Dealing with ethical dilemmas on campus

circumstances such as spousal assault cannot be fully appreciated otherwise. Chapter four details the case of battered women. Summing up the approach service providers (including law enforcement) have taken regarding this phenomenon, the authors state that: the majority of these victims’ information needs are never met. In the case of one of society’s most frequent crimes, wife assault, the experience of victims suggests a similar pattern; a nearly systemwide failure to provide timely, relevant responses to the information requests of assaulted women (p. 48).

The remaining chapters report the study’s results. The authors combined quantitative and qualitative methods. Using a team approach, residents were interviewed in their homes regarding their perceptions of wife assault. The team also queried service personnel about the things their agencies provided. Several interesting and significant findings were reported. Many of which challenge traditional views regarding information need, acquisition, and use. For example, Harris and Dewdney state that “... it seems that very often people turn to agencies and professionals for help, only to be discouraged because the type of help they seek is inconsistent with the type(s) of help the agency or profession is prepared to offer” (p. 81). As a result, the authors indicate that if the women are to be successful in obtaining assistance, “it appears that the women need a formal helper” (p. 104). This last observation raises a question of remarkable consequence, namely, if this is the case, what mechanism must we employ in order to identify and cultivate helpers? In conclusion, I have prepared an overview of a study that speaks to a painful facet of human relationship. The authors need to be commended for their copious illustration of this fact. Their book is especially notable for its chilling evidence that an enormous gap exists between the search for needed information and its provision. I recommend Barriers to Information for anyone interested in studies of information as viewed by everyday, ordinary people.-Elfreda A. Chatman, Associate Professor, School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599. Customer Service: A How-to-do-it Manual for Librarians, by Suzanne Walters. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1994. 115~. $39.95. ISBN 1-55570-137-X. Customer service is the focal point of hundreds of books and journal articles written in the 1980s and 1990s. From the popular In Search of Excellence (Harper & Row, 1982), by Thomas J. Peters, through the total quality management literature to recent plans to reinvent government that works better and costs less, service to customers is a primary goal and a key to success. Managers are advised to listen to customers and then empower employees to meet customers needs using focused cost-effective strategies. Aware that library customers today are sophisticated and more demanding than in the past and that libraries are in competition with business, service, and entertainment information access providers, Walters attempts to offer practical ideas on good services for the library customer. Customer Service brings together many of the principles contained in the popular management literature in a sort of cut and paste fashion. Chapters are short and filled with lists, charts, and examples of forms. Cases are used to illustrate key points (e.g., overnight delivery by Federal Express as an example of commitment to customer service, and Southwest Airlines’s “Winning Spirit” Award as an illustration of an employee rec-

ognition program). There are a few library examples-all from public libraries-which are not very inspired. A sample survey of customers’ needs deals with what kind of food, drink, and supplies should be in library vending machines. There is very little rationale given for including this particular survey, which does not address quality of service but does consume five pages (4.35%) of this book. While customers are the stated subject of the book, a great deal of the text relates to employees-how to motivate, train, and reward them. Information included ranges from a synopsis of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs to a short course in telephone training. There are no examples of creative, customer-focused service programs in a library setting nor are there fascinating cases or the catchy prose that keeps the pages turning in management best-sellers. The concluding list of “52 Ways to Keep Your Customers for Life” is reprinted from another source. This book is not appropriate for academic libraries. Treatment is sketchy and the parts do not fit together well. The topic is examined in much greater depth in general management and customer service books. A competing work in library and information science is Guy St. Clair’s Customer Service in the Information Environment (Bowker-Saur, 1993), which covers the territory better because it explains why customer service is important and describes how to define the market, analyze needs, develop a plan, and evaluate performance-none of which are adequately covered in the Walters’ book. This is a 115-page paperback with large print, wide margins, and a $39.95 price tag. While it is easy to read and could perhaps introduce the topic, there is nothing new here. Most of the general customer service literature translates well to the library environment. Academic libraries would be better served by purchasing additional copies of classic management books that focus on customer service.-Carol A. Turner, Director for Public Services, George A. Smathers Library, University of Florida, 204 Library West, Gainesville, FL 32611. Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas on Campus, by Marcia Lynn Whicker & Jennie Jacobs Kronenfeld. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994. 131~. $11.95 (pbk.). ISBN o-8039-5481-6. (Survival Skills for Scholars, Vol. 12, edited by Mitchell Allen). If the university were the best of all worlds we would not need the advise of authors Whicker and Kronenfeld but it is not and we do. “Undoubtedly,” they advise, some of you are idealistic or skeptical that you will ever need such information. Reality, however, will likely prove otherwise, for if you have never experienced an ethics-related conflict, the probability is great that at some point in your career you will. And if you do not, you are truly in the promised land with a chosen few. This book is written for the many who are less lucky. The ethical dilemmas they describe in the very realistic, sometimes grim, and probably true case studies show that such experiences can range from basic interpersonal conflicts to such major problems as sexual harassment or discovering faked research results on the part of a colleague. The central theme of this book is that ethical dilemmas are more common than we assume but there are many difficult personal consequences to consider before confronting, either directly or indirectly, observed unethical behavior on the part of others, whether friends, colleagues, or superiors. This slim, readable, but useful volume describes the contentious, often disastrous environments that result from such situations and

