Bertot, John Carlo, and Davis, Denise M., eds. Planning and Evaluating Library Networked Ser­ vices and Resources. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2004. ISBN 1 -56-308964-5. $45.00 With the recent explosive growth of informational resources available through subscription databases, l ibraries now have to plan and budget for networked resources and services within the global context of al l resources and services provided to patrons. Planning and Evaluating Library Networked Services and Resources is written in a clear, concise style to deliver impartial information on relevant evaluation meth­ ods to support l ibraries in the decision-making process. Ed itors Bertot and Davis, along with six other e-metrics experts, provide readers with sample evaluation instruments, including significant e-metrics initiatives and standards. In addition, chapters on needs as­ sessment, shared resources, and vendor statistics furnish l ibrarians, administrators, and staff with helpful advice and guidelines. Negotiation of contracts with vendors, development of requests for proposals, consortia! agreements, and acceptable use policies are key issues g iven fair and comprehensive treat­ ment. The book is d ivided into two parts. The first five chapters include evaluation, planning, and measurement topics associated with networked resources and services. The remaining six chapters discuss specific facets of networked resources and services. Among the eleven chapters, several stand out. .. '<\ .,: •• • Chapter 2 d iscusses various evaluation frameworks for an electronic environment. Assessment of out­ comes and service qual ity, performance measurement, and best practices are included. Sign ificant fac­ tors i n evaluation are described and l ibrary stakeholders are identified . Bertot, a professor at the School of I nformation Studies at Florida State University, details methods and tools for assessing networked resources and services in chapter 3. The process of bui lding a methodol­ ogy plan focuses upon several elements i ncluding objectives of data collection, inputs, activities, assess­ ment type, indicators , and sources and methods. The positive and negative aspects of the use of surveys, focus groups, and data logs are considered. A sample survey and focus group write-up are contained in the appendix. Bertot is also the author of a chapter on e-metrics and performance indicators . The role of several promi­ nent standards organizations such as the International Coalition of Library Consortia ( ICOLC) and Count­ ing Onl ine Usage of Networked Electronic Resources (COUNTER) is described . A l ibrary network statis­ tics definition and comparison is provided to assist the reader in uti l izing the performance indicators. In addition to serving as an editor on this project, Davis is also a former l ibrary manager of technical ser­ vices and electronic col lection development. She compares needs assessment to an onion (" . . . many layers that sometimes bring tears to your eyes"). Davis asserts the importance of consistency of meas­ urement in a needs assessment. Long and short-term implications of change should be considered. A needs assessment requires an understanding of the l ibrary's service goals, the service population as ar­ ticulated in the l ibrary's mission statement, the infrastructure that makes del ivery of networked resources possible, and the process of implementation, including outsourcing . A number of tables, figures, and charts are presented throughout Planning and Evaluating Library Net­ worked Services and Resources to faci l i tate the reader's understanding of complex issues. A complete Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 32 l ist of references may be found at the end of each chapter. A table of contents and a comprehensive in­ dex are included. The book concludes with biographical information on each of the contributors. Planning and Evaluating Library Networked Services and Resources will be a valuable add ition for all l i­ braries, and a beneficial text for students in l ibrary automation, e-metrics, and collection management courses. Librarians, administrators, and l ibrary staff who are responsible for planning, selecting, and evaluating electronic resources and services may wish to include this volume in a professional collection. Warren Jacobs is a Reference/Instruction Librarian at California State University, Stanislaus. Email : wjacobs@csustan .edu Colclough, C., AI-Samarrai, 5., Rose, P., Tembon, M. (2003). Achieving Schooling for All in Africa: Costs, Commitment and Gender. Burl ington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, ISBN 0-7546-3807- 3. $99.95 At the Mi l lennium Summit of the United Nations on 1 8 September, 2000, the General Assembly set a tar­ get date for achieving "education for al l" or universal access to basic education, with gender equity, of 201 5. At that same summit basic and skills education for both children and adults were seen as key to African development. This book takes a long hard look at those targets through the viewpoint of supply and demand. On the supply side they look at national expenditure on