College and Research Libraries


68 I College & Research Libraries • January 1978 

writings "have a certain unity as statements 
of fact and opinion reflecting the profes-
sional life of an academic librarian in 
America in the generation between the 
post-World-War-11 euphoria of the early 
1950s and the bicentennial frenzies of 
pos-t-Watergate 1976." Included are such 
topics ·as a brief history of a scholarly li-
brary, his personal views on library 
mechanization, intellectual freedom, censor-
ship, the history and influence of library as-
sociations, his reaction to library statistics, 
and ~9me thoughts on academic librari-
anship. 

The concluding chapter entitled "Miscel-
lanea" in itself makes this book worth hav-
ing. It contains some of his salty letters to 
editors and a group of witty remarks so 
characteristic of Eli Oboler. He might have 
spared us a sample of his verse, however! 

This is not a "must purchase" book for 
every library since most of the writings have 
appeared in familiar journals. However, it is 
a useful compilation of the writings of an ar-
ticulate, intelligent, critical librarian who 
has something to say and who is not afraid 
to say it. The volume is attractively pro-
duced by Greenwood Press as number 
twenty in its series on Contributions in Li-
brarianship and Information Science.-Dale 
M. Bentz, University Librarian, University 
of Iowa, Iowa City. 

Shores, Louis. The Generic Book: What It 
Is and How It Works. Learning for Living 
Series. Norman, Okla.: Library-College 
Associates, 1977. 164p. $5. LC 77-22891. 
ISBN 0-917706-02-1. 
By the "Generic Book" (a term that 

Shores insists on capitalizing) is meant "the 
total number of ways which men have of 
communicating with each other," and its 
utility in education is the availability to the 
individual learner of an infinite variety of 
ways to acquire knowledge and information. 
Three dimensions of the Generic Book are 
explored in detail: the subject (content), 
level, and format aspects. Then follow chap-
ters on the characteristics of print versus 
graphic materials and of human versus en-
vironmental resources as carriers of informa-
tion. Although none of these concepts will 
be new to the veteran educator, Shores' 

discussion may prove enlightening to any-
one who has not yet seriously considered 
how people learn most effectively. 

As the acknowledged and prolific dean of 
the library-college movement, one would 
expect Shores to have something significant 
to say about what constitutes effective edu-
cational media. Indeed he has. The pity is, 
however, that his exposition is rambling, 
repetitive, and so theoretical-in the con-
ceptual rather than the technical sense-
that the reader who accepts his arguments 
is frustrated by the lack of practical sugges-
tions for implementing what is in fact a 
serious educational manifesto. 

Furthermore, the exact relevance of the 
Generic Book construct for the librarian is 
only hinted at, with much more emphasis 
given to the role of the teacher in conven-
tional terms. One would have to be quite 
familiar with the tenets of the library-
college model to understand where the li-
brarian fits in the larger picture since the 
words "library" and "librarian" are rarely 
used. 

Despite its brevity, the essential message 
of The Generic Book could have been con-
veyed in one-tenth the pages. Shores' 
exposition moves at a snail's pace, further 
aggravated by the frequent use of such pa-
tronizing phrases as "by now it should be 
clear," "needless to say," and "in light of all 
these things," and for the most part unre-
lieved by documentation. The work has no 
index and concludes with a brief bibliogra-
phy citing the old standbys of library-college 
thought. 

Although this tract does have its place in 
any extensive education or library science 
collection, it is a shame that by dwelling 
overlong on content, level, and format, 
Shores abuses two other key elements of 
human intellectual experience, time and 
space, muffling his sharp thought in clear 
but extraneous verbiage. In short, The 
Generic Book is a bore with a point.-Mary 
W. George, University of Michigan Library, 
Ann Arbor. 

Kurth, William H., and Zubatsky, David S. 
Recommended Procedures for the Inter-
nal Financial Auditing of University Li-
braries. St. Louis, Mo.: Washington 
Univ. Libraries, 1977. 96p. (Available in 

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