Book Reviewsedited by Christy Zlatos

Digital Library Development: The View from KanazawaEdited by Deanna B. Marcum and Gerald George

Reviewed by Delmus E. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the WebEdited by William J. Frost

Reviewed by Margie Ruppel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649

The New OPL Sourcebook: A Guide for Solo and SmallLibraries

Edited by Judith A. SiessReviewed by James L. Sauer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650

The NextGen LibrarianTs Survival GuideEdited by Rachel Singer Gordon

Reviewed by B. Jane Scales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

The Virtual Reference Desk: Creating a Reference FutureEdited by R. David Lankes, Eileen G. Abels, Marilyn

Domas White, and Saira N. HaqueReviewed by Jayati Chaudhuri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651

Digital Library Development: The View from Kanazawa,edited by Deanna B. Marcum and Gerald George. Forward byKakugyo S. Chiku. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.284p. $68 (paper). ISBN: 1-59158-244-X.

It is always valuable to consider the views of those who areleading the charge into a new area of librarianship like digitallibrary development. These are people who have taken globalthoughts, localized them, and then applied the lessons learned toglobal ideals. This book is a collection of essays of this sort. Theeditors have taken outstanding papers authored by people whohave been actively engaged in taking this concept from an ideato the beginnings of a reality thoughtfully. The papersthemselves represent contributions presented over the last fiveyears at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology InternationalRoundtable on Library and Information Science in Japan, an

The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Volume 32, Number 6, pages 649–652 November 2006 649

event that is cosponsored by KIT and the Council on Libraryand Information Science from the United States that has focusedon developing the digital library and finding its proper role in aninformation society. The authors of the essays included a starstudded group of American librarians and scholars who haveand are continuing to lead the way in building digital libraries.

The book is divided into four sections—one that gives aconceptual view of digital library development; a second thatoutlines the challenges to be faced in developing thetechnology, dealing with copyright issues, and defining newroles for libraries in scholarly communications; a third dealswith projects like JSTOR, the work in the humanities beingdone at the University of Virginia, and work done bymathematicians to make their work more accessible; and afourth section treating a miscellany of other issues. The onearea that was not covered was the impact that networks likeOhioLINK, VIVA, and the like and collaboratives like theassociation that includes MIT, Toronto, and Ohio State, amongothers, have had on the development of digital libraries.

The essays are generally both rich in content and readable,and, in each case, they present a picture of where variousprojects were at the point of writing and where they were going.Essays like Catherine Marshall’s on ‘‘Reading and Interactivityin the Digital Library’’ are not to be missed, and those byStanley Chodorow, John Unsworth, and Nicholas Burckel arewell worth the time it takes to read them. Unfortunately, like anysnapshot of a fast moving object, one gets the sense that some ofthe material has already become dated as the projects describedhave moved beyond the work described here. This cannot behelped in an area that is evolving quickly.

In the final analysis, Marcum and George deserve credit forpulling together these essays in a way that provides a goodview of where we have come from, where we are, and wherewe are going with digitization. Their book is a snapshot withthoughtful commentary by people who been in the trenches,and, as such, is a valuable read for those of us who are trying tounderstand where our field is going.—Delmus E. Williams,Dean, University Libraries, The University of Akron,Akron, OH 44325 bdelmus@uakron.eduN.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2006.08.016

The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the Web,edited by William J. Frost. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press,2005. 312 p. $34.95 (Published simultaneously as The ReferenceLibrarian, vol. 44, no. 91/92, 2005.) ISBN-13: 978-0-7890-2840-2; ISBN: 0-7890-2840-9.

In The Reference Collection: From the Shelf to the Web, thecontributors alternate between giving the reader backgroundinformation and discussing Web-based reference sources inspecific disciplines. There is an inherent connection betweencollection development and electronic resources in that‘‘librarians should consider the collection of Web sites andtheir arrangement into Web-based subject guides as a newphase of their traditional collection development duties (p.42).’’ Considering that the Internet is becoming the preferredmedium for information sources, editor William J. Frost, cites‘‘the migration of reference materials in print to an electronic

format accessible on the World Wide Web’’ as the impetus forthe special issue of The Reference Librarian (p. 1). Frost hasworked in reference throughout his career, and now, mostnotably, has created the Internet Collegiate Reference Collec-tion (http://icrc.bloomu.edu).

The work provides an overview of an online referencecollection, although as in most edited volumes, its treatment isuneven. Building from Margaret Landesman’s excellentchapter on the history of reference collections, the bookincludes articles on core reference sources in business, science,education, humanities, medicine, and social sciences, as well asa list of the best Web sites for all subjects, partially compiledfrom RUSA’s 100 best free reference Web sites. The subject-specific reference sources are discussed by librarians familiarwith both the sources and with reference services (i.e., socialsciences librarian, Linda C. Weber, shares her knowledge of themost important electronic reference sources for education).

