College and Research Libraries 392 College & Research Libraries when it's good, it is not enough.-William A. Moffett, Oberlin College Library. Lynam, Peter, Slater, Margaret, and Walker, Rennie. Research and the Practi- tioner: Dissemination of Research Results within the Library-Information Profession. London: Aslib, 1982. 83p. ISBN 0- 85142-163-6. This slim volume reports on research sponsored by the British Library Research and Development Division (BLRDD) to discover the: "extent of awareness of on- going research amongst practitioners; their attitudes towards research (and rea- sons for holding them); assessment of the utility and relevance of research to their day to day work; the kind of research that ideally they would like to see in prog- ress." It builds on two earlier and related BLRDD-supported studies-one on the dissemination of research to library educa- tors and one on the dissemination prac- tices of researchers. Marketing concepts and terminology are used throughout. The report describes responses to a questionnaire mailed to 1, 950 library- information workers selected from three sampling frames: the membership of Aslib ( the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux), the member- ship of the Institute of Information Scien- tists, and the Library Association (Great Britain). Chapter 2 summarizes results succinctly in one or two paragraphs de- voted to each of the remaining chapters of the report which are: the potential audi- ence for research; participation in profes- sional groups and activities; reading habits: use of the professional literature; the practitioner as researcher and author; how practitioners hear about research; awareness and evaluation of research. A final chapter called ''Let Them Speak for Themselves" provides verbatim com- ments. The potential audience for research was segmented in three different ways: by cur- rent employment (industry, commerce; central government; societies, associa- tions; local government; education), by extent of experience (six categories begin- ning with "under 3 years" and ending with "over 20 years"), and by qualifica- tions (none, Library-information only, September 1983 other (subject) only, dual (library- information and other). These variables were correlated with responses on all other topics. Current employer is the one which revealed the greatest number of sig- nificant differences among respondents. Many of the results provide an interest- ing perspective on the field although they do not relate directly to the dissemination of research. Of those that do so relate, none are suprising but a few seem worthy of mention. Only 27 percent of the practi- tioners had been involved in research and the involvement usually meant in-house studies rather than generalizable ones. Only 23 percent felt that they were well in- formed about research and only 32 per- cent claimed to be ''fairly'' or ''greatly'' interested in it. Although talks at meetings might seem to be a good way to disseminate research findings, learning about research is not one of the reasons why respondents at- tend meetings. In view of reasons why they do not attend, the authors suspect many would cease to come if research were featured. When the various media where one might read about research were considered (secondary services, newsletters, primary journals, research reports, theses) the journal article was eas- ily the most popular. This remained true even when informal means of learning about research were also considered (i.e., various forms of personal contact). Re- search reports were not heavily used partly because they are hard to locate. The authors found this a ''perturbing finding'' since many researchers believe dissemina- tion is completed once they have pro- duced a research report. The United States has no agency like the BLRDD to exert leadership in matters re- lated to research. If it did, and a similar study were conducted, the results would probably be very similar in the U.S. Re- searchers interested in disseminating their results and library educators inter- ested in helping practitioners to appreci- ate research should take heed.-Mary ]o Lynch, ALA Office for Research. Morrow, Carolyn Clark. The Preseroation Challenge: A Guide to Conseroing Library Materials. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowl- Precise online retrieval for __ or~c chemists Introducing: ... the first in a series of Chemical Information Data-bases from the Institute for Scientific Information I Chemical Information Division (lSI/ CID). The initial version of this new organic substructure data- base will be available online in early 1984 through Questel, using the DARC system. Extensive coverage The ISI/CID organic compound data-base offers fast, accurate access to new organic chemistry as reported in the chemical journal literature. The initial version of the data-base will contain compounds, with their related bibliographic data, reported from 1977 to date andfrom 1962 to 1965-giving access to information not readily available online from any other source. When completed in 1984, the full file will contain over 3, 000,000 organic compounds which were first reported as new from 1962 to the present. Substructure searching Full graphic input and output, plus DARC's easy-to-use text structure