped to deal with problems of in- formation at its various levels of specificity than were their colleagues a decade ago, even if today some are taking courses in computer programing, electronic data proc- essing techniques, or .. information retriev- al." The complex relationships between gen- eral information structures (describing books) and more specific structures ( repre- senting smaller information units than books) constitute a fundamental problem of the practical application of information technology to the library and the documen- tation center. The problem is the same for both. In terms of theory there is no dis- tinction; in terms of practical techniques the distinction between the library and the documentation center is one of degree only, 236 I College & Research Libraries • May, 1966 and it is indeed unfortunate that the li- brary profession is reluctant to pay more than token interest to a fundamental re- view of library school curricula, most of which do not yet reflect any appreciable degree of change from techniques and skills to theory and principles. Metcalfe's work is a spontaneous com- mentary on conventional subject headings. Although a systematic account of the sub- ject heading systems used in library catalogs is long overdue, Mr. Metcalfe's contribution nevertheless is a most needed one. Much appreciated are his comments on a great number of problems that arise from the practical use of subject headings, particu- larly those of the Library of Congress. These comments appear to have originated from a thorough familiarity with the con- ventional card catalog system, although some of the terminology used and examples analyzed indicate an attempt to exceed the card catalog orientation. About one half of the work, entitled "His- torical Background," is devoted to a re- view of theories and practice of subject headings in the English-speaking world since C. A. Cutter. One would like to know more about some of the systems sketched here rather briefly (e.g., Kaiser's Concrete-process). A comparative review of other terminology systems, e.g., German, would have helped the analysis. The princi- pal part of the work is covered in the chap- ter entitled "Input to the System." A sec- tion on cross references is of particular use- fulness since in recent library literature there are virtually no systematic expositions describing the various functions of referral hidden under the uniform "see also" formu- la. The remaining chapters are devoted to fil- ing of subjects headings (entitled "The Store To Be Searched") and "Searching Methods and OutPut." In his criticism of the subject heading practice of the Library of Congress (p.116) and the British National Bibliography (p.75) the author comments on the in- efficiency of the BNB system and the in- consistency of the LC system. Some of these comments are of far reaching im- portance if mechanization of subject head- ing systems . is considered. Automated ap- plications to subject terminology control, however, are hardly considered in this vol- ume. Three pages (p.131-33) and scat- tered comments are devoted to this aspect without indicating the implications of mechanized control of subject terminology as distinct from the use of mechanically compiled alphabetical lists of such terms. To the reviewer automation of subject terminology appears greatly more complex than "a coin operated mechanism in which there is selection by means of an alpha- betical list" (p.122). Problems of subject terminology organization and referencing methods in an automated environment be- come principally different from the struc- ture of an alphabetical list and a conven- tional catalog. Also, the latest experience with computer-generated catalogs indicates that mechanically compiled catalogs do not appear to bear out the author's hope that such catalogs in "page form" (p.130) will solve the "takeout" (p.129) problem. Even more crucial for automation is the problem of the structure of subject termi- nology. Nothing less than a true system and a theory is required. In this sense the lat- est exposition, as the author notes (p.18), still is that by C. A. Cutter, in 1904.- Ritvars Bregzis, University of Toronto. The Community College Library: A Plan for Action. By Helen R. Wheeler. Ham- den, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1965. 170p. $5. (65-16220). This study is based on a questionnaire sent out in 1964 to 198 community college libraries. Mter a chapter on the ten criteria for an effective community college library program, there is a chapter summing up current practice reported in the 103 re- sponses to the questionnaire. Current prac- tice is far from meeting these criteria. The author asserts that "administrators, library directors and other faculty lack a system- atically prepared description of the ways in which their libraries can support the unique functions and needs of their institutions." She reports that librarians, however, are convinced that given . proper budgets and proper recognition of their importance, they could do much to support post-high school education whether it be junior college, technical, or adult, which is the role of the community college.