Abbey, Cherie D. and Hi l lstrom, Kevin, eds. (2004). Biography Today Authors Series, vol. 14. De­ troit, Ml : Omnigraphics. ISBN 0-7808-0652-2. $39.00 The Biography To day Series is designed to appeal to juveni le readers aged nine and above; it should be especially valuable to middle and secondary school readers. The series includes two sets: the General Series and the Subject Series. The Subject Series is further d ivided into seven distinct subsets: A rtists, Authors, Business Leaders, Performing Artists, Scientists & I nventors, Sports Figures, and World Lead­ ers. The entries in the General Series are not dupl icated in the Subject Series. Published twice a year, each volume is approximately 200 pages in length and has ten to fifteen entries. Photographs of the individual profiled are included in each entry. This particular volume profiles writers Orson Scott Card , Russel l Freedman, Dan Greenburg , N ikki Grimes, Laura H i l lenbrand, Norton Juster, Lurlene McDaniel , and Stephanie S. Tolan ; i l lustrator Mary GrandPre; and an imator Stephen H i l lenburg . Each profi le i s about fifteen pages long and includes in-depth information about the individual's birthplace, youth, education, career, marriage and fami ly, hobbies, honors and awards, and published works. Can­ did personal quotes make the entries particularly entertaining. P hotos of each author and i l l ustrations of his or her work (such as book covers) are visually appeal ing . Th e "Further Reading" section d irects the reader to more information in on l ine databases, sites on the World Wide Web, and to other reference works such as Gale Publ ications' Something About the Author series. Younge r readers might find the indexes especia l ly easy-to-use. The Name and General indexes have been combined into a new, single Cumulative Index. The Cumulative Index appears in every issue of the Biography To day publ ications, and contains the names of all of the persons who have been profi led in the entire series since its beg innings (in 1 992). The Cumulative Index also includes the occupations, nation­ al ities, and ethn ic origins of all of the persons profi led . Each i ssue also contains a Places of Birth and a Birthday index, as well as two separate Look Who's Appeared indexes for the General and Subject series arranged chronolog ically by year of publ ication . Th is appeal ing, economical, and user-friendly series is recommended for publ ic l ibraries, school media l ibraries, and curricu lum materials centers. Collette Davis is the Education Librarian at Cal ifornia State Un iversity, Ful lerton . Email : cmdavis@ful lerton.edu . Allen, John D. (2003). Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People with Developmental Dis­ abilities and Mental Retardation: Stories of the Rainbow Support Group. New York: Harrington Park Press. ISBN 1 -56023-396-6. $19.95 I n a world of how-to manuals or d ry textbooks that tel l how to form and manage support g roups, this vol­ ume is a breath of fresh air. Allen uses his book instead to i l l ustrate th rough the stories of the participants, the joys and trials of founding and runn ing a support g roup for people who are GLBT with developmental Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 39 disabil ities and mental retardation . Although this is a sl im work, the chapters tel l the stories of people who have found support both in their d isabi l ities as wel l as in their l ives with in the GLBT community. In 1 998, John Allen felt the need for a support g roup within the New Haven (CT) Gay and Lesbian Com­ munity Center that would address the unique needs of people with developmental disabil ities and mental retardation. He felt that this g roup was largely overlooked in the conventional support g roup system and also that this group presented special needs. Often having to rely on others for trans.portation, assistance with daily l iving tasks and a myriad of other concerns not usually confronted by other users of the New Haven Gay and Lesbian Community Center, Allen decided to launch the Rainbow Support Group. By tak­ ing into account those needs, Allen was able to form a place for women and men to discuss and socialize with others who were l ike them . The book opens with two brief chapters to offer the history of the Rainbow Support Group as well as ob­ servations from those who have worked with the group. In talking to parents, administrators, and others, Allen comes to the conclusion that the benefits of such a group go far beyond the group members and extend to those around the Rainbow Support Group. Then Allen goes on to offer portraits of fifteen group members. I n these descriptions, the needs, hopes, and realities of each of the participants come through . Allen also goes into some detail about how each member of the group became involved , g iving a sense of why the g roup has become so important to its members. Final ly, he ends with a co uple of chapters about the leaders of the Rainbow Support Group. Part therapist, part g roup leader, pa rt social d i rector and part good friend , John D . Al len has created a work that is not only very readable but also enjoyable. For those who would l i ke to repl icate h is work or try a variation on the Rainbow Support Group in thei r settings, Allen i l lustrates the p innacles and pitfal ls of helping GLBT persons who are also developmentally d isabled or mentally retarded . For those i nvolved in education , this book can help them to bu i ld better' programs to meet al l of the many needs with in their institutions. Kris Veldheer is Instruction Librarian at Graduate Theolog ical Union . Email : veldheer@gtu .edu Buchanan, El izabeth. (2003). Readings in Virtual Research Ethics: Issues and Controversies. Her­ shey, PA: Information Science Publishing. ISBN 1 -59140-1 52-6. $59.95 Term paper writers and researchers who dig through the strained usage, anecdotal evidence, cl iches, jargon, missing sections, psychobabble, and needless repetition wil l unearth a d iamond mine of informa­ tion gems, research methods, suggestions, observations, criticism, issues, and controversies to use in their own projects, both