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Innovation for information: International contribution to librarianship: Festschrift in honour of Dr. Ahmed H. Helal
RFcommendation-Although the individual papers in this collection vary in quality and length, collectively they provide a solid overview of interlending in Europe, and will ap peal to persons interested in interlending in general. Reviewer-Peter Limb Australian Library Review, Aug. 1992, p. 25960
Intortlbrary loan Trondr: Making
Access a RoalBy (SPEC Kit #164), camp. by Tammy N. DearleandV. Steel. Washlngton,D.C.:
Offlce of Management Services, Assn. of Research Libraries, 1992.184~. $33; $22 to ARL members (paper) ISSN 0160-3582. n Between 1985/86 and 1990/9 1 the combination of shrinking materials budgets and enhanced ability to identie relevant research materials effected a 47 percent increase in interlibrary loan transactions at ARL libraries. This SPEC Kit reports on ways that libraries and their users are coping with the increasing ILL activity_ The survey has 39 questions on the organization of ILL services and their place in the library, staffing, lending fees and changes, borrowing practices and funding, automated systems for ILL, resource-sharing agreements, commercial document delivery suppliers, and user borrowing that bypasses the local ILL department. Also included are reprints of 31 documents (from nearly as many U.S. libraries), categorized as ILL statistics, ILL policies and procedures, ILL reports and manuals, telefacsimile policies and procedures, electronic document delivery request systems, and resource sharing and cooperative agreements. Completing the Kit are citations to 25 selected readings, current to 7992.-Eds.
Standards tar the Intematlonal Exchange d Biblkgraphk Intomwtkn: Papers Presented at a Course held at the School of Ubrary. Archive and lnformatlon Stud&, Unlverstty College London, 3-18 August 1990, ed. by la C. Mcllwalne. London: LlbraryAssn., 1991.234p.Q75O;M2toLA members ISBN l-85604-02@8. The central theme of these papers is well summarized by Richard Heseltine in his contribution on library automation in the 1990s: “Information technology has opened up new possibilities [but] has also posed new challenges in terms of standards.” The papers, which average about six pages in length, are grouped in thematic sections-a convenient arrangement. Less convenient is the placementof all notes and references at the backof the volume. The first five papers explore the development of bibliographic standards and the rolesoforganizations, with frequent references to international standardization. Dorothy Anderson stresses the need for continual reexamination of standards, while Alan Gilchrist examines the philosophy behind standards. Ross Bourne and Winston Roberts
studythe roleof IFLA, Ray Templeton the role of the Library Association. Bourne is the first of several speakers who ask whether bibliographic details might be superseded b the provision of abstracts and chapter heaJ mgs. The remainder of the papers discuss such elements as subject indexes, authority files, communication profiles, and command languages. There is a good balance between technical and historical papers, and a good representation of diverse geographic entities. Recommendation-“Themixof historicalperspective, current practice and future considerations provides a valuable and informative volume. The papers are of the highest standard and contain a wealth of information.” Reviewer-Evelyn Woodberry Australian Library Review, Aug. 1992, p. 26061 *See also Nov. 1992 p. 325
International and Comparative Librarianship Bibllographk Access in Europe: First Internatknal Conterence: The Proceedings of a Conference Organlsed by the Centre for Blbllographlc Management at the Unlverslty of Bath, 14-17 September 1989, ed. by Lorcan Dempsey. Aldershot, England and Brookfield. VT: Gower, 1990. 3 15~. $65 lSBN rX66-03644-4. These conference papers revolve around six themes: interactive local systems, networks and networking, central databases, central databases on CD-ROM, innovations in bibliographic records, and bibliographic standards. Dempsey provides a general overview, and there is a special paper on the Plan for Action for Libraries in the European Community-a plan intended to “promote the availabilityandaccessibilityoflibraryservices, the harmonization of national policies for libraries and standardization.” Papers describing specific bibliographic achievements and future plans demonstrate the wide divergence in the “pattern and pace of development of automation” both among and within the various European countries. Paula Goossens’ conference summary names “good quality, easily accessible databases, national bibliographic utilities and co-ordination and cooperationon a European level” as the requirements forbibliographic access across Europe. Recommendation-These proceedings provide insight into innovations in European libraries. They “should be read by anyone concerned and interested in information provision and co-operation.” Reviewer-Christine D. Reid Library Review, Vol. 41, no. 4,1992, p. 64-65 %?e also Mar. 1992 p. 58; Nov. 1991 p. 327
Contributions to Ubrarknship: Festschrltl In honour of Dr. Ahmed H. Hekl. ed. by Joachlm W. Weiss. Essen: Essen Unlverslty Library, 1992. 284~. Free (paper) ISBN 3922602-1 6-9. ISSN 093 l-7503. (Publications of Essen University Ubrary, Vol. 16.) n Ahmed H. Helal-the
honoree ofboth this festschrift and the symposium in which its contents were originally deliveredaas for 20 years been director ofthe Essen University Library and 15 years ago founded the Essen Symposia, whose previous proceedings he has edited. Ofthe 2Opapers in this volume, 12 are in English, 6 in German, and 1 each in French and Arabic. There are no translations orsynopses, andtheonlyothercontentsofthe book are a Table of Contents, a foreword in German, and a list of the contributors with their curren t titles. The foreword describes the proceedings as an interim report with contributionson He/al’s diverseprofessionalactivities and interests. Papers by Maurice Line, Richard De Gennaro, Sigrid Reinitzer, Frederick Kilgour, and David Buckle all look to the future. A few papers relate to places where Helal has worked (universities in Bochum and Alexandria), and some concern university libraries elsewhere (Augsburg, L yngby, Oxford). Other topics addressed here include literacy and information literacy, hypermedia, standards, and IFLA’s long-term policy.-Eds.