May 1995

209

gives the reader much to think about. I can affirm from personal experience their warnings that one’s standing in the hierarchy, relative degree of political power in the institution, and other such political considerations carry far more weight than do concerns about who is “right” or who is “wrong.” Many years ago I found myself consulting a university’s legal counsel about possibly filing charges against a fellow employee. What I learned was that the institution’s primary concerns are exactly as described by Whicker and Kronenfeld. Considerations of “justice” were purely secondary to concerns about resolving an embarrassing situation quickly, quietly, and without any mess. The experience was disillusioning and sobering, and it left me with the indelible memory of the attorney’s advice. “If you wrestle in the mud with a pig,” he said, “there are two predictable outcomes. You get dirty and the pig loves it!” Whicker and Kronenfeld have produced an abundance of similar, less pithy perhaps, but also more useful advice. When one is outraged or hurt by a situation involving a matter of ethical violation the temptation is overwhelming to do something. An atmosphere of anger, hostility, and trauma is not, however, the best environment in which to make rational decisions. Crucial mistakes can be made in pressing an emotional claim, thus damaging one’s credibility, for example, or unintended consequences may result. One may achieve the moral victory but lose the war (or job) anyway. The authors conclude with some sage advice: “ . ..a wise and prudent response is crucial. If you choose the high ground but think politically as well as ethically, you may be able to redress the wrongdoing while maintaining your career course.” Many strategies for a variety of situations are reviewed and the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of each is particularly helpful. The only problem with this book is that when it is needed is when it is most unlikely to be read. In an instance of extreme emotional distress, it would be wise to take time out and review the author’s advice but such a strategy would require a high degree of personal control. So, my advice, then, is to read this book now and keep it on your shelf. Remember what it says and consult it for advice if, unfortunately, it is needed and, remember, there is a good chance it will be. Although this book is primarily aimed at faculty and researchers in academic departments, I recommend it for anyone in academia.Edward R. Johnson, Dean of Libraries, Oklahoma State University, 216 Edmon Low Library, Stillwater, OK 7407% 0375. Ernest Cushing Richardson: Research Librarian, Scholar, Theologian, 1860-1939, by Lewis C. Branscomb. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1993. 144~. $22.50. ISBN 0-8108-2672-O. LC 93-29915. Acid-free paper. Scholarly biography, when done well, is supposed to give us as good an impartial assessment of the contributions and influence of a leader as time and documentation permit. Assessment, however, can be difficult to do, particularly when the subject was involved in many different areas of endeavor and available scholarly judgment on their significance is almost nonexistent. The result is usually more biography and less evaluation, and readers miss an opportunity perhaps to see a little more clearly through the lens of history. Branscomb’s biography of Richardson is partially an example of some of these difficulties in doing scholarly biography. Ernest Cushing Richardson is the classic exemplar of the 19th-century scholar-librarian and bibliographer, with fingers

210

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

in most every endeavor that the profession had going during his time. Educated as a minister, Richardson was drawn to the world of libraries through his work as a library assistant at Amherst and Hartford Theological Seminary. While still a student at Hartford he was appointed as librarian, thus beginning a professional career that spanned more than 50 years. At the age of 30, in 1890, he accepted an offer from Princeton to be the librarian, a position he would hold until 1925. This is followed by appointment as Honorary Consultant in Bibliography for the Library of Congress, where he played pivotal roles in the development of the National Union Catalog and cooperative acquisitions programs. There seems to have been few professional areas that did not attract his attention. He developed classification schemes, cataloging and bibliography rules, library education curricula, and cooperative acquisitions schemes; promoted international library relations; and, particularly, was always involved in the policies and governance of the American Library Association. Professional areas, however, did not capture all of Richardson’s attention. Throughout his entire career he was an active historian and theologian, writing, editing, and translating numerous articles and books on early religious history. He was also an active internationalist, making more than 50 trips abroad to do research and represent the library profession on various issues. Despite this remarkable career, Richardson’s name is not among those few names that librarians of today recognize. Branscomb is well aware of this and notes that his “...importance as a pioneer in the library profession of the United States has not been properly understood...” (p. 99). Branscomb’s effort to rectify this lack of appreciation is summed up in his chapter, “Evaluation.” Unfortunately, this evaluation is only partially successful. While the critical issues, such as Richardson’s difficulties as an administrator that lead to his resignation at Princeton, are addressed, the essence of the issues is not thoroughly probed. One wishes for more in-depth analysis of Richardson’s ideas, as well as those he worked and fought with, as a catalog/ bibliography rule maker in this critical period when decisions that determined the kinds of tools we have today were made. Similar wishes can be made about his work in classification, education for the profession, international cooperation (particularly with the Brussels Institute), and alternative directions that the Library of Congress might have taken in areas of bibliographic control. Branscomb touches on these areas but does not give them the kind of in-depth, analytical treatment that would have contributed to a sharper focus on Richardson and on our past in general. The blame for this neglect, however, does not fall on Branscomb alone. It principally lies in the failure of the profession to do critical historical research on these issues so that we can sort out not only the personal influence of our pioneers but also better understand why and how decisions that affect what we are today were made.-Robert V. Williams, College of Library and Information Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Improving Organizational Effectiveness through Transformational Leadership, edited by Bernard M. Bass & Bruce J. Avolio. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1994. 238~. $42.00. ISBN 0-8039-5235-X. $19.95 (pbk.). ISBN 0-80395236-8. LC 93-30874. Anyone familiar with contemporary materials on leadership knows the work and influence of Bernard M. Bass. author and