Briefly Noted

Eric Moon: The Life and Library Times, Kenneth F. Kister. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Pub., 2002. 480 p. $30 softcover (ISBN 0-7864-1253-4)

This biography depicts Eric Moon at the center of the profession—editor of Library Journal, president of Scarecrow Press, and president of ALA—for over five decades beginning in the 1950s. Moon emerges from the stories by both detractors and supporters as "a competitive man with bedrock beliefs and an enormous appetite for argumentation." (p. xvii) Kister's portrayal, derived from interviews with Moon and over 75 colleagues, also serves as an oral history of the profession during those years. (S.H.)

Cataloging the Web: Metadata, AACR, and MARC21, ed. Wayne Jones, Judith R. Ahronheim, and Josephine Crawford. (ALCTS Papers on Library Technical Services and Collections, no. 9) Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press and the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services, 2002. 208 p. $39.50 softcover (ISBN 0-8108-4143-6)

These 26 collected papers were originally presented at ALCTS' July 2000 ALA Preconference on Metadata for Web Resources. The papers, by an impressive array of key players, cover both background issues (cataloging practices and standards development) and descriptions of real-world applications of metadata in an alphabet soup of projects—NLM, TEI, IMS, and DDI. (S.H.)

Instant Web Forms and Surveys for Academic Libraries, Gail Junion-Metz and Derrick L. Metz. (Neal-Schuman NetGuide Series) New York: Neal-Schuman, 2001. 265 p. with CD-ROM. softcover $75 (ISBN 1-55570-412-3)

The guide and CD-ROM include 24 forms and surveys in HTML with matching Perl scripts, ready for customizing and uploading. The authors selected popular Web-based services, such as reserving equipment, asking reference questions, reporting problems, submitting suggestions, and requesting interlibrary loans. Designed as a time-saver, the collection might be a starting point for the entry-level Webmaster or the smaller library's first-time introduction of online forms. (S.H.)

A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections, Institute of Museum and Library Services and their convened Digital Library Forum, 2001. <http://www.imls.gov/pubs/forumframework.htm>

Benchmark for Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Digital Library Federation, 2002. <http://www.diglib.org/standards/bmarkfin.htm>

Creating a Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections, Timothy W. Cole. Paper presented at Web-Wise 2002 Conference (March 2002). <http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_5/cole/>

The Digital Library Federation (DLF) has formally endorsed two new aids "to help research libraries achieve quality in digitizing books and other materials for online use." The Framework focuses on standards of "goodness" for collections, objects, metadata, and projects; the Benchmark "identifies minimum level characteristics for digital page images contained in a preservation digital master." (DLF news release, March 1, 2002). The Cole paper, based on a solicitation of responses to the Framework, describes the context, creation, and impact of the Framework and makes observations about what remains to be done. (S.H.)