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Feminist thought in American librarianship
most librarians. Maurice Line, in the concluding paper, warns of other professions that have “died because they are no longer needed.” He presents numerous deficiencies in the services now offered by librarians, including poor management, narrow vision, multiplicity of systems, and poor subject access. These, he suggests, should be replaced by “fresh visions, new attitudes, user-oriented systems, and cost-effective management.” Librarians may not be the only culprits in slowing or complicating the move toward electronic publishing, but they are the ones whose jobs may be most at risk! On the minus side, the volume lacks a comprehensive index; in its favor most of the papers are accompanied by useful bibliographies, diagrams, and illustrations. Overall, this festschrift is a timely and valuable contribution to an understanding of the issues confronting North American librarianship: it offers a variety of insights into the problems facing and approaches taken by colleagues in other parts of the world. It is recommended as a worthwhile addition to personal libraries and as an essential component of professional collection in academic, public, and special libraries.--Margaret Beckman, Beckman Associates Library Consultants, Inc. Waterloo, Ontario.
Feminist Thought in American Librarianship, by Christina D. Baum. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992. 180~. $28.50 ISBN o-89950-724-7 LC 92-53508. Permanent paper. In this ambitious work, Baum seeks to “transcend the demographic studies of women in librarianship that are already so widely available, and instead trace the impact of various kinds of feminism on the thought and political agenda of American library women.” Because of the intensity of the feminist debate within librarianship, and what she terms the “defensiveness” among library women, Baum concluded that a content analysis of the literature would be more objective and less misleading than surveys or interviews. She therefore gathered for examination 250 articles and books written between 1965 and 1985, as well as ALA program records for the same period. All material is authored by women and concerns women’s issues in American librarianship. Clearly a good deal of work has gone into this study. The book starts out with a brief introduction to the feminist “debate” within librarianship (liberal or mainstream feminism versus radical feminism), an overview of the literature of feminist theory, and a general assessment of the impact of feminism on librarianship from the 19th century to the present. This introductory material is followed by a content analysis of the 250 articles and books, with each item designated as either “liberal” or “radical,” depending on the “issue” and/or “agenda” defined by the item’s author. Another chapter includes a citation analysis that tracks feminist authors outside of librarianship who have been cited in the literature under examination, again designating their work as liberal or radical. The following chapter tracks liberal
and radical content in ALA programming on women’s issues over the 21-year period. Complete lists of sources and programs are included in the appendices, and a bibliography concludes the book. Overall, this work is carefully researched and well organized. The book disappoints, however, when Baum attempts a feminist analysis of the literature. The author appears to have accepted the rather tired and impoverished view of mainstream feminists as “those who are primarily interested in gaining access to established institutions,” while radical feminists “aim at the transformation of those institutions.” Such a view might explain the curious decision to classify as “radical” such issues as “sexual harassment,” “individual autonomy,” and “self-development.” Furthermore, the analysis of these issues is often less than trenchant. One learns, for example, that self-development “can refer to development in terms of professional and/or personal growth,” and that “each of us must personally define our own goals.” One should also be aware of the limitations of this work as a whole. While Baum seeks to “measure the impact of feminist thought on American librarianship,” a content analysis of the literature and of ALA programming can only explain in a very limited way how feminism has affected the field. I suspect that many librarians, both men and women, have been profoundly influenced by the feminist movement and live by its tenets daily, yet most of them have never written articles or books on women’s issues. Having said that, however, I wholeheartedly agree with Baum’s assessment that “the lack of attention to ‘women’s issues’ in the professional literature of a feminized profession would seem to bear further investigation.” In my opinion, the definitive book on feminist thought in librarianship has yet to be written. Baum’s work, however, provides a useful introduction to the issues and has some unique features, in particular the citation analysis. As such, it should prove a solid addition to the still fairly sparse literature in this area. Readers wanting more comprehensive bibliographies of womens’ issues in librarianship should look to The Role of Women in Librarianship, 1876-1976 (Weibel and Heim, 1979) and On Account ofSex (Heim and Phenix, 1984 and Phenix, 1989).-Liz Willis, Reference Denver, CO.