Russian Ubrarles In Transition: An Anthology ot Glasnost Uterature, ed. by Dennis Klmmage. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992. 214~. $32.50 ISBN Ck8995@718-2. LC 9151206. Perm. paper. + This well-selected collection of 26 articles that originally appeared in Soviet journals and newspapers between 1988 and 1991 provides a fascinating portrayal of the rise and fall of libraries in the Soviet Union, culminating with the dramatic reforms that had begun to take place. Each of three sections-covering “a system in decline, the politics of information, and directions for the future”-beginswith a brief introduction tocentral issues. The middle section, especially, explores the meaning of partiinost (party-mindedness), “whichviewedSoviet Iibrariesstrictlyasstrong ideologicaIagents,“andof”earlypolicystatements by Lenin andotherson theroleofbooks and libraries and their application, or misapplication,overaperiodoftimeunderdifferent regimes.” Offering a revisionist interpretation, many of the authors argue that these statements were applied more strictly than was originally intended. Recommendation-This is”probably themost significant recent work in the field of international librarianship.” Moreover, the articles offer insight into the philosophy of librarianship in general, and thus should be read by a wide audience. Reviewer-Norman Stevens Wilson Library Bulletin, Dec. 1992, p. 92-93 *See also Nov. 1992 p. 325
the Journal of Academic Librarianship, March 1993
47
Intortlbrary loan Trondr: Making
Access a RoalBy (SPEC Kit #164), camp. by Tammy N. DearleandV. Steel. Washlngton,D.C.:
Offlce of Management Services, Assn. of Research Libraries, 1992.184~. $33; $22 to ARL members (paper) ISSN 0160-3582. n Between 1985/86 and 1990/9 1 the combination of shrinking materials budgets and enhanced ability to identie relevant research materials effected a 47 percent increase in interlibrary loan transactions at ARL libraries. This SPEC Kit reports on ways that libraries and their users are coping with the increasing ILL activity_ The survey has 39 questions on the organization of ILL services and their place in the library, staffing, lending fees and changes, borrowing practices and funding, automated systems for ILL, resource-sharing agreements, commercial document delivery suppliers, and user borrowing that bypasses the local ILL department. Also included are reprints of 31 documents (from nearly as many U.S. libraries), categorized as ILL statistics, ILL policies and procedures, ILL reports and manuals, telefacsimile policies and procedures, electronic document delivery request systems, and resource sharing and cooperative agreements. Completing the Kit are citations to 25 selected readings, current to 7992.-Eds.
