Managing Archives and Archival Institutions by James Gregory BradsherReview by: Thomas D. HammThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Oct., 1989), pp. 373-374Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4308423 .

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REVIEWS 373

face the implications of his data. Although he argues for the recognition of Allen as a significant medieval scholar, the cumulative effect of his narrative is to show her as insufficiently rigorous, hasty in reaching conclusions, and inflexible in the face of opposing evidence. And although he attempts to prove her to have been a feminist, he does not succeed.

Hirsh explores Allen's life through its chronological and geographical stages, in chapters titled according to place of residence ("London"), scholarly focus ("Richard Rolle"), or both ("Michigan and The Book of Margery Kempe"). This approach usefully defines Allen's life as a combination of its geographical and intellectual stages and highlights her two great scholarly successes. It also signals the conflicts inherent in the career of this American woman, most of whose life was spent in English libraries.

Hirsh's biographical and personal sketches of the great scholars among Allen's acquaintances-Carleton Brown, George Lyman Kittredge, Dom Andre Wil- mart-are among the pleasures of the book. The frequent quotations from her letters to them, full of intense discussion of her research, indicate how much of her thought and work rests hidden there. Because she published so little of what she began, the bulk of her scholarship remains hidden in those letters; edited, they might well constitute Allen's most important contribution to medieval scholarship.

The reader discovers with dismay that the promise of Allen's scholarship revealed by her correspondence died when she abandoned the scholarly life at age fifty-six, although Hirsh palliates the reality of her last twenty-one years, saying, "If a scholar's contribution is to be measured not only by work produced but also by work encouraged, Hope's contribution by no means ended in 1940" (p. 144). But in fact a scholar's contribution is finally measured by work pro- duced; by that measure Allen's fell far short of her aims. Her final four publica- tions are all dated 1942, and of those only two letters to the Times Literary Supplement dealt with medieval scholarship.

Hirsh's attempt to portray his subject as an early feminist never persuades. The claim rests on such slight grounds as her letter explaining the dissimilar treatment of men and women students at Harvard and her statement in a 1933 letter that "the feminist movement of this period [the twelfth century] would make an interesting chapter of my investigation" (p. 101). Allen was not an advocate for women's rights, and there is no evidence that she selected her scholarly field because of its association with medieval women.

Hirsh's insistence on Allen's role as an independent scholar and on her early efforts to explore the documentary evidence for literary texts (book ownership, wills, etc.) and to make medieval religious materials known are important contri- butions; his apparently unwitting revelation of Allen as greater in potential than in actuality is a useful insight. Had he had the courage to face the implications of his data, his study would have been more interesting and more valuable.

Marsha L. Dutton, The Middle English Dictionary, University of Michigan

Managing Archives and Archival Institutions. Edited by JAMES GREGORY BRADSHER,

with a foreword by FRANK B. EVANS. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989. Pp. xvi + 304. $45.00. ISBN 0-226-07054-9.

As the flyleaf of this impressive new work notes, the last generation has seen an explosion of literature of advice, exhortation, and introspection on the nature of

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374 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

archives and the archival profession. There comes a point, however, when the greatest service one can render in such a situation is to attempt a synthesis, telling us where we have been and what it all means. That is the task that Managing Archives and Archival Institutions undertakes, and it succeeds admira- bly.

James Gregory Bradsher's collection of essays has several goals. Fundamen- tally, it is an attempt to bring together the work of twenty archivists, each writing in his or her own particular area of strength. Wonder of wonders in an edited volume, there are no weaknesses here; each essay stands forth as readable, coherent, and authoritative. The range of subjects is impressive. Topics include not only such old standards as appraisal, arrangement and description, conser- vation, reference service, and exhibits, but also audio-visual material, automa- tion, oral history, and archival ethics to remind us how the profession and practice of archives have changed and evolved.

The question of the audience for this work is a bit more difficult. The most obvious readers are students in courses on archival theory and practice, who are likely to find Managing Archives and Archival Institutions the introductory text- book of choice. Those who have been regular readers of the American Archivist over the years and have otherwise attempted to keep up with the literature in the field will probably not find much here new or surprising. The authors, as befits a work of synthesis and summary, rarely attempt to break new ground or posit innovative theories. On the other hand, no other text brings together so much useful archival information (the bibliography alone is deserving of considerable comment), and veteran archivists will doubtless find numerous occasions to consult this volume to their benefit.

If this book has any weakness, it is its implicit assumption that readers will be part of large institutions with appropriate staffs. This doubtless reflects the fact that half of the contributors come from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and nearly all of the rest work in similar institutions. Thus the essay on public programs puts forth ideas and requirements enough to occupy half a dozen archivists, and the section on management assumes an archivist managing and directing other archivists. In the best of all possible worlds, its suggestions would be followed. But in a situation in which many archives, especially those of colleges and universities, are one- or two-person operations with multiple duties, the advice and prescriptions in some of the essays will be found appropriate but unrealistic.

Still, this speaks more to weak institutional support for archives and archivists (a problem the work recognizes) than it does any weakness of author or editor. Managing Archives and Archival Institutions will surely become a standard refer- ence work, consulted with benefit by archivists and librarians, and the starting point for newcomers to the field.

Thomas D. Hamm, Archives and Department of History, Earlham College

Librarians' Agreements: Bargaining for a Heterogeneous Profession. By JOHN W. WEATHERFORD. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1988. Pp. iii+ 302. $29.50. ISBN 0-8108-2073-0.

Weatherford has updated and expanded his 1978 Collective Bargaining and the Academic Librarian to include agreements outside academe. Although he served for eight years on the management team that negotiated with the Central

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