incorporates the changes in government since the previous edition. In his introduction.

Zwim discusses the constantly changing relationship between society and government,

using that relationship as the basis for the need to unders~nd how units of the executive

and legislative branches hold jurisdiction over specific subjects, Zwirn arranges his material into five parts, the first focusing on subject terms taken from

the Library of Congress subject headings in the Month!\ Cmrlog; the subject indexes to

Stutisti~~~~ Abstruct r,S the Utzitrd States, the Co& @Federal ~~~~i~~~t~~~l~~, and the United

States Code; the GAO Thesaurus; and the subject index to Congressional Quarterly’s CQ

Alma~m.

This first section directs users to parent agencies, agency subunits, House and Senate

committees and appropriations subcommittees, as well as to Part 2, which organizes all the

subject categories into general groups with similar subject terms. Part 3 is arranged by

parent agencies; Part 4 is congressional committees, and Part 5 is appropriations subcommittees. Each lists related subject temls below each agency, committee, or

subcommittee. The 17-page Index gives agency and subcommittee abbreviations used

throughout the rest of the publication. While some browsing is possible. users would be

well advised to read the User Guide (pages xii-xvii), as it clearly explains the relationships

between the subjects and the agencies/committees/subcommittees. As an added bonus,

Zwim explains the depository library system, federal information centers, the National

Technical Information Service, and the Freedom of Information Act as alternate means of

access to government information. This title appears to be particularly useful for staffs in public libraries and small libraries

without access to government databases, but it should also provide direction for others

wishing to determine the agency or committee responsible for specific topics. Depository

libraries may not find it as useful as other libraries; on the other hand. it could provide a

straightforward approach for those new in the field. The book reflects Zwirn’s experience

in a public library. but academic institutions may find it helpful for researchers as well as

staff,

Buildings, Books, and Bytes: Libraries and Communities in the Digital Age. A Report on the

Public’s Opinion of Library Leaders’ Visions for the Future. Washington, DC: Benton

Foundation. 1996.46 pages.

Reviewed by Lisa M. Russeil, Associate Government Publications Librarian,

University of Louisville, Ekstrom Library-Belknap Campus, Government Publi- cations Department, 2301 S. Third Street, Louisville, KY 40292-000 I

This report compares the individual visions of library leaders for the future of libra~es with

public opinion on libraries and their future. For the project, “library leaders” were defined

as the 18 Kellogg Foundation Human Resources for Information Systems Management

grantees. They provided written vision statements and later particpated in telephone

interviews. The data on public opinion came from a nationwide telephone survey of I ,O 15

individuals IX years and older, as well as a focus group held in Montgomery County,

Maryland. The phone interviews were weighted by age, sex, geographic region, and race

Revrews 21 3

so the sample would reflect the total population. The focus group consisted of 11 white

men and women who were library users residing in Montgomery County. The visions of the library leaders would be familiar to anyone who has the least

acquaintance with the professional literature. They see hybrid institutions in the near future

that provide both print and digital information, while maintaining the traditional library

values of equal access and service. One sentiment expressed, seen less often in library

literature, was a troubling concern that libraries could be marginalized as an information

safety net, making librarians future social workers in the world of info~ation welfare. Among the more signi~cant findings were that the public sees libraries as impo~ant

institutions, supports new taxes and/or user fees to fund to them, and wants libraries to

assume a leadership role in providing access to computers and digital information. However,

the poll did reveal differences among demographic groups. Respondents who were between

18 and 24 years old were less supportive of maintaining and building library buildings than

many older respondents, and the younger respondents clearly favored spending $20 of their

own money on buying disks for personal use rather than spending the same money on a

public library to purchase digital info~ation which could be accessed from home. Older respondents were less supportive of computer services in libraries. Minorities

placed a higher value on the library as a community meeting place and favored providing

services to information “have-riots... A majority of respondents approve of new taxes or

fees to pay for library services, but library users are more supportive of new taxes while

nonusers prefer a fee-for-use system. One of the study’s more ironic findings was that,

although the public wants libraries to be places which aid users in finding and retrieving

digital information, the focus group suggested saving money by replacing librarians with

volunteers or retirees. This would put the segment of the population which was least

enthusiastic about computer services in charge of providing computer services. The report also reveals anti-government sentiments among the public, and expressed

surprise at the willingness to pay additional taxes to support public libraries. However, the

survey never asks for opinions of trust in the government. If the public supports new taxes

for library services, but does not trust the government to spend tax money in the manner in

which it was intended, that support might disappear at the ballot box. Also bothersome is the fact that while the public opinion section focused on public

libraries, only one of the grantees who were polled as library leaders worked in a public

library. The others were from either university libraries or library-related organizations.

