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University libraries in developing countries
Book Reviews
further. One final point concerns the title. The distinction between housing and housing policy is not really made clear, and the authors own definition of the topic is not sufficient, involving as it does the very words they are trying to define. Even within this definition, why are there no references to any documents written by or information about the publications of the major opposition political parties? After all today’s Labour Party Research Note may form the basis of tomorrow’s government white paper and future policy. C. M. Baggs College of Librarianship Wales Aberystwyth
A. J. Loveday and G. Gatterman. University libraries in developing countries (IFLA Publications 33).
Munich, New York, London, Paris: K. G. Saur, 1985, 138 pp. ISBN 3 598 20397 7. This is a book which is both depressing and upIifting at the same time. The early part of the book includes two papers on the background scene--one on ‘The role of the university library in the German Federal system’ by G. Gatterman, the other by S. C. Nwoye, ‘Problems for university libraries functioning in a national system in developing countries’. These offer contrasts between a developed system and ‘university libraries [with] poor fundinadequately stocked, [with ing, . a] lack of scientific and technical books and periodicals, especially in foreign languages such as English, German and Russian’. Not only do they have inadequate material resources, they also lack adequate manpower. Yet ‘Third World countries have set up and are setting up universities and other institutions of higher learning’ (p. 2.5). Moreover they are expected to function within a national information system, and expected to contribute to overall national information resources. There are other communicaproblems-unreliable tions, low level of development and service, the absence of data on libraries and information centres, lack of
bibliographical tools, and an inadequate indigenous book trade infrastructure, the lack of strong professional associations, and of technical knowhow. The following six papers deal with acquisitions including John Ndegwa’s ‘Development of effective acquisitions policies’, Michael Gill’s ‘Parameters of expenditure’, which includes an interesting contribution to the problems of financial formulae, B. U. Nwafor’s ‘Problems of acquisition of overseas and local materials’, H. B. Schreiner and others’ paper on periodicals acquisition in Brazil, Namponya on collection building in agriculture, and Mrs U. Dhutiyabhodi’s comprehensive paper on collection building and information services in medicine. The second part of the symposium is devoted to Information Technology. There are two excellent chapters. The first is by Stephen Massil on ‘New information technologies available in the industrialised world’ which is of world-wide interest and a fine summary of the state of the art as at 1983. The second is by Lim Huck Tee on ‘Choosing the moment: a review of the re-organisational demands arising out of conversion to computerised systems’. This is based on real achievement at Universiti Sains Malaysia and the consortium of libraries involved in Malmarc. The case for automation in developing countries is well argued, and deals lucidly with the problems and changes involved. The section also includes useful papers by Gill, Garduno and Anafulu on aspects of technological development in the area. All the papers are worth reading and give a real feel for the problems in the Third World. What is so depressing is that the problems of the 1980s were those of the 1950s 1960s and 197Os-only worse. The problems have been intensified in some countries because of the recession, and because of the growing distance in technology between industrialized countries and the Third World. The recommendations at the end of the volume, one regrets, will be seen again-and again? And yet, with the people who have contributed to the volume, one finishes it reading with
hope that they are achieving what is necessary, perhaps in spite of the committees. I’. ~avard- Wi~I~an~ Loughborough
University
J. R. Fang, P. Nauta and A. J. Fang (Editors). International guide to library and information science education: A reference source for edl~catio~al programs in the reformation fields world-wide.
Munich: K. G. Saur, 1985. 537 pp. ISBN 3 598 20396 9. This international listing of schools of librarianship and information science may not be complete but it certainly comes pretty close to being so. The work involved in the preparation of such a reference work cannot have been other than prodigious. The mundane and changeable nature of the data gathered-numbers of students on courses, accessibility of photocopying equipment, degrees held by teaching staff, etc.-might give rise to a questioning of the worthwhileness of such an enterprise on an international scale. The compilers, of course, have no such doubts. Their work is seen as an encouragement to the international mobility of information specialists, as the basis for the comparison and international recognition of professional qualifications and for determining criteria for the interpretation of professional qualifications worldwide. perhaps needed, Useful, achievements. This listing, however, takes the profession only a small way towards the attainment of such large aims. Inevitably so. For it was not the intention of the compilers to collect qualitative data. From this viewpoint the descriptive and quantitative data provided can be interpreted only in the narrowest and least meaningful manner. Attempts at establishing surrogate qualitative measures, through the use of such clumsy measures as publications record expressed in numbers, amounts of time spent on research and teaching expressed as percentages and degrees held predictably fail in their intention. Many respondents could not be persuaded to answer such
53
further. One final point concerns the title. The distinction between housing and housing policy is not really made clear, and the authors own definition of the topic is not sufficient, involving as it does the very words they are trying to define. Even within this definition, why are there no references to any documents written by or information about the publications of the major opposition political parties? After all today’s Labour Party Research Note may form the basis of tomorrow’s government white paper and future policy. C. M. Baggs College of Librarianship Wales Aberystwyth