education, average costs per pupi l and size of the school-age population. On the demand side they look at household income, costs per pu­ pi l , expected benefits and other determinants, i .e . , gender. The work grew out of pol icy studies and research conducted by Mr. Colclough on gender and primary school ing in Africa between 1 995 and 2000. It uses the resu lts of those studies of 9 countries across the region and then broadens them to provide a more theoretical analysis of the determinants of school par­ ticipation across the Sub-Saharan region. Thr.ee chapters in particular (Chapters 4-6) focus on Mr. Col­ clough's study giving a detailed examination · of the problems facing primary schooling in nine African countries while the rest of the chapters provide analysis at global and regional levels. To set the framework for the book the authors explain that while Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) "accounts for only about 1 0 per cent of the population of developing countries, by 2005, wel l over one-half of al l chil­ dren not enrolled in school wil l be from within the region" (p. 1 ) . It goes on to note that most of these un­ enrol led students are g irls. The book looks at why the objectives of "schooling for al l" (SFA) have not been ach ieved and what needs to happen if they are to be achieved. I n particular it looks at economic constraints and at gender roles in society as both have a crucial effect on chi ldren's educational opportu­ nities and performance. Throughout the book the authors are careful to distinguish between un iversal primary education (UPE), (which they define as the point at which the number of children enrolled in primary school is equal to the number of el igible school age children) and school ing for all (SFA) which is defined here as al l el igible children being enrol led in schools of at least min imally acceptable qual ity. In looking at the low proportion of children enrolled in school in SSA the book considers the economic effects - whether it was an effect of the costs of African school ing, whether governments and/or households were unable to allocate the resources needed for schooling or whether, in fact, they became unwil l ing to al locate the resources. They provide evidence that household income and cost constraints interact with gendered attitudes towards schooling amongst parents and others to cause under-enrolment, and particularly the exclusion of g irls from schools. One interesting factor was an apparent l ink they discovered (Chapter 5) between the pro­ portion of teachers who are female and the enrolment of girls in primary schools. Although achieving the right balance of public expenditures is only part of the challenge of achieving SFA in Africa the authors contend it is nevertheless a critically important aspect of any national strategy to do so. They note that teacher costs have dominated government spend ing whi lst expenditures on learn ing materials has been minimal in most cases, bringing adverse impl ications for the qual ity of education. Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 33 Schools have a high ratio of children to teachers and a high rate of dropout. In most SSA countries the difficulty of achieving universal schooling is increased by high rates of population growth . The book acknowledges that over the past two decades countries some countries have made improve­ ments in both increasing primary enrolment and in the qual ity of education and it looks at how such im­ provements can be more widespread in SSA. Policy reforms affecting the quality, avai labi l ity and financ­ ing of schooling need to be introduced and sustained by each of the governments. In addition , the achievement of SFA will require significantly more per capita spending on education . The authors feel that it is unl ikely that this resource gap can be met by increased overseas aid. They also note that achiev­ ing SFA wil l mean both reducing household costs and the constraints on achieving gender equ ity in schools and society. · The book includes a large number of detai led statistical tables derived, in large part, from the data col­ lected by Mr. Colclough during the studies he conducted between 1 995 and 2000. The work is supple­ mented with an extensive bibl iography and a somewhat useful index. The material in this primarily em­ pirical study will provide excellent background and statistics for an audience of serious graduate re­ searchers i n the area as wel l as for those working in the field of African education. Jacqueline M. Borin is Coordinator, Reference & Electronic Resources at Cal State San Marcos Library. Emai l : jborin@csusm .edu Henderson, D.L. & May, J.P. (2005) Exploring Culturally Diverse Literature for Children and Ado­ lescents: Learning to Listen in New Ways. Boston: Pearson. ISBN 0-205-36640-6. $45.40 While support for multicultural chi ldren's and adolescent literature is plentiful among educators, there re­ mains a dearth both of such titles in the canon and criticism for such literature. The purpose of this book is therefore two-fold . "Our aim was to look beyond those books that have won awards such as the