College and Research Libraries 306 College & Research Libraries the worthwhile contributions to Part Three on out-of-print material, gifts and ex- change, and the Australian-New Zealand book trade, by Margaret Landesman, Mae Oark, and Juliet Flesch, respectively. Marion Reid offers a survey of the lit- erature on vendor evaluation, and Jana Stevens performs a similar literature sur- vey on the pricing systems prevalent in Europe. The chapter by James Campbell on the Western European book trade is. a useful, informative hybrid of literature survey and handbook. At the core of Gay Dannelly's rambling essay on vendor se- lection is a series of hard-nosed questions that should be posed and, if possible, an- swered in choosing a vendor. But before getting to this useful guidance, one has to wade through misplaced library humor and such high school debating techniques as a dictionary definition of selling and the use of quotations to bolster the au- thority of common sense observations. In the only piece of original research in the volume, Donna Goehner reports the results of a survey on vendor relations. Some of the essays go into detail that is not strictly necessary for acquisitions purposes. Such is the case with the in- teres~ing pieces by Campbell and Charles Forrest; the latter mentions li- braries only in passing and acts primar- ily as background for the contribution by Hayes. Conversely, there are intrachapter repe- titions and some overlap between pairs of contributions on certain topics. Presum- ably, library acquisitions is not a subject like Renaissance art, where diverging para- digms need to be taken into account; and much of the repetition here is of the non- dialectical sort. Thus, some of the detail, particularly the helpful summary table in Stevens' chapter on European book pric- ing, could have been folded into Campbell's discussion of the same sub- ject. Betsy Kruger's clear presentation of accounting methods and the following contribution by Schenck cover much the same material, with a slight difference in emphasis; they could well have been merged and abridged. In short, greater editorial economy could have been exer- cised in putting the book together. May 1991 I have recommended this book to Euro- pean vendors, not so much for what it might tell them about their own trade, but for what they can learn from it about North American librarians' expectations. Many of the chapters have excellent references and can serve as introductions or refreshers to beleaguered part- and full-time acquisi- tions librarians, whether so titled or not- Jeffry Larson, Yale University Library, Neu; Haven, Connecticut. N aura til, Marcia J. The Alienated Librar- ian. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1989. 129p. acid-free, $35 (ISBN 0- 313-25996-8) The concept of burnout was born in the early 1970s, its heritage embedded in the ideas and efforts of Herbert Freudenberger in New York and Christina Maslach and Ayala Pines in California. Today, while there is some doubt regard- ing the true extent of the burnout syn- drome, there can be no doubt regarding the ubiquity of the word itself. The term is both widely used and used in an ex- traordinarily wide variety of contexts. Over the years, burnout has often been discussed and written about in relation to librarianship and librarians. Indeed, librarian burnout has been the focus of numerous journal articles as well as con- ference programs. Nauratil's book con- tinues to advance the proposition that librarian burnout can be seen from a va- riety of perspectives because the prob- lem is experienced and interpreted in many ways. Nauratil joins others who have posed questions about the nature of and relationship between job satisfac- tion and burnout, both in terms of their causal and consequential elements, and librarianship. The book offers a com- prehensive perspective on the phenom- ena of burnout, work, and alienation, as well as a critical perspective on these phenomena as they pertain to librarian- ship. Nauratil provides an overview of burnout theory and symptomatology. She explores the meaning of work in Western society and traces the history of burnout among blue- and white-collar workers. The emergence of burnout among semiprofessionals is also traced. Nauratil makes a case for conceptualiz- ing burnout as a manifestation of work alienation rather than as a problem of individuals and particular work set- tings. Within this context she examines the prevalence of librarian burnout and its consequences for individual librari- ans, for the library, and for users. Nauratil' s conceptualization of burn- out as a manifestation of work alien- ation broadens our understanding of the phenomenon in general and its ap- plication to libraries. Nauratil explores a number of factors specific to the devel- opment of the library profession (espe- cially to public librarianship). These factors have increased librarians' sus- ceptibility to professional alienation and burnout. They include the bureaucratic organization of libraries, the feminiza- tion of the profession, elitism, technical orientation, and role ambiguity (our failure to establish an autonomous pro- fessional purpose). Nauratil traces some major trends in librarianship and their consequences for public librarians, in- cluding fiscal crises and austerity man- agement, automation, nonlibrarian managers, and marketing orientation. Nauratil's conceptualization of burn· out as a manifestation of work alien- ation also provides a sound theoretical basis for assessing potential solutions. She evaluates various strategies for cop- ing and offers solutions consistent with the paradigm of burnout as alienation. Book Reviews 307 These include individual and collegial coping, organizational change, and pro- fession-level efforts. This book will be a valuable resource for professionals and preprofessionals who wish to gain an understanding of the multitude of issues involved in the burnout phenomenon, who wish to compare the views of many of the major contributors to the field, and who wish to learn what they can do to increase fulfillment in their work. This book will also be useful to library educators and for i~s specific contexts, to students and researchers in other fields. Unfortunately, the book does not suggest the diversity and robustness of current thinking in the field, nor does it offer new slants on theory and symp- tomatology nor new insights or perspec- tives on treatment. The bibliography only minimally represents the articles and studies that have contributed specific- ally to our understanding of burnout and librarianship over the last two decades. The strength of Nauratil's book lies in her examination of the determinants and manifestations of burnout, stress, and alienation in librarianship. The book reminds us that burnout is a seri- ous issue that affects the welfare not only of librarians, but also of their cli- ents-library patrons. Her insights into the phenomenon warrant atten- tion.-Sarah Watstein, Hunter College, New York, N.Y. From disabilities to pe1111lties, no one looks at the world like PAIS From disability benefits to capital punishment, there's one place you'll find the spectrum of political, economic and social issues sitting side by side - PAIS ON CD-ROM This state-of-the-art research tool brings you the wealth of information from PAIS, the acclaimed international database, all on a single, durable compact disc. 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