Library Link
Library Link News

the online discussion and information forum for Librarianship and Information Management


Home
About
Join
News
Discussion
Workshops
Free Article
Free Journal
Library Journals
Library Careers
Consortia Forum
Links
Free-Trials
Viewpoints
LIBRARY LINK REVIEWS (No.10)
updated 12/02/01


REVIEWS

Development of IR Evaluation Methods: Okapi at TREC.
S.E. Robertson. British Library Research and Innovation Centre Reports, 175. London: British Library, 1999. 120 pp. price not reported soft ISBN 0712397590

This is primarily a compilation of papers on the evaluation of information retrieval (IR) systems produced for TREC (the Text REtrieval Conferences) by the Okapi research team based at City University. The Okapi team have published frequently, yet it is still useful to have so many of their reports gathered together in one volume. The influence of Okapi on IR systems design, including library systems, is quite considerable. Anyone with a serious interest in IR will want to take a look at this publication.

The basic weighting formula of Robertson and Sparck Jones dating from 1976 has been successfully used by the Okapi team and many others in IR research. Only minor variations have been necessary to improve it, and as we read here, the BM25 formula devised by Okapi is now producing very good results, and is now regarded equally with cosine correlation as the standard �matching� function for ranked retrieval.

A study evaluation of algorithms used in the �routing� task, primarily by using methods of optimisation based on known relevant documents for the routing of topics, has worked quite well. The team have also had success in the �filtering� task that involved setting a threshold on the score in order to make a binary decision of the retrieval of each document, rather than simply ranking them. They have had some limited success in query expansion without relevance information. Possibly of greater interest to librarians and others motivated to improve OPAC design is the team�s report on the �interactive track�, though they do not claim much success with this research.

This volume is only for the IR specialist. The papers are technical reports, in effect, and make no concession to a general reader. Nowhere is TREC ever described or defined, and there is little attempt at a general introduction to give context to the reports. There is no index or glossary.

Philip Calvert
Victoria University of Wellington


Effective Document Management: Unlocking Corporate Knowledge. Bob Wiggins. Aldershot: Gower Publishing, 2000. 252 pp. �95.00 hard 0566081482

Document management is a key issue for many organisations, and this book attempts comprehensive coverage of a challenging area. It is written very much from an information technology perspective and places document management in the context of overall information systems strategy. Four main categories of readers are identified: business managers; system designers, developers and implementers; records managers, librarians and information managers; and end users. This is a very wide-ranging target audience which will have quite different perspectives. This is partly catered for by dividing the book into three sections, each of which is designed to be read independently.

The purpose of the book is to provide guidance on factors which influence the success of a document management system - for example, awareness of business objectives and the information created and used by the business, and knowledge of existing information technology infrastructure. In addition, the author expects the book to assist in choosing an appropriate system and in determining a project framework for implementation.

The first part of the book is entitled Enterprise Knowledge - The Business Resource. It provides a clear overview of the role and importance of information within an organisation and also considers the role of document management in improving business performance. A whole chapter is devoted to explaining and attempting to differentiate between records and document management. The author stresses the importance of both disciplines. The distinctions that are drawn between the two are debatable, and the theoretical basis of records management as presented is questionable, but it is unusual in a book of this kind even to see any mention of records management.

The second part addresses technology and retrieval. The first chapter provides an overview of the main issues in document management - for example storage media, standards, barcodes, scanning and so on. This would be a useful resource for definitions and has a reasonable bibliography to assist further research. However, it is also an area which will become dated very quickly. The other chapter in this part deals with information retrieval. It identifies the many and varied sources of information in an organisation, both published and internally generated. Brief explanations of cataloguing, classification and indexing are given. On the whole these are quite clear, but the inference that Dewey or UDC could be used for a filing system classification is rather alarming. There is no mention of the need for analysing the functions of an organisation in order to compile an appropriate classification framework for records. The section on indexing is detailed but would be quite difficult for someone without an information management background to comprehend.

The final part of the book addresses project management, and covers all stages from selecting and defining an appropriate area to implementation. This part concludes with some case studies of document management projects. This is possibly the weakest area of the whole book - all case studies are sourced from software supplier Web sites or publications, so naturally focus on success. Balanced reports from the user perspective, addressing failures as well as successes, would have been much more illuminating.

