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Cost finding for public libraries; a manager's handbook
438
Book Reviews
comprehension of readers who are not well-versed in highly technical literature. Further, the use of uncommon terms-without reference to the well-known ones-deprives readers of the language that is used by the information services that readers are likely to access. The term descriptor (or, for that matter, sui~jrcf heading), for example, exists nowhere in the book or the index. It is called s&ject search key vulue when it is used for searching and controlled subject term when it appears in an index language. Thus, instead of explaining that when descriptors are assigned to records they facilitate searching based on meaning, they state that “controlled subject terms, when transformed into search key values, facilitate searching based on meaning” (p. 99). Another example: “the number of records located by a value corresponding to a subject search key value in the index to the bibliographic file records could be 1 or greater, depending on how many items are indexed to that term” (p. 102). What this means is that the number of postings to a descriptor in a bibliographic file could be 1 or greater, depending on how many items are indexed to that term. A better approach \+ould have been to mention the terms that are commonly used to express a concept (e.g. “subject heading,” “descriptor, ” “index term”), select one to be used in the book (e.g. “descriptor”), and then alert readers to inaccuracies involved, if any. There are other examples of sentences that arc intelligible to the computer-initiated reader but may intimidate those for whom this primer i5 really intended. Such sentences are not typical, though, and Humphrey and Melloni generally unfold database retrieval in a straightforward and direct language. They use plenty of examples and explain complex concepts thoroughly. The book is pleasant to read and includes many cartoons that highlight the text, and even add new information. Informative sub-heads set out in the margin5 are abundant (sometimes up to four headings to a page), and facilitate easy browsing. Gradtture
School
Universit_v Seattle,
01 Librury
uud Irtformation
RAYA
FIDEI.
U’A
Cost Finding for Public Libraries;
ation,
Scietw
o,f‘ Washington
Chicago,
IL and London
A Manager’s Handbook. P. ROSENBERG. American Library (1985). xiv + 95 pp., $9.95 (pb), ISBN O-8389-0442-4.
Associ-
For more than 20 years the library community has been seeking clear and explicit guidelines for costing and cost analysis which a typical professional could reasonably be expected to understand and apply in practice. Cost Findingfor Public Libraries: A Munager’r Handbook makes a good start at satisfying part of that need and it is a welcomed addition to the professional literature. Although it gives little attention to cost analysis or cost-benefits analysis, this brief paperback instructional manual offers a strategy for ident&ing library costs and relating those costs to specific activities, programs, products or services. It presents some of the basic concepts and methods of costing, describes a simplified process for calculating costs in the public library context (a process the author calls cost finding), and discusses how library managers might use this cost data in practice. The development of this manual was sponsored by the Cost Analysis Task Force of ALA’s Public Library Association and the project was widely supported by the public library community. Several public libraries field tested the manual prior to its release. In terms of the manual’s content and structure, it \\as well conceived, clearly written, and it should be understandable to most information professionals. Its contribution to the profession, however, would have been enhanced if the author had given greater attention to several aspects of costing. First, greater emphasis should have been given to the necessity of defining the purpose of the costing exercise and the relationship of that purpose to the activity or output being costed. Second, the effectiveness of the manual, as an instructional tool, would have been greatly increased if more than a single, simplified example had been used to illustrate the various points being made by the author. Third, since an obvious decision was made by the Task Force and the author to develop a simplified, prescriptive manual, the author should have included a list of supplemental readings or references to help the reader clarify some of the more complex or controversial issues related to costing in libraries (e.g. assigning indirect costs, etc.). Finally, “preparing overdue notices” was the library activity that served throughout the book as the cost finding illustration. After completing the costing exercise, the author concluded that the total cost of preparing an overdue notice was $8.13 per unit. Can it really cost $8.13 to prepare an overdue notice ? It can if you make the same assumptions and follow the same procedures described by Rosenberg. This reviewer has no \+ay of knowing if the data used by Rosenberg in the costing process were real or fabricated. Since the costing procedure used by Rosenberg seems valid, it really doesn’t make that much difference, except that some readers may begin to question the credibility of the author if the illustrative cost data differ substantially from common expc-
439
Book Reviews
rience. The purpose of the manual could have been better served if the cost finding example used by Rosenberg had “found” costs which were a bit more consistent with professional experience. While it was the intent of the project to develop guidelines which would assist public library managers in assessing costs, the general level at which the subject of costing was treated allows the manual to be applied just as easily in academic libraries, school media centers, special libraries or information centers. At the same time, most information professionals, whether they are managers or not, will find the advice and direction provided by Rosenberg helpful in any costing activity. Cost Finding for Public Libraries: A Manager’s Handbook is the kind of professional literature which should find its way to the desks of most information professionals and it is recommended as a basic introduction to costing in libraries.
College of Library and Information University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
Science
Public Access to Online Catalogs. J. R. MATTHEWS. Neal-Schuman, ond Edition (1985). ix + 497 pp., $35.00, ISBN O-918212-89-8.
THOMAS J. WALDHART
New York and London.
