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The authors did many things right with this book. They gotdown in the trenches with hands-on instructions for implementingan e-reserves system. They provided benefits and limitations for eachapproach. They used case studies and examples. They provided whatamounts to literature reviews for each method discussed. These arealso some of the downsides of this book. The authors discuss the ins-and-outs of using a CMS for e-reserves and give detailed instructions,with screen shots, to show just how to do this in Blackboard. Iunderstand why instructions cannot be provided for every CMS, butthere is no mention of other CMS systems, such as Moodle, forexample. The same holds true for using a citation management tool.Step-by-step instructions, with screen shots, are provided for Ref-Works/RefShare and Zotero. There are a plethora of citation manage-ment tools available, yet detail is provided only for these two, with amention of Sakai. No others are mentioned. This automatically givesthese chapters amore limited audience. However, having said that, thediscussions regarding the use of a CMS and citationmanagement toolsare both very good. I could easily see how each of these could beimplemented at my institution. It did not really matter that myinstitution does not have RefWorks as I could envision the implemen-tation of such a system with my institution's citation managementtool. I did not, however, read the step-by-step, illustrated instructionson how to set up course reserves in RefWorks. The one caveat here isthat any system changes and upgrades will automatically outdate theexamples and illustrations, rendering them less than useful andpotentially confusing.
At times it seemed the authors tried to include too muchinformation. One example is copyright. While good information wasprovided on copyright and fair use, it seemed rather basic. This leadsto another drawback for this title, though the authors dealt with itwell. They are Canadian. Though not normally an issue, copyright andfair use vary from country to country. They did a good job ofaddressing the differences between United States and Canadiancopyright law (and mentioned laws for a couple of other countriesas well), however, it tended to bounce around a bit.
Another potential drawback are the examples. Many of them arefrom Ryerson University, which is where the authors work. Knowingthis gave an understanding of some of the more detailed parts of thebooks—they are based on experiences of the authors at Ryerson.Knowing what other institutions have gone through when imple-menting any service is never a bad thing. While the examples are notlimited to Ryerson, the fact that most of them aremade the book seema bit narrow in its presentation, when in reality, it is not.
This book seemed to have a dual personality. It provided detailed,how-to information, complete with screen shots in several chapters,and then read like the literature review from a dissertation in others.Curious about this, I did a bit of checking. This book is part of a newseries from Chandos—Information Professional Series. According tothe information at the beginning of the book, it is designed “to providethe reader with an authoritative view of current thinking” and is“designed to provide easy-to-read and (most importantly) practicalcoverage of topics.” So, it appears the book is meant to have a dualpersonality. I am not sure this approach worked for me. Manylibrarians are looking for practical information and not literaturereviews and survey results. That is available in plenty from manyjournals, however, this does pull a lot of that research together in oneplace. The problem is new articles and/or surveys are being publishedregularly, which will outdate this resource sooner rather than later.Though, to be fair, any title that deals with technology faces theproblem of being outdated rather quickly. While the literature reviewapproach did not particularly appeal to me, it will appeal to others.
Overall, I would recommend this title for those who are justdeveloping an e-reserves service or looking to update one that hasbeen around for awhile and is in need of an overhaul. I would also
recommend it more as a reference book, one that can be consultedbased on the technology (CMS, citation management system, etc.)being considered for the service.—Alexis Linoski, Electronic AccessLibrarian, Nimitz Library, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis,MD 21402, USA [email protected].
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.02.024
News Search, Blogs and Feeds: A Toolkit, by Lars Våge and Lars Iselid.Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2010. 233p. $75.00. ISBN 1-84334-602-9.