The language and style of writing are probably more suited to an information technology audience than librarians. Full credit should be given for acknowledging the role of libraries and records systems - too often they are completely ignored in writings on this area. This is a useful reference book for anyone contemplating the implementation of a document management system.

Gillian Oliver
The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand


Establishing an Information Centre: A Practical Guide.
Karen Kreizman. Information Services Management Series. East Grinstead: Bowker-Saur, 1999. 256 pp. price not reported hard ISBN 1857392868

This is a mini manual on planning and starting an information services centre. The target users are student librarians and inexperienced library professionals called upon to establish a new information centre for an institution. No prior professional knowledge or skills are assumed on part of the target group. It is a self-help, plain-speaking book, which briefs one on the topic and then leads to the carefully selected and evaluated readings for further information. At times it gives the impression of a literature survey or an SDI service on the subject.

There are 12 chapters of the core text, with Chapter 13 devoted to five case studies. The core chapters discuss the various steps in, and aspects of, creating an information unit. These range from understanding the environment of the parent institution, formulating the mission statement to getting started. In between are discussed physical plant, budget, collection building, working with vendors, networking and use of IT, records and knowledge management, recruiting and managing staff, staff training, motivation, and outsourcing information specialists, collecting and presenting statistics.

The text in each chapter is clearly divided into easily digested sections and is illustrated with many graphs, tables, figures, sample forms and boxed tips. This makes the text easy and attractive to read. Each chapter closes with references and a list of further readings.

The emphasis is on creating, maintaining and constantly improving services by developing appropriate managerial attitudes and skills - often neglected by librarians used to pragmatic and immediate solutions. It is a successful attempt to bring management concepts and their applications to information service centres and libraries. The case studies in Chapter 13 are from five types of libraries at different stages of development; these offer a look into the real problems that a prospective professional may face. The three appendices provide immensely practical information of everyday use. Appendix A provides addresses (including email where available) of major library organizations. Appendix B is a list of various types of important information providers and vendors from all over the world. This appendix separately lists commercial databases (also CD-ROM vendors) and document delivery vendors, library automation software vendors, consultants for automation and subscription agents. Appendix C is a list of important Web sites and search engines. An important inclusion here is a list of Web sites for information science professionals.

The book is practical, easy to digest, and thought provoking. It will be as useful to the cyber librarians as to the traditional print librarians.

M.P. Satija
Guru Nanek Dev University


The Future of Cataloguing: Insights from the Lubetzky Symposium, April 18, 1998, University of California, Los Angeles.
Ed. Tschera H. Connell and Robert L. Maxwell. Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. 184 pp. $65.00 soft ISBN 0838907784

All the books and information in the world will be useless if they are not accessible by users who need them at the right time. To catalogue is to facilitate the user�s finding a particular publication in the library and presenting all of the works of a given author and all of the representations of a given works. Effective cataloguing is very helpful for all and considered the aspect of librarianship that is most grounded in theory and principles. Reading this book, The Future of Cataloguing, will help one to know Seymour Lubetzky, a brilliant thinker and cataloguing theorist whose work has shaped cataloguing rules in the past and into the future. It also provides access to current research in cataloguing and insights for the future of cataloguing from visionary librarians and scholars.

The book contains 14 presentations from the Lubetzky Symposium at the University of California - Los Angeles on 18 April 1998. The Symposium was organized to honour Lubetsky on his 100th birthday and to gather the leading cataloguing researchers and visionaries to present papers and share insights on the past, present and future of cataloguing. Connell and Maxwell, the editors, have organised the content into four sections. The first includes an introductory note by Maxwell on the gathering, a select bibliography of publications by Lubetzky; and a poem for Lubetzky by Elaine Svenonius. The second section contains three papers dealing with the history of cataloguing theory and Lubetzky�s contributions to it. The third section consists of five reports of current research in cataloguing: modelling relevance in art history, creating efficient and systematic catalogues, main and added entries, Lubetzky�s work principle, and applying the concept of the work to new environments. The forth section includes six papers dealing with the visions and insights for future cataloguing. The papers are well written by experts known for their scholarship, knowledge and experience in cataloguing field. This is a valuable collection for librarians, cataloguers, academics and scholars in library and information science.

