Delivering web reference services to young people
Walter Minkel and Roxanne Hsu Feldman.
American Library Association, 1999. ISBN 0-8389-0743-1. �25.50. Paperback.

Designed to help teach young people Web skills, it also claims to "hone your own ten times faster than reading help files and tutorials. Guaranteed!" Chapters cover how the web works and how it doesn't; using search tools; evaluating Web sites; designing homework reference sites; the Web in the real-world library; training young users. An appendix gives 9 Information Literacy Standards for Student learning. There is a Webiology and a useful index. The design is good, it's readable and has illustrations. Both authors work with young people.

Document management: new technologies for the information services manager
Kenneth A. Megill and Herb Schantz.
Bowker Saur, 1999. ISBN 1-85739-246-9. Circa �30.

This is another title in the Information Services Management series edited by Guy St. Clair and has been written by two practitioners from the USA. It is divided into 5 parts: documents � digital and paper; enabling technologies; workflow, costs and benefits; meeting user needs; the future is now. An epilogue gives advice on "What do I do now?" Four appendixes cover: an analysis of system labour costs; cost-benefit analysis � imaging and imaging OCR; form design guide; glossary. A practical guide for practitioners, particularly those who cannot get to updating short courses and the one-person band.

The impact of information on society: an examination of its nature, value and use.
Michael W. Hill.
Bowker Saur, 1999. ISBN 1-85739-124-1. Circa �45.

Michael Hill is a noted UK information scientist who had held office in a number of UK and European organisations. In his introduction he comments that much has been written on the information society, information technology etc, but none has concentrated on the basics � how does information manifest itself, and the content of systems. His aim "has been to ask what is information, why does it have the role it does, and is it merely an increase or fundamental change in that role which makes some people claim that we are entering an information age". A thought-provoking volume � and we all need to stand back from the daily round and think.

The legal and regulatory environment for electronic information. 3rd edition.
Charles Oppenheim.
Infonortics, 1999. ISBN 1-873699-53-0. �55/US$ 85. Paperback. Price includes airmail printed paper matter postage outside Europe. (Infonortics Ltd, 15 Market Place, Tetbury, Glos GL8 8DD UK).

The author is a noted UK expert on this subject. Chapters cover: intellectual property; copyright; data protection; liability for information provision; libel and slander on the Internet; domain names; conflict of laws; other legal aspects of electronic information; conclusions and further reading. Appendixes provide three draft contracts and licenses � for images for distribution through a network; electronic journals; and material supplied in electronic form. The new edition now covers the legal ramifications of the Internet in more detail and has, amongst others, a new chapter on domain names. Well written and interesting to read it is a must for information managers, special, academic and public librarians, publishers, and a very useful reference tool for anyone else involved in electronic information. You don't have to be a legal expert to understand this text.

Library and information science annual. Volume 8
Bohdan S. Wynar, editor.
Libraries Unlimited, September 1998. ISBN 1-56308-609-3. US$65 - $78.00 outside North America.

This is a well-established annual that provides bibliographic control and a critical analysis of library and information science publications. It reviews monographs, reference materials, and selected periodicals published in 1996/7 in the English speaking world. A section covers doctoral dissertations for 1988-96 limited to those listed by DAI. A useful checklist, but the annotations are much biased towards a North American viewpoint. In this time of globalisation future editions would benefit by drawing on a wider range of reviewers.

The library and information professional's guide to the World Wide Web.
Alan Poulter, Gwyneth Tseng and Goff Sargent.
Library Association, December 1998. ISBN 1-85604-227-8. �16.95. Paperback.

This is a companion volume to The library and information professional's guide to the Internet. It examines web technology and its applications for information work in a range of settings. Part 1 covers the fundamentals of the WWW, an introduction covering the concepts, fundamental technology, creating Web pages etc; part 2 considers applications in UK library and information units; part 3 developments in Web technology; part 4 provides a resource guide. Written by two lecturers and a consultant, the text is well designed and illustrated. A good overview of the subject.

Putting marketing ideas into action.
Keith Hart
Library Association, November 1998. ISBN 1-85604-182-4. �13.50. Paperback.

The author is a consultant who has been a marketing manager to a library supplier in the UK and he has written a basic guide for librarians. Part 1 covers making a start in marketing and part 2 communicating with customers. There is a list of further reading and a glossary. A useful basic guide with summaries to each chapter and exercises. It could be a source of revision for managers, and a start for someone new to a function of growing importance in all types of library.

A survey of library services to schools and children in the UK 1997-8.
Claire Creaser and Alison Murphy. Library and Information Statistics Unit, Loughborough University, November
1998. ISBN 1-901786-11-0. �22.50 post paid UK.

This is the ninth in this series, and provides considerable detail concerning public and schools library services in the UK. A new section gives details of the range of services offered by school libraries and their financing. It provides material for benchmarking and should be of special interest in the National Year of Reading. Valuable for managers and practitioners in the field � good material for lobbying and marketing, and also for those in the community who are interested in children's reading, literacy and education in general.

Patricia Layzell Ward
Library Link Convenor-in-chief
Updated 11 January 1999

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