New­ bery and the Caldecott or are l isted on canonical publ ications such as the Children's Literature Associa­ tion Touchstones List", state the editors, "and to consider how diverse writing styles in chi ldren's and ado­ lescent l iterature might be discussed for their l iterary merits . . . [W]e believe that teachers and literary scholars wil l best be able to enter into a new dialogue about literature's place in the world of our young readers when they understand how stories are tied to specific cultural and sociopolitical histories" (p. x i i i ) . This rich volume is separated into three sections, each d ivided into theory and practice. Part one, aptly titled " In the Beginning: Recognizing Diversity in Chi ldren's and Adolescent Literature", opens with a short description of early American writers such as Thoreau and Emily Dickinson finding their own voices in­ stead of mimicking European l iterary patterns. Chi ldren's authors, such as Cynth ia Rylant and Joyce Carol Thomas, have traveled a similar path , and readers are asked to reflect on the representations of d ifference in children's books as well as learn to recognize authentic points of view. Part two, titled "Toward a New Perspective: Learning to Interpret Culturally Diverse Literature", begins with a d iscussion of Native American history and the fact that l ittle of it trickles down into the history books used in American classrooms. Here , Henderson and May reiterate thei r belief that "all people should be g iven l iterary voices in our canon that reflect their experiences and beliefs" (p. 1 43). The primary concern in part three, "Defining Cultural Uniqueness: Agency in the Critique of Chi ldren's and Adolescent Literature", is authenticity. The correspondence of African American writers Arna Bontemps and Langston Hughes discussing the use of Black dialect (also known as African American Vernacular English or Ebonies) in children's literature is used to i l lustrate concerns for realism. Toni Morrison put it best when she said of her own writing: " I d idn't want it to be a teaching tool for white people. I wanted it to be true - not from outside the culture, as a writer looking back at it . . . I wanted I to come from inside the culture, and speak to people inside the culture. It was about a refusal to pander or distort or gain political points. I wanted to reveal and raise questions." Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 34 Perhaps because the co-authors are African-American and white, a significant number of the essays col­ lected here focus on these two viewpoints. Among the twenty-seven essays, four focus on African­ Americans, one on Caribbean blacks, and two on blacks and their relationship to whites. The rest are evenly spread among other groups such as Native Americans, Jews, and Asian-Americans, as well as various topics such as multicultural ism , gender, rel ig ion , and l iterary genres. There is enough diversity of material here to interest everyone. However, the chapters on theory far outnumber the chapters on prac­ tice. Perhaps a future edition could include more practice chapters to help teachers and l ibrarians put theory into action. Jul ie Shen is Publ ications Assistant at Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont Colleges. Email : Julie.shen @libraries.claremont.edu Khosrow-Pour, Mehdi. (2005). Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology. Hershey, PA: Idea Group. 5 vol. 3121 p. ISBN 1 -59140-553-x. $1 125.00 With the fast-changing world of information science and technology, assembling an encyclopedia on that field can be daunting . Ed itor Khosrow-Pour approached this task by asking academic experts to submit articles on issues in the field. The proposals were selected on the basis of blind-reviews by peers. The result is an interesting collection of current thinking by 900 researchers in 50 countries. (It should be noted that the contributors are listed alphabetically by first name, which is highly unusual . ) The 550 articles are arranged alphabetically by title, which can be misleading because the first words are sometimes generic, such as "basic" or "evolution ." Even "a" and "the" are l isted alphabetically. More care should have been taken in determining the first word. Fortunately, the first volume also l ists the articles by 35 major topics: Database technolog ies, Electronic col laboration, ERP, Global IT management, IS re­ search, IT in Libraries, IT in personnel management, Software engineering, and so forth. As with the ti­ tles, the first term is not always sign ificant. For; i nstance, instead of " IT in healthcare," "Healthcare and IT" would help retrieve the information . Each volume includes a complete index to key terms and general in­ dex; strangely, the font style and size d iffers from the rest of the work's text. The general index seems to be computer-generated because it misses related articles (e.g . , gender) or some articles altogether (e.g . , gaming). The articles themselves are informative and wel l-written . Most range from six to nine pages. Some reflect empirical research , others consist of meta-analyzes of research , and several offer