Surithong Srisa-ard
Mahasarakham University


The Future of Classification.
Ed. Rita Marcella and Arthur Maltby. Aldershot: Gower Publishing, 2000. 144 pp. �55.00 hard ISBN 0566079925

It is the editors, Maltby and Marcella, who ask the most pertinent question in this volume: Can classification find its destiny in the virtual library? The need for system and unity is their theme, and they admit that it was never quite possible in the linear, single-space approach of the great traditional library collections. Yet classification may find its place within total information-gathering and knowledge-revelation strategies within electronic worlds without the physical limits imposed by having to deal with physical entities. So it is MacLennan�s chapter, �Classification and the Internet�, that holds much of the interest for the general information manager. After outlining the obvious problem of the vastness of the Internet, he considers search engines as a means of organising resources but has to conclude that they have severe limitations (as do other authors in this volume). Then he examines the way that existing catalogues can evolve to provide the sort of detailed bibliographic tool required by most scholars and researchers. In his concluding paragraph he describes a system that searches the Web for appropriate content, retrieves the document and updates the catalogue accordingly, then monitors the hits it receives and finally places the document at the location that received the best response. All the technology is currently available to do this.

Equally interesting is Newton�s chapter, in which he calls for a proactive approach to new roles for classification in the online environment. Although he sees difficulties, he falls on the side of the optimists. As an example, he points out that cross-classification in a physical environment is to be avoided, but in a virtual world it can become a benefit because it provides differing approaches to a document. This sort of lateral thinking is what is required from the proponents of classification schemes in the electronic world. One phrase of Hunter�s that is worth remembering comes in his answer to those who say that the Web is too vast to classify; true, he says, but we should make �strategic interventions� to organise documents worth the use of our resources.

Julian Warner�s writing can sometimes be a little obscure, for example, Writing and Computers (Routledge, 1994), but his chapter on information retrieval theory is clear enough. Traditional measures of retrieval success are flawed, he says, and need to be replaced by theory more reflective of true retrieval conditions. He puts forward the suggestion that theory based upon a greater capacity for informed choice matches recent research in retrieval systems, and is supported by introspection. Sensible stuff, though I suggest that doubts about retrieval systems research goes back much further than Warner suggests, as I heard Cleverdon give a public lecture in 1973 at which he was beset by doubts about the usefulness of his own ground-breaking work at Cranfield in the 1960s.

Eric Hunter, as befits someone with years of teaching experience, provides a model introduction to the subject, identifying the strengths of classification that have not been made redundant by any form of computer-assisted information retrieval, yet pointing out what needs to be done to make better use of classification systems in contemporary OPACs, and in the use of classification for the organisation of Web-based documents.

There are other chapters that will be of great interest to those working in technical services, especially the chapters by �insiders� such as Joan Mitchell on DDC, and Ia McIlwaine on UDC, though more commentary from outsiders might serve as to balance the picture. Perhaps the clearest trend emerging from the practitioner chapters is the greater use of faceted classification in the general schemes. Previously best known in Colon and Bliss 2, there is increased use of facets in DDC, and even to a lesser extent in LCC. However, all authors turn eventually to the appropriateness of using general classification schemes to organise resources on the Web, and the collected view presented here is that, despite difficulties, this can and should be done.

Philip Calvert
Victoria University of Wellington


Information Brokering: A How-to-Do-It Manual.
Florence M. Mason and Chris Dobson. How-to-Do-It Manuals for Librarians, 86. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 1998. 144 pp. US$39.95 soft ISBN 1555703429

Business sector information services have registered a perceptible growth during the last three decades, and today information brokering seems an obvious self-enterprise for LIS graduates. Brokering is all about building a small business to provide information on demand. It subsumes a wide range of activities, ranging from library/database searching to writing, publishing and providing consultancy in establishing information systems and services, systems analysis, document delivery and research services to companies and individuals.

