College and Research Libraries Slote's book, basically a reworking of his frequently cited dissertation, shows that the fiction collections of several New Jersey public libraries conform in general to the "law of scattering" observed in other sub- ject areas and other kinds of libraries. In brief, since recently used books are most likely to be reused books, they should con- stitute any library's "core" collection. Un- used books should be stored or discarded. Since Slote intends his book to be a text- book, he also gives a brief history of weed- ing, a review of weeding literature, a re- buttal of other weeding criteria, and a clear description of "scientific" weeding routines. On the practical side, Slote' s weeding method is sensible and workable. As a text- book, however, the book is weakened by its narrowness of vision. For example, stu- dents need to consider at length the impli- cations of. the very real conflict that exists in academia between those who see the li- brary as a repository and those who see it as a use-oriented knowledge dispenser. Stu- dents should also think about the peculiar coincidence that the no-growth model of the library has emerged simultaneously with the emergence of the no-growth model of the economy at large. That is, are we in- novating or are we merely being swept along? On the mathematical side, surely graduate students should at least be shown ~~mathematical proofs," no matter if, as Slot~. says (p.64), they are "difficult to fol- low. Such general questions aside, the book is badly organized, repetitive, and unneces- sarily combative in tone. Rigorous editing could have reduced it to a longish how-to- do-it article for one of the general library periodicals. As it stands, it is a disappoint- ing handling of an important idea, especial- ly when compared with so solid a book as Buckland's Book A1)ailability and the Li- brary User (Pergamon, 1975) which de- velops this subject (as well as others) with such greater incisiveness.-Peter Dollard, Monteith Library, Alma College, Alma, !Jfichigan. Buckland, Michael · K., Book Availability and the Library User. New York: Perga- mon, 1975. 196p. '$7.50 pa. (LC 74- 8682) . (ISBN 0-08-017709-3) (ISBN 0- 08-018160-0 pa.). Recent Publications I 425 Although the publisher's price of $7.50 for the paperback edition may appear a bit steep for a 196-page monograph, this book should · become a Classic. The investment in · a personal copy should not be be- grudged; it is a small price to pay for pro- fessional survival. The point may be ar- gued, but I believe that Buckland's great- est contribution is his ability to develop a perspective on libraries and their problems which is thoroughly modem. For example, Buckland recognizes and accepts a fact which much of the profes- sion tries to ignore: that libraries are finite in nature, that there must and should be limits to their growth. Recognition of our limits must increase our awareness of the need to structure the library within those limits so that the best · possible service can be provided to library users. Service to users is, after all, the means by · which most libraries today justify their existence and their annual budget requests. Yet as Buckland points out, there remains a great disparity in the attention paid by the profession to intellectual access and physical access or availability. The prior- ities assigned by users, and by funding agencies as well, have been clear for quite some time. What has been written on a subject, or even what the library owns on a subject, is generally a matter of less inter- est than what the library has available on the subject to meet a need at a specific time. For those librarians ready to accept the concept of the limited library with service to users as its objective, Buckland suggests a number of methods for improving service and -measuring it which have been devel- oped through his own research and that of others. Even a partial list of these tools is impressive. One may determine what the optimum size of the library should be, what titles it should contain, and how long those titles should be retained. It is possible to directly measure user frustration with the library and to quantitatively measure the library's performan~e by its ability to make materials available when needed and to satisfy itS users on a continuing basis. The key to availability lies in understand- ing the relationship betWeen user demand, loan period, and duplication policy. Clearly the -level of demand will vary from title to 426 I College & Research Libraries • September 1975 title ·throughout the collection. Therefore, if titles with high demand are to be avail- able, the library must either provide addi- tional copies or insure that the single copy is not kept out by one borrower for an ex- tended time, thus denying access to other borrowers. Buckland proposes a variable loan policy with short loans for popular ti- tles and longer loans for less used materi- als. Librarians who still have doubts about their ability to secure quicker book returns by simple reducing the official loan period may opt for more duplicates. The impor- tant point is recognition of the interrela- tions among these factors and their impact upon library service. The experience at Lancaster demon- strates that when the library begins to sup- ply what is wanted when it is wanted (greater immediate availability), not only will user frustration decline and user satis- faction increase, but total use of the library will be stimulated as well. Per capita cir- culation at Lancaster increased by more than 100 percent in the first year and ap- pears to be enjoying more modest but con- tinued growth through the present. The format of the book suggests the hope that it be adopted as a required text in li- brary schools-a hope that practicing li- brarians with a service orientation will probably share. Some may object to the highly structured textbook approach, com- plete with outlines and summaries for each chapter, but most will approve of the place- ment of much of the theoretical background and mathematics in separate appendixes. The ·bibliography also appended is excel- lent. Unless professional education is even more irrelevant than we think, Buckland's book will probably see widespread use. So be prepared for young librarians who not only take the rhetoric of service seriously, but have the desire and the knowledge to begin transforming rhetoric into reality.- Robert L. Burr, Director of Circulation, Earl Gregg Swem Library, College of Wil- liam & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. Josey, E. J., ed. New Dimensions for Aca- demic Library Service. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1975. 349p. $12.50. (LC 74- 30062) (ISBN 0-8108-0786-6) In his introduction E. J. Josey explains how recent trends have changed the aca- demic library; so he sought competent per- sons to write these twenty-five original es- says entitled New Dimensions for Academ- ic Library Service. Because academic li- brarians strive to play a more influential role. on curriculum committees or academic senates, this series of essays focuses on the initiative of librarians, information scien- tists, and educators. Four main ideas are featured in the book: ( 1) the library as a vital component of higher education; ( 2) new approaches in solving academic library problems; ( 3) unscrambling academic li- brary issues; and ( 4) patterns of library in- formation systems, networks, and consortia providing information and library services to academic library users. The reader learns that many active li- brarians are interested in where academic education is heading and on whom it is cen- tered. Several librarians have exerted them- selves to solve the problems that face academe. A theme that threads itself throughout the essays is change. Change has occurred because of the need to give better service and to address that service to the cynosure of education, the student or user, not the classroom or the teacher. Part One states that despite the financial bind higher education finds itself in today, academic library programs are examining themselves and changing to more qualita- tive service, to a concept that will break down barriers between student/teacher, li- brarian/faculty, and other arbitrary com- partmentalizations. The use of newer media especially in community colleges augurs well for the future, as well as the trend to- ward separate undergraduate libraries in large universities . . The problems tackled in Part Two indi- cate activities should be oriented toward the library users, what they need, for in- stance, using computer applications when available, especially looking to the future; also, intimate . collecting and sharing ar- rangements, if only at the regional level. In facing up to the change in today's educa- tion, librarians must discover users' needs, even though their involvement in student and faculty activities may result. Besides such involvement at the local level, interest must exist in national concerns such as sub- ject headings for the people, or financial problems affecting black college libraries.