Special Libraries Committee Handbook of Library and Information Management

Citation

Evans, G.E. (1999), "Special Libraries Committee Handbook of Library and Information Management", Library Management, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 91-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/lm.1999.20.4.91.8

What would one expect to find in a book with a title like this? Short essays on a variety of management issues that emphasise applications? A work of comprehensive coverage of all the major management issues? Or, any of a number of possible variations on the above? What is in the book is a mixed bag of management topics, however it is far from being comprehensive. Certainly there is coverage of many important topics but also repetition. For example, strategic planning/management in three separate chapters. There is no coverage of leadership, motivation, decision‐making as well as other management topics, all of which are important in today′s managerial environment where technological concerns often affect how one motivates staff, engages in decision‐making, or leads the library.

The 17 chapters are divided into five broad topical areas ‐‐ context, strategy and planning, service infrastructure, managing resources, and access and delivery. Ten individuals (contributors were: Terry Beck, Jo Bryson, Graham Cornish, Feona Hamilton, John Pluse, Ray Prytherch, Priscilla Schlicke, Colin Steele, Peter Stubley and Lawraine Wood) contributed one or more chapters. Six of the ten are consultants. The fact so many are consultants may account for the many “bulleted” lists that brought to this reviewer′s mind the visual aids that speakers often use in training workshops.

Chapter topics range from speculation about technology and the future (Beck) to very specific advice on personnel management (Pluse). On the positive side, the chapters are well written, easy to read, and up‐to‐date. Although there is a strong UK slant to much of the material, it is not so specific in character as to limit the value for librarians in other countries. Certainly if there is a dominant theme to the chapters it is technology with more than one‐third of the chapters addressing some aspect of technology. Such an emphasis is warranted, as very little of what takes place today in libraries is not impacted by technology to a greater or lesser degree.

This is not a book to turn to if one is seeking assistance with the fundamentals of managerial work. Some of the chapters are more basic than others, for example, Schlicke′s “Preservation, access, and integrity”, and her second chapter “Disasters: Prevention, rescue, and recovery”. Others, Bryson′s “Financial planning”, and Wood′s “Performance measurement and evaluation”, devote substantial space to one or two “hot” topics such as outsourcing and customer feedback. Cornish′s chapter on copyright focuses primarily on the electronic issues which face any library offering access to electronic resources. There is an interesting, roughly one page, appendix to Cornish′s chapter dealing with copyright “myths”.

Hamilton′s chapter on conducting “information audits” might also carry the title user needs assessment. This chapter provides an adequate overview of the process. If one plans to conduct an audit/assessment it will be necessary to go to other sources, some of which she cites in her “further reading” section.

The chapters in the access and delivery section (Stubley′s “Closing the information net: gateway, brokers, and Z39.5”, Schlicke′s “Electronic publishing”, Hamilton′s “The intranet as in information management tool”, and Steele′s “New paradigms in access and delivery” are solely about technology. One may be able to develop links back to more traditional aspects of access delivery but it will be because the reader makes the associations. A problem for anyone writing about electronic resources and providing Web addresses in the frequency with which those addresses change. Eight of the ten addresses the reviewer checked were still current; perhaps UK addresses are more stable than those in the USA.

A 19‐page “directory of organisations”, a 15‐page glossary, and a six‐page index conclude the volume. Why there is a directory is unclear but the entries provide street address, voice and fax telephone numbers, and, when available, a Web address for a wide range of library and information science organisations. The glossary puts the point to the fact that this volume′s focus is technology. Definitions of terms with several meanings only list the technological application. Two examples: “Agents. Software programs that can be customised by the user to perform specific tasks; Most commonly, to retrieve certain types of information” (p. 389); “Architecture. The physical design and construction of a computer” (p. 389). The index is adequate, if not extensive.

If one is looking for basic information about many aspects of managing technology, this may be the book. If one is looking for either a comprehensive text on technology or on management, this is not the book. At £75 one would like to have something with either more depth on topics covered or less depth and broader coverage.