The Academic Library

Citation

Revill, D. (2001), "The Academic Library", New Library World, Vol. 102 No. 7/8, pp. 296-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2001.102.7_8.296.1

This title is intended to be “an introductory textbook” covering the major issues in academic libraries in the UK today. It is not a text on academic library management. It provides an overview of where UK academic libraries have come from, their recent problems and their possible future. Although, presumably, intended for students it makes interesting reading for the more seasoned professional. It is descriptive but not to the extent of providing statistics on numbers, sizes, growth, outputs and so on. “Academic” is taken to mean colleges of further education to universities.

To his credit Brophy refers throughout to the “library” rather than the “learning resource centre” or any other title. It is also nice to see Ranganathan’s five laws of library science quoted as still being relevant. The history section is brief with the greatest emphasis placed on recent developments; for example ten of 16 pages are on the Follett and Anderson reports. Some pertinent comments are made on the library’s place in the higher education context. There is welcome recognition that the worsening staff‐student ratio has led to greater dependence on libraries and that “student‐centred learning” (a concept traceable to the 1960s if not earlier) has not made as significant an impact as some might suppose – “there remains a heavy emphasis on staff delivering lectures” (p. 13). Not neglected are such matters as the tutorial role of subject librarians and plagiarism, albeit covered only briefly.

The “advice of specialist librarians at every stage from course design to course delivery becomes invaluable” (p. 96). Yes, but seldom actively sought by all academic staff but only won through constant contributions, hard work and the reputations of subject librarians. The liaison function, the interface between academic staff, students and librarians, is still at the heart of library effectiveness and remains the major problem. In some 200 pages it is obviously difficult for Brophy to develop these themes. There are but a few actual omissions – opening hours and income generation come to mind. Perhaps the brief treatments may have the advantage of suggesting student projects.

The best value in the book probably lies in three chapters on information and communication technologies. Brophy has been involved with several projects in this area. He stresses the significance of JISC, e‐lib and other recent initiatives which have raised the profile of libraries and allowed them to demonstrate their fundamental contribution towards learning, at a time when the unit of resource was (and still is) declining. Electronic services have helped fill the gap and given new impetus and direction to libraries which otherwise might have been on an inevitable downward slide. Not that electronic services have helped solve their financial problems – indeed they have given rise to others, not least being the question of their efficacy in promoting students’ learning. Brophy reminds us that most of these developments have occurred only in the last five to ten years.

References at the end of each chapter are brief and include Web sources, many of which Brophy has been involved with. One cannot blame him too much for self‐citation!

The limitations on the length and the purpose of the text obviously prevent the author from pursuing topics in depth, for example the window of opportunity opened by Follett was probably less than two years and some of the new libraries sometimes attributed to Follett were actually approved earlier. It would also be nice to see the unofficial history of some initiatives recorded for posterity before they are lost for ever, for example the work led by Ian Winkworth at the University of Northumbria at Newcastle that influenced “The effective academic library” (HEFCE, 1995). Brophy clearly indicates when a topic is beyond the scope of the book so I suppose what I am complaining about is that he has not written the book I had hoped for, an in‐depth account of university library management, which I know he is capable of producing.

Nevertheless within its limitations it is a readable, interesting volume. Brophy has the ability to encapsulate the essence of a topic in a few words. He shows how far we have come. The text is not cluttered with acronyms (there are seven pages of them before the index). It will, no doubt, date quickly but does not everything nowadays? A competent, thorough, yet succinct, up‐to‐date account of UK academic libraries today.