Developing and Managing Electronic Journal Collections (review)

State University of New York at Binghamton; another by Elizabeth Roderick describing a digitization project of historical documents by the Virginia Digital Library Program; and a third by Vicky Speck on the move of ABC-CLIO’s Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life databases from CD-ROM to the Web. After that, two essays on Web-based used bookstores: one by a client of abebooks.com and another by its partner, 21 North Main, Inc. The book is rounded out by two final pairs: opinion pieces by reference librarians Anne Keenan (Blair, Nebraska Public Library) and Laura Spencer (Rutgers’ Robeson Library) on database design from the user’s perspective; and two technical essays on database applications that will shape the future of database design and development—metadata and XML. As is apparent from its contents, Still’s book is not just for libraries about libraries. It includes first-hand accounts of realworld situations from individuals, various types of libraries, and businesses (the museums and other non-profits in the title are strangely unrepresented). All of the essays include detailed explanations of the problems faced, software applications used, and solutions developed. They are written as Still instructed: casually, “as if having a lunch with a friend who asked how they did what they did or what they thought about the topic of the chapter” (p. vii). I visited many of the Web databases mentioned in the chapters and immediately saw applications for a Jantz-type reusable database at my own library; was charmed in meeting the Ockerblooms whose Web sites I have visited countless times in the past; and, after reading Riggs’ essay and learning how easily he created his own bookshop online via abebooks.com, confess to having thought about creating an online business of my own. I admit to being unable to see how certain essays, Keenan’s in particular, fit into Still’s overall theme of Web-accessible database creation. Keenan’s essay gives suggestions on database design, drawing on her interactions with patrons at the reference desk. While well written, the fact that the essay does not involve the creation of a database or the explication of a database creation method make it seem conspicuously out of place. Reading this book will definitely assist those struggling with an upcoming database project. One suggestion, however: resist the urge to read only the chapter or two that address a particular dilemma. Instead, read the entire book as Still suggests. The essays are short and, taken together, interact with one another, like a group discussion. While, like any discussion, the book sometimes wanders off topic, taken as a whole it cannot help but offer a variety of project ideas, techniques, and warnings that will assist in addressing a wide variety of database projects.