interesting models. Most articles include background information, basic issues/research , future trends, conclusions, refer­ ences, and key terms. Few give h istorical development detai ls. Most articles include helpful diagrams or tables, although they do not have a consistent look, sometimes even within the same article. Topic coverage is uneven. Emphasis is on business and adult-related issues. K-1 2 education is largely neglected. Few articles deal with theory; most describe practical issues with some research-based data. Several topics deal with factors influencing distance education, but none cover the training of distance education instructors or issues of information seeking. Eng ineering articles are minimal , and no article deals with informatics, which is a fundamental aspect of information science, or information literacy or semiology. On the other hand, articles on business planning and implementation are numerous. It would have been useful for the editor to have balanced the coverage better, and sol icited article to fi l l the theo­ retical gaps. In short, this series offers many good articles on information science and technology. The reader can dip into any volume and find interesting data and issues . As is, this work would have been better titled Hand­ book of Issues in Information Science and Technology. Additional effort in the presentation and organ iza­ tion of articles would have strengthened this work. Dr. Lesley Farmer teaches school l ibrarianship and educational technology at Cal ifornia State University, Long Beach . Emai l : lfarmer@csulb.edu Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 35 Neubert, Gloria A. and Elizabeth A. Wilkins. (2004). Putting It All Together: the Directed Reading Lesson in the Secondary Content Classroom. Boston: Pearson Education. ISBN 0-205-34384-8. $33.00. This very practical text is written for the secondary school teacher in any content area and can be used by ind ividual teachers or as part of a workshop. The authors have developed an original strategy aimed to help students become competent readers in any subject area, even in areas where a teacher may not general ly use reading as the primary strategy to impart knowledge to students (e.g . physical education). While the authors recogn ize that the intended audience for this book are not reading teachers, they main­ tain that content area teachers who include read ing strategies in their lessons "significantly increase their students' chances of mastering content." The first chapter, " If You Are Reading This Book, You Are Exceptional," is a fascinating explanation of the five different cueing systems (graphics, semantics, syntax, experiential background , and text structure) needed for the human brain to comprehend written language. The second chapter introduces the "Di­ rected Reading Lesson" plan and contains actual lesson plans developed by secondary school content teachers. The authors use a simple inductive "model-analyze-apply" approach to guide teachers through the parts of the Directed Reading Lesson. Teachers are asked to read four model Directed Reading Les­ son plans which are analyzed in subsequent chapters, and then apply what they have learned to develop a lesson plan in their specific content area. Sample lesson plans include a wide variety of content areas that teachers can draw from in developing their own lesson plans: English, art, math , science, social studies, business education, consumer/family science, French, Spanish, health, special education, and music. It should be noted that the authors seek to streamline teachers' approach to developing lesson plans in the content classroom, so that teachers wil l not have to figure out which read ing strategies fit best in their lesson plans. Thus, specific reading strategies are embedded in each step of the Directed Reading Les­ son . The authors also recognize that in the,average classroom, students' reading abil ity can vary widely, and suggest using multiple texts in the content areas in order to give students the best possible chance to master content and to minimize frustration and boredom. Putting It All Together should be useful and interesting for both seasoned secondary school teachers looking for a new method to help students master content and first-time secondary school teachers look­ ing for a well-developed blueprint to gu ide student learning. Collette Davis is the Education Librarian at Californ ia State University, Ful lerton. Emai l : cmdavis@ful lerton .edu Stone, C. Addison; Si l l iman, Elaine R.; Ehren, Barbara J; and Apel , Kenn (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of Language and Literacy: Development and Disorders. New York and London: The Gui lford Press. ISBN 1 -59385-005-0. $75.00 The Handbook of Language and Literacy: Development and Disorders is one of the first volumes in the new Gui lford Series "Challenges in Language and Literacy." With four editors and a multitude of leading authorities as contributors, this handbook provides an extensive resource in all aspects of typical and atypical literacy development. It provides an overview/review of the relevant research on language and literacy theory, research and practice and highl ights the many social , cultural and institutional dynamics that interact with language and literacy development from the preschool years to young adulthood. Although intended for a broad audience, practitioners, researchers and students in the fields of language science and d isorders, l iteracy, speech-language pathology, special education and educational psychol­ ogy especially wi l l benefit from the comprehensive examination of how language related processes inte­ grate with l iteracy instruction. Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 36 Each of the four sections in the handbook begins with an overview of the focus of that section and h igh­ l ights for each chapter in the section . The first three sections cover the cognitive and neurological foun­ dations of language and l iteracy development and disorders; the socio-cultural contexts of learn ing, in­ cluding ways to promote success in students at risk; and how specific language skil ls are related to suc­ cessfu l and unsuccessful literacy acqu isition. The last section reviews effective applications for chi ldren, adolescents, and young adults with varying language and literacy profi les. Each chapter is unique in its headings and subheadings, a lthough they al l have common threads that tie them together within that section. Some chapters focus on treatment issues; others on the socio-cultural contexts of development; and sti l l others, on the cognitive processes that underlie typical and atypical skills in language and l iteracy. The contributors make sure to define terms at the beginning of the con­ versation and bring the readers in by period ically using questions as section headers, such as: "What is Literacy and How is it Mastered?; What are Promising Approaches to Research?; What is Phonological Abil ity? Each chapter ends with conclusions and future research directions. The last section of the Handbook includes many areas of interest to practitioners, i ncluding case studies, approaches, considerations, professional development, new pedagogical frameworks, general reflections and impl ications for education . There is even a chapter on instant messaging which is entertaining and interesting. This Handbook covers al l aspects of literacy (reading, writing, verbal , spel l ing and computer) including examples of specific cases, models, theories, frameworks, research, intervention, future research, instruc­ tional design and principles. It would be of great value to college and university departments and refer­ ence sections. Lori S . Mestre is Head of Research and Instructional Services at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the Uni­ versity of Massachusetts Amherst. Emai l : lori .mestre@library.umass.edu Education Libraries Volume 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 37 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 libraries, and school libraries Manuscripts submitted for publication in EL should present research studies, descriptive narratives, or other thoughtful considerations of 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 library and information science are also welcome provided they include a significant component specifically germane to education information or education libraries and librarianship. EL is indexed in Current Index to Journals in Education and in Library Literature. Submission of Manuscripts Education Libraries welcomes the submission of original manuscripts. All manuscripts submitted will be considered for publication 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, 1 250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach CA 90840-220 1. Inquiries 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 an al­ ternative arrangement. 2. All manuscripts should be word-processed to be publishable on 8.5 x 1 1" paper, double-spaced, with 1 " margins on all sides. Reference should appear on separate pages at the end of the article. Do not use MS endnotes or foot­ notes feature. 3. Education Libraries follows the Publication 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 affiliation(s) of the author(§) should appear on a separate cover page. The first author should also provide contact information, including telephone number, postal address, and email address. To i nsure ano­ nymity 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 illustrations should appear on separate pages at the end of the article. I ndicate desired placement by including a parenthetical insert in the text, e.g., (Insert figure 1 ). Each table or illustration should have a number and a brief title. All tables and illustrations 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 libraries and librarianship. Areas of interest include library and information science, preK-16 education , children's literature, and school librarianship. Publishers are invited to send review copies and announcements to the Editor. Prospective re­ viewers may write to the Editor to indicate their willingness to contribute reviews, their qualifications, 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 27, No. 2 Winter 2004 38