College and Research Libraries the question of cutbacks at the Govern- ment Printing Office that impacts on ac- cess to census data. The number of issues is growing. The question of access is especially pro- nounced since the arrival of the Reagan administration in Washington in 1981. It appears that those people directing the "Second American Revolution" have their own ideas of what a national infor- mation policy should be. The zealous im- plementation of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-511) is at the heart of the de facto Reagan administra- tion information policy. The act directed the OMB to develop federal information policies and standards and to reduce in- formation collection, among other things. There is also the move to increase the amount of information that is classified (Executive Order 12356). Polemics aside, there are individuals, some librarians in particular; who do not share the Reagan . administration's view on the access to in- formation. The reduced access is espe- cially true for government documents. Pe- ter Hernon and Charles McClure are perhaps the most vocal among those har- boring reservations about recent govern- ment changes. In their recent article in the Drexel Library Quarterly (75, no. 3 [Summer 1984]), "Impact from U.S. Government Printing on Public Access to Informa- tion,'' they spell out what changes at GPO have meant to library users. The American Library Association's ALA Washington Newsletter also has been monitoring events in Washington vis-a-vis access to information. So far they have issued five reports that chronicle the events of the last few years. The first four of these chronolo- gies have been published as a book, Less Access to Less Information by and about the U.S. Government, a 1981-1984 Chronology: April, 1981-December 1984. The Right to Information enhances the reader's appreciation of issues regarding access to information, especially from a historical perspective. It is brief, cogent and easy to read. The discussions at the end of the four chapters adequately em- bellish the speakers' comments. Although some of the specific issues brought up at the conference may have been resolved since 1982, the broader questions have Recent Publications 531 not. Reading this book was in many ways the next best thing to attending the conference.-Tom Smith, Paul Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, The George Washing- ton University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. Middleton, Bernard C. The Restoration of Leather Bindings. rev. ed. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1984. 266p. $25. LC 83-15371. ISBN 0-8389-0391-6. Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn. Archives and Manuscripts, Conservation: A Manual on Physical Care and Management. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1983. 144p. $10 LC 83-50878. ISBN 0-931828- 58-9. The premise of The Restoration of Leather Bindings (first edition, 1972) is that restora- tion of old and worn bookbindings is more than a technical skill: rather, it is a special- ized craft that calls for an understanding of historical methods, specific technical terms, and aesthetic styles in order to be developed fully. The second edition is a commendable follow-up to the first, con- tinuing from this premise. Additions to the book are intended pri- marily to update the binder's technical ter- minology and resource listings, with the only new section being a detailed descrip- tion of the rebinding of antiquarian books. The Restoration of Leather Bindings is thus an extensive instruction manual and refer- ence guide for those who practice or wish to practice leather bookbinding restora- tion. In the section concerned with terminol- ogy, bookbinding styles, tools, tech- niques, and materials are defined and ex- plained in such a way as to provide historical and procedural background to their usage. The new edition differs from the first in that stylistic adjustments and typographic corrections have been made as well as a few new subjects added. The section on tools, equipment and materials follows that on terms by provid- ing advice on supplies and their usage. For example, "Gold," in the section on terms is described in its three forms used in bookbinding; in the workshop section, gold leaf is recommended as a necessary supply item in contrast to foil. The 1984 edition contains a part devoted to "recent 532 College & Research Libraries developments in leather'' as well as up- dated addresses for resource suppliers. The text proceeds in this manner, step- by-step instructions about binding sup- plied with stylistic revisions and contem- porary developments. Pliantex and its use in leather treatment receives discussion in the second edition, with particular men- tion of R. Muma' s techniques. "The Rebinding of Antiquarian Books" is introduced in this text with reference to the controversy about (a) whether such re- binding is to be done at all; (b) if so, whether new, 11 improved'' binding meth- ods should be used or earlier practices should be replicated; and (c) if earlier prac- tices are employed whether they should be imitations of the specific style of the original or merely ' 1 evocative'' of an ear- lier approach. The author's solution: tore- bind, in period styles resembling the origi- nals but, where possible, utilizing recently developed structural techniques. Finally, the bibliography for additional reading has been expanded in this text. This, of course, will be very useful for binders and conservators. The new version is a logical and thor- ough continuation of the earlier. If the quality of paper, binding, and graphic contrast of the original edition could have been retained in the revision, it would have been helpful. However, The Restora- tion of Leather Bindings preserves its value as an important resource and is to be rec- ommended. Archives and Manuscripts, Conservation: A Manual on Physical Care and Management, which caps the SAA basic manual series, incorporates principles refined in the Soci- ety's series of regional conservation work- shops. These two very successful ven- tures have culminated in a comprehen- sive, clearly written and well-organized book. I would recommend it as a "must read'' for any archivist or librarian with preservation responsibilities, particularly if he or she is involved in establishing an in-house conservation program. The manual's scope is commendably broad. It contains chapters not only on such things as the nature of archival mate- rials, causes of deterioration, and environ- ment and storage, but also on conserva- tion philosophy, integrating conservation November 1985 into archival administration, budgets, and personnel. These last sections are impor- tant because an effective conservation program requires the support and cooper- ation of an institution's entire staff. This support can never be won if conservation operates, or is perceived to operate, at cross purposes to the archive's other func- tions. I would like to voice a few words of cau- tion about the section, 1 'Basic Conserva- . tion Procedures." While there is nothing incorrect about the information pre- sented, experience has shown that spot testing, pH testing, dry cleaning, humidi- fication, mending, and leather dressing are difficult to