Electronic Resource Management in Libraries: Research and Practice

Citation

Seadle, M. (2009), "Electronic Resource Management in Libraries: Research and Practice", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 163-163. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830910943008

This is a reference book and the goal of a reference book is fundamentally to summarize and to provide factual information that will not age too quickly. That is challenging for so fast‐moving a topic as electronic resource management, especially since the authors included research as well as practice in their scope.

My first question on opening the book was to ask who the intended audience is. The authors leave the question open, probably from a desire to embrace as many constituencies as possible. I can well imagine this book being used in some of the more old‐fashioned library programs that rely on texts rather than on article research. The historical overview in the initial chapters particularly suggest this, since students will not know the historical context.

I can also imagine this as a work for new librarians, especially in technical services departments, to help them when they encounter the workflow and licensing issues for the first time, or when they need to decide on an electronic resources management system and want enough background to make a reasonable judgment.

The book offers a good, safe, well‐structured, well‐edited and workmanlike summary of a complex set of issues. No one reading it is likely to come away confused or more frustrated than most of us who deal with the world of electronic resources. It is almost too clear in the sense that it could give a reader a false sense of security that they really do understand all the issues.

Since copyright is one of my particular research areas, I looked especially at the copyright and licensing section. The article by Aline Soules and Donna Ferullo systematically exmines the key legal issues. Their coverage is broad and unexceptionable, except in so far as it does little to encourage libraries to push the boundaries of fair use or to encourage open access, a topic that they largely ignored. Perhaps this is appropriate. A reference work is not meant to foster change, only to describe the status quo. Nonetheless there is a good bit more discussion of open access in the world today than appears here.