onl ine and face-to-face (FTF), by referring to this anthology. Buchanan organ ized eighteen readings into separate chapters and assigned each to a section . The pref­ ace briefly summarizes the chapters, and there is an abstract for each chapter. References and endnotes have refreshingly current dates. The index helps the reader decipher the rampant abbreviations, acro­ nyms, in itial isms, organ izations, agencies, and terminology, but the re are no people index. An "About the Authors" section answers the natural question : What is the background of the author(s) of the chapters? Most of the chapters in Readings . . . present useable, informative, and interesting material in a well­ written manner. However, one of the chapters could have been omitted ; maybe the sentence-length title and multiple self-references were early clues that it would be fraught with the author's personal detai ls, word iness, repetitiveness, jargon, and the use of many words where one would do. 1 Readings . . . is rife with the arcane al lusions, but they are made tolerable by the effective index. Some examples are: CMC (Computer-Mediated Commun ication), OPPR (Office for P rotection from Research Risks), CATI (Co mputer-Assisted Tel ephone Interview) , MUD (Multi-User Dimensions), MOO (MUD Ob­ ject Oriented , an I nternet-chat environment) , and I RS ( Institutional Review Board) . "The Belmont Report" has for years provided "guid ing principles of research ethics" (vi); the index points to further information. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 40 A difference of virtual research from "real" research is shown by example on page 234. A we bsite about a musical band was set up before the band d isbanded . "This has placed me [the chapter author) in the awkward position of sometimes fielding enthusiastic messages (and serious interest of researchers) for a group that no Jonger exists, an act of misrepresentation committed for the sake of history." 2 Later, the author deleted the site. Readings . . . combines elements found in handbooks, encyclopedias, d ictionaries, a"nd user manuals. They are usual ly not great l iterature, and Readings . . . is no exception: " I n the concluding section . . . two chapters of import reside. Both are cal ls to arms of sorts for researchers. Both recogn ize that researchers and researched share a new relationship with in virtual spaces and these new relationships el icit new con­ siderations whi le demanding new understandings." (xi) A l ibrary school research methods class (taught by one of the authors referred to in this book) d isclosed that errors exist even in scholarly journals. An author in Readings . . . wrote that the I nternet has impacted data collection in five ways, but in the text, only four ways were given ( 1 1 8-1 9) . I n conclusion , i t is impossible to look at any part of the book without wanting to look at others. Read about the authors and one is tempted to look at their chapters. Read chapters and one has to look at the index. Reading chapter titles draws one to the chapters which lead one to investigate references and endnotes. Readings . . . offers splendid methodolog ical, d iscipl inary, and geographical coverage of many virtual research ethical issues including: credentials of researcher, conflict of interest, informed consent, confidential ity, documentation, IRBs, d ispensing with informed consent, offering inducements for research participation , deception in research, and debriefing.2 Endnotes 1 One of the techn iques used in the read ings is that research participants' names are pseudonyms. 2 Although there is a copyright statement at the bottom of every single page of Readings in Virtual Research Ethics: Issues ahd Controversies, no permission was obtained for the quotes used in this review. Bil l Enright is reference l ibrarian at Rio Hondo Commun ity College Library in Wh ittier, Cal ifornia. Email : bi l lypearl@excite.com Corry, Michael, and Chih-Hsiung Tu, eds. Distance Education: What Works Well. New York: Ha­ worth Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7890-2288-5. $29.95 Distance Education: What Works Well, ed ited by professors from George Washington Un iversity's Educa­ tional Te chnology Leadership Program, has been co-publ ished simu ltaneously as a special issue of Computers in the Schools, volume 20, number 3, 2003 . These ten articles, written by qual ified practitio­ ners and academics, provide a mixture of very practical and useful how-to articles for improving onl ine learn ing , with examples of real-l ife d istance education experiences in K-1 2 schools, and a couple of more general and theoretical articles. Except for two of the articles, wh ich describe the use of videoconferenc­ ing technolog ies and interactive television, the others refer to Web-based onl ine instruction. The first four articles describe experiences with K-1 2 schools. While these are not descriptions of "best practices, " the reader benefits from read ing about these schools' experiences, especially those that have clearly identified the lessons learned . I ndeed , the editors could have improved this first half of the book had they requ i red the various authors to use a common outl ine, so that the reader cou ld easily compare the methods used , outcomes and conclusions. A model article for its organ ization and clear sections is "The Design, Development, and lmplementation ·of.kUDA Virtual High School" by Charalambos Vrasidas, covering the course development process, student selection, evaluation/lessons learned and train ing and compensation of teachers for an onl ine course for consumer education in I l l inois h igh schools. