College and Research Libraries


too familiar with the information and 
speculations included in this report. For 
the uninitiated, however, this report pro-
vides a quick and painless entry into the 
information era. 

The report is perhaps most useful as a 
reminder of all the work that still needs to 
be done. Various areas are identified as 
being in need of investigation, and not all 
of these are as obvious as the need to de-
velop standards for information systems. 
For example, the report mentions the 
problems that may arise if commercial 
database vendors continue to ignore the 
need for archival records. 

The report is by no means comprehen-
sive or packed with new insights, but it 
was never meant to be. Instead, it offers us 
something extremely valuable in a time of 
information overload-a short summary 
of how the world around us is changing 
and what those changes mean to us as 
both human beings and as librarians.-
Carlton C. Rochell, New York University. 

Breivik, Patricia Senn. Planning the Li-
brary Instruction Program. Chicago: 
American Library Assn., 1982. 146p. 
$10 paper. LC 82-8827. ISBN 0-8389-
0358-4. 
During the past decade most biblio-

graphic instruction programs were 
launched at the ''grass roots'' level, usu-
ally by one interested librarian or a small 
group who saw the need for the library to 
provide something beyond one-on-one 
instruction at the reference desk. Even 
when there was time for careful planning 
of such a program, there was often not 
wide support for developing yet another 
labor-intensive service. The emphasis fre-
quently was on results and quick suc-
cesses rather than on laying the ground-
work for an ongoing program. But times 
have changed, bibliographic instruction 
has achieved a certain status, and a decade 
of experience has generated a book which 
focuses on planning, a crucial but difficult 
component of any program. 

Planning the Library Instruction Program 
grew out of two 1978 seminars, sponsored 
by the Columbia University School of Li-
brary Service, for academic librarians in-
volved in instruction programs. Althouqh 

Recent Publications 493 

it is aimed at school and academic li-
braries, the special concerns of public li-
braries also are considered and provide 
some interesting contrasts. 

Other books on establishing biblio-
graphic instruction programs, such as 
Renford and Hendrickson's Bibliographic 
Instruction: A Handbook and more recently 
Roberts' Library Instruction for Librarians, 
have concentrated on teaching methods 
with brief coverage of the planning ele-
ments. Breivik' s extensive treatment of 
the planning process may seem over-
whelming at first, but she raises all the 
right questions and suggests a system for 
documenting and organizing this compli-
cated undertaking.-

In addition to the usual pro-and-con 
comparisons of teaching methods used in 
bibliographic instruction, she evaluates 
the methods against characteristics of a 
''good learning experience.'' This evalua-
tion clearly emphasizes the needs of the 
learner over the temptation to use a 
method that is in vogue or simply conven-
ient. 

Breivik accomplishes her goal of provid-
ing a ''clear understanding of the educa-
tional and political milieu in which library 
user-education progra.ms must exist." 
She considers the trends in education 
which emphasize lifelong learning, the 
nontraditional student, and the develop-
ment of independent learning skills. She 
argues convincingly that library instruc-
tion supports these trends much more di-
rectly and effectively than traditional 
classroom methods which tend to encour-
age passive learning. 

Charts and illustrations are generally 
clear and well chosen to reinforce the text. 
The ''Selected Reading List'' is too selec-
tive and brief, but the chapter notes ex-
pand the choices for further reading. The 
chapters are logically arranged and clearly 
defined. 

Planning the Library Instruction Program is 
especially appropriate for those develop-
ing bibliographic instruction programs or 
for those who are contemplating changes 
in an established program. It is equally 
valuable for those who manage ongoing 
successful programs because it is a strong 
reminder that bibliographic instruction 



494 College & Research Libraries 

programs rest on delicate underpinnings 
which can always be strengthened by re-
viewing goals and the factors which influ-
ence their accomplishment.-Laine Farley, 
University of California, Riverside. 

Chen, Ching-chih and Schweizer, Sus-
anna. Online Bibliographic Searching: A 
Learning Manual. New York: Neal-
Schuman, 1981. 227p. LC 81-83497. 
ISBN 0-918212-59-6. 
This book is intended to serve as a be-

ginner's self-instruction manual to online 
searching. It is meant to be used as "part 
of an on-going, hands-on learning pro-
cess." The authors suggest the use of the 
Dialog Lab Workbook, and the appendix of 
this book contains possible solutions to 
the workbook's exercises. 

This book uses a combination of practi-
cal and theoretical information to give the 
student a good introduction to the subject. 
It begins with an overview of the different 
types of databases, lists of the vendors, 
and which databases they provide. The 
overview also contains information about 

November 1983 

how the database is constructed by show-
ing sample records and the possible in-
dexes that result from them. 

There is a brief introduction to terminals 
and modems after which is a sample 
search session. This introductory session 
as well as the advanced techniques in the 
later chapters are all examples of search-
ing on Dialog. The authors do this to avoid 
the confusion of having a beginner try to 
learn three different systems at the same 
time. The initial chapter covers basic com-
mands and Boolean operators. A chapter 
on the reference interview serves as a 
good introduction to determining the ben-
efits of free text versus controlled vocabu-
lary .searches. The discussion of the opera-
tors which can be used with free text 
searching point out the sophisticated ca-
pabilities of this kind of search. Multi-
database searching is also described. 

The three major search services-BRS, 
DIALOG, and SDC-are compared as to 
hours of availability, cost, system fea-
tures, and availability of training. The 
book concludes with chapters on manag-