College and Research Libraries Recent Publications COllEGE & RESEARCH liBRARIES Scholarly Communication: The Report of the National Enquiry , reviewed by Kenneth G. Peterson ........................................................ :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555 Use of Library Materials: The University of Pittsburgh Study, reviewed by Maurice B. Line ........................................................................................................ 557 International Agricultural Librarianship: Continuity and Change, reviewed by Albert C. Strickland . . . . .. . .. .. . .. . . . . .. . . .. . .. . .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . . . . .. . . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . .. . .. .. . .. .. . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . 560 Garrison, Dee. Apostles of Culture: The Public Librarian and American Society, 1876-1920, reviewed by GeorgeS. Bobinski ..................................................... 561 Welsch, Erwin K. Libraries and Archives in France: A Handbook. Rev. ed ., reviewed by Joe W . Kraus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561 Raymond, Boris. Krupskaia and Soviet Russian Librarianship, 1917-1939, reviewed by Mathilde V. Rovelstad . .. .. . .. . ... . .. . ...... .. . . . .. . .. . .. . . ... . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . . .. .. . . .. . . ... ... .. ... . 562 Kraus, Joe W. Messrs. Copeland & Day, 69 Cornhill, Boston 1893-1899, reviewed by David Kaser ..................................................................................... .'... . . . . . 564 Book Selling and Book Buying: Aspects of the Nineteenth-Century British and North American Book Trade, reviewed by Budd L. Gambee ........................................ 566 Sign Systems for Libraries: Solving the Wayfinding Problem, reviewed by Malcolm C. Hamilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568 The British Library Bibliographic Services Division, reviewed by Judith P. Cannan . . . . 569 The Role of Women in Librarianship, 1876-1976, reviewed by Jeanne Osborn .. .. .. .. .. .. 570 Nakata, Yuri. From Press to People: Collecting and Using U.S. Government Publica- tions, reviewed by David. W. Parish ............................................................... 571 Nakata, Yuri; Smith, Susan J.; and Ernst, William B., Jr., comps., Organizing a Local Government Documents Collection, reviewed by David W. Parish ........................ 571 International Books in Print, 1979, reviewed by Ruth P. Burnett .... ........ .... .... .... .... . 572 Quantitative Measurement and Dynamic Library Service, reviewed by Joe Hewitt ...... 575 Kirk, Thomas, comp., Course-Related Library and Literature-Use Instruction, re- viewed by Janet L. Ashley ...................................................................... ...... 576 Whitby, Thomas J., and Lorkovic, Tanja. Introduction to Soviet National Bibliography, reviewed by Miroslav Krek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 Bonk, Wallace John, and Magrill, Rose Mary. Building Library Collections , 5th ed., reviewed by G. Robert McLean .................................................. .............. .. ... 578 Background Readings in Building Library Collections, 2d ed., reviewed by G . Robert McLean ................................................ .. .. ... ... ... .......... .... .. ...... . ......... .. ..... 578 Knight , Nancy H . "Theft Detection Systems Revisited," reviewed by George Charles Newman .. ....... ............... ........ .. .. ..... .. .... . ... .. ....... ... ... .. .. ...... ....................... 579 Abstracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581 Other Publications of Interest to Academic Librarians .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . 585 BOOK REVIEWS Scholarly Communication: The Report of the National Enquiry. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ . Pr. , 1979. 176p. $12.95 hardcover, $3.95 paperback. LC 79- 51420. ISBN 0-8018-2267-X hardcover; 0-8018-2268-8 paperback. Research and publication have increased, and degree programs have multiplied over the past twenty years as the academic com- munity has responded to the challenges of the information explosion. The prospects of declining enrollments, limited resources, and continuing inflation during the 1980s, however, are causing teachers, librarians, and administrators in higher education, as well as publishers, to recognize that sub- stantial changes will be necessary to meet the future needs of scholarship. Scholarly Communication: The Report of the National 555 556 I College & Research Libraries • November 1979 Enquiry addresses these issues factually and with insight and offers recommendations that deserve careful consideration and sup- port. Initial impetus for the study came from the interaction of a group of university press directors with officials of the National En- dowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies. Subsequently, $600,000 was provided by NEH and the Ford, Mellon, and Rockefel- ler foundations, and the project was begun in 1976. Members of the enquiry's board of governors were drawn from the ranks of university administrators, faculty members, librarians, editors, university press direc- tors, and representatives of learned societies and the publishing industry. Three major elements within the field of scholarly communication were studied- scholarly journals, scholarly books and presses, and research libraries. Factual in- formation gathered by careful research and opinions obtained by people involved in the process of scholarly communication are presented and form the basis for a series of summaries and recommendations. The re- MCGREGOR "PERSONALIZED SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE" Every customer is assigned an experienced "Home Office" representative. You correspond direct; any title needs, changes, cancellations or problems can be handled promptly by letter or phone. This makes your job easier and keeps you abreast of your subscription needs at all times. With over 45 years exper!Wice, McGregor has built a reputation of prompt and courteous service on both domestic and International titles. We prepay subscrip- tions ahead of time. Our customers, large and small, like the prompt attention we give them. We think you would tool Ask about McGregor's "Automatic Renewal" plan de- scribed in our new brochure. Write today for your free copy. OUR 47th YEAR Mount Morris, llllnolsl1054 suits provide "a mixed picture of a