This is a timely book based on the author�s work, experience and teaching. Divided into three parts, the book has eight chapters and four appendices devoted to practical issues. Part 1 (Chapters 1-2) is an overview of the nature of information brokering and the tasks involved in it. Part 2 (Chapters 3-5) describes major steps and minor details, from naming the firm to furnishing and managing services, including financial aspects. Part 3 (Chapters 6-8) is on the firm/client interpersonal relations, from attracting to retaining the customers. These include negotiating with clients, facing the competition, product promotion, moral and ethical responsibilities of the brokers, and making a presence on the Internet. Though legal and bureaucratic requirements are American, in no way should this discount its value to non-American users. Each chapter ends with sources cited in the text and a list of additional readings, both printed and on the Web.

This is a self-sufficient and valuable book with clear instructions and thus makes a compulsory reading for all those ready to plunge into information brokering. It is also valuable text for teaching the subject. Overall this is a concise, comprehensive and clear guide to developing and managing a small business in information brokering.

M P Satija
Guru Nanek Dev University


Investigation of Partnership Models between Libraries and Cable-based Telecommunications Providers.
Vision Research Consortium. Library and Information Commission Research Reports, 44. London: Library and Information Commission, 2000. 294 pp. price not reported soft ISBN 1902394232

As more broadband cable is laid in our towns and cities, the potential for partnerships between the cable companies and libraries grows. The cable companies wish to sell services using their infrastructure and are prepared to consider educational and informational programmes if they generate revenue or even goodwill. Libraries are aware of the need to compete with other information providers and desperately need to stake out a claim to new technologies in the face of a public who do not believe libraries and the Internet are on the same page.

This report was jointly commissioned by the Library and Information Commission and Cable Communications Association. It should be clear that it focuses on developments in the United Kingdom, though there is reference to the global situation. There are hardly any earth-shattering conclusions here. Libraries will continue to �grapple with the extent to which they are in the business of providing multimedia services which are wholly delivered to the home via the Web, on PC, Internet TV or other means� (p. 11). I think we knew that already. Known problems include the paucity of public domain material available for use on cable, and the sheer cost of setting up a new service. Having government support (as in Singapore) helps enormously. For content, existing partnerships have looked for government information as one resource and library-created information as another, though neither are likely to be hugely profitable to the cable companies involved.

The recommendations of the report include the need for a clear customer-led specification process, and the authors suggest that Building the New Library Network already comes close to providing a workable specification. Other recommendations are more technical or business-oriented in nature, and one could predict the need for an adequate understanding of costs and clear contracts. What is very disappointing in this report is the almost complete absence of any recommendations for appropriate content.

Possibly the most successful partnership between cable and libraries has been the association of Singapore ONE with the National Library Board to launch SingaporeONE@Libraries in March 1998. Probably the major initiative launched under this banner is the multimedia service of the National Reference Library that provides access to services such as CD-ROM and video-on-demand. In the NLB�s public libraries customers can access video-on-demand, and the Toa Payoh Community Library has been selected as the venue for One Learning Place, a hands-on experience of the Internet. This and five other case studies (including the Library of Congress Network Digital Library Program) constitute the bulk of this report. There are also four country reports from the United Kingdom, Northern Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America. Additional chapters are a case study of network access in a rural area (Norfolk, England) and a primer on cable communications technology for the uninitiated.

Philip Calvert
Victoria University of Wellington


Library Training for Staff and Customers.
Ed. Sara R. Beck. New York: Haworth Information Press, 2000. 99 pp. US$24.95 soft ISBN 0789009838 (also published as Journal of Library Administration 29,1)

This is an unassuming resource in terms of size 15 x 21cm and only 1cm thick. It makes for a perfect little reader for taking on holiday or on the bus because of its magazine format. The book consists of six chapters, each around 20 pages in length, and each dealing with a different aspect of the topic but all experiential in presentation and focus.

The contents and authors really need to be listed in this review for one to have a full picture of the book�s coverage:

  • More than Meets the Eye: Management Support for Reference Service and Training: Ralph Gers and Nancy Bolin
  • Technology Training at the St Louis Public Library: Barbara Knotts
  • Training Staff for Business Reference: Craig Wilkins
  • A Model Workshop to Increase Knowledge of African-American Reference Sources for Public Services Library Staff: Rudolph Clay
  • Fully Disclosed Yet Merely Descriptive: Intricacies of Training the Patent and Trademark Information Professional: Martha Crockett Sneed
  • Training, a Library Imperative: Glen E. Holt
This is definitely not a textbook, but it is appropriate for a wide variety of readers, including students, because of its magazine format and its strong, and most appropriate, use of introductory summaries, listing of key words, figures, appendices, and bibliographies in each chapter.

