Book Reviews 499

large, intermediate, and small presses in 
the years 1980 through 1990, and posits 
various hypothesis to be borne out, or not, 
by the data. Once a section’s conclusions 
are stated, Dr. Black commences another 
logical step in her argument in the fol-
lowing chapter.

After overcoming the odds, breaking 
the “first seal” and being published, these 
works by African American women have 
to be reviewed to find readers. Dr. Black 
abstracts the literature on the subject and 
analyzes the percentages of her sample 
that get reviewed. She also examines 
which journals are more likely to review 
such titles, and she demonstrates that 
some journals exert a stronger influence 
on acquisition librarians than others. She 
relates such variables as the size of the 
publisher to the number of reviews and 
compares the review ratios of books by 
African American women writers to other 
women writers. Particular journals, such 
as Choice, Library Journal, Booklist, and oth-
er more general ones, are examined in the 
process, and disturbing conclusions seem 
to suggest a bias in some. One must say 
“seem” for, despite her strong arguments, 
there is an uncharacteristic flaw in this 
particular chapter. No data are present 
on review copies: in other words, a vital 
question is neither posed nor answered: 
Do small publishers send review copies to 
these journals as uniformly as the larger 
publishers do? 

This is one of the few slips in the 
book’s marshalling of conclusions that 
otherwise are cogent and compelling. 
After discussing the types of literature 
produced by the various publishers and 
presenting her findings on the chances 
of being reviewed, Dr. Black introduces 
the subject of the canon and examines the 
holdings of “large, influential, academic 
libraries” on these titles, hypothesizing 
what variables may or may not impact 
the presence of these books on the shelves 
of ARL libraries. Among those factors 
she evaluates are the impact of reviews 
on purchasing, and to what degree do 
programs such as Women’s Studies or 

African-American Studies at universities 
have on library acquisitions of the titles 
in question, all topics of interest to those 
whose aim is to have one’s library reflect 
as broad a spectrum of world culture and 
experience as possible.

While many of the conclusions the 
author draws are not necessarily surpris-
ing, they are nevertheless sobering. A 
bibliography, appendices, and an index 
flesh out particulars of the study. The text 
concludes with recommendations worthy 
of consideration by all of those charged 
with acquiring library materials, a subset 
of a larger group of information profes-
sionals who will profit from a reading of 
this book. It will be a welcome addition, 
as well, to colleges and universities with 
Library and Information Sciences, Wom-
en’s Studies, African-American Studies, 
and other related programs. Although 
the author does not discuss the changes 
in publishing that have revolutionized 
the industry since the end of her core 
sample in 1990, one suspects that some 
of the problems she addresses may not 
have radically altered. Paying serious 
attention to Dr. Black’s arguments may 
actually help to change all that.—Harlan 
Greene, College of Charleston.

Robert Darnton. The Case for Books: Past, 
Present, and Future. New York: Publi-
cAffairs, 2009. 218p. alk. paper, $23.95 
(ISBN 9781586488260). LC2009-034693.

When Robert Darnton took the reins as 
director of Harvard’s libraries in 2007, he 
quickly discovered that Harvard was in-
volved “in secret talks with Google about 
a project” that, as he said, “took my breath 
away.” The project was Google’s massive 
effort to digitize millions of books, known 
as Google Book Search, and Darnton 
spent a good deal of time working to 
finalize the arrangements for this now 
well-known project. He was, suddenly, 
a major player in an effort that many felt 
might usurp the traditional roles of print 
book publishers and academic libraries. 

Darnton is a noted historian of the 
book, having published several important 



500 College & Research Libraries September 2010

works on French publishing history. He 
has also served as a trustee of the New 
York Public library and, early in his career, 
as a reporter for The New York Times. As 
a scholar, author, and reporter, Darnton 
brought an impressive, well-rounded un-
derstanding of traditional print publish-
ing to the negotiating table with Google. 

Given this intimate personal and pro-
fessional history with what he calls “e-
books and old books,” Darnton brings in-
teresting insights to this discussion of the 
role of print and electronic media in the 
present and future. “Far from deploring 
electronic modes of communication,” he 
states that his goal is to “explore the pos-
sibilities of aligning them with the power 
that Johannes Gutenberg unleashed more 
than five centuries ago. What common 
ground exists between old books and 
e-books? What mutual advantages link 
libraries with the Internet?” Darnton’s 
grappling with these questions is the 
subject of this lively and highly readable 
collection. 

As the subtitle suggests, the book is 
divided into three sections: Past, Present, 
and Future, containing a total of eleven 
essays. It’s really a compact anthology of 
Darnton’s thoughts on the modern state 
of the codex, as all the essays were previ-
ously published between 1999 and 2009, 
mostly in the New York Review of Books 
and the Chronicle of Higher Education. The 
content has been revised and edited for 
this volume. 

Darnton covers a range of topics. He 
provides an overview of the “information 
landscape,” drawing on his background 

as a journalist and researcher to place 
the creation and “stability” of informa-
tion into historic context. He discusses 
the significant merits and shortcomings 
of Google’s book digitization project and 
discusses the role of the library in the 
electronic information age. He writes 
about other electronic publishing efforts, 
particularly the American Historical 
Association’s Gutenberg-e project and 
the role of the monograph in the tenure 
process. 

In one essay, he takes on Nicholson 
Baker ’s controversial Double Fold, ad-
dressing each of Baker ’s main points, 
noting that Baker’s text “should be read 
as a journalistic jeremiad rather than a 
balanced account of library history over 
the last fifty years.” Other essays address 
the importance of descriptive bibliogra-
phy and the “heretical” work of Donald 
F. McKenzie, the love of reading and 
the work of seventeenth century British 
bibliophile William Drake, as well as the 
book’s closing essay, the appropriately 
titled “What Is the History of Books?” 

Through it all, Darnton holds true to 
his own love of books, be they electronic 
texts or eighteenth-century French tomes, 
and invites us to share his enthusiasm 
through a series of reasoned, thoughtful 
essays. Any librarian with a love of book 
history or concerns about the future of the 
profession will find much to agree with, 
and much to debate, in this well-written 
volume.—Gene Hyde, Radford University.

Thomas A. Peters. Library Programs 
Online: Possibilities and Practicalities 
of Web Conferencing. Santa Barbara, 
Calif.: Libraries Unlimited, 2009. 159p. 
alk. paper, $40 (ISBN 9781591583493). 
LC2009-027036.

The ways we communicate have changed 
drastically in the last decade. The tradi-
tional in-person, written, and telephone 
communications are now complemented 
by a host of new technologies such as 
smartphones, computers, laptops and 
netBooks. Geographic boundaries and 
time itself are much less significant bar-

Index to advertisers
Annual Reviews 399
Archival Products 466
CHOICE 400
EBSCO cover 2
ISTE 434
Modern Language Assoc. cover 4
Palgrave cover 3
World Scientific Publishing 402-403