Off campus

Casey, Anne Marie (ed) Off-Campus Library Services New York, Haworth Press, 2001. xxvi, 470pp. ISBN 0789013401

This is one of those tomes in which Haworth Press specialise, conference proceedings published jointly as a double issue of a journal, here the Journal of Library Administration. The conference was the 9^th Off-Campus Library Services Conference held in Portland Oregon in April 2000. Everything about the resulting work is hefty – the theme, the book, the thirty four papers selected for publication and the price.

The theme of off-campus library services has recently become fashionable in the UK as more and more institutions move to at least some delivery of e-learning. It is then a little surprising to discover that this conference is the latest in a string running back some twenty years. The focus is heavily on case studies and practice (and none the worse for that), although inevitably dominated by US experience. There is however a useful mix of experience from different sizes and types of libraries ranging from community colleges to state-wide co-operatives and of different types of learner from sub-degree to doctoral. The ground covered is relatively predictable although the methods used are often of interest. The experience of teachers and learners, marketing services, surveys, experimentation with the use of electronic delivery, videoconferencing, working with third parties to explore resource sharing and more are covered. Some articles are regrettably short – such as Blair on technical support issues, others such as Calvert’s on document delivery are both lengthy and explore issues which may seem less relevant to a UK context. A particularly useful piece by Caspers explores the impact of the ever active ACRL and its Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services. Many pieces relate to web based courses or web-based delivery. Many of the articles have extensive and useful bibliographies and the questionnaires used for and outcomes of surveys are usefully reproduced. A very solid bill of fare in sum.

This is a useful compilation of experience in a field of growing interest in the UK. As with all conference proceedings the quality does vary but not extremely thanks to a juried selection process. Few but the most dedicated will labour to read all five hundred pages, but anyone interested in the topic will find something of interest and value. However the two words which spring to mind as one meanders through the pathways of practice is that its chief features are earnestness and worthiness.

Derek Law

University of Strathclyde