learn from written instruc- tion alone. The primary problem is that it is impossible to represent adequately the varied reactions of materials to these pro- cedures. Therefore, this reviewer would have preferred that the segment would have been treated in a different manner, or not at all. In her discussion of document boxes on page 55, the author leaves the impression that such cases may be safely stored flat on shelves. Flat storage does eliminate curl- ing of records found in underfilled upright boxes. However, standard five-inch flip- top document boxes were not designed for horizontal storage: they do not stack well and use shelf space inefficiently when stored on their sides and, since file folders are usually shorter than these boxes, records are likely to slide around during retrieval. If flat storage is required, as where oversized material is of concern, boxes designed for horizontal use should be employed. As the author describes, it is much preferable to prevent curling by us- ing spacers in upright boxes. The problem here is that the author dis- cusses the use of laminated museum board spacers, which are both heavy and expensive. Equally effective ones can be constructed of alkaline card stock folded into an accordian-like spring or folded and glued to make a hollow box shape. These minor points merely underscore the importance of using ingenuity to ad- dress the unique conservation challenges of each collection. They do not detract from the value of the manual to the field of library and archival administration. A quality science library without the Science Citation Index®? Unlikely. For over 20 years, the Science Citation Index has been an integral part of science reference collections. Why? Because the SCI® gives you access to the world's most significant scientific and technical literature. Because it offers unmatched breadth of coverage, depth of indexing, and precision of retrieval. And because the SCI's cumulated editions make it easy to search back to 1955. If you've used the Science Citation Index, you know it's more than a valuable search tool. You know it's also an important tool for performing bibliographic verification . . . following scientific development across 100 disciplines . . . tracking faculty publishing ... and determining who's citing whom. Your subscription to the Science Citation Index gives you all of this . . . plus it qualifies you for reduced rates on SCISEARCH®, the online version of SCI. And the Science Citation Index is available at special grant rates to libraries that qualify. To find out more about the Science Citation Index and its place in your library-or for information on lSI's Grant Program-write or call us at the address below. o®rr Institute for Scientific Information® Customer Services 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 U.S.A., Telephone: (215) 386-0100, Ext.1371, Cable:SCINFO, Telex : 84-5305 European Office: 132 High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1 DP, United Kingdom Phone : 44 -895-70016, Telex : 933693 UKISI 101-3939 0 19841SI 534 College & Research Libraries A final note: it is fortunate that this man- ual is punched for a three-ring binder; the adhesive binding is so tight that in order to lay the book flat, its spine must be practi- cally broken.-Don Etherington, Harry Ran- som Humanities Research Center, The Univer- sity of Texas at Austin. Kantor, Paul B. Objective Performance Mea- sures for Academic and Research Libraries. Washington, D.C.: Association of Re- search Libraries, 1984. 76 p. $25. ISBN 0-918006-09-0. Dr. Paul Kantor, president of Tantalus, a library management consulting firm, has developed a set of library effectiveness measures which have been used in anum- ber of ARL libraries and which ARL has asked him to present in this small volume for use in other libraries. Three measures are describ~d in detail. One measure is an estimate of the chances that a user coming to the library to obtain a particular title will be able to lay hands on the desired item (approximately 48 percent chance in ARL libraries). By do- ing this analysis, a library may learn how much of its performance failure is associ- ated with (1) acquisitions, (2) user interac- tion with the catalog, and (3) circulation. Those patrons who are searching for spe- cific items in the catalog are asked by sur- vey workers if they will record on a form titles being sought. Before leaving the li- brary, the patron then notes on the form whether the desired items were found and deposits the form in a collection box. Staff then follow through to determine causes of failure. Other effectiveness measures described are (1) estimate of the time required to complete a particular process, such as ob- taining and checking out a particular book; and (2) identification of bottlenecks in library processes by use of delay analy- sis. These analyses are useful because they measure the performance of the library as a whole in a way that permits comparison with peer libraries. Some normative data for these measures are said to be available from Kantor. This book is intended to serve as a guide _ to enable other libraries to carry out these November 1985 procedures. However, as Kantor notes, in order to do this successfully, a library must be committed to self-evaluation and must also have available persons to serve as coordinators who have some research experience, some background in statistics, and considerable diplomatic skills. Data carefully collected by use of these method~ should be of benefit to a library in improving its public services.-Marjorie E. Murfin, William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library, Ohio State University, Columbus. Kronick, David A. The Literature of the Life Sciences: Reading, Writing, Research. Phil- adelphia: lSI Press, 1985. 219p. $35. LC 85-4283. ISBN 0-89495-045-2. David A. Kronick's extensive and varied experience as a medical librarian is evident in this highly personal introduction to the literature of the life sciences. Intended for the user of the literature, the book empha- sizes useful information rather than refer- ence or bibliographic sources. Conse- quently, Kronick's book complements standard sources such as Smith's Guide to the Literature of the Life Sciences (Burgess, 1980). This work includes chapters on a wide variety of topics such as the historical de- velopment of the literature, the primary and secondary literature, characteristics of the literature, writing and publishing, in- dexing languages, citation indexing, searching, and personal information files. Kronick's interest in the history of science is evident in the abundance of information he provides on the development of scien- tific communication. In fact, his knowl- edge and fascination with the literature of science are present throughout the book. In a sense the book could as easily be enti- tled The Literature of the Sciences. While Kronick uses examples from the biomedi- cal literature (predominantly medical), the subject matter of the book has equal appli- cability to other sciences as Kronick's ex- tensive examples from physics and psy- chology confirm. The book includes a list of 484 literature references. Both the references and exam- ples in the text include works published as recently as 1983. Therefore, the contents