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 41 The second half of the book contains the practical advice the reader expects from the subtitle - "What Works Well" - and some true gems for the onl ine instructor. As a comm unity college instructor who has taught an onl ine course for over three years, this reviewer d iscovered a wealth of practical advice and gained new insights about how to be more efficient with onl ine time from Hi rumi's article "Get a Life: Six Tacti cs for Optimizing Time Spent Onl ine," and how to improve onl ine d iscussion board conferences from two excel lent articles: "Bu i lding Active Onl ine I nteraction via a Collaborative Learn ing Community," written by the book's co-editors; and David Winograd's "The Roles, Functions and Ski l ls of Moderators of Onl ine Educational Computer Conferences for Distance Education . " The latter article details the various func­ tions of a moderator, and describes the concept of weaving: the summarizing of the d iscussion points and extracting of the major themes and d isagreements to clarify and keep everyone on track. Those charged with train ing onl ine instructors will find very useful the article by Mcisaac and Craft, "Faculty Development: Using Distance Education Effectively in the C lassroom," especially its gu idel ines for developing an onl ine syl labus and its annotated online references at the end of the article. All articles contain l ists of references at the end, and some also provide useful templates. The i ndex is rather weak, however, as it contains no cross references and seems to lack some major entries. For ex­ ample, there is no entry for "videoconferencing," ( indexed only under "broad-band videoconference") or " interactive television ," even though two of the articles describe the use of these technologies. Overal l , this compi lation makes a contribution to the literature of practical experiences and advice in de­ l ivering and improving certain aspects of onl ine d istance education for midd le school through h igher edu­ cation practitioners. It is not, however, the manual on effective practices that the subtitle may imply, nor does i t provide what the ed itors claim to be found in one article as the "pros, cons, and requirements for successful distance education" (2). Gladys Dratch is Head of Col lection Development for Gutman Library, Harva rd Un iversity. Emai l : gladys_ dratch@harvard. edu ' Giele, Janet Zollinger and Stebbins, Leslie F. (20 03). Women and Equality in the Workplace: A Reference Handbook. (Contemporary World Issues Series). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1 - 57607-937-6. $45.00 Like other titles in the Contemporary World Issues series, this work consists of an overview of the subject, a detailed chronology, b iograph ical sketches, facts and data, primary-source material, a d irectory of or­ gan izations and agencies, annotated l ists of print and nonprint resources, and an index. The authors are on the faculty at Brandeis Un iversity. Giele is a professor of sociology and Stebbins a reference l ibrarian. Both have previously publ ished in this field. The general tone of the work is scholarly and is clearly intended as a reference work rather than a text or other monographic work. The chapters follow the series gu idel ines, the first being an overview of women's progress toward equal ity in employment i n the U . S. and the world . I ndustrialization has brought more women into the workforce, but g lobalization has often deepened inequal ity i n the third world. (6) Sometimes an apparent improve­ ment in the relationsh ip between men's and women's pay reflects a drop in men's wages. Sex-typing of occupations, where certain jobs are considered male and others female, plays a role in wage inequality. Explanations of the d ifferential between men's and women's pay i nclude: 1 ) preference theory: women often choose part-time work, spend fewer total years in the full-time workforce, and g ive priority to their fami ly responsibi lities; 2) d iscrimination and segregation : employers' preference for em­ ployees of one or the other sex for certain jobs; and 3) innovative and gender crossovers, where new fields, such as computer science carry no h istorical baggage, enjoy a h igh growth rate and require high levels of education, tra in ing, and experience. The authors conclude that there has been a great deal of progress, but that much more needs to be done. Particularly in the th ird world , g lobalization has brought Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 42 vast salary d ifferentials between managers in the developed countries and workers, especially women , in developing areas. Chapter 2 focuses on legal remedies and social issues. New laws have moved away from the proteGtion­ ist ph i losophy of the early 20th century to an equal rights orientation in the latter part of the century. Sig ­ n ificant have been the Equal Employment Opportun ity Commission (EEOC) and Title IX of the Higher Education Act. On the social front, there has been improvement in chi ld care support by communities. "Although sex discrimination persists, . . . problems are being recogn ized , especially among the non-poor, and progress is l ikely to continue." (97) Chapter 3 contains a detailed time line from 1 900 to 2003 marking milestones of pioneering women, edu­ cational firsts, and key legal , pol itical , and cu ltural events in the U. S. and abroad relating to women's equal ity in education and employment. Chapter 4 is a col lection of short (1 to 2 pages) biograph ies of women who have been pioneers, activists, and scholars in the area of gender equal ity. Chapter 5 includes recent U. S. legislation , case law and statistics on employment, wage gaps, educa­ tion , gender-occupation l inks, d iscrimination , and harassment. A chro nolog ical summary tracks legisla­ tion , with brief descriptions of laws, court cases, and Executive Orders. There are excel lent charts and graphs of employment and education statistics. Chapter 6 is a listing of organizations in the field, includ­ ing academic programs, with paragraph-length descriptions of each. Chapters 7 and 8 l ist books, videos, journals, and web sites. There is a good g lossary, with very adequate defin itions, and a detai led index. Each chapter also includes a summary and extensive references. This is an authoritative reference work from a rel iable publisher for any serious collection where questions of women's equal ity in the workplace need to be answered. JoAn S. Segal, Vintage Ventures. Emai l : jsegalvv@earth l ink . net Goldenberg, Claude. (2004). Successful School Change: Creating