Library Journal Review
Budgets are growing tighter nationwide. Librarians are suddenly coming to work and discovering that the university or the city is giving them responsibility for preservingand retrievingthe institution's archives. If this happened to you, where would you go for help? Gold, a certified records manager, would like you to turn to this well-organized and breezily written book. And, indeed, there is much to be said for Gold's mix of solid experience and common sense in advising the noninitiated on organizing and maintaining a collection of institutional records. In 12 clearly presented chapters, Gold takes the reader through the processes of gathering records, preparing and updating retention schedules, retrieving documents quickly and efficiently, and disposing of outdated records. She also provides good introductions on managing records kept off-site and on choosing an appropriate electronic storage and retrieval system. The American Management Association is advertising this book widely, so large public libraries and library systems should consider purchasing a copy in anticipation of local business requests. As for professional use, the librarian will find much valuable information here. When you come to use this book, however, be prepared: Gold's focus is on corporate records systems. Her advice stems from extensive experience in the corporate world, and it is always grounded on the corporate bottom line of saving costs. There is, of course, nothing inherently wrong with this, especially in times like these. But professional librarians, trained to think in terms of service and information dissemination, will likely be put off by Gold's constant emphasis on disposing of records that might be used in litigation against the company, on large elaborate security measures that restrict access, and on constant cost-cutting. This is not a blanket criticism. In dealing with records of any institution, there are many valid reasons for restricting information, particularly personnel files. Anyone trying to maintain large volumes of records already knows that a huge amount of paperwork that a company, city, or college generates will be useless in a short time and should be disposed of to save space and expenses. Nevertheless, Gold did not write this book for a library audience. If you need assistance with records management, read Gold with that in mind. It would also be wise to check Candy Schwartz and Peter Hernon's Records Management and the Library: Issues and Practices (Ablex, 1993).Terry L. Shoptaugh, Moorehead State Univ. Lib., Minn. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
