1004 College & Research Libraries November 2017

promotion, possibly raising archival science to an art, something that, in fact, these 
essays, taken together, achieve. As a unit, they open up what may seem prosaic views 
to different perspectives and show how “archival truth,” like beauty, might vary from 
the eye of the viewer, archivist, historian, or user. 

While this is certainly not a basic introduction to the field, it elevates it and may 
excite many a practicing or learning archivist as to the power of archives. And whether 
it was the intention of the editors or not, power is a theme that seems to run through 
this collection—specifically revealed in how archives can be, and have been, centers of 
power and control. There is a lot to learn here, and a lot of learning, too. Translations 
of foreign phrases are nearly almost always given (a few Latin phrases excepted); there 
is a refreshing lack of jargon in most essays; the index and bibliographies and notes of 
each chapter are helpful. It’s not often that such an intellectual book is also eminently 
approachable. The editors and contributors should be well pleased with their efforts; 
no doubt readers will be, too.—Harlan Greene, College of Charleston

Developing Digital Scholarship: Emerging Practices in Academic Libraries. Alison 
Mackenzie and Lindsey Martin, eds. Chicago: ALA Neal Schuman, 2016. 184p. 
Paper, $70.00 (ISBN: 978-0-8389-1555-4). LC 2017289052.

This work is a welcome addition to published re-
search in the area of digital scholarship, boasting an 
international lens and the helpful integration of the theo-
retical with the practical. The editors, Alison Mackenzie 
and Lindsay Martin, both from Edge Hill University in 
England, bring to the work their ample leadership expe-
rience in the areas of e-learning and learning technology.

This book will be of greatest value to those in the 
academic library community with a focus in the area of 
digital scholarship. Those charged with leadership in this 
space will find inspiration from the authors, including 
strategies for repositioning the library as an expert partner 
as well as innovative suggestions for strategic expansion 
in a time of scant resources. All readers will welcome 
the generous integration of case studies illustrated with 
helpful visuals. Readers seeking specific counsel in the 
area of digital humanities will find only thematic parallels.

Organized into four parts, the book begins with a review of the landscape and a 
highly thoughtful and thorough literature review penned by Lindsay Martin. Not shy-
ing away from exploring contrasting definitions of scholarship with digital scholarship 
and examining digital scholarship as an ideology, Martin sets a framework for the 
chapter and a strong foundation for the book. Martin incorporates Ernest Boyle’s four 
categories of scholarship into her opening thoughts and cleverly concludes her chapter 
with a mapping of digital scholarship activity to Boyer’s framework. Offering numerous 
international examples, including many from the United States, this chapter is required 
reading for anyone venturing into or currently working in the field, as they will find 
arguments and precedents that will serve them well as they negotiate the landscape.

The following section of the book, The Agile Librarian, is organized into three chapters 
that explore how libraries and librarians might best position themselves to benefit from 
the potential inherent in digital scholarship. Howard and Fitzgibbons take an e-learning 
focus, which illustrates the value of partnerships for extending the role of the library 
with a case study from the University of Western Australia. Chapter 4 presents the 
outcomes of a survey administered to members of the Society of College, National, 

doi:10.5860/crl.78.7.1004

https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.7.1004


Book Reviews 1005

and University Libraries (SCONUL) in the UK. The survey focuses on exploring issues 
and opportunities pertaining to staff skill development in support of the digital needs 
of users. Charles Inskip finds that a comparatively high number of respondents report 
staff skills for supporting digital scholarship to be at a novice level. Inskip also finds 
a noticeable gap among respondents in their intent to prioritize projects and strategic 
approaches that would best upskill librarians in the digital realm. In light of these 
observations, Inskip warns that users may choose to turn away from libraries to meet 
their digital needs. The chapter that follows takes a different turn, discussing strategy 
for the realignment of staff resources within a quality enhancement framework. While 
this chapter would serve as a useful guide for strategic planning efforts, the reader is 
tasked with making her own connections between the information presented and the 
realm of digital scholarship.

Digital spaces and services set the theme for the third section of the book, which 
is most helpful in terms of informing planning and praxis. Chapter 6 stands out in 
particular and should be considered required reading for anyone planning a digital 
scholarship center. Most memorably, Tracy Bergstrom offers an insightful case study 
of the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Digital Scholarship. She shares how fund-
ing and staffing limitations can be mitigated by the creative and expansive thinking 
of center administration and staff. Continuing with the topic of emerging roles and 
services, David Clay’s chapter leverages a case study of the University of Salford to 
illustrate how libraries might realign staffing and resources in support of new models 
of engagement with scholars in the research process.

The final section of the book offers two chapters on communications and social 
networking; while chapter 8 feels like more of a topical stretch overall, Alison Hicks’ 
chapter succeeds with a course correction. Hicks argues for a rethinking of the for-
mulation of workshops for scholars in the area of networked participation. In lieu of 
teaching technical features, she makes a compelling case for involving scholars in the 
critical assessment of comparable software tools. This allows workshops to focus on 
the needs of individuals by promoting informed decision making and empowering 
scholars to choose tools that best suit their needs.

Overall, the editors are successful in achieving their goal of exploring the “relation-
ship between digital scholarship, contemporary academic libraries and professional 
practice” (xiii). This relationship, for the most part, is woven into the fabric of the 
chapters themselves, punctuated with effective grounding in the literature and a 
deliberate embedding of case studies throughout. We are reminded that an effective 
digital scholarship program extends far beyond the instrumentality of promoting pro-
ficiency with technical tools, but rather addresses how one might effectively reimagine 
resources and find new paths to sustainability. In an environment where “the focus 
has shifted from enabling consumption to enabling creation,” we might find useful a 
corresponding adjustment to the vision for academic libraries: striving less for library 
integration and focusing instead on finding ways of embedding the university within 
the library (123).—Andrea Kosavic, York University

 
Mary Snyder Broussard. Reading, Research, and Writing: Teaching Information Literacy 

with Process-Based Research Assignments. Chicago: American Library Association for 
the Association of College and Research Libraries, 2017. 140p. Paper, $40.00 (ISBN 
978-0-8389-8875-6).
Any academic librarian involved in reference and instruction can point to many titles 

that examine information literacy. In the case of Mary Broussard’s Reading, Research, 
and Writing: Teaching Information Literacy with Process-Based Research Assignments, the 
reader will find a book that takes a more holistic view on the subject. In this case, that 

doi:10.5860/crl.78.7.1005

https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.7.1005