Settings to Improve Teaching and Learning. New York: Teachers C�llege Press. ISBN 0-8077-4423-9. $25.95 Change is hard. Change is messy. Ch ange takes time. Dr. Golde nberg , Associate Dean of the Col lege of Education at California State Un iversity Long Beach, has the temerity and integrity to share h is experi­ ences and i nsights about one school's multi-year effort to improve student achievement through substan­ tive school change. Set in an u rban Southern Cal ifornia elementary school with a h igh percentage of Latino students in the early 1 990s. (Names have been largely changed for confidential ity reasons.) The focus for change was reading improvement. A principal who was working on her dissertation in the area of school change had successfu l ly led a school change process at an elementary school, and thought she could use the same approach at another site: Freeman Elementary. Su ch was not the case. Some teachers were skeptical, others were openly negative. The principal was overworked and frustrated . She had to reth ink her ap­ proach, and analyze the culture and expectations of Freeman . Instead of working top down , the principal brought faculty together to develop a concrete shared set of specific goals for student achievement. What developed were "settings for change," both for school improvement and for school community learn­ ing . People needed opportun ities to share understanding and decide how to accomplish goals. Several elements operated at Freeman : d iscussion between un iversity mentors and the principal, teacher work­ shops, faculty meetings, g rade-level meetings, quarterly conferences, scoring sessions, and a leadership counci l . To develop coherence, agreed-upon i ndicators of success were developed and used, and l inked with the other efforts. A d i sconnect existed between school and home, but homework centers provided a means to engage fami l ies in helping their chi ldren succeed . Student ach ievement increased significantly over time, but d ropped when the main players left and fu nding was drained. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 43 The formal school change model that was used includes: goals that are set and shared , ind icators that measure success, assistance by capable others, and leadership that supports and pressures. This model "works through" teachers' attitudes and behaviors to impact student learn ing . The author is qu ick to say that the model must be contextualized in settings where people come together over an extended period of time and work on common goals. Moreover, the work itself must be "nuts and bolts" oriented : that is, con­ crete , specific, validated , and well-developed . 'I Some research on school change is d iscussed in this work, and separate chapters discuss school­ un iversity col laboration and communities with "cultures of poverty. " Sti l l , the main strength of the book lies in the author's detailed descriptions of the complex trials and tribu lations of this school as a case study. Just as a model can feel abstract and distant, so too can writings about school change seem artificial. This book's treatment is very authentic and realistic. There are not happy endings; however, the insights about the processes help the reader identify critical elements needed for school change and improve­ ment. The title actually does not do the book justice; it sounds as if it can provide a panacea for change. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truths in this book are flesh-and-blood, hard and real. Dr. Lesley Farmer is Professor of Library Media at Cal ifornia State Un iversity Long Beach. Email : lfarmer@csulb.edu Jago, Carol. (2004). Classics in the Classroom; Designing Accessible Literature Lessons. Ports­ mouth, N H : Heinemann. ISBN 0-325-00590-7. $20.00 Carol Jago makes her stance clear from the very first page. Middle and high school students need to be taught classic l iteratu re. Her defin ition of classic literature is trad itional , and several times she makes ref­ erences to the classics as books that students are unable to read on their own , although her l ist includes a variety of titles, from Jack London's Call of the Wild, to Homer's Odyssey, to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. That these boo ks must be taught rather than simply read is a central theme, and she uses examples from her own teaching to i l l ustrate her points. It is also clear that Jago is a teacher with h igh and rigorous standards. She decries activities such as de­ signing book jackets, acting out scenes from books, or even watching fi lms, noting that these activities use class time that could be otherwise spent in read ing, writing , or active book discussion. She draws a distinction between Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development with her own Zone of Min imal Effort, in which she feels students spend far too much t ime. This book is an important add ition to education l ibraries. Half soapbox and half teach ing strateg ies, Jago clearly is passionate about the teaching of classic literature. Her lesson design examples are usually ac­ companied by forms, charts, or tables, most of which she has explicitly g ranted permission to reproduce for classroom use. Pre-service and practicing Engl ish teachers will find lesson design assistance, as wel l as encouragement for preparing to teach classics to middle and h igh school students. The "Accessible" in the title refers to Jago's contention that all students, even those not in honors classes, should read great literature, and some of her strateg ies are keyed to helping students with vocabulary for some works. For the most part, however, the rigor in her expectations is geared to the motivated student. Although Jago refers at several points to Vygotsky, she gives a min imal defin ition for Zone of Proximal Development and only briefly describes the appl ication of that concept. Sti l l , excerpts from this work may be used in pre-service Engl ish education classes, where other read ings may g ive a fu l ler defin ition. By far the strength of this book is to give courage to the faint-of-heart Engl ish teacher, d read ing the inevi­ table season of Macbeth with its whining students and their uninspired papers. A summer read of th is book will provide renewed energy and enjoyment as together students and teachers visit the hal lowed halls of classic literature. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 44 Gail Dickinson is Ass istant Professor, Department of Library and I nformation Studies, Un iversity of North Carol ina at Greensboro. Email : gkd ickin@uncg .edu Kovalchick, Ann, and Dawson, Kara, Eds. 2004. Education and Technology: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1 -57607-35 1 -3. $1 85.00. ' 1 Education and Technology is a comprehensive two-volume encyclopedia designed to del iver clear and concise information on the impact of technology on teach ing, research, and educational and communica­ tive practices. Education and Technology is arranged for ease of use. The comprehensive index assists in the location of information. A g lossa ry is included to help users understand terminology that appears throughout this encyclopedia. The table of contents l ists entries by volume and category. Ed itors Ann Kov alch ick, Kara Dawson , and 1 40 other contributors provide over 200 entries d ivided into seven categories of information. Each entry is signed by the author and includes references. Many of the entries include tables, g raphs, or screenshots to aid users in clearly understanding the information furnished. A numbe r of entries are cross-referenced to related topics that may be included throughout the two-volume set, assisting users in connecting concepts and appl ications. The first category, foundations, contains topics that provide a theoretical basis for educational tech nology. There are entries on constructivism, human-computer interaction , and instructional design . Contained with in the entry for constructivism is a defin ition of constructivism, its importance in learn ing , contrasting views of constructivism, the history of constructivism, teaching methods, and principles of learn ing. Implementation is comprised of terms that i l lustrate how educational technology may be employed to ach ieve the desired learning objectives in a .variety of educational settings. This category includes com­ puter-assisted instruction , computer-mediated communication , just-in-time train ing , and learning circles. The next category, issues, includes pol icies, concerns, and challenges associated with the appl ication of ed ucational technology. Among the topics in this section are acceptable use policies, I nternet safety, netiquette, and school reform. All sides of a controversial issue are presented in an impartial, factual manner. As an example, when describing acceptable use pol icies, a definition is provided. Key chal­ lenges of enforcement and accountabil ity are discussed. The author then demonstrates how these poli­ cies may be rendered ineffective by their l imitations, and concludes the entry with a summary and refer­ ences. The fourth category, leaders, includes biographical entries on seven prominent scholars whose work is considered essential to the development of educational technology and a model for further research. In­ cluded are Bloom, Bruner, Clark, Gag ne, Papert, Schramm, and Vygotsky. Within the category professional associations are several important organizations that have positively in­ fluenced the use of technology in education . Among the organ izations profi led is the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, the Association for Educational Communications and Technol­ ogy, and the I nternational Society for Tech nology in Education. Entries may include· the organization's web address, a l ist of publ ications with annotations and ISBN numbers, organizational conferences, soci­ ety and chapter information, membership benefits, projects and partnerships, and additional resources. The sixth category, projects, includes best practices of the use of technology in education. Among the projects in this section are the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow Project, Florida Virtual School , Tech nology Across the Curricu lum, and Web-based Inqu iry Science Environment. Entries define each project, who benefits from the work, who provides services, and include a history of each project. Research and theory is the final category. B loom's Taxonomy, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learn­ ing , Distance Education , and Multiple I ntel l igences are just a sample of the important research projects Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 45 that have furthered scholarship in this d iscip l ine. Entries may provide a history of the research, the major theories studied , the pros and cons of the research project, as well as examples of implementation. Education and Te chnology is written in a clear, concise style to provide impartial information about educa­ tional technology and its appl ication in instructional design. It is avai lable in print and electronic book for­ mats. Education and Technology is a valuable add ition to an undergraduate l ibrary's education collection. I t may also be util ized as a reference source in high school and community col lege l ibraries. K-1 2 educa­ tors, college instructors, onl ine faci l itators, and educational administrators may wish to include this ency­ cloped ia in a professional collection . Warren Jacobs is a Reference/Instruction Librarian at Cal ifornia State Un iversity, Stan islaus. Email : wjacobs@csustan. edu Monolescu, D., Schifter, C., and Greenwood, L. (Eds.) (2004). The Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publ ishing. ISBN 1 -59140-1 21 -6. $74.95 Accord ing to The Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies, d istance education has existed for over 1 00 years. Orig inally created as a way to reach students l iving in ru ral areas, its latest incarnation - onl ine d istance learn ing - takes advantage of the assets the I nternet has to offer. While onl ine DE serves as the focus of this volume, it should be noted that older del ivery methods, such as instructional television , satel l ite downl inks, cable