A. J. Loveday and G. Gatterman. University libraries in developing countries (IFLA Publications 33).
Munich, New York, London, Paris: K. G. Saur, 1985, 138 pp. ISBN 3 598 20397 7. This is a book which is both depressing and upIifting at the same time. The early part of the book includes two papers on the background scene--one on ‘The role of the university library in the German Federal system’ by G. Gatterman, the other by S. C. Nwoye, ‘Problems for university libraries functioning in a national system in developing countries’. These offer contrasts between a developed system and ‘university libraries [with] poor fundinadequately stocked, [with ing, . a] lack of scientific and technical books and periodicals, especially in foreign languages such as English, German and Russian’. Not only do they have inadequate material resources, they also lack adequate manpower. Yet ‘Third World countries have set up and are setting up universities and other institutions of higher learning’ (p. 2.5). Moreover they are expected to function within a national information system, and expected to contribute to overall national information resources. There are other communicaproblems-unreliable tions, low level of development and service, the absence of data on libraries and information centres, lack of
bibliographical tools, and an inadequate indigenous book trade infrastructure, the lack of strong professional associations, and of technical knowhow. The following six papers deal with acquisitions including John Ndegwa’s ‘Development of effective acquisitions policies’, Michael Gill’s ‘Parameters of expenditure’, which includes an interesting contribution to the problems of financial formulae, B. U. Nwafor’s ‘Problems of acquisition of overseas and local materials’, H. B. Schreiner and others’ paper on periodicals acquisition in Brazil, Namponya on collection building in agriculture, and Mrs U. Dhutiyabhodi’s comprehensive paper on collection building and information services in medicine. The second part of the symposium is devoted to Information Technology. There are two excellent chapters. The first is by Stephen Massil on ‘New information technologies available in the industrialised world’ which is of world-wide interest and a fine summary of the state of the art as at 1983. The second is by Lim Huck Tee on ‘Choosing the moment: a review of the re-organisational demands arising out of conversion to computerised systems’. This is based on real achievement at Universiti Sains Malaysia and the consortium of libraries involved in Malmarc. The case for automation in developing countries is well argued, and deals lucidly with the problems and changes involved. The section also includes useful papers by Gill, Garduno and Anafulu on aspects of technological development in the area. All the papers are worth reading and give a real feel for the problems in the Third World. What is so depressing is that the problems of the 1980s were those of the 1950s 1960s and 197Os-only worse. The problems have been intensified in some countries because of the recession, and because of the growing distance in technology between industrialized countries and the Third World. The recommendations at the end of the volume, one regrets, will be seen again-and again? And yet, with the people who have contributed to the volume, one finishes it reading with
hope that they are achieving what is necessary, perhaps in spite of the committees. I’. ~avard- Wi~I~an~ Loughborough
University
J. R. Fang, P. Nauta and A. J. Fang (Editors). International guide to library and information science education: A reference source for edl~catio~al programs in the reformation fields world-wide.
Munich: K. G. Saur, 1985. 537 pp. ISBN 3 598 20396 9. This international listing of schools of librarianship and information science may not be complete but it certainly comes pretty close to being so. The work involved in the preparation of such a reference work cannot have been other than prodigious. The mundane and changeable nature of the data gathered-numbers of students on courses, accessibility of photocopying equipment, degrees held by teaching staff, etc.-might give rise to a questioning of the worthwhileness of such an enterprise on an international scale. The compilers, of course, have no such doubts. Their work is seen as an encouragement to the international mobility of information specialists, as the basis for the comparison and international recognition of professional qualifications and for determining criteria for the interpretation of professional qualifications worldwide. perhaps needed, Useful, achievements. This listing, however, takes the profession only a small way towards the attainment of such large aims. Inevitably so. For it was not the intention of the compilers to collect qualitative data. From this viewpoint the descriptive and quantitative data provided can be interpreted only in the narrowest and least meaningful manner. Attempts at establishing surrogate qualitative measures, through the use of such clumsy measures as publications record expressed in numbers, amounts of time spent on research and teaching expressed as percentages and degrees held predictably fail in their intention. Many respondents could not be persuaded to answer such
53