College and Research Libraries


80 I College & Research Libraries • January 1976 

both in instruction and in daily operations, 
is but one difference from the four-year in-
stitutions which is reflected in the philoso-
phy of the community college as reported. 

The most useful aspect of the report is 
the synthesis of interviews of staff members 
of the various institutions which provide a 
framework within which the budget is used 
to interpret the services provided. As a re-
sult this is a document which can be used 
to evaluate possible services and to justify 
budget requests for expansion of services 
or staff. College financial and administrative 
officers could read the report with profit. 
Its best uses will come from the clearer un-
derstanding of the functions of the learning 
resources programs provided and as a 
source of management data for budget 
planning until a more comprehensive study 

.is possible.-]ames 0. Wallace, Director 
of Learning Resources, San Antonio Col-
lege, San Antonio, Texas. 

Clarke, D. A., ed. Acquisitions from the 
Third World: Papers of the Ligue ·des 
bibliotheques europeennes de recherche 
seminar 17-19 September 1973. London: 
Mansell, 1975. 276p. £5.95 (U.S. 
$15.00) (Distributed in North America 
by International Scholarfy Book Services, 
Inc., P.O. Box 4347, Portland, OR 
97208) (ISBN 0-7201-0453-X) 

This volume contains the papers of a 
seminar sponsored by the Ligue des 
bibliotheques europeennes de recherche 
(LIBER), held in 1972 at the University 
of Sussex, Great Britain, dealing with the 
acquisition of materials from the "Third 
World." The introduction states that the 
purpose of the meeting was "to examine the 
problems of acquisition [of Third World 
publications]; the availability of materials 
in European libraries both for reference 
and for lending; and the feasibility of set-
ting up a European centre for the collec-
tion of such material, to be available for 
loan." These designs were clearly within the 
scope of LIBER's intentions which include 
a special effort to encourage cooperative re-
lationships among the research libraries of 
Western Europe. 

The recommendations offered by the 
seminar are largely predictable, somewhat 

lacking in specificity, and reminiscent of 
the aims and objectives of such antecedent 
efforts as NPAC, LACAP, and the Farming-
ton Plan. The seminar suggests, for exam-
ple, that the acquisition of Third World 
material is important to meet the needs of 
scholars, that at least one copy of this pub-
lished material should be available in a li-
brary in Europe, and that the collecting of 
this material must proceed from coopera-
tion with library and book trade centers in 
countries of the Third World. The seminar 
further recommends that LIBER should es-
tablish a "working party" to undertake the 
implementation of these proposals. 

It is particularly encouraging to note, 
however, that the seminar placed special 
emphasis on the need for general availabili-
ty as opposed to widespread ownership of 
these materials, going so far as to suggest 
the establishment of a European lending 
library for Third World publications. In ad-
dition, the seminar made specific mention 
of the need to ensure the availability of in-
formation concerning the location of loan-
able copies. Too often, much ado is made 
about interlibrary loan in lieu of local own-
ership, but unless the scholar is provided 
with quick and easy information regarding 
alternate locations, much time and effort is 
lost or repeated. 

The real strength of this publication is 
to be found in the content of the chapters 
of the individual contributors . One hesitates 
to single out any of the papers on grounds 
that to do so would suggest that the rest are 
somewhat pedestrian by comparison. It is 
perhaps sufficient to note that here are to 
be found theoretical considerations for the 
head of collection development, practical 
suggestions for the acquisitions librarians, 
and historical perspectives for the student. 
In short, the collection of parts is greater 
than their sum. 

As is so often the case with the publica-
tion of conference proceedings, this volume 
did not appear until two years after the 
close of the seminar. It is regrettable that 
the publishing cycle frequently introduces 
such inordinate delays, and we are perhaps 
fortunate that th~ hiatus was not greater in 
this instance.-]. Michael Bruer, Associate 
University Librarian, New York University. 

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