TV, and videoconferencing, are by no means outdated ; all are sti l l viable and widely used. In fact, chapter three, "Can a Viable DE Program Stay Behind the Techn ology 'Wave'? , " argues that d istance education programs do not necessarily have to stay on the cutting edge to provide a satisfactory learn ing experience for students. That said , The Distance Education Evolurion tackles a wide variety of subjects in its in-depth look at Temple U n iversity's development of its onl ine learn ing program. The fi rst seven chapters, grouped under the heading of "Distance Education Issues in Higher Education." address issues that most if not al l institu­ tions of higher learning would come . up against in creating their own onl ine DE programs, such as plan­ n ing , faculty participation and compensation, accessibi l i ty to information, online teamwork, and evalua­ tion . The second section, entitled "Case Studies in Distance Education," g ives the reader g l impses into five onl ine classrooms in subjects varying from music and media entrepreneurship to psychology and the humanities. Compiled by Temple Un iversity administrators and faculty, this comprehensive overview can provide insight to other institutions interested in starting their own on l ine DE programs. Librarians are no strangers to d istance learn ing. Accord ing to the American Library Association, almost forty universities across the U .S. offer a DE component with in thei r l ibrary and information science pro­ grams. I n addition to being beneficiaries of such programs, l ibrarians have also acted as supporters and contributors. Therefore, this volume can be a good resource for l ibrarians interested in playing a more active role in their un iversities' onl ine DE programs. Librarians can easily relate to chapter four, for exam­ ple, which focuses on accessibi l ity. In the tradition al sense, a l ibrary is a physical space overseen by l i­ brarians who make sure that their resources are accessible to d isabled users in accordance with the Americans with Disabil ities Act. On the Web , a DE designer must do much the same by following national and international guidel ines for val idating website accessibi l ity. The case studies in the second section of the book that deal with various classroom situations can help l ibrarians - especially subject specific l i­ brarians - conceptualize the needs of their users in cyberspace. And final ly, "Onl ine Teach ing, Copy­ rights, and the Need for Concerted Solutions" provides food for thought to l ibrarians interested in onl ine intellectual property issues. Julie Shen is Publ ications Assistant at Honnold/Mudd Library of the Clarement Col leges. Email : Ju l ie.shen@libraries.claremont.edu Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 46 Porter, Kirby . (2003). Setting Up a New Library and Information Service. Oxford, England; Roll ins­ ford, NH: Chandos Publishing. ISBN 1 -84334-053-4. $55.00 Setting Up a New Library and Information Service is intended for those people who have the responsibi l­ ity of establ ishing a l ibrary or information service in their organ ization but have l ittle or no prior knowledge of the skil ls that are the stock in trade of l ibrarians. Porter provides up-to-date, easy-to-fol low, practical tips and h ints in this step-by-step approach to the problem. ' ' The first step is to d iscover what information resources, such as books, reports, magazines, journals, newspapers, and legislation is a lready available in the organ ization . This information audit wil l help re­ solve past problems with the supply of information and del ineate customer expectations for the new ser­ vice. The next step is to gather, organ ize, and catalog the materials a l ready avai lable. Porter briefly d is­ cusses various ways to classify and catalog materials to improve access and retrieval . Subsequent chap­ ters fol low the log ical sequence one would expect in developing an information service, i.e. how to ac­ qu i re resources to fi l l gaps and improve the quality of the collection , how to design the new service to meet the information needs of l ibrary users, how to market the use of the new service to ensure improved value for money, and how to measure the performance of the service. I n each chapter the author raises questions to add ress, defines terminology, suggests a course of action , and provides suggestions for fur­ ther read ing, mostly to British publ ications. Two append ices include references to predominantly British pu bl ications and copyright law. An index is incl uded. Throughout the discussion of the various topics Porter emphasizes the importance of meeting the needs of l ibrary users and del ivering information in a cost-effective, efficient way so that sound business deci­ sions are made. This title is concisely written and d igestible, but anyone setting up a new l ibrary or infor­ mation service wil l need more detailed information to understand MARC records, AACR2 gu idel ines, l i­ cense agreements, and other more compl icated aspects of l ibrarianship . Judy Druse is Curricu lum Resources L!brarian , Mabee Library, Wa shburn Un iversity. Email : judy.dru se@washburn .edu Reid, Peter. (2003 ). The Digital Age and Local Studies. Oxford: Chandos Publishing. ISBN 1 -84334- 051 -8. $55.00 "Local studies" is a primarily British term appl ied to collections of materials related to a specific geo­ graphic area, which are usual ly located in publ ic l ibraries. Each of this book's eight chapters examines a broad theme: background to local stud ies and the Web, the myth of parochialism, enqu i ry services, re­ mote users and local materials, e-genealogy, e-col laboration and cooperation, e-learn ing, and evaluation and appraisal. Reid begins by examining the d ifference between more focused local h istory collections and local studies whose purpose is "to recogn ize the social, economic and cu ltural activities and ach ievements of the local community (1 )." Local studies departments are reaching out to provide access to relevant electronic sources. Recent emphases on the roles of l ibraries in social inclusion and lifelong learning have