News Search, Blogs and Feeds is essentially “a bookabout searching fornews online” (p. xix) and, as such, is successful. In the first chapter, LarsVåge and Lars Iselid trace the emergence of online news and newssearch and briefly describe the various types of news content. The nextchapter focuses on free news search tools; following a historicaloverview, the authors describe and assess news search engines, newsdirectories, newspapers with web archives, broadcast news sites, pressrelease and scientific wires, and historical newspaper collections. Theauthors then turn to the major fee-based news databases (Dialog,Factiva, and LexisNexis), outline how to use their advanced searchfeatures, and then describe the various fee-based news monitoringservices. The next chapter delineates ways to evaluate news searchtools, such as the level of indexing and scope of coverage and then Vågeand Iselid shift gears to focus on the history and characteristics of blogs,as well as blog search engines. They then define and explain how to useRSS feeds, social media, and microblogging in the context of newssearch. The final chapter consists of practical advice and recommenda-tions for using news search tools.
This book is a clearly-written and thorough overview of newssearch, blogs, RSS, and social media, and unlike muchwritten on thesetopics, is truly international in scope. The histories of the variouscontent producers and technologies are informative, as are theauthors' assessment of the advantages and drawbacks of using eachtool. The lists of resources at the end of each chapter are valuable aswell, particularly since the authors include less well-known tools, inaddition to major players such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. Thechapter on ways to evaluate news search tools is especially good, as itsuccinctly delineates the aspects of news search tools that should be,but are not often, analyzed by users. The major drawback of this bookis the lengthy descriptions of user interfaces, as these interfaceschange frequently. News Search, Blogs and Feeds does not seem to begeared towards librarians—the discussions of indexing and fee-basedservices such as LexisNexis are fairly basic—but towards otherinformation professionals who may not have the same familiaritywith these things. Despite this, librarians will find this comprehensiveoverview of a rapidly changing field useful and the lists of resourcesa valuable reference.—Maura Seale, Research and InstructionLibrarian, Lauinger Library, Georgetown University, Washington,DC 20057-0003, USA [email protected].
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.02.025
Leadership and Management of Quality in Higher Education byChenicheri Sid Nair, Leonard Webster and Patricia Mertova. Oxford:Chandos Publishing, 2010. 233p. $75.00. ISBN 1-84334-602-9.
This book captures the fine points of the concepts of quality anddemonstrates how it has become integrated and applied in higher
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education. The text begins with the origins of quality beforediscussing its development in higher education, and from the onsetthe reader becomes aware of the global aspects of the qualitymovement. The manuscript's strength lies in highlighting thedifferent approaches to adapting quality, while emphasizing thecrucial involvement of all levels of management, and the incorpora-tion of strong leadership.
The volume is divided into six different parts and after a broadoverview the ensuing chapters delve into the heart of thepublication, which embodies the title of Part Two: Leadership ofQuality in Higher Education. This section illustrates, by example,various approaches to achieving a culture of quality. The role ofdistributed leadership and the importance of engaging leadershipare recurring themes. The international scope of the qualitymovement in higher education is well documented with casestudies in Part Three: Approaches of Managers to Quality in HigherEducation, and Part Five: Academic Development and Quality inHigher Education. The only chapter in Part Four titled, AuditingQuality in Higher Education is devoted to the evolution of ExternalQuality Assurance (EQA). Beginning with the background of thedevelopment of EQA models utilized in university circles andbuilding upon that phase, one can visualize the relationshipbetween quality controls and academic standards.
The most significant section of this work is Part Six: Resourcesand Trends in Higher Education Quality. It is within this piece thatcatch phrases such as “evidence-based,” “student-centered,” and“outcomes-focused” will resonate with educators and librarians aswell. Our positions have been transformed as the spotlight onstudent learning and engagement has intensified over time. In thechapter titled, New Directions in Quality Management, the passagethat discusses the use of comments from employers of graduatestudents as an additional measurement of student outcomes isnoteworthy.
The editors of this work have created a detailed oriented guide forthose not familiar with quality models in an academic setting. Andthey have done so by gathering authors who have either studiedquality methods or have experience as practitioners in quality-centered environments.—Loretta Wallace, Business and EconomicsLibrarian, M.D. Anderson Library, University of Houston, Houston,TX 77204-2000, USA [email protected].
