Publisher's Synopsis
Focusing on one of the most fundamental areas of librarianship, Gorman and a host of distinguished contributors examine the current state of the field of technical services and offer their views on its future. The book is divided into four sections: acquisitions, bibliographic control, automation, and administration. Within these sections individual chapters address specific aspects of the field (e.g., serials acquisitions, descriptive cataloging, circulation services). The text has been thoroughly updated, with some chapters entirely rewritten and others replaced. Specialized chapters on book gathering plans, preservation, and Slavic technical services have been dropped from this edition and a chapter on global standardization has been added. Offering a stimulating diversity of voices and perspectives, this landmark work is a major contribution to the area of technical services in the tradition of Tauber's Technical Services in Libraries (Columbia University Press, 1954). Valuable as supplementary