focused on making materials accessible g lobally. Reid points out "that as our society becomes more mobile then our need to find out and understand our roots and origins becomes more pronounced (37) . " Libraries must point to appropriate d igital materials that appeal to a wide range of users including chi ldren. Reid d iscusses the merits of examplesm and touches on the need for l ibraries to create digital content; sti l l , he ind icates "the d ig ital age mentioned in the title relates to the I nternet more hol istically . . . [and] is as much about the things that the local studies department can get back from the Internet as those things it can give to it." (50) In addition to the increased accessibi l ity furnished by the I nternet, email has greatly impacted the work of the local studies department, facil itating "enqu i ries" from d istant patrons and introducing new chal lenges Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 47 in conducting the reference interview. Whi le the creation of onl ine gu ides and instructions can provide relief from answering repeated mundane questions, staff must become comfortable with technological solutions and develop the abi l ity to search the I nternet qu ickly, easily and efficiently. Additionally includin g information about research methods for local investigations in an email response is a "value-added ser­ vice." Libraries may create weblogs of local enqu iries, avoid ing the too extensive genealog ical ones. Hosting and monitoring bul letin boards or d iscussion boards al lows users to interact with each other, and help l ibrarians g lean useful information. '• In chapter fou r, Reid d i scusses practical considerations to choosing content to make ava ilable electroni­ cally. Offering examples of current good practices Reid notes that dig itization can un ite materials held in varying locations and also make centrally held collections avai lable at remote locations. A website should represent the best of a collection and not confuse quantity with qual ity, nor should any one or two areas dominate. Reid concludes the chapter with a 21 -page "A to Z of content creation." Next Reid addresses the explosion of "e-genealogy" and d iscusses the desirabi l ity of local history gate­ ways to assist remote users. He emphasizes the need to provide a mix of national and local sources of­ fering the State Library of Queensland as a "best practice" and Seattle Publ ic Library as a U .S . example. Family-history d iscussion threads are mentioned as a useful tool for e-genealog ists. Web-based collaboration and cooperation between l ibrary staff and others is the topic of chapter six. Reid suggests that a thorough analysis of the local collection is an important fi rst step. The staff can identify gaps and search the I nternet for complementary collections. Many academic l ibraries possess special collections and archive collections of wide interest. One promising area of e-collaboration is the mounting of 'virtual exh ibitions' featuring items from various locations that never have to leave home. Such exh ibi­ tions should be well advertised and made available indefinitely. Local studies l ibrarians may wish to iden­ tify and cooperate with individuals working on behalf of their community to gather and d isseminate local family and community h istory. Reid approaches the topic of 'e-learn ing' in chapter seven, noting that information and communication technology has altered teach ing and learn ing at all levels. In the Un ited Kingdom, the technology explo­ sion was accompanied by an increased interest in local studies because these topics are seen as acces­ sible and relevant to students who are developing an understanding of a major issue. Reid touches on the creation of Virtual Learning Environments and the increase in d istance learning as an impetus for making content available remotely. He provides points to consider in developing tutorials for local studies re-· search (the first of which is to avoid the word 'tutorial' and substitute something more user-friendly such as "how to get started") . Evaluation and appraisal are the focus of the final chapter. Reid poi nts out that traditional criteria should be appl ied to 'global' sou rces but purely 'local' sou rces must be judged differently. Like information found on the I nternet, print sources found in local studies col lections may not have been subjected to editorial qual ity standards or a refereeing process. Nevertheless, Reid concludes by providing a d iscussion of in­ d icators to factor into an assessment of value and positioning of local Internet sources: localness, orig i­ nal ity, contrib ution , authority, level, integ rity, timescale, interaction, effectiveness, and support. Chapter subheadings l isted in the contents make it easy to locate a topic of interest. The index includes organizations and major services mentioned. A l ist of i l l ustrations (screen-shots) and a l ist of abbrevia­ tions are part of the front matter. A four-p age bibl iography supplements chapter end notes. While the book is aimed at publ ic l ibrarians, educators wi l l focus on the example websites of particular interest to chi ld ren and the chapter on e-learning. El izabeth Parang is Serials/Electronic Resources Librarian at Pepperd ine Un iversity Library. Emai l : El izabeth . parang@pepperdine.edu Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 48 Reynolds, Marilyn. (2004). I Won't Read and You Can't Make Me. Portsmouth, NH : Heinemann, 2004. ISBN 0-325-00605-9 $1 7.00 M iddle and h igh school teachers regu larly have to deal with reluctant readers, those students who choose not to read . How does one reach them and turn them around in terms of read ing? Marilyn Reynold, who has taught reding to at-risk h igh school students for more than thirty years, has some answers. 