College and Research Libraries tory course in library science, this book well fulfills its purpose. The various chapters cover: library history through the centuries; the place of the libr~ as a social and cul- tural force and as a responsible communica- tion network in society; the importance of reading and of "knowing men and books"; librarianship in a new role in the field of in- formation science and the study of informa- tion processing devices and techniques such as computers and network systems; the "structure, organization and record," of the library and information science profession; the educational and research requirements. Two chapters in the book were written by other people: chapter 4, ccDeus ex machina,, by La Vahn Overmyer, a faculty member of the Case ·Western Reserve Li- brary School, and chapter 8., "Library and Information Services," by Margaret Ander- _son of the University of Toronto Library School faculty. This book provides an interesting and readable introduction to the field of librari- anship and information science. Jesse Shera is a literary man, .a scholar, and a human- ist. He writes well, with sophistication, and with a sense of humor. He cites authorities, and he expresses his own personal opinion and personal philosophy about the field of librarianship. He speaks for a balance be- tween technology and scholarship and testi- fies to the breadth and depth and richness of the library profession. In the prologue of his book, Shera says, c'The aim of this book, then, is not to introduce, much less to formulate, a philosophy of librarianship, or even to present a 'state of the art' sum- mary, but rather to provide some insight into what librarianship is and the opportu- nities it offers to one who might choose it , as a career. ·. In the opinion of this reviewer, Dr. Shera achieves his goal and much more. His book is interesting, readable, entertaining, and a contribution to librarianship.-Martha Boaz, Dean, School of Library Science, University of Southern California, Los ·An- geles. Gates, Jean Key. Introduction to Librarian- ship. 2d ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976. 288p. $9.95. LC 75-42316. ISBN ·' 0-07-022977-5. The first edition of this book proved to Recent Publications I 165 be a valuable introduction and guide to the basic elements of librarianship. The second edition continues the good work and is wel- comed as an important title in the McGraw- Hill Series in Library Education. The book has three major divisions: Part One, The Story of Libraries; Part Two, Librarianship as a Profession; and Part Three, Kinds of Libraries and Library Service. The two ap- pendixes include Guides for Professional Performance and a Bibliography. Jean Gates, in the prologue, states that the book is about 'libraries, librarians, and librarianship. It offers indications and sug- gestions about what they have been, what they are now, what they should be, and what they may become." The author says that the book is "introductory" in nature and proposes to introduce the student to the history of libraries and librarianship, to provide a basis for the understanding of li- brary objectives and services, and to instill an appreciation of librarianship . as a pro- fession. Included also is information about the various kinds of libraries, the types of library services, information about impor- tant library leaders, about professional or- ganizations, about library education, and about current problems, issues, and trends. For those persons who wish to pursue given topics to greater lengths there are ex- cellent footnotes and bibliographical cita- tions. The material is presented directly and clearly, and the book is an excellent text for an introductory foundation course in library science. It can also serve as a supplement to many other courses in the curriculum and should be required reading of every li- brary school student.-Martha Boaz, Dean, School of Library Science, University of Southern .California, Los Angeles. Rayward, W. Boyd. The Universe of Infor- mation: The Work of Paul Otlet for Doc- umentation and International Organisa- tion. (FID 520) Moscow: Published for International Federation for Documenta- tion (FID) by All-Union Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (VINITI), 1975. 389p. 40 Dutch guil- ders. (Available from International Fed- eration for Documentation, 7 Hofweg, The Hague, Netherlands.) This is perhaps · the most depressing book that I have ever read-or at least in a class 166 I College & Research Libraries • March 1977 with Middleton's selection of Nietzsche's letters, though for almost the opposite rea- son. No such hints are given the reader at the begi:r:tning as to how badly things are going to turn out at the end. Rayward has done a thorough and ele- gant job of threading through the maze of Otlet' s multifarious concerns and has docu- mented his sad tale more than generously, except in the single regard that he quotes Otlet' s diary seldom, cites it less, and gives no precise references to it (perhaps due to the none-too-neat state of any such manu- script). But one can scarcely ever encoun- ter a fact in need of back-up that does not receive its due in a footnote (four of the chapters have almost 100 each!). The book is hard to read, unfortunately, because of its typography; but with its pro- duction in Russia I was surprised to en- counter only two sense-destroying errors. (Page 44 has a line repeated and one omitted, and page 159 has a less easily ex- plained error also involving repetition.) The list of illustrations would have been more to the reader's convenience if it had includ- ed page numbers. Otlet is shown throughout as an idealist concerned for synthesis, a concern that arose from his neoscholastic and then pos- itivistic educational influences and gave rise not only to his interest in universal classifi- cation (the Universal Decimal Classifica- tion) and universal documentation (the Repertoire Bibliographique Universe!, etc.) but also to his interest in internationalism in general (the Union of International Asso- ciations, the Palais Mondial, the League of Nations Committee on Intellectual Cooper- ation, etc.). He is shown throughout as an innovator more concerned with plans and systems than with day-to-day operations, though he was by no means above digging into such operations when necessary, espe- cially to show the way. But (and this is what makes the book so very depressing) Rayward also shows, probably without being thematically aware of it himself, how such a person can be de- stroyed by others: those who think they are being helpful but don't really understand what is globally at risk; administratively minded persons who are really only con- cerned for the balance of the books or for a favorable "image" and who see them- selves as saving what is good in a grandiose but "impractical" idea, thus catastrophical- ly diluting it; governments or their surro- gates who know that success in a political world depends on flexibility, but whose Hex is seen later as having been in one direction only (or who Hex the other way when po- litical pressures allow it, but late enough to have dealt the idea a fatal wound); tinkerers with a system who think that its own internal principles are not what must be preserved and who diffuse its effect so that it grows lopsided and ultimately un- appealing to its potential funders and users. Whether we side with UDC or not, with internationalism or not, with idealism or not, this book should be widely read as much for the human as for the professional message it carries. Otlet had good ideas and embodied them well, and the forces that destroyed his hopes can now largely be seen as the sources of the very lacks that keep FID and UDC from moving into the current need-vacuum. Otlet was ahead of his time in that the means were not then available to realize his ideas, but that is what it all too often means to be an innovator. If the necessary means now are available, let us be sure to look back at the experience of the International Institute of Bibliography and its major founder before we move forward, lest we move forward once more into disappoint- ment and defeat.-]. M. Perreault, Univer- sity of Alabama in HuntsviUe Library. World Guide to Technical Information and Documentation · Services. Guide mondial des centres de documentation et d'infor- mation teC?hniques. 2d ed., rev. and enl. Documentation, Libraries and Archives: Bibliographical and Reference Works, no. 2. Paris: Unesco Press, 1975. 515p. $19.80. ISBN 92-3-001228-9. (Available from Unipub, Box 433; Murray Hill Sta- tion, New York, NY 10016.) This new edition of the World Guide follows Paul Avicenne's Bibliographical Ser- vices throughout the World, 1965-69, as the second number in a new Unesco series. The guide provides information, given in response to questionnaires, on seventeen international and 459 national centers, with