College and Research Libraries


even allowing for differences in the British 
and American educational systems-
merit serious scrutiny by anyone involved 
in designing library instruction programs 
for undergraduates. The other papers 
range from a report on library-use instruc-
tion in Latin America and the Caribbean to 
a paper on the uses of videotex for library 
instruction. 

While each of these works has some-
thing to offer, it was the collection of pa-
pers from the Third International Conference 
that prompted this reviewer to reach for 
his interlibrary loan forms to find out 
more.-Lawrence L. Reed, Moorhead State 
University. 

Association of College and Research Li-
braries. Bibliographic Instruction Sec-
tion. Evaluating Bibliographic Instruction: 
A Handbook. Chicago: American Library 
Assn., 1983. 129p. $17. ISBN 0-8389-
6608-X. 
This handbook is a collection of short ar-

ticles written by members of the ACRL 
Bibliographic Instruction Section's Re-
search Committee. It intends to serve as 
an introduction to evaluation methods 

Recent Publications 189 

and to provide direction and · encourage-
ment to librarians planning to evaluate in-
struction programs. The chapters titled 
"Research Designs Appropriate for Bib-
liographic Instruction,'' ''Data-gathering 
Instruments," and "Data Management 
and Statistical Analysis" are useful as 
checklists in the early planning stages of a 
study. Other chapters, "Evaluation and 
Its Uses" and "Evaluating in Terms of Es-
tablished Goals and Objectives,'' describe 
the value of formal evaluation procedures 
and the need to base evaluation on clearly 
stated and appropriate goals and objec-
tives. 

The book works well as an overview of 
the formal evaluation process and brings 
to light questions worth considering-
What is the purpose for evaluating? Is 
there adequate clerical support for the 
project? What type of computer facilities 
are needed? Are statistics experts avail-
able to help analyze the data in meaning-
ful ways? Major research designs and 
methods of statistical analysis are sur-
veyed briefly. Fortunately, the bibliogra-
phies provide numerous references, not 
only from library literature, but also from 

Announcing an Important Publication 
on the History of U.S. Medicine ... 

A01erican Medicine Co01es of, Age 
1840-
1920 

American Medicine 

Comes of Age 

1840-1920 

Lester s. King. MD 

Medical Association 
Ame ncan 

Dr. King's other books include The Growth 
of Medical Thought, The Road to Medical 
Enlightenment, The Philosophy of Medi-
cine, and Medical Thinking: A Historical 
Preface. 

by Lester S. King, M.D. 
This significant compilation of essays traces the 
history of medicine in the United States from its 
British heritage to the famous Flexner Report. 
Written by Lester S. King, M.D., these fascinating 
articles were originally published to mark the cen-
tennial of the Journal of the American Medical 
Association. 

American Medicine Comes of Age is 115 pages, 
softcover, and priced at $9.95 (please add $3.00 
handling and delivery charge). To order, make 
check payable to AMA, indicate title and order 
number OP-184, and provide complete mailing 
address. 

Mail to: Book & Pamphlet Fulfillment, OP-184, 
American Medical Association, P.O. Box 10946, 
Chicago, IL 60610. 



190 College & Research Libraries 

the fields of statistics, survey research, 
and education, and extend to more thor-
ough treatments of these two difficult ar-
eas. 

This work calls for a more formal, rigor-
ous evaluation of instruction programs. 
Certainly, the field of bibliographic in-
struction would benefit from research 
based on scientific methodology, espe-
cially if the research leads to establishing 
more effective output measures. On a 
day-to-day basis, however, instruction li-
brarians also need to be adept at "infor-
mal" evaluation techniques-talking to 
faculty members to understand their im-
pressions of student needs, judging stu-
dent reactions and making adjustments in 
lecture style or content ''on the spot,'' an-
alyzing questions received at the reference 
desk as representative of student needs 
and experimenting with new activities to 
meet those needs, and many others. 
These techniques allow librarians to tailor 
programs to the individual needs of their 
institutions and are also valuable as test-
ing grounds from which more formal re-
search projects can emerge. To battle-
worn instruction librarians, informal 
evaluation methods are likely to be second 
nature. The formal techniques this hand-
book introduces may encourage these li-
brarians to conduct evaluation based on 
scientific methodology. Librarians new to 
the field, however, would benefit from an 
examination of the full range of evaluation 
techniques. Informal evaluation may not 
lead directly to research and publication, 
but it does make an essential contribution 
to effective instruction.-Martin Courtois, 
University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Woods, Lawrence, A., and Nolan F. 
Pope. The Librarian's Guide to Microcom-
puter Technology and Applications. White 
Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge Industry Pub-
lications for American Society for Infor-
mation Science, 1983. 215p. $34.50. LC 
83-13548. ISBN 0-87629-045-5. 

Carter, Ruth C., and Scott Bruntjen. Data 
· Conversion. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowl-

edge Industry Publications, 1983. 173p. 
$34.50. LC 83-84. 
Each of these two 1983 offerings from 

Knowledge Industry Publications ad-

March 1985 

dresses a timely topic of interest to aca-
demic librarians as well as to information 
specialists in other branches of the profes-
sion. Lawrence Woods and Nolan Pope in 
The Librarian's Guide to Microcomputer Tech-
nology and Applications have compiled a 
comprehensive overview and resource 
guide to microcomputers and their use in 
library situations. Data Conversion by Ruth 
Carter and Scott Bruntjen attacks the 
multisided question of retrospective con-
version. 

The Librarian's Guide discusses the gen-
eral fundamentals of microcomputers 
while focusing on library applications. 
The authors point to a felt need in the pro-
fession for such a discussion and state in 
the preface that most of the information in 
the text was taken from a survey of ASIS 
and UTA individual members and of ARL 
member libraries. The survey, conducted 
in 1982 and 1983, revealed that 67 percent 
of the respondents used microcomputers 
in their facilities. 

The first chapter gives us the dime tour 
of computer history, which is all that is 
needed for the purposes of this volume. 
Technical buzzwords are nowhere to be 
found in this and succeeding chapters, 
and all legitimate technical terms are de-
fined in a glossary. A basic understanding 
of the concept of computers and electroni-
cally stored data is expected of the reader. 
However, as Woods and Pope conclude in 
chapter 1, "As information specialists, li-
brarians cannot afford the luxury of com-
puter illiteracy if they are to maintain their 
place in the information marketplace.'' 

Chapters 2 and 3 delve fairly deep into 
hardware and software descriptions cov-
ering processors, storage medium, input/ 
output devices, networks, operating and 
database management systems, compil-
ers, and programming languages. As fast 
as the micro industry is changing, these 
1983 models, specifications, and prices 
provide a sound springboard from which 
to begin a survey of this year's offerings. 

Chapter 4 outlines some designs of 
library-specific software, taking off on the 
general discussions of chapter 3. How to 
assess your library's needs and potential 
uses for micros is the topic of chapter 5. 
Given the multitude of options available