The index is five pages in length and is well detailed; it includes �see also� references, people, recognised initials with �see also� references leading to the full terms - e.g. DRA and Data Research Associates. In short, this is an easy and informative read - well worth the effort.

Deborah A. Cronau
Christian Heritage College


Management of Library Security.
George J. Soete with Glen Zimmerman. SPEC Kits, 247. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, Office of Leadership and Management Services, 1999. 101 pp. US$40.00 (US$30.00 ARL members) soft ISSN 01603582.

SPEC Kits purport to contain the most up-to-date information on the latest library issues. They are the results of systematic surveys of libraries on particular topics. Each SPEC Kit contains an executive summary of the survey results; survey questions with tallies and selected comments; the best representative documents from survey participants, such as policies, procedures, handbooks, guidelines, Web sites, records, brochures, and statements; and a selected reading list - both in print and online sources - containing the most current literature available on the topic for further study.

SPEC Kits offer a point of departure for research and problem solving because they contain up-to-date examples and research findings that can help librarians in the constructing of their own library standards or procedural statements.

Kit 247 is no exception to the SPEC design plan. Basically, this is a broad and stimulating, well-documented collection of ideas and examples on the management of library security. The bibliography is short but current, with all citations less than six years old.

What is particularly interesting and useful, if not eye-opening, about this book is the breadth of its coverage. Representative documents are included that cover almost every aspect of security imaginable: Theft; Patron Relations; Misuse of Electronic Resources; Evacuation Procedures; Injured Employees; Letter and Package Bomb Indicators; Bomb Threat Cards; Emergency Blackouts. Also useful is the wide variety of incident report forms included in the Kit.

Like most of the SPEC Kits, this is adaptable to most library situations and really serves as an idea generator. It encourages thinking about the �what if� situations that lay in the back of all librarians� minds, and it encourages action through example. It is highly recommended as a foundation for part of any library�s policy and procedures manual.

Deborah A. Cronau
Christian Heritage College


Managing for Results: Effective Resource Allocation for Public Libraries.
Sandra Nelson, Ellen Altman and Diane Mayo. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1999. 320 pp. US$45.00 soft ISBN 0838934986

The purpose of Managing for Results is to enable librarians to allocate resources for fulfilling the library�s mission in the community. If the library�s basic technology infrastructure is in place and the resource allocation concerns are focused on the availability and use of hardware, software and online resources, then Managing for Results will be useful. This volume is intended to help implement services rather than determine priorities and identify desired outcomes.

The book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter discusses a variety of issues that have an impact on every aspect of resource allocation in public libraries. The remaining four chapters focus on specific library resources: staff, collections, facilities, technology. One might begin to analyse resources, for example, by analysing an activity such as a homework help Web page, and rank the impact the activity will have on each of the four resources. Because of variety in client needs, different staff members may be involved in collecting different types of data. Adult services may find the technology chapter most useful, whereas youth services personnel might find the work forms for collections more appropriate. A discussion of the issues relating to the allocation of the resource under review is featured in every chapter and a variety of work forms presented. The work forms for each chapter are different, reflecting the unique nature of the resource.

Managing for Results is a wide-ranging resource. State library consultants and system/regional library staff in the US will certainly want this book to garner support from other librarians and to gather high impact statistics for budget purposes. The data collected can be presented at meetings or state conferences and can inform policy makers. The PLA has also designed a training programme to assist in using the manual and its processes and interested human resource coordinators might schedule a training session through the PLA Web site.

Susan E. Higgins
Nanyang Technological University


Managing Public Access Computers.
Donald A. Barclay. How-to-Do-it Manuals for Librarians, 96. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2000. 221 pp price not reported soft ISBN 1555703615

The wide availability of public access computers in various types of libraries calls for an unprecedented combination of technical expertise and managerial stratagems in library operations and administration. To cope with the increasing interest in this new service area, this manual offers useful management guidelines and technical details. The 11 chapters include a wide range of topics such as computer and networking fundamentals, staff development and deployment, inter-departmental coordination between a library and computing services, and user behaviour control.