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.02.026
A Practical Guide to Electronic Resources in the Humanities, by AnaDubnjakovic and Patrick Tomlin. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2010.354 p. $85.00. ISBN 978-1-84334-597-8
In my early days as a humanities librarian, I would often visitwebsites like Marylaine Block's “Neat New…” and the Librarians'Internet Index to keep track of new sites for my departments. At thattime, it seemed conceivable that one could have a sense of whatexisted in terms of digital resources in the humanities. Just a few yearslater, with the relentless growth in websites and digital resources, itnow seems an impossible goal.
There are very few tools available to assist librarians and scholarsin navigating online resources in the humanities. Dubnjakovic andTomlin have endeavored to fill this gap by offering a practical guidethat identifies key subject-specific resources in this field. As theauthors note, this is a daunting task given the sheer volume andshifting nature of digital resources. The book covers four broad subjectareas: Performing Arts, Art & Architecture, Languages & Literature,and Philosophy & Religion.
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The authors have done a good job of identifying the unique needsof the humanities researcher and included a variety of subscriptionand free resources in each category. Entries include the URL, contentprovider, and brief annotations. Most sections include a table ofsubject-specific indexing/full-text databases with journal counts—thisinformation can be time-consuming to collect and is valuable forcollection development purposes.
The Performing Arts section includes resources for music, theatre,dance and film. From the perspective of a librarian with limitedexperience in music and dance resources, one can imagine the valuethis guide could have for librarians taking on new subject responsi-bilities or a graduate student exploring his or her field.
Art & Architecture includes a variety of sub-sections, fromilluminated manuscripts to photography. The authors have includeda useful collection of resources on copyright for images, importantreading for anyone using the resources provided.
Languages & Literature covers resources for Classical, Germanic,Romance, Slavic, and Asian scholars. As the authors note in the prefaceto the section, there are many high-quality resources in literatureavailable and this book is meant to be a selective collection. Still, thisreviewer was surprised that the Adam Matthew digital collections(Literary Manuscripts, Victorian Popular Culture, etc.) were notmentioned, as these seem to be among the most requested resourcesby faculty members.
The final section provides an overview of resources in philosophyand religious studies, including a section on demographics and statisticsfor religion. As the authors note, this section is limited to the majorschools of philosophical thought and the fourdominant religions (in thisbook defined as Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism).
With the wealth of information provided, this guide has thepotential to be a valuable reference for both new and experiencedsubject librarians and scholars. While this is a book that will likely notbe read cover to cover, it is an important addition to academic librarycollections.—Justine Alsop-Cotton, Subject Librarian for EnglishLiterature, Communications, Popular Culture, Film, and DramaticArts, James A. Gibson Library, Brock University, St. Catharines,Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1 [email protected].
doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.02.027
Ontologies, Taxonomies and Thesauri in Systems Science andSystematics, by Emilia Currás. Oxford: Chandos Publishing, 2010. 133p. $75.00. ISBN 978-1-84334-6128.
Emilia Currás has written extensively in the fields of ontology,taxonomy, and thesauri creation, and thus is more than qualified topresent this introduction to those concepts and how they fit into therealm of systems science and systematics. Largely theoretical ratherthan practical in nature, this book explores the history anddevelopment of the concepts of ontology and taxonomy and theirapplication within thesauri development.
By exploring the evolving definitions of the terms ontology andtaxonomy, Currás illustrates the eventual application of them in thefield of information and computer science. Ontology was originallydefined as the branch of metaphysics that deals with the nature ofbeing; however, in recent decades the term has been appropriated bythe fields of information and computer science to refer mainly to thesystematic description of entities, their qualities, and relationships.Taxonomy is another term that has evolved from its original meaningrelated to the classification of organisms in the field of biology to refermore recently to the classification of a subject or field in a systematic
