often, for example, do we overemphasize the complexities of library use? This is sage advice.

An occasional typo notwithstanding, Martin has done a fine editorial job. My only quibble concerns the sturdiness of the hardback version; my review copy is already on the repair shelf. Once returned, it will remain close at hand.-P. Steven Thomas, Coordinator of Library Instruction, 8900 Milner Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-8900 <sthomas@rs6OOO.cmp.ilstu.edu>.

Scholarly Publishing: The Electronic Frontier, edited by Robin I? Peek and Gregory B. Newby. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press (in conjunction with the American Society for Information Science), 1996. 363~. $35.00. ISBN 0-262- 16157-5.

Scholarly Publishing gathers essays from a number of key observers, looking at how traditional scholarly information channels are adapting to the electronic publishing environment. Questions that academic librarians might want answers to include:

l Is electronic publishing a viable activity?

l How will electronic publishing of scholarly material work?

l How will electronic publishing of scholarly material differ from the paper-based model?

To offer definitive answers to these questions would be brave, however this work offers a framework in which we can make our own best guesses. As a matter of fact, one contributor, Fytton Rowland, rashly prophesies a view of scholarly publishing in the year 2025-readers may wish to make a note to check on the accuracy of his prediction!

Many documents addressing e-publishing issues are simplis- tic in addressing the issues, confusing the limitations of current technology with the inherent characteristics of the electronic medium. This is not the case here, where a number of authori- tative writers address aspects of the topic in depth. Scholarly Publishing is divided into two sections: the first examining the impact of electronic publishing on the scholarly communication process, and the second analyzing the challenges posed by new technologies.

In the first section, GuCdon points out that the crisis in the cost of producing and storing the output of print scholarly pub- lishing makes a move to electronic publishing a necessity rather than a choice, and Odlyzko makes comparisons with the move 200 years ago from a situation where academic discourse was carried out by private letters, and the technology of printing was brought in to assist with the problem of scaling up the activity.

In the second section a number of issues are addressed, from the point of view of various observers: scholars, publishers, and librarians. A critical concern in the scholarly environment is quality control. The ubiquitous Steve Hamad examines the issues of peer review in the electronic environment, and Clif- ford Lynch itemizes some of the issues of integrity of informa- tion that have to be addressed.

Economics are addressed from several angles. Hayes postu- lates that scholarly publishing will cease to be an economic activity, and will embrace the free, cooperative model that char- acterizes the Internet. Fuchs, on the other hand, exposes the “myth” of free networked information, and Fisher, from a pub- lisher’s point of view, shows how publishers add value to schol-

arly information, and are themselves moving to the electronic arena.

Library issues are examined, for instance by Guether who looks at the challenge to bibliographic control, and how elec- tronic publishing means that librarians must re-evaluate what bibliographic control means. Okerson recounts the Mellon study which looks at scholarly communication and the role of University libraries.

In a concluding piece, Rothman takes a wider view, updating Bush’s classic Memex with his concept of the TeleRead data- base. Rothman identifies the fundamental purpose of scholarly communication, making intellectual connections, and examines how this can be facilitated with current or foreseeable technol-

ogy. If there is a criticism of this work, it is that it brings home the

fundamental delays in publication built into the paper medium. Although the publication date is January 1996, several hints date this book’s content as late 1994: “In 1995 individual researchers . . . will engage in . ..” (p.292); Mosaic appears in the index, but not Netscape. The concentration is on scholarship in the humanities, there is little from the perspective of science scholarship. Proofreading has allowed a few typos to slip through, such as “investigations”(p.40)-perhaps as a reminder that quality is an issue in the paper as well as in the electronic environment.

However, the issues addressed here are still germane, and this work is useful reading to anyone wanting an in depth dis- cussion of the scholarly e-publishing. To bring me up to date, though, I’d go online, for instance following the links in Bailey.‘-Alastair Smith, Department of Library and Infor- mation Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand.

REFERENCES 1. Charles W. Bailey, “Network-based Electronic Publishing of Scholarly Works: A Selective Bibliography,” Public-Access Computer Systems Review 6(1)(May 24, 1996). http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v6/nl/

bail6nl .html

Serials Management: A Practical Guide, by Chiou-sen Dora Chen Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1995. 186~. $30pbk ($27 ALA members). ISBN O-8389-0658-3. (Frontiers of Access to Library Materials, Number 3).

Chen’s volume covers most of the range of activities in a serials operations. The first two chapters deal with the definition and characteristics of serials and organization of serials man- agement. The next chapter discusses the interactions between collection development and serials. Several chapters cover acquisitions activities (vendors, acquisition methods, and pro- cessing of the various types of orders). The themes for the remaining chapters are preservation and bindery, control records by type of function, public services issues for print and microform serials, automation systems and considerations, and current topics and future challenges. She includes a bibliogra- phy of core titles and an appendix of literature search tools, seri- als (including listservs), books about serials, and bibliographies. She states in the Preface that cataloging has been excluded because there are many “learning resources” for this subject and because one chapter in a book would be insuf- ficient for comprehension of this complex activity.

She followed similar outlines used in other standard refer- ence works. Until now. one of the most recent was Marcia Tut-

400 The Journal of Academic Librarianship