Standards tar the Intematlonal Exchange d Biblkgraphk Intomwtkn: Papers Presented at a Course held at the School of Ubrary. Archive and lnformatlon Stud&, Unlverstty College London, 3-18 August 1990, ed. by la C. Mcllwalne. London: LlbraryAssn., 1991.234p.Q75O;M2toLA members ISBN l-85604-02@8. The central theme of these papers is well summarized by Richard Heseltine in his contribution on library automation in the 1990s: “Information technology has opened up new possibilities [but] has also posed new challenges in terms of standards.” The papers, which average about six pages in length, are grouped in thematic sections-a convenient arrangement. Less convenient is the placementof all notes and references at the backof the volume. The first five papers explore the development of bibliographic standards and the rolesoforganizations, with frequent references to international standardization. Dorothy Anderson stresses the need for continual reexamination of standards, while Alan Gilchrist examines the philosophy behind standards. Ross Bourne and Winston Roberts
studythe roleof IFLA, Ray Templeton the role of the Library Association. Bourne is the first of several speakers who ask whether bibliographic details might be superseded b the provision of abstracts and chapter heaJ mgs. The remainder of the papers discuss such elements as subject indexes, authority files, communication profiles, and command languages. There is a good balance between technical and historical papers, and a good representation of diverse geographic entities. Recommendation-“Themixof historicalperspective, current practice and future considerations provides a valuable and informative volume. The papers are of the highest standard and contain a wealth of information.” Reviewer-Evelyn Woodberry Australian Library Review, Aug. 1992, p. 26061 *See also Nov. 1992 p. 325
International and Comparative Librarianship Bibllographk Access in Europe: First Internatknal Conterence: The Proceedings of a Conference Organlsed by the Centre for Blbllographlc Management at the Unlverslty of Bath, 14-17 September 1989, ed. by Lorcan Dempsey. Aldershot, England and Brookfield. VT: Gower, 1990. 3 15~. $65 lSBN rX66-03644-4. These conference papers revolve around six themes: interactive local systems, networks and networking, central databases, central databases on CD-ROM, innovations in bibliographic records, and bibliographic standards. Dempsey provides a general overview, and there is a special paper on the Plan for Action for Libraries in the European Community-a plan intended to “promote the availabilityandaccessibilityoflibraryservices, the harmonization of national policies for libraries and standardization.” Papers describing specific bibliographic achievements and future plans demonstrate the wide divergence in the “pattern and pace of development of automation” both among and within the various European countries. Paula Goossens’ conference summary names “good quality, easily accessible databases, national bibliographic utilities and co-ordination and cooperationon a European level” as the requirements forbibliographic access across Europe. Recommendation-These proceedings provide insight into innovations in European libraries. They “should be read by anyone concerned and interested in information provision and co-operation.” Reviewer-Christine D. Reid Library Review, Vol. 41, no. 4,1992, p. 64-65 %?e also Mar. 1992 p. 58; Nov. 1991 p. 327
Contributions to Ubrarknship: Festschrltl In honour of Dr. Ahmed H. Hekl. ed. by Joachlm W. Weiss. Essen: Essen Unlverslty Library, 1992. 284~. Free (paper) ISBN 3922602-1 6-9. ISSN 093 l-7503. (Publications of Essen University Ubrary, Vol. 16.) n Ahmed H. Helal-the
honoree ofboth this festschrift and the symposium in which its contents were originally deliveredaas for 20 years been director ofthe Essen University Library and 15 years ago founded the Essen Symposia, whose previous proceedings he has edited. Ofthe 2Opapers in this volume, 12 are in English, 6 in German, and 1 each in French and Arabic. There are no translations orsynopses, andtheonlyothercontentsofthe book are a Table of Contents, a foreword in German, and a list of the contributors with their curren t titles. The foreword describes the proceedings as an interim report with contributionson He/al’s diverseprofessionalactivities and interests. Papers by Maurice Line, Richard De Gennaro, Sigrid Reinitzer, Frederick Kilgour, and David Buckle all look to the future. A few papers relate to places where Helal has worked (universities in Bochum and Alexandria), and some concern university libraries elsewhere (Augsburg, L yngby, Oxford). Other topics addressed here include literacy and information literacy, hypermedia, standards, and IFLA’s long-term policy.-Eds.
Russian Ubrarles In Transition: An Anthology ot Glasnost Uterature, ed. by Dennis Klmmage. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992. 214~. $32.50 ISBN Ck8995@718-2. LC 9151206. Perm. paper. + This well-selected collection of 26 articles that originally appeared in Soviet journals and newspapers between 1988 and 1991 provides a fascinating portrayal of the rise and fall of libraries in the Soviet Union, culminating with the dramatic reforms that had begun to take place. Each of three sections-covering “a system in decline, the politics of information, and directions for the future”-beginswith a brief introduction tocentral issues. The middle section, especially, explores the meaning of partiinost (party-mindedness), “whichviewedSoviet Iibrariesstrictlyasstrong ideologicaIagents,“andof”earlypolicystatements by Lenin andotherson theroleofbooks and libraries and their application, or misapplication,overaperiodoftimeunderdifferent regimes.” Offering a revisionist interpretation, many of the authors argue that these statements were applied more strictly than was originally intended. Recommendation-This is”probably themost significant recent work in the field of international librarianship.” Moreover, the articles offer insight into the philosophy of librarianship in general, and thus should be read by a wide audience. Reviewer-Norman Stevens Wilson Library Bulletin, Dec. 1992, p. 92-93 *See also Nov. 1992 p. 325
the Journal of Academic Librarianship, March 1993
47