In the technical domain the manual features concise and comparative descriptions of hardware and software that constitute components of the public computing environment in a library. This essential knowledge is beneficial for both technical and administrative personnel. The explanations of computer technology in lay terms are exceptionally valuable for public services librarians, who in turn can easily articulate them to patrons with little or no technical background. The practical guidelines and advice given by the author in planning and implementing public access computing facilities are especially useful for those with no experience. They also should help decision makers avoid potentially costly pitfalls and achieve optimal results. Through Web-based citations and references the information in the book is dynamic and up to date, and this successfully reduces the temporal and spatial restrictions usually associated with printed materials on computer services.

A particular strength of this how-to manual is its emphasis on management principles, strategies and tactics that are frequently overlooked by people in this area, who tend to be more interested in the technical issues. For instance, the ubiquitous printing problem is reviewed holistically, from printer functionality, paper handling, to pay-to-print mechanisms and economics. Regarding computer security, the approach goes well beyond plain statements of general policies into the specifics of risk identification and breach prevention. Staffing and staff training topics are visited thoroughly with the assistance of a multitude of ready-to-use sample forms. With regard to relations between libraries, systems departments and users, the communication strategies and techniques laid out by the author are widely applicable.

On the whole, Barclay�s manual is a pragmatic and resourceful contribution. The user-friendly narration of computer and management techniques will find a wide audience and should facilitate better communication among computer supporting staff, librarians and patrons. A remarkably cost-effective reading and dynamic knowledge database constantly updated through the Web-based references, this book is highly recommended.

Zi-yu Lin
Seton Hall University


Parabaik and Megabyte: Measuring Progress in Library Development in South East Asia. Papers Presented at Two Workshops during the 65th IFLA General Conference, August 20-28 1999, Bangkok.
Ed. Sara Gould. Boston Spa: IFLA Offices for UAP and Interlending, 2000. 100 pp. �5.00 spiral bound ISBN 0953243982

This publication consists of papers from two workshops held during the 1999 IFLA Conference in Bangkok. The first had the theme of �the role of document delivery and interlending in South East Asia�, and the second was organised by the IFLA Core Programme for Universal Availability of Publications (UAP), at which speakers presented overviews of document delivery and interlending systems in their own country.

The central figure behind this publication, one suspects, was Graham Cornish, the Director of the IFLA Core Programme for UAP, and his chapter is the key paper. He starts by saying that the success of UAP lies in acceptance of responsibility at the national level, so with more understanding of the role and objectives of UAP performance might improve. UAP is both a programme and an objective, so there is a need to improve existing practices, especially by removing barriers to the flow of information, but he also wants to see information accepted as an essential element in national development.

He then goes on to describe five features of systems designed to achieve national availability. The first is the production and supply of publications, in which the balance of national against imported imprints is crucial, as is bibliographic control and legal deposit. The second feature he describes is the importance of acquisition, especially the planned acquisition of the national imprint. Thirdly, retention and conservation are as important as acquisitions. Fourthly, interlibrary loan that allows for the flow of information within and outside national boundaries is what makes UAP actually of greatest use to scholars. Cornish points out that some measures of success in interlibrary loan can be deceptive, for poor systems can deter demand. Lastly, access availability is crucial, and the point that Cornish emphasises is that this must be based on customer demand, yet many published descriptions of national UAP activity often give no indication of performance at all. The key to success, he says, is better planning, though it is plain that he thinks that a little more honesty in national reporting would not be amiss.

Other papers give descriptions of interlending activity within one country, or provide a general report on the library situation in a country. Some of this makes for depressing reading, but at least one is seeing some of the honesty called for by Cornish. There is very little written about the current situation in libraries in Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos, so for librarians interested in those countries this is a useful addition to the literature. This is not a �scholarly� publication, and it has no cumulated index, but this is no reason to ignore it. Its value lies elsewhere.