basically healthy communication system beset with numerous problems, none of them fatal, but requiring a variety of improvements if the system is to continue to achieve its pur- poses" (p.5) . Journals are regarded as efficient, flexible, and effective methods of communication. The number of journals published, how- ever, rising an average of 2 or 3 percent an- nually, suggests that quality and usefulness should be scrutinized more closely and net growth discouraged. The strain that sub- scription costs are placing on most library budgets is shown by the Higher Education Price Index for U.S. periodicals, which in- creased from 100 in 1967 to 288.2 in 1977. Higher journal costs unfortunately have re- sulted in funds steadily being diverted from acquisitions of books and other library mate- rials. The report expresses dual concern for the problems of university presses as well as the rising publication rate and cost of books. While stressing the importance of" scholarly publishing, the report also directs attention toward the need for greater collaboration among university presses in management, processing, business, warehousing, and sales activities. Consid~ring that book publishing in the U.S. increased from 11,022 titles in 1950 to 42,780 in 1977, and that the average hardcover book increased 143.5 percent in price between 1967 and 1977, libraries face major problems in selecting materials and supporting collection development. As a re- sult, libraries will increasingly need to con- sider alternative forms of materials, resource sharing, and access to information in data bases at remote locations, while also recog- nizing that "the day of the comprehensive, self-contained library, if it ever existed, is irrevocably past" (p .13). The enquiry offers twelve principal rec- ommendations: (1) creating a national bib- liographic system linked with the Library of Congress, (2) establishing a national peri- odicals center, (3) forming a national library agency to plan and coordinate development of a national library system, (4) controlling journal growth, (5) · seeking economies for small independent journals, (6) cooperating with the Copyright Clearance Center, (7) marketing books abroad, (8) involving uni- versities without presses as participants in scholarly publishing, (9) broadening the role of foundations, (10) collaborating in man- agement by scholarly presses, (11) establish- ing an office of scholarly communications, and (12) continuing discussion related to the intelligent use of technology. In summary, the report affirms that "the goal to be pursued is not a continuation of business as usual, but rather the develop- ment of new ways to meet the needs of scholarship" (p.ll) . The Report of the National Enquiry provides an important assessment of the problems, needs , and future options for scholarly communication in the United States. It deserves thoughtful reading, dis- cussion, and response by all concerned in- dividuals in the academic community.- Kenneth G. Peterson, Southern Illinois Uni- versity at Carbondale. Use of Library Materials: The University of Pittsburgh Study. By Allen Kent and others. Books in Library and Information Science, V.26 . New York: Marcel Dek- ker, 1979. 272p. $25. LC 79-11513. ISBN 0-824 7-6807-8. Ranganathan' s famous five laws of library science can be rewritten to fit the tra- ditional research library: Books are for collecting To some readers their books To some books their readers Waste the time of the reader The library is a growing mausoleum. The University of Pittsburgh study both sheds light on the extent to which these laws are observed and casts doubt on their validity. Its impact ought, and deserves, to be profound. This book in fact reports three studies. Parts of all of them have previously ap- peared as articles, but these were mainly previews. 1 - 3 The first study, conducted in the Hillman Library ("a central research li- brary emphasizing the Humanities and So- cial Sciences"), is a remarkable longitudinal study of books acquired in 1969. By the end of 1975, 40 percent of these had never cir- culated, and a further 14 percent had circu- lated only once. If a book had not circulated in the first six years, the chances of its ever being borrowed were calculated as one in Recent Publications I 551 fifty. Three-quarters of the books used in the library had also been borrowed, so that borrowing is a good measure of total use. Weeding books unused after seven years would extend the life of the building by twenty-one years. This study is much the most important part of the book, partly be- cause of its originality of approach and partly because the findings are of such im- portance. The second study, on the use of journals in six science and engineering libraries , is not as interesting because its methodology is less original and its findings largely rein- force existing knowledge rather than add to it. It is also, along with its appendix , the longest part of the book. Use in these librar- ies was generally low, and highly concen- trated on a relatively small proportion of the collections. Browsing was mainly in current and recent volumes ; the great majority of older volumes were approached through specific references. There are striking dif- ferences among the six libraries , presumably explicable by local conditions (but unfortu- nately not generally explained). The meth- odology of the sample study, intended as a possible model for other libraries , neverthe- less seems hardly less cumbersome and time-consuming than other methods. The third study consists of a very detailed analysis of the costs of library use and a cost-benefit model of library operations. These are some of the most detailed and best such analyses in the literature. The three studies are preceded and fol- lowed by brief, but thoughtful , open- minded and incisive contributions by Allen Kent and his colleagues. The book is not perfect. It barely hangs together, mainly because the different parts have different authors. Some of the detail , especially in the journal use study, is not only unnecessary but of doubtful value (the numbers in some cells are too small to sup- port conclusions drawn from them). Adding 25 percent of the subscription costs of each journal to allow for other costs is far too crude, since these other costs vary greatly according to journal size and frequency of distribution. The fact that most books lent to other libraries were also circulated locally hardly supports the argument for resource sharing, since there must be a good chance