Briefly Noted
Buy Issue for $20 at JHUP- Briefly Noted
Catalogue 2.0: The Future of the Library Catalogue, ed. Sally Chambers. Chicago: ALA Neal Schuman, 2013. 240 pages. $90.00 (ISBN 978-1-55570-943-3)
Aptly subtitled, Catalogue 2.0: The Future of the Library Catalogue is a collection edited by Sally Chambers, secretary general of the Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities (DARIAH) in Göttingen, Germany, that provides a rich overview of trends and prospects for library catalogs. Eight different chapter authors, including such well-known names as Marshall Breeding and Lorcan Dempsey, address issues including user expectations and search experiences, next-generation discovery, the Semantic Web, the Functional Requirement for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), metadata creation, and digital scholarship. All but three of the authors work in Europe, offering audiences in the United States and the United Kingdom different perspectives on developments essential to the success of libraries. Both administrators and librarians will find Catalogue 2.0: The Future of the Library Catalogue helpful in understanding and planning for the future. (FR)
The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide, Heidi E. Buchanan and Beth A. McDonough. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2014. 136 pages. $46.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1215-7)
Teaching librarians are often frustrated with the complex standards and expectations that come with information literacy when most of their encounters with students take the form of one-shot instruction. In contrast to the many detailed works on information literacy, in The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide authors Heidi E. Buchanan and Beth A. McDonough provide practical advice for this all-too-common situation. Based on a series of workshops given by the authors, each chapter covers a prominent issue of one-shot instruction, such as communicating with faculty, curriculum, classroom conditions, student attention, and assessment. With useful tables, vignettes, and other sidebars interspersed within the text, this is a book that can be easily browsed for information. Concise, practical, and interesting, The One-Shot Library Instruction Survival Guide provides valuable advice for beginning and experienced instructional librarians. (FR)
Rare Book Librarianship: An Introduction and Guide, Steven K. Galbraith and Geoffrey D. Smith. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited/ABC-CLIO, 2012. 186 pages. $55.00 (ISBN 978-1-59158-881-8)
As the digital revolution progresses, there is a renewed focus on and interest in the materiality of library special collections. In Rare Book Librarianship: An Introduction and Guide, experts Steven K. Galbraith and Geoffrey D. Smith have written a primer on rare books that will serve well as a textbook in library and rare book schools as well as a good reference source for archivists, curators, and librarians working in special collections departments. With illustrations, photographs, informational sidebars, notes, and suggestions for further reading, this is an attractive, well-organized book. Beginning with a brief history of rare books and some foundational principles, Rare Book Librarian-ship guides the reader through the knowledge, issues, and skills required to operate in today’s rare book environment. (FR) [End Page 202]
The Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know, ed. Kenneth J. Varnum. Chicago: ALA TechSource, 2014. 144 pages. $70.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-1228-7)
Editor Kenneth J. Varnum asked the contributors to The Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know to discuss, given a planning horizon of three to five years, the technologies that would become the most influential in libraries. The result is not a how-to guide, but an exploration of trends such as digital convergence, augmented reality, cloud-based library systems, discovery, digital scholarship, and Web services. This brief and practical work accomplishes its goal of providing an accessible overview of the technological landscape facing the profession. A working librarian with little time to dive deeply into the forest of technology, or the administrator who wishes to get a better grasp of the planning environment, will find The Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know well worth his or her time. (FR) [End Page 203]