Philip Calvert
Victoria University of Wellington


Progress in Visual Information Access and Retrieval.
Ed. Beth Sandore. Library Trends 48, 2: 283-524. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1999. US$18.50 soft ISSN 00242594

This collection deals with a range of existing and experimental approaches in the field of image storage and retrieval systems that will be of particular interest to institutions with large pictorial holdings. Ten papers are presented, from a range of authors working in the library, museum and computer science fields, with the majority coming from an academic background. The result is a mix of papers from the practical implementation of various systems (which includes a particularly interesting contribution from Caroline Arms of the Library of Congress) to software development models where an understanding of vector modelling and �visual feature� recognition is useful.

Issues raised throughout the volume include the question of indexing and the difficulties of using pattern recognition to automate this; the issue of qualitative or culturally specific factors in images that complicates storage and access; exploiting the strengths inherent in multimedia documents (particularly Web pages) to improve retrieval and interface design and image delivery issues. Many of the articles are wide ranging, with most or all of these concerns discussed and various approaches canvassed. Some of these relate to specific software applications, others to more general work. All deal with projects and examples in North America.

The thrust of this collection is to provide a current perspective on developments in this area - it has been nearly 10 years since Library Trends last reviewed the field, and there have been some major steps forward during that time. This issue is divided into three sections: foundations, implementation and evaluation, and experimental approaches. All three sections provide stimulating and thought-provoking reading with extensive bibliographies for further reading. Most contributions concentrate on the technical side of indexing and accessing images, with issues such as copyright and control of digitised images treated in less depth. These areas that could be expanded in a later issue perhaps.

Overall, this collection provides a timely and relevant overview of leading edge activity in the area. With its concentration on still images, this issue misses the opportunity to look at recent developments in video and film indexing and access. With the technology now making this a practical reality, it is an area of growing importance. This criticism aside, for anyone involved in digitising pictorial collections and making them available the papers in this issue of Library Trends provide some interesting reading, with both educators and practitioners well served by its range of offerings.

Bob Pymm
ScreenSound Australia


Review of Research Funding for LIS.
David Haynes, David Streatfield and Noeleen Cookman. Library and Information Commission Research Reports, 40. London: Library and Information Commission, 2000. 73 + 59 pp. price not reported soft ISBN 1902394224

The overall aim of the study was to provide baseline information on funding of library and information research in order to inform the work of the Commission and others who invest in such research and collaboration. The agreed upon project objectives were to establish the amounts spent on library and information research in the UK, the sources of that funding, the recipients of funding, and an outline of the procedures which need to be followed for accessing each funding source. It was noted that there is little consistency in the terms for awards of grants. The fragmented nature of research funding for the library and information field is eroding the infrastructure necessary to support research, and the quality of research is affected accordingly.

The Library and Information Commission (which took over the British Library�s research role in April 1999) is currently working on its own terms and conditions for the award of research grants, and this report is intended to inform the process. A total of 427 individuals were contacted in the course of the project, and Chapter 2 lists the variety of funding stakeholders and methods of consultation. A number of literature searches were conducted using LISA, ERIC and the Internet to investigate what has been published on the funding of LIS research. Focus group participants contributed their insights into what is good or bad about the current situation, funding sources currently available for LIS research as well as potential sources, the main problems and issues encountered in locating and applying for funds for LIS research and how such problems should be addressed. The focus group notes make interesting reading, and the conclusions and recommendations grow out of the groups� expressed concerns.

The recommendations made to the LIC fall into the areas of funding policy, coordination of funding activities, publicising research opportunities, and support for research and measuring the success of research efforts. A major issue for new entrants into the LIS research arena is how to find out what opportunities exist. The LIC Web site will provide a means of accomplishing this. Of special note is the Directory of Funding Available for LIS Research. This is primarily for the use of researchers and potential researchers in the UK, and 59 pages of possible funding agents are given. Subject areas, amount of funding, restrictions, application procedure, criteria, dissemination contact details, telephone, fax and Web addresses are uniformly presented. Many of the funders listed here are not specific LIS research funders, but have a history of including LIS research among the initiatives that they have supported in the past.

Susan E. Higgins
Nanyang Technological University


Back to the Books and Journals Index


e-mail: [email protected]   tel: +44(0) 1274 777700   fax: +44(0) 1274 785201
60/62 Toller Lane    Bradford    West Yorkshire    England    BD8 9BY