Perhaps the leaders and the public were looking at different environments. Geographic

location provides another inconsistency in the reports’ observations. While the public

opinion poll was weighted geographically, results were not reported regionally, but

differences were reported by sex, race, education, economic, and age groups. One wonders

if remote access would be more important to users in rural areas than it is to metropolitan

users. Here again there is a dispa~ty between the public sample and the library leaders

sample. Among the 18 leaders, only one is located west of the Mississippi River. From a government information standpoint, it would be interesting to do a simiIar study

of attitudes toward government information. Given the current political climate, one could

assume that government information is not held in the same esteem as public libraries. While the study found that many people have positive feelings about libraries, few could

imagine the same response to government agencies. Asking whether someone would rather

214 (Xh’ERNMEN-I INFORMATION QUARTERLY Vol. 14iNo. 211997

spend $20 to purchase statistical info~ati~~n for personai use or give the same amount to

the government to coltect census data, might yield very different results than when the public library is the recipient of that $20.

This was a thought-provoking study, although the questions not asked are as thought provoking as the ones that were. The survey asked whether respondents had access to a

computer for personal use either at home or at work. They did not, however, ask whether

the computer had a modem or an Internet connection. While those with computer access did

not see libraries’ importance decreasing in the digital environment, one wonders what effect

the presence or absence of a mode~nternet connection would have had on the results. Someone who does not have an Internet connection might go to the library and download

census information onto a disk to use at home, while someone with an Internet connection

might get the information directly from the Census Bureau on the Internet. Therefore, these two users might have very different views of libraries’ importance in the digital age.

Civilizing Cyberspace: Policy, Power, and the Information Superhighway, By Steven E. Miller. New York, NY: ACM Press. 1996.413 pages. $26.95 (cloth). ISBN ~-201-~4760-4. LC 95-7270.

New Community Networks: Wired for Change. By Douglas Schuler. New York. NY: Addison Wesley. 1996. 528 pages. $26.95 (cloth). ISRN O-201-59553-2. LC 95-727 I,

Revie~~cf hp John A. Shuler. Documents Librarian, Main Library. X01 S. Morgan.

University of Illinois at Chicago. Chicago, IL 60607 <alfred@uic.edu>.

These two volumes represent the spectrum of policy and activist voices that advocate either a passive or strong role for public policy makers in shaping a “civilized cyberspace.”

Where Miller takes a more traditional “policy wonk” approach in his edited volume, Schuler certainly enlivens his writing as someone who is a neighborhood activist first and

a computer user second. Taken together, they offer very similar, and. in some cases,

opposing, points of view of how the spread of information technology through our political and social structures will create either a “digital democracy” or a new form of social

control through more sinister elements of our culture. In Civili,-ing Qherspnce, Miller offers a book about the “informati~)n superhighway” for

all those people whose interest has been attracted by the term, “but who don’t know very

much about what the term actually means” (p. iv.). His 13 chapters are each followed with a “question and answer” essay written by various other policy experts and advocates who

offer further insights, support, or opposition to what Miller has written. Miller’s policy perspective is largely driven by the traditional economic perspective that the national information infrastructure is a free market entity. Though created by subsidies from the military during the cold war. its future directions will be detern~ined by the existing economic players who either own the means of distribution or the content: telephone companies. telecommunication broadcasters, electric power companies, and the hardware and software industry. Miller offers, in several chapters, some very traditional community organizing strategies for local neighborhoods to encourage universal access, democracy, and citizen action. In this scheme of things, the computer and its attendant networks is already determined by larger economic forces outside of the local community, and the