'I It should be noted that Reynolds has also written several well-received books about at-risk teens, so it shou ld come to no surprise that she knows how to touch these students. I ndeed , she uses her own ex­ periences as a way to explain how she connects with young people th rough teaching and through writing . Reynolds' g ift seems to be that one-to-one connection . She tells several stories about students who dis­ cover the joy - and importance - of reading through a caring teacher's tel l ing assessment of a student's interests and needs. Reynolds also shares the benefits of peer reading support. Reynolds begins her book by provid ing an overview of the situation and the issues of students and teach­ ers. Next, she detai ls the challenges of reluctant readers. The th ird chapter notes that books can serve as a safe haven in a hostile or uncaring world . Reynolds also addresses the tough issues of "bad words," bibl iotherapy, and " lost causes. She provides gu idel ines for successful sustained si lent read ing programs and berates the "weapons of mass instruction. She concludes the volume by providing several useful forms to help students document and share their read ing experiences. Reynolds writes from a very personal point of view. As such, she will either endear or d isturb potential readers. However, she has a good point in that ind ividual attention and response can impact students in a very profound way. Therefore, th is book wil l be useful for pre-service teachers who wonder how they can impact student learn ing , particularly on the personal level . Dr. Lesley Farmer coordinates the L ibrary Media Teacher program at California State U n iversity, Long Beach. Emai l : lfarmer@csulb.edu Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 49 I N S T R U C T I O N S F O R C O N T R I B U T O R S About Education Libraries Education Libraries (EL) is published by the Education Division of the Special Libraries association. Its audience con­ sists of education information professionals employed in a variety of venues, including special libraries and informa­ tion centers, academic libraries, public l ibraries, and school l ibraries Manuscripts submitted for publ ication in EL should present research studies, descriptive narratives, or other thoughtful considerations oi topics of interest to the education information professional. Manuscripts focusing on issues relevant to more general concerns either in the field of education or in the field of l ibrary and information science are also welcome provided they include a significant component specifically germane to education information or education l ibraries and librarianship. EL is indexed in Current Index to Journals in Education and in Library Literature. Subm ission of Manuscripts Education Libraries welcomes the submission of original manuscripts. All manuscripts submitted will be considered for publ ication in future issues. Three hard copies and one electronic copy should be sent to Dr. Lesley Farmer, Edi­ tor, Education Libraries, California State University Long Beach, Dept. of EdPAC, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach CA 90840-2201. I nquiries regarding contributions are welcome and should be directed to Dr. Farmer via mail or email: lfarmer@csulb.edu. Preparation of Manuscripts 1. All manuscripts should be submitted with an electronic disk on a 3.5" disk and in Windows-compatible MS Word format or attached in an email message. If electronic copy can not be provided , please contact the Editor for alter­ native arrangement. 2. AII manuscripts should be typed or word-processed on 8.5 x 1 1 " paper, double-spaced, with 1 .5" margins on all sides. Reference should appear on separate pages at the end of the article. 3. Education Libraries follows the Publ ication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 51h ed. (2001 ) . Cita­ tions to electronic resources follow the "Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the ALA," available online at: http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html. 4. The name(s) and affil iation(s) of the author(s) should appear on a separate cover page. The first author should also provide contact information, including telephone number, postal address, and email address. To insure anonymity in the review process, author information should appear only on this page. 5. An abstract of 50-100 words should appear on a separate page. To insure anonymity in the reviewing process, this page should include no author information, but should include the complete title of the manuscript. 6. Using key words from the title, provide a running header or footer on each page. Pages should be numbered con­ secutively. 7. Tables and il lustrations should appear on separate pages at the end of the article. Indicate desired placement by including a parenthetical insert in the text, e.g . , (I nsert figure 1 ) . Each table or i l lustration should have a number and a brief title. All tables and il lustrations should be submitted on disk, along with an email attachment. 8. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all citations and references. Authors are responsible for obtaining any necessary copyright permissions, Review Process Education Libraries is a refereed journal using double-blind review. Manuscripts will be acknowledged by the Editor upon receipt and, following a preliminary review, will be forwarded by the Editor to at least two members of the Edito­ rial Review Board. Following the completing of the review process, the Editor will contact the author(s) to accept the manuscript for publication, to accept the manuscript contingent on the completion of suggested revisions, or to reject it. Any queries concerning the review process should be directed to the Editor. Book Reviews Education Libraries includes reviews of new publications relevant to education information or education l ibraries and librarianship. Areas of i nterest include l ibrary and information science, preK- 1 6 education , children's l iterature, and school l ibrarianship. Publishers are invited to send review copies and announcements to the Editor. Prospective re­ viewers may write to the Editor to indicate their wil l ingness to contribute reviews, their qual ifications, and their areas of interest. Calls for Papers Education Libraries places Calls for Papers (CFP) on a special theme for an issue. Examine the Education Division Web site. Education Libraries Volume 26, No. 2 Winter 2003 50