Marguerite E. Horn

Managing Student Assistants; A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians® by Kimberly Burke Sweetman. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2007. (How-To-Do-It Manuals for Librarians; no. 155) 187 pp.

Many of them had already made important contributions to the field of description and information retrieval of cultural objects prior to the publication of CCO. All have had extensive work experience in museums or other organizations with art collections, objects, and images, and have likely had ample opportunity to use, create, and edit descriptive records for these collections and images. This book is not intended to be read in a single sitting but rather to serve as a cataloging tool for professionals working with visual resources collections. The first chapter entitled “General Guidelines” includes discussions and background on topics such as the definition of a “work” (as in work of art), distinguishing between structural and administrative metadata and data content standards, the ten principles of CCO, the minimal elements needed for work records, the intrinsic and extrinsic relationships between works or parts of works, and database design. In general, the issues raised in this sectionwill be particularly helpful to those beginning a project that involves cataloging visual resources. Many of the concepts and relationships described are complex and differ significantly from their bibliographic counterparts. Anyone using this manual for the first time should read this first chapter carefully because it lays the groundwork for the material that follows. The editors strongly urge catalogers to spend time answering the question “What are you cataloging?” before beginning to catalog a work (pp. 3–4). Thoughtful consideration of the resource at hand, its components, creator, and its relationship to prior works will produce a more useful, complete work record and a fuller context for the piece. Part 2 of CCO contains chapters on the elements included in a minimal work record. Each chapter is organized in the same way: a short section about the topic element followed by segments on discussion, terminology, cataloging rules, data presentation, and examples of various work records displaying different aspects of the element. This consistent presentationmakes it easy to find specific information or examples, and facilitates learning the cataloging process for art objects and their images. The reader knows what to expect in each chapter even as the topic elements change. The editors include several helpful features in Cataloging Cultural Objects. The index has numerous topical entries and refers the reader to definitions for terms that are basic to understanding this descriptive system. An index is very helpful when learning a new cataloging system, and this one is particularly welcome because Describing Archives lacked an index. The glossary placed at the end of the volume is valuable for further defining unfamiliar terms. The bibliography has some very current citations but also includes references for seminal works in this field, some nearly twenty years old. The numerous examples of work records at the end of each chapter and at key points within chapters illuminate the cataloging process. Text is bolded to highlight key points and advice. This feature is used judiciously so the emphases of the marked text are apparent. Text may need to be read several times due to the complexity of the concepts and use of vocabulary that differs from terms common to standard library cataloging. The sample work records and the diagrams included are so clear and comprehensible one is likely to learn more from these illustrations than from the text alone. The principles and processes outlined in CCO are generally clear; however, anyone unfamiliar with terminology and data in the field of visual cultural resources may need to seek assistance from a more knowledgeable colleague. The Web site for CCO is helpful. It provides a summary of the work done by the subgroup of the Visual Resources Association responsible for the publication of this manual, and it also offers numerous examples of cataloging for various classes of art objects.[3] The Society of American Archivists conducted seminars on Describing Archives upon its publication. The Visual Resources Association should consider offering similar workshops on learning and employing the principles and elements described in CCO. The manual and Web site together with workshops if offered would provide a complete approach to understanding the cataloging of visual resources. Professionals cataloging and documenting visual cultural resources are the primary audience for this book; however, bibliographers and other catalogers can benefit from this work as well. The ultimate goals for this work and for other content standards that offer systems for cataloging cultural heritage materials are to create consistent descriptive records that make resources more accessible to end users. By using data that are consistently employed in a data structure, information about art objects and images can more easily be shared across institutions to benefit greater numbers of users.

59.95. ISBN 1-55560-581-2.

Paraphrasing Disraeli, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and e-metrics.” Libraries have long had a practice of counting everything possible: physical visits, circulations, overdues, number of current subscriptions, number of canceled subscriptions, reshelved books, ad nauseum. In our current world of electronic resources, we still need to count things for the purpose of budgeting, staffing, and even justification of the existence of the library itself. But how do we grasp those elusive, seemingly concrete and objective numbers when the “thing” that we count does not exist except in the ether? People do not come to the library as often as they used to so gate counts are dropping, but our resources are still being used. Journals are no longer being reshelved or even checked in, but the money is still flowing out the door to support subscriptions, albeit in electronic format. This book is a very good multi-leveled introduction to developing statistics on the use of a library’s electronic resources. The authors are quite knowledgeable in this field. Andrew White is currently associate director at Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center Library (NY) with experience in most areas of technical services and circulation. Eric Djiva Kamal was at the same institution when this book was published but is now a consultant in e-metrics (among other things) at the National Library of Medicine. Although both authors have very technical backgrounds, they lead the reader very gently into the realm of e-metrics. The first section answers the basic question “What are e-metrics?” The second section addresses the “Why should I care” conundrum. The third suggests how libraries might build local e-metrics, working exclusively from vendor-supplied data, adding local customizations to the vendor-supplied data or creating completely localized programs. Each section is more technical than the preceding one. Thus, the novice would benefit from reading the entire book; the person who understands basic e-metrics could skip to the middle; and the technically savvy could jump to the final section. So, what are e-metrics? According to the preface, “emetrics are measurements of the activity and use of networked information” (p. xvii). But further, the measurements themselves are electronically generated and analyzed. The authors begin by drawing analogies with business models: companies who are now marketing exclusively through Web sites need to analyze where customers are succeeding or failing as they make their way through the maze. In the same manner, libraries now need to analyze, among other things, how patrons access the library Web site, what information they are seeking, and whether they are successful. The authors point out the difficulty of using vendor-supplied e-metrics in that the vendors are not always consistent in their presentation or even in their content despite international standardization efforts such as COUNTER (Counting Online Usage of Networked Electronic Resources). Also, vendor-supplied statistics end at the vendor: often a library cannot fully analyze local usage and cannot compare use across packages. Of particular importance to serialists is the analysis of vendor packages. Using various strategies, the authors present ways to compare aggregated or bundled journal subscriptions. In fact, most of the examples in the book are journal-specific since the authors note that electronic books are still in a development phase. Especially interesting is chapter 5, “Using E-Metrics for Collection Management” where the authors take basic vendorsupplied statistics and add just a few locally produced reports to achieve a better cost–benefit analysis of use of one package against another. The book is useful not only for the novice through experienced “e-metrician” but also for libraries of varying sizes. Examples are given for “Library A,” “Library B,” and “Library C.” Library A has almost no systems staff and must rely on vendor-supplied data. Library B has minimal staff but can manipulate Web logs and might be able to construct a simple “click-through” script to keep track of how patrons are accessing data. Library C has a full systems staff with much expertise. As one might expect, section three, “How do Libraries build Local E-Metrics,” is not very applicable to Library A. At times the authors show a charming naiveté about the value of e-metrics. In the chapter on staffing, they show statistically how much work is involved in keeping track of individual packages and titles—trying to keep URLs up-to-date; noting which titles are no longer offered; which titles have ceased; which titles are no longer full-text, etc. “It is probably necessary to hire Malinowski / Serials Review 33 (2007) 62–69

E-Metrics for Library and Information Professionals: How to Use Data for Managing and Evaluating Electronic Resource Collections

In this age of modern era, the use of internet must be maximized. Yeah, internet will help us very much not only for important thing but also for daily activities. Many people now, from any level can use internet. The sources of internet connection can also be enjoyed in many places. As one of the benefits is to get the on-line the library meeting survival manual practical library management series book, as the world window, as many people suggest.