Briefly Noted

Creating Leaders: An Examination of Academic and Research Library Leadership Institutes (PIL [Publications in Librarianship] #69), ed. Irene M. H. Herold. Chicago: ACRL, 2015. 386 pages. $78.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8763-6)

Creating Leaders: An Examination of Academic and Research Library Leadership Institutes surveys eighteen library leadership programs to understand their purpose, goals, and accomplishments. Half of the eighteen programs began before 2000, and five are no longer in operation. Contributors to Creating Leaders participated in the leadership institute about which they write and present both objective information and personal reflections. Each author was asked to include information that would help to evaluate the success of the programs. The leadership institutes highlighted in Creating Leaders are organized into five parts based on target audience. The final two chapters serve to evaluate the eighteen leadership programs as a whole, providing quantitative data and narrative description and analysis. (FR)

Difficult Decisions: Closing and Merging Academic Libraries, ed. Sarah Holder and Amber Butler Lannon. Chicago: ACRL, 2015. 264 pages. $58.00 (ISBN 978-0-8389-8791-9)

As academic libraries evolve, their operations and physical infrastructures are continually transformed and restructured for both financial and service-oriented reasons. This often means closing and merging branch libraries, as was the case for the two editors of Difficult Decisions: Closing and Merging Academic Libraries, Sarah Holder and Amber Butler Lannon at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In the process of seeking advice and best practices for closing and merging three branch libraries into larger units, they noticed a dearth of published books on this topic, which Difficult Decisions remedies. Firsthand accounts of librarians closing and merging libraries at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland; Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; Columbia University in New York City; and the University of California, Berkeley are included. Difficult Decisions offers a window onto the changing nature of academic libraries and practical perspectives for librarians who face similar challenges in the future. (FR)

Information Needs Analysis: Principles and Practice in Information Organizations, Daniel G. Dorner, G. E. Gorman, and Philip J. Calvert. London: Facet Publishing, 2015. 256 pages. $76.00 paper (ISBN 978-1-85604-484-4)

In Information Needs Analysis: Principles and Practice in Information Organizations, Daniel G. Dorner, G. E. Gorman, and Philip J. Calvert present a rigorous approach to information needs analysis, a technique used to identify all the information necessary to achieve specific goals or objectives. After carefully defining the process in the first chapter, they examine context, models, stages, data gathering, analyzing, and reporting of information needs analysis in subsequent chapters. Many chapters include explanatory figures, tables, scenarios, and references. Perhaps the most helpful features in Information Needs Analysis are the twenty-eight scenarios, spread across ten chapters, illustrating real-world contexts and applications. There are four chapters on gathering data that include preexisting sources, developing surveys, and conducting interviews. Information Needs Analysis is broadly targeted at organizations that may need to conduct this type of analysis, including libraries. (FR)

Using Google Earth in Libraries: A Practical Guide for Librarians, Eva H. Dodsworth and Andrew Nicholson. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. 122 pages. $65.00 (ISBN 978-1-4422-5504-3)

Since its inception in 2005, Google Earth has had a profound influence on the way people apply geographical and mapping tools for personal, professional, and educational purposes. Google Earth combines aerial photography, satellite imaging, and Geographic Information System (GIS) data to map much of the globe. Using Google Earth in Libraries: A Practical Guide for Librarians is a brief look at some of the more practical and popular applications. Divided into five chapters, Using Google Earth in Libraries describes its use as a discovery tool for library resources, as an educational resource for K–12 and for higher education, and as a means of mapping and sharing data. In addition, there are chapters on Google Earth’s basic features and hands-on tutorials. Short, practical, and easy to use, Using Google Earth in Libraries is recommended for librarians and educators. (FR)