input facilitate fast, complete substructure searching. Precise searching ISIICID's organic compound data-base helps you identify articles of interest quickly, and precisely, as well . . . because you get enough total information to distinguish articles of specific value to you- before you order and read them. Like its popular print equivalent, Current Abstracts of Chemistry and Index Chemicus®, the data-base provides access to: analytical techniques, a new synthetic methods indicator, the amount of experimental detail, as well as detailed bibliographic information. To find out how ISI/CID's new data-base can help you get the precise information you need from the chemical journal literature, call or write us at the address below. cO ~Oct!) Institute for Scientific Information® ~ Chemical Information Division Marketing @Chemical l l ~~o.rmation DIVISIOn 3501 Market Street, University City Science Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 U.S.A . ·Telephone: (215) 386-0100, Cable:SCINFO, Telex : 84-5305 1983 l SI 1 0 1 -3 1 50 394 College & Research Libraries edge Industry Publications, 1983. 231p. $27.50 paper. LC 82-18726. ISBN 0- 86729-002-1. This is an important book. It defines, and provides a context for, preservation as a library function equal to cataloging or reference work. It is for seasoned, senior administrators, who have just realized the need for a coherent preservation program, and for novice preservation administra- tors, who have just been handed the task of starting one . Library administrators will find all the arguments they need to con- vince their colleagues and university offi- cials of the necessity for allocating budget dollars for preservation; preservation ad- ministrators will find graphically illus- trated organization plans, position de- scriptions, decision-making apparatuses, case studies, and enough technical infor- mation to point them in the right direc- tion. Morrow begins by succinctly describing the organic composition of library materi- als from books to videotape and why they tear, fade, crumble, warp, break, mold, or spontaneously combust. Enough scien- tific data is offered to underscore the argu- ments for the preservation practices of- fered, but not to impede general understanding by tl}e intelligent reader. Discussions of preservation issues for each type of material focus on special problems, controversial points of view, and trade-offs between treatment options and costs . The strength of Morrow's work lies in the chapters on how to develop a preser- vation program and case studies concern- ing conservation of rare and unique items. Administrators will find useful the budget and cost figures that appear throughout; this kind of data is elusive, and even more cost analysis would have strengthened the work . Morrow concludes with an overview of the latest technological exper- iments, including optical disk, deacidifica- tion, freeze and vacuum drying of water- damaged materials, accelerated aging tests, cold storage, and encapsulation. A final chapter describes the various organi- zations and funding agencies active in preservation matters. Gay Walker contributed a chapter on September 1983 preserving the intellectual content of printed materials, based on her very suc- cessful program at Yale. While she con- centrates heavily on the process of preser- vation microfilming (or "microfiching"), there is a section on in-house photocopy- ing that may be unique in the literature. In her introduction, Pam Darling, author of the profession's most readable preserva- tion lore, gently but firmly explodes yet another myth. "The survival of thoughts beyond the life of the thinker gives signifi- cance to the human experience," she writes, "and so we are comfortable in be- lieving that the materials on which we rec- ord those thoughts will live on after us. But it has never been true.'' As a first step, Morrow's book will help libraries face this reality and engender a commitment to change. Academic li- braries may then want to turn to the Pres- ervation Planning Program, An Assisted Self- Study Manual for Libraries and Resource Notebook (Washington, D.C., Association of Research Libraries, 1982) for more in- depth help. Trained conservators don't need this book. Libraries that have not yet accepted the preservation challenge do.-Nancy E. Gwinn, Research Libraries Group, Inc. Myers, Marcia J. and Jirjees, Jassim M. The Accuracy of Telephone Reference/Infor- mation Services in Academic Libraries: Two Studies. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1983. 270p. LC 82-10785. ISBN 0-8108- 1584-2. If one accepts the fact that Myers and Jir- jees have developed a statistically valid re- search study, and they spend the great majority of this book explaining their methodology in such detail that this re- viewer is convinced, then they have some important conclusions that every public service administration should find inter- esting. According to past studies, which have only been done in-depth for public li- braries, telephone reference service is only about 50 percent accurate. These studies done in the Southeast by Myers in- volving forty academic libraries ranging from two-year colleges through universi- ties and in the Northeast by Jirjees (in five, four-year state colleges with graduate pro-