Sec-
The second edition of Joseph R. Matthews’ earlier work devoted to online catalogs is a welcome addition to the librarian’s collection of reference works on this topic. As in his first book, Matthews has divided the work into two major sections. The first part contains an introduction to online catalogs and consists of seven chapters which treat various aspects of the topic. Matthews begins with a discussion of the evolution of the catalog from traditional cards to its present form. Next, he presents the various choices available to a library wishing to install an online catalog. For example, libraries have the option of purchasing a turnkey system, developing their own, modifying an existing system, and so forth. After laying this groundwork, he describes the major components of an online catalog system, namely, the user, the human-computer interface, terminals for online use, the computer system, and the database. Next, there follows a discussion of online operation of public access catalogs. Controlled vocabulary, Boolean, and free text searching are discussed as well as issues of authority control. Librarians who are concerned about the effects of an online catalog on their libraries will also find a chapter devoted to the impact of online public access catalogs on library patrons and staff and on library services. Matthews next turns his attention toward planning for implementation of online public access catalogs including sections on costs, site preparation, security, number of terminals, and some hints on making the transition from old to new. He concludes this first part of the book with a brief discussion on the future of the online catalog. According to Matthews, the catalog of the future will be more sophisticated and more standardized. The second part of the book contains detailed descriptions of more than forty online catalogs. For each system, Matthews provides the name and address of the vendor or institution, a summary of the development history for the system, a description of the computer environment, the library environment, and the database. There is a checklist for each system detailing the functions supported, the availability of user training aids, and information on its transportability. Finally, as in the earlier edition, there are a set of mock-ups of representative screen displays for each system. Matthews has included many new figures and photographs in this edition which contribute to the readability of the text. There is an especially useful chart presenting the search or access points provided by various vendors. In a few cases, the page layout is unfortunate. There are instances where a table and the text accompanying it are on opposite sides of a single page, requiring annoying flipping back and forth in order to read the text and view the illustration at the same time. Gathering data on systems is a difficult task. Vendor offerings change constantly and what actually exists may not correspond totally with the documentation. Nevertheless, I found numerous small errors in the descriptions of systems with which I am familiar. This does not mean that the book is not useful or not to be trusted. For the most part the information provided is accurate, and it is invahable to have it all in one document. However, anyone using this book to survey systems as candidates for an installation should remember to verify any points that seem troublesome. Fortunately, Matthews does provide the crucial bits of information needed for each system, namely the current address and phone number for each vendor or institution and the name of a person to contact.
Van Pelt Library University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
EMILY GALLUP FAYEN
Book Reviews
comprehension of readers who are not well-versed in highly technical literature. Further, the use of uncommon terms-without reference to the well-known ones-deprives readers of the language that is used by the information services that readers are likely to access. The term descriptor (or, for that matter, sui~jrcf heading), for example, exists nowhere in the book or the index. It is called s&ject search key vulue when it is used for searching and controlled subject term when it appears in an index language. Thus, instead of explaining that when descriptors are assigned to records they facilitate searching based on meaning, they state that “controlled subject terms, when transformed into search key values, facilitate searching based on meaning” (p. 99). Another example: “the number of records located by a value corresponding to a subject search key value in the index to the bibliographic file records could be 1 or greater, depending on how many items are indexed to that term” (p. 102). What this means is that the number of postings to a descriptor in a bibliographic file could be 1 or greater, depending on how many items are indexed to that term. A better approach \+ould have been to mention the terms that are commonly used to express a concept (e.g. “subject heading,” “descriptor, ” “index term”), select one to be used in the book (e.g. “descriptor”), and then alert readers to inaccuracies involved, if any. There are other examples of sentences that arc intelligible to the computer-initiated reader but may intimidate those for whom this primer i5 really intended. Such sentences are not typical, though, and Humphrey and Melloni generally unfold database retrieval in a straightforward and direct language. They use plenty of examples and explain complex concepts thoroughly. The book is pleasant to read and includes many cartoons that highlight the text, and even add new information. Informative sub-heads set out in the margin5 are abundant (sometimes up to four headings to a page), and facilitate easy browsing. Gradtture
School
Universit_v Seattle,
01 Librury
uud Irtformation
RAYA
FIDEI.
U’A
Cost Finding for Public Libraries;
ation,
Scietw
o,f‘ Washington
Chicago,
IL and London
A Manager’s Handbook. P. ROSENBERG. American Library (1985). xiv + 95 pp., $9.95 (pb), ISBN O-8389-0442-4.
