College and Research Libraries They Manage? Will They Lead?" The physical make-up of the book needs more attention. Better use of the space, consistency in starting sections on a new page, and placement of notes with their respective sections would make for a much neater publication. Complete cita- tions for the items listed in the Additional Readings should be provided somewhere. Librarians are always telling users to get the complete citation-date, pages, vol- ume, etc., and yet we do not follow our own very good advice. In order to estab- lish a frame of reference for what the au- thors are saying, some information about their backgrounds is necessary. A list of contributors and their affiliations would be helpful. These problems aside, this book does provide a good collection of readings, es- pecially for library science students. Stu- dents barely have enough time to keep up with the library literature much less with management literature, so exposing them to a few choice tidbits may increase their awareness and appetite for such informa- tion. It would have been useful to have had such a book when I was in school. Li- brarians who have not read much man- agement literature (either library or gen- eral) will find a basic, understandable introduction to the various aspects of management in this collection. I found it an informative book for that purpose but not for insight into future trends or new approaches, for it is too solidly based in the past.-Neosha A. Mackey, The Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus. Austerity Management in Academic Li- braries. Ed. by John F. Harvey and Peter Spyers-Duran. Metuchen, N.J.: Scare- crow, 1984. 296p. $25. LC 83-14428. ISBN 0-8108-1648-2. The Academic Library in Times of Re- trenchment. Ed. by Colin Harris and Lesley Gilder. London: Rossen dale, 1983. 110p. £11.50. LC 83-126993. ISBN 0-946138-02-8. Austerity Management in Academic Li- braries consists of fifteen essays that are in- tended to document recent library fiscal problems, stimulate management think- ing, describe approaches that have been Recent Publications 91 successful in eliminating problems, and encourage service priority rethinking. Topics covered include fund-raising, in- tracampus cooperation, interlibrary coor- dination, negotiation skills, objectives management, standards, cost-benefit analysis, productivity, automation, build- ing planning, and statistical data collec- tion and analysis. The editors have writ- ten the lead essay entitled, ''The Effect of Inflation on Academic Libraries." It is ex- cellent analysis based primarily on pub- lished data such as the higher education price index, ARL and NCES statistics, and other sources that focus on the effects on personnel and materials acquisitions. Two other essays worthy of note are those by Nitecki and Novak. Nitecki ar- gues in his article on creative management in austerity that it is most important to de- termine what objectives the library is try- ing to meet and the resources needed to meet the objectives; where the library will be in the future; and what ought the li- brary's objectives and operations be in five years. He also stresses the need for relevance and effectiveness. Novak de- scribes an approach to planning for econ- omy and quality. She discusses building design, construction, and equipment ex- amples which can be considered in order to achieve economy. The planning pro- cess she outlines for gathering and analyz- ing relevant information for facility expan- sion or change, equipment, and design construction is especially useful. The remaining essays, especially those on fund-raising, management by objec- tives, cost-benefit analysis, standards, and statistics are primarily introductions to or reviews of topics that have been dealt with quite adequately elsewhere. Thus, while there are several worthwhile articles in this volume, much of it consists of re- view articles of topics better covered in other essays or monographs. The second book, The Academic Library in Times of Retrenchment, presents the pro- ceedings of a 1982 conference in England sponsored by the Library and Information Research Group. The presentations pro- vide an excellent review of the current state of British academic libraries and the implications of retrenchment in academic 92 College & Research Libraries libraries in terms of policy formulation, planning, decision making, staffing, and services. The specific topics covered are research, particularly national data and statistics and in-house research; the prob- lems and solutions presented by library and information technology and coopera- tion and resource sharing; and the future for librarians as managers and the future prospects for academic libraries in En- gland. While practically all of the examples are drawn from the impact of the retrench- ment on British academic libraries, which in many cases is much more severe than the austerity encountered by North Amer- ican academic libraries, the suggestions and advice offered by the presenters is generally universal. The presentations stress the need for political awareness on the part of librarians, cooperation and co- ordination among libraries and library consortia, research to gather data to guide and support resource allocation, and lead- ers who can ask the right questions . This work is recommended reading for all.- Stella Bentley, Indiana University Libraries, Bloomington. Automated Circulation: an Examination of Choices; Proceedings of a Preconference Sponsored by the Circulation Services Sec- tion, Library Administration and Manage- ment Association, American Library Associ- ation July 8-9, 1982, Philadelphia. Ed. by Joseph R. Matthews and Kevin He- garty. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1984. 126p. $15. LC 83-22441. ISBN 0-8389-0402-5. The objective of these proceedings and of the preconference on which they were based has been to provide a basic intro- duction to the issues involved in choosing an automated circulation system. The overview goes considerably beyond the basics in some areas. Taken as a whole, the publication is a checklist of matters that need to be addressed by anyone plan- ning such a system. Appropriate refer- ence is made to the fact that an automated circulation system is often but the first component of a library's online biblio- graphic system, and many of the princi- ples apply equally to automated systems January 1985 in other areas of the library. The reader will want to update references to specific systems; however, this is a review of the choices involved in selection and imple- mentation, not a state-of-the-art catalog of systems available. Introductory chapters by Don Sager and Joe Matthews provide a very basic over- view concerning types of systems avail- able and a glance at the marketplace. Thereafter, the book becomes more de- tailed and, perhaps, more useful as a checklist for management decision mak- ing. An often-neglected area is contract negotiations and the drafting/ acceptance of specifications. Kevin Hegarty walks us through the issues, and section-by- section, through a standard vendor- drafted contract. He points out the short- comings and additions that are necessary to ensure a smooth-working relationship between library and vendor. A vendor's view of this process, by Jane Burke, offers some practical advice that transcends the bias of the contributor. Bill Adiletta' s brief summary of telecommuni- cations issues provides an adequate orien- tation to a complex area, one that is suffi- cient to meet the needs of the library man- ager within the context of what can be ex- pected from a book of this kind. George Rickerson has provided an especially lucid view of the complexities, and the politics, of sharing systems . Later chapters deal ef- fectively, if somewhat briefly, with figur- ing costs, alternative financing, database creation, site preparation and mainte- nance, and in rather general terms with the process of implementation. Public re- lations is dealt with in cursory fashion. In- house-developed systems are addressed through accounts by those who worked in building the Virginia Tech and Salem Pub- lic Library systems. The section on micro- computers is good in principle, but the consumer looking for a system based on this technology should secure more recent information in view of rapid progress in this area. The chapter remams a useful summary of what a micro can and cannot do. · The usefulness of this book is in its pro- vision of brief and highly readable intro- ductions to each of the above areas. In