Librarian,
Auraria Library,
RLG Preservation Microfilming Handbook, edited by Nancy E. Elkington. Mountain View, CA: The Research Libraries Group, Inc. 1992. 213~. $75 (paper, spiral bound) Permanent paper. The appearance of this volume marks a new level of maturity and development in preservation microfilming in particular, and in library preservation practice in general. It was perhaps to be expected that as the RLG libraries have led in preservation microfilming they should also lead in codifying the related practices and procedures that, as a group, they have found most useful and necessary. While this volume is issued as a new title, its genesis in the 1983 and 1986 editions of the RLG Preservation Manual is recognized in the introduction. As non-RLG
the Journal of Academic
Librarianship,
January 1993
373
Feminist Thought in American Librarianship, by Christina D. Baum. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1992. 180~. $28.50 ISBN o-89950-724-7 LC 92-53508. Permanent paper. In this ambitious work, Baum seeks to “transcend the demographic studies of women in librarianship that are already so widely available, and instead trace the impact of various kinds of feminism on the thought and political agenda of American library women.” Because of the intensity of the feminist debate within librarianship, and what she terms the “defensiveness” among library women, Baum concluded that a content analysis of the literature would be more objective and less misleading than surveys or interviews. She therefore gathered for examination 250 articles and books written between 1965 and 1985, as well as ALA program records for the same period. All material is authored by women and concerns women’s issues in American librarianship. Clearly a good deal of work has gone into this study. The book starts out with a brief introduction to the feminist “debate” within librarianship (liberal or mainstream feminism versus radical feminism), an overview of the literature of feminist theory, and a general assessment of the impact of feminism on librarianship from the 19th century to the present. This introductory material is followed by a content analysis of the 250 articles and books, with each item designated as either “liberal” or “radical,” depending on the “issue” and/or “agenda” defined by the item’s author. Another chapter includes a citation analysis that tracks feminist authors outside of librarianship who have been cited in the literature under examination, again designating their work as liberal or radical. The following chapter tracks liberal
and radical content in ALA programming on women’s issues over the 21-year period. Complete lists of sources and programs are included in the appendices, and a bibliography concludes the book. Overall, this work is carefully researched and well organized. The book disappoints, however, when Baum attempts a feminist analysis of the literature. The author appears to have accepted the rather tired and impoverished view of mainstream feminists as “those who are primarily interested in gaining access to established institutions,” while radical feminists “aim at the transformation of those institutions.” Such a view might explain the curious decision to classify as “radical” such issues as “sexual harassment,” “individual autonomy,” and “self-development.” Furthermore, the analysis of these issues is often less than trenchant. One learns, for example, that self-development “can refer to development in terms of professional and/or personal growth,” and that “each of us must personally define our own goals.” One should also be aware of the limitations of this work as a whole. While Baum seeks to “measure the impact of feminist thought on American librarianship,” a content analysis of the literature and of ALA programming can only explain in a very limited way how feminism has affected the field. I suspect that many librarians, both men and women, have been profoundly influenced by the feminist movement and live by its tenets daily, yet most of them have never written articles or books on women’s issues. Having said that, however, I wholeheartedly agree with Baum’s assessment that “the lack of attention to ‘women’s issues’ in the professional literature of a feminized profession would seem to bear further investigation.” In my opinion, the definitive book on feminist thought in librarianship has yet to be written. Baum’s work, however, provides a useful introduction to the issues and has some unique features, in particular the citation analysis. As such, it should prove a solid addition to the still fairly sparse literature in this area. Readers wanting more comprehensive bibliographies of womens’ issues in librarianship should look to The Role of Women in Librarianship, 1876-1976 (Weibel and Heim, 1979) and On Account ofSex (Heim and Phenix, 1984 and Phenix, 1989).-Liz Willis, Reference Denver, CO.
Librarian,
Auraria Library,
RLG Preservation Microfilming Handbook, edited by Nancy E. Elkington. Mountain View, CA: The Research Libraries Group, Inc. 1992. 213~. $75 (paper, spiral bound) Permanent paper. The appearance of this volume marks a new level of maturity and development in preservation microfilming in particular, and in library preservation practice in general. It was perhaps to be expected that as the RLG libraries have led in preservation microfilming they should also lead in codifying the related practices and procedures that, as a group, they have found most useful and necessary. While this volume is issued as a new title, its genesis in the 1983 and 1986 editions of the RLG Preservation Manual is recognized in the introduction. As non-RLG
the Journal of Academic
Librarianship,
January 1993
373