College and Research Libraries


l· 

f 

• 

the experienced professional will find this 
both an excellent place to review or to 
"brush up" and to begin an extended study 
of a particular phase of his vocation. A 
minor annoyance to this . reviewer is the 
form in which the notes appear: only au-
thor, title, and the particular page or pages 
are listed. To get the full citation involves 
an unnecessary, separate trip to the bibliog-
raphy, where the author entry must be 
checked. 

This minor matter aside, Fred C. Cole 
and the Council on Library Resources (who 
supported the research); the Association 
for State and Local History, which pub-
lished the volume; and most of all Ken 
Duckett, are to be congratulated for pro-
ducing this very fine addition to library 
and archival literature.-Clyde C. Walton, 
North ern. Illinois University. 

Cowley, John, ed. Libraries in Higher Ed-
ucation: The User Approach to Service. 
Hamden, Conn.: Linnet Books, 1975. 
163p. $11.50. (ISBN 0-208-013710-7) 

Libraries in Higher Education is not, as 
the title implies, a study of libraries in all 
institutions of higher education, but is ac-
tually a series of essays by the staff of the 
North London Polytechnic reflecting the 
special concerns of polytechnic libraries. 
The British polytechnic institution as it 
stands today exists as a counterbalance to 
the university in the British system of high-
er education. First defined in a 1966 White 
Paper, entitled A Plan for Polytechnics and 
Other Colleges, which initiated their for-
mation ·through amalgamation of colleges 
of commerce, technology, design, and art, 
the polytechnics have swiftly evolved into 
institutions which satisfy the utilitarian 
needs of society, offer scheduling more 
flexible than that of the universities in or-
der to meet the needs of the mid-career 
student, and now are beginning to move to-
ward research and the liberal arts. 

The introductory essay in the volume by 
the editor gives a brief survey of the evolu-
tion of the polytechnic as an institution; 
but it is somewhat difficult for the non-
British librarian unfamiliar with the tradi-
tions of British higher education and its at-
tendant acronyms. 

Recent Publications I 277 

The volume proper is divided into two 
parts: "Promoting LiQ_rary Use" and "Sub-
ject Specialisation." Part one includes chap-
ters on "Organising for Reader Services," 
"Public Relations and Publicity," "Non-
print Media," and "Teaching Library· Use." 
While these essays are sincere descriptions 
of the working situations of librarians at-

, tempting to render quality service with in-
sufficient funding, they tend to be reitera-
tions of topics that have received more ex-
tensive and better treatment elsewhere in 
the professional literature. That is, they 
spring from the need for polytechnic librari-
ans to describe services they render, but 
they do not dwell on the polytechnic ex-
perience per se as much as on the problems 
that beset librarians everywhere. 

The last essay in part one, "Teaching Li-
brary Use," is of particular interest because 
it does attempt to delineate the British ex-
perience and the polytechnic approach to 
library instruction. In this article Nancy 
Hammond discusses the two distinct types 
of reader instruction that have developed 
in the polytechnic: that of the tutor-librari-
an responsible for all library instruction 
throughout the institution and that of the 
subject specialist who teaches in his or her 
area of expertise in addition to other duties. 

The second part of this book, "Subject 
Specialisation," outlines the activities of the 
subject specialist: provision, exploitation, 
teaching library use, and professional 
awareness. The specialist is a member of 
the library staff designated to develop one 
or more aspects of a library's collection and 
the array of services connected with it. 

While Libraries in Higher Education 
gives some insight into the polytechnic situ-
ation, its lack of focus on the specific ex-
perience and emphasis on general library 
problems undercut its usefulness. As source 
material for students it is of minimal value 
because of its scanty unclassified bibliogra-
phy and omission of bibliographical foot-
notes and index. Because very little litera-
ture exists on the polytechnic library, this 
volume will provide an elementary intro-
duction to the subject until a more compre-
hensive study is written.-Kathleen M. 
H eim, Director of Public Services, Rebecca 
Crown Library, Rosary College, River For-
est, Illinois. 

- -- - --- -------------- - -- ---- - --- - --- ----~