Briefly Noted

Joint Libraries: Models That Work, Claire B. Gunnels, Susan E. Green, and Patricia M. Butler. Chicago: American Library Association, 2012. 232p. $60.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1138-9)

Joint Libraries: Models That Work is a timely contribution to the library literature. The authors describe joint public and academic libraries that are evolving to support multiple clienteles and communities. Though not new, this arrangement is gaining renewed attention in a time of tight budgets and rapidly changing technology. The barriers that once separated academic and public libraries are less salient now that the former provide leisure reading and coffee shops and the latter offer increasing access to research databases and computers. With almost fifty pages of case studies, Joint Libraries offers ideas for ways to rethink library operations in the 21st century, even for those who are not intending to create a joint library. Taking a close look at the traditional patrons, operations, and institutional cultures of academic and public libraries, this volume reviews the human resource, design, legal, collection development, and technical services considerations necessary for opening a joint library. (FR)

Library Technology and User Services: Planning, Integration, and Usability Engineering, Anthony S. Chow and Timothy Bucknall. Oxford: Chandos, 2012. 170p. $85 (ISBN 978-1-8433-4638-8)

Part of the publisher's new Information Professional Series, this concise overview of technology management in libraries more than meets expectations for an up-to-date practical overview for library managers and practitioners in all sizes and types of libraries. Chow and Bucknall, both from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, have the technical chops to survey topics ranging from technology planning and budgeting to evaluation and emerging technologies. They make use of illustrations, benchmarks, and examples, and write very clearly and precisely, which has a calming effect in this age of technology-induced anxiety. As the authors say, "Fear not technology but rather embrace the ways it can help you do the age-old job of meeting the information needs of users more efficiently." (p. 131) (JA)