Associ-
For more than 20 years the library community has been seeking clear and explicit guidelines for costing and cost analysis which a typical professional could reasonably be expected to understand and apply in practice. Cost Findingfor Public Libraries: A Munager’r Handbook makes a good start at satisfying part of that need and it is a welcomed addition to the professional literature. Although it gives little attention to cost analysis or cost-benefits analysis, this brief paperback instructional manual offers a strategy for ident&ing library costs and relating those costs to specific activities, programs, products or services. It presents some of the basic concepts and methods of costing, describes a simplified process for calculating costs in the public library context (a process the author calls cost finding), and discusses how library managers might use this cost data in practice. The development of this manual was sponsored by the Cost Analysis Task Force of ALA’s Public Library Association and the project was widely supported by the public library community. Several public libraries field tested the manual prior to its release. In terms of the manual’s content and structure, it \\as well conceived, clearly written, and it should be understandable to most information professionals. Its contribution to the profession, however, would have been enhanced if the author had given greater attention to several aspects of costing. First, greater emphasis should have been given to the necessity of defining the purpose of the costing exercise and the relationship of that purpose to the activity or output being costed. Second, the effectiveness of the manual, as an instructional tool, would have been greatly increased if more than a single, simplified example had been used to illustrate the various points being made by the author. Third, since an obvious decision was made by the Task Force and the author to develop a simplified, prescriptive manual, the author should have included a list of supplemental readings or references to help the reader clarify some of the more complex or controversial issues related to costing in libraries (e.g. assigning indirect costs, etc.). Finally, “preparing overdue notices” was the library activity that served throughout the book as the cost finding illustration. After completing the costing exercise, the author concluded that the total cost of preparing an overdue notice was $8.13 per unit. Can it really cost $8.13 to prepare an overdue notice ? It can if you make the same assumptions and follow the same procedures described by Rosenberg. This reviewer has no \+ay of knowing if the data used by Rosenberg in the costing process were real or fabricated. Since the costing procedure used by Rosenberg seems valid, it really doesn’t make that much difference, except that some readers may begin to question the credibility of the author if the illustrative cost data differ substantially from common expc-
439
Book Reviews
rience. The purpose of the manual could have been better served if the cost finding example used by Rosenberg had “found” costs which were a bit more consistent with professional experience. While it was the intent of the project to develop guidelines which would assist public library managers in assessing costs, the general level at which the subject of costing was treated allows the manual to be applied just as easily in academic libraries, school media centers, special libraries or information centers. At the same time, most information professionals, whether they are managers or not, will find the advice and direction provided by Rosenberg helpful in any costing activity. Cost Finding for Public Libraries: A Manager’s Handbook is the kind of professional literature which should find its way to the desks of most information professionals and it is recommended as a basic introduction to costing in libraries.
College of Library and Information University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
Science
Public Access to Online Catalogs. J. R. MATTHEWS. Neal-Schuman, ond Edition (1985). ix + 497 pp., $35.00, ISBN O-918212-89-8.
THOMAS J. WALDHART
New York and London.
Sec-
The second edition of Joseph R. Matthews’ earlier work devoted to online catalogs is a welcome addition to the librarian’s collection of reference works on this topic. As in his first book, Matthews has divided the work into two major sections. The first part contains an introduction to online catalogs and consists of seven chapters which treat various aspects of the topic. Matthews begins with a discussion of the evolution of the catalog from traditional cards to its present form. Next, he presents the various choices available to a library wishing to install an online catalog. For example, libraries have the option of purchasing a turnkey system, developing their own, modifying an existing system, and so forth. After laying this groundwork, he describes the major components of an online catalog system, namely, the user, the human-computer interface, terminals for online use, the computer system, and the database. Next, there follows a discussion of online operation of public access catalogs. Controlled vocabulary, Boolean, and free text searching are discussed as well as issues of authority control. Librarians who are concerned about the effects of an online catalog on their libraries will also find a chapter devoted to the impact of online public access catalogs on library patrons and staff and on library services. Matthews next turns his attention toward planning for implementation of online public access catalogs including sections on costs, site preparation, security, number of terminals, and some hints on making the transition from old to new. He concludes this first part of the book with a brief discussion on the future of the online catalog. According to Matthews, the catalog of the future will be more sophisticated and more standardized. The second part of the book contains detailed descriptions of more than forty online catalogs. For each system, Matthews provides the name and address of the vendor or institution, a summary of the development history for the system, a description of the computer environment, the library environment, and the database. There is a checklist for each system detailing the functions supported, the availability of user training aids, and information on its transportability. Finally, as in the earlier edition, there are a set of mock-ups of representative screen displays for each system. Matthews has included many new figures and photographs in this edition which contribute to the readability of the text. There is an especially useful chart presenting the search or access points provided by various vendors. In a few cases, the page layout is unfortunate. There are instances where a table and the text accompanying it are on opposite sides of a single page, requiring annoying flipping back and forth in order to read the text and view the illustration at the same time. Gathering data on systems is a difficult task. Vendor offerings change constantly and what actually exists may not correspond totally with the documentation. Nevertheless, I found numerous small errors in the descriptions of systems with which I am familiar. This does not mean that the book is not useful or not to be trusted. For the most part the information provided is accurate, and it is invahable to have it all in one document. However, anyone using this book to survey systems as candidates for an installation should remember to verify any points that seem troublesome. Fortunately, Matthews does provide the crucial bits of information needed for each system, namely the current address and phone number for each vendor or institution and the name of a person to contact.
Van Pelt Library University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA
EMILY GALLUP FAYEN