Readers will find discussions of electronic reference sourcesin relation to library instruction, type of library, federated searchtools, consortia, cost, licensing, advantages and disadvantagesof formats, information overload, ease of use, quality, andcollection development. John M. Morse’s article titled, ‘‘Refer-ence Publishing in the Age of Also’’ is particularly interestingbecause it effectively describes the current state of referencesources: ‘‘where print and various forms of electronic media co-exist and flourish (p. 70).’’ Other articles are not as successful.‘‘Out of the Stack and Into the Net: International Perspectives onAcademic Reference Sources’’ does not include much infor-mation and ‘‘Cyberplagiarism and the Library: Issues andSolutions’’ only briefly touches on plagiarism using onlineresearch databases. The content of these two articles could havebeen more closely tied to the overall topic of electronicreference sources, or replaced with chapters on more relevanttopics to cover unexplored subjects, such as purchasingconsortia and the future of reference sources. Covering thesetwo gaps could have enhanced the discussion.

This collection of articles is one of Haworth Press’sthematic journal issues simultaneously published in monogra-phic format. It includes a subject index at the end of volumethat serves as an aid for readers. The exclusion of additionalaccess points disappoints as this reviewer would like to haveseen such additional aids such as a comprehensive bibliog-raphy of cited sources at the end of the work or a completewebliography of reference sources (with brief titles andURLs). Both could have added additional value and madethis thematic journal issue more of a book. This book is a non-essential purchase for any type of library.—Margie Ruppel,Reference & ILL Librarian, Rice Library, University ofSouthern Indiana, Evansville, IN bmdruppel@usi.eduN.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2006.08.017

The New OPL Sourcebook: A Guide for Solo and SmallLibraries, edited by Judith A. Siees. Medford, New Jersey:Information Today, Inc., 2006. 427p. $39.50 (paper). ISBN:1-57387-241-5.

One Person Libraries (OPLs) are hidden throughout oursociety: in museums, hospitals, churches, schools, nonprofitorganizations, corporations, prisons, institutes, you name it—the list goes on. Early in my own career, I set up a reading

library for clients at a minimum-security drug-rehab center. Itmade me invent the library through the cold-turkey, drug freeeyes of my special clientele. This book would have been helpfulthen, and for professionals based in small or solo libraries, iscertainly helpful now. The text is a revised version of Siess’sprevious books, the OPL Sourcebook (2001) and the SOLOLibrarian Sourcebook (1997). The work of Judith Siess in oneperson libraries has been commended by fellow OPL guru GuySt. Clair; who in 1998, along with Andrew Berner, sold theonline newsletter rights of the ‘‘One Person Library’’ to Siess.

In the last decades independent librarians have grown as asubstantial subset of librarianship; the Special Library Associ-ation now has a thousand-person section on One PersonLibraries. In the new economy of the information world, theseefficient OPLs have become more common as Research andDevelopment centers have become dispersed. Although mostconcentrated outside the world of academic libraries at present,OPLs and independent, entrepreneurial librarians present amodel for academic library administrators to consider asteaching venues to continue to change and adapt. Librariesand the Internet are becoming interconnected in very inventiveways in OPLs through the work of the people who bring themtogether: these Solo librarians.

Part One of this book addresses many expected managementtopics: the history of the OPL movement, basic managementconcepts, time management, financial issues, communicationskills, advocacy, online resources, outsourcing, and knowledgemanagement. There is much practical information here: Moneysaving tips are given that would help many kinds of libraries;while management techniques like producing an annual reportare touted as an essential document for influencing your cost-crazy boss. Part Two, edited by John Welford, is a resourceguide of books, organizations, articles, and plenty of Web sites.

Siess digests her wisdom about the entrepreneurial nature ofOPLs in what she calls the ‘‘Four Hard Truths.’’ First, suchlibrarians must make themselves into information experts—they must push their way in the world using their consumeradvocacy. Second, they must earn respect by actions—years ofservice will not cut it, there must be results. Third, they mustaccept low pay. No unions or collective agreements. It is thefree market, baby. And fourth, they must sell themselves andtheir libraries (see p. 54). Most OPLs are not little libraries onthe path to becoming big libraries—they are, instead, a growingaspect of the need for a defined library and information nexuswithin the structure of a market economy. Small is beautiful,and productive. Such organizations need energetic, self-driveninformation specialists who can cope with change. Says Siess:‘‘More and more of us will be working outside of libraries.Whether in an organization or on our own, the location of alibrarian in a physical library may be unnecessary, and in somecases, undesirable (p. 160).’’

Nevertheless, this is not for the solipsistic librarian whocares nothing about cooperation—but perfect for the librarianwho must act as the individual information specialist for public,private, and charitable organizations. For academic librarians, itprovides food for thought. If you are a one person librarian – ora librarian who functions independently – then get this book.—James L. Sauer, Library Director, Eastern University, 1300Eagle Rd, St. Davids, PA 19087 bjsauer@eastern.eduN.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2006.08.018

650 The Journal of Academic Librarianship