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been included are not uniformly comprehensible; this is, however, a minor quibble in what is basically an adventure story with the heroes, problems and novel setting characteristic of an exciting and highly recommendable read.

P. Willett Department of Information Studies lJniversit_y of Shejield

C. C. Rochell (Editor). An information agenda for the 1980s: Proceedings of a colloquium, June 17-18, 1980. Chicago: American Library Association, 1981. 119 pp. (Distributed in UK and Europe by Eurospan Ltd ). ISBN 0 8389 0336 3. A6.50.

Books and articles addressing the manifold problems and issues associated with the ‘transition to a knowledge-based society’ continue to flow from the presses of the world. Much of this literature is characterized by na‘ive technological extrapolations and fantasies of the ‘paperless society’ type. Characteristically such publications are soon rendered obsolete by the unallowed for quirkiness of future events and circumstances. This work, although insularly American in expressed attitudes and content, should be distinguished from such ephemeral publications. The issues placed on the ‘information agenda’ by the contributors to this volume, because they relate in the main to social and individual consequences, have a profound and permanent significance for us all. The questions raised remain to be answered no matter in what direction we are to be dragged by information technology.

This slim volume presents a summary of discussions and papers presented at a colloquium attended by ‘twenty-eight leaders from government, industry, communications, publishing, education, librarianship and allied fields’ under the auspices of the American Library Association. Participants were asked to ‘analyze the role of information in the next decade and the implications of an evolving knowledge-based society’. Inevitably, the questions regarding the future can be phrased more clearly than the solutions to perceived future problems. Nonetheless, and despite their expected debt to the American experience, the discussion of possible solutions is informative, stimulating and applicable to other societies.

Given that the information sector has lost its ‘traditional elements ofstability’ through the incursions of a new technology that has rendered previous boundaries and lines of demarcation irrelevant, it comes as no surprise to find participants arguing for a national information policy. Within such a policy information and users may be protected and a workable equilibrium maintained. A selection of quotations best illustrates the concerns of the contributors and participants in this context.

I believe that we must expand the citizen’s right to acquire information and to express himself through the existing media system, as well as to be protected against the misuse of information about him.

Many social needs are not able to enter the (information) market- place.

There must be a sustained effort to prevent communications from fostering illiteracy and widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

I worry that the electronic libraries of the future will have in them

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only the information someone knows we want to know. That is probably not the information we most need to know.

We know from the hard lesson of television that the software that emerges never seems to live up to the promise of the new technology in distributing it.

Already there are symptoms of communication failures based on a superabundance of information, inadequately assimilated, rather than its scarcity.

I am disturbed that information is increasingly being discussed as a get-rich-commodity, and I don’t want to see it as badly handled as oil, gas, and other major commodities.

I think that the public library, in its present form, is absolutely finished and will be dead within the next twenty years.

The cost of the new technology brought a number of the contributors to the issue of payment for and access to information. An issue that should be prominent in our own ‘information agenda’, despite our bumbling approaches to anything resembling a national information policy.

Interestingly, the whole volume assumes the importance of information and information systems for individuals, groups, organizations, nations, etc. Yet, as one participant pointed out, we have but a ‘limited vision ofwhat it is people use information systems for’. A gap that information research has made but hesitant attempts at filling. The imperatives of technology suggest that such research should be given the highest priority.

This is a work to be read by anyone concerned about the effects and implications of information technology upon our society.

Norman Roberts

J. B. Deunette (Compiler). UK online search services. London: Aslib (on behalf of the Online Information Centre), 1981. 88 pp. ISBN 085142 141 5. E9.50.

‘This directory lists 88 intermediary or broker services in the UK offering online searches. It has been compiled for the benefit of individuals and organisations without access to their own computer terminals, also for those who may occasionally require searches ofdatabases or hosts with which they are not very familiar or for which they do not possess the necessary passwords.’ Entries contain the address, telephone and telex number, who can use the service, whether the enquirer can be present at the search, the date the service began, the number of searches per year, staffing, backup services and coverage (by subject, by host and if SD1 is offered). The index lists services by the hosts they can access, by subject specializations, whether SD1 is possible and whether the enquirer can use the terminal.

The precise method by which this information was collected is not stated, although the introduction to the directory indicates that the information was collected in June and July 1980 with additions up to November 1980. There is a typed insert dated February 1981 listing amendments. Readers are invited to check for new services with the Online Information Centre and it would obviously be desirable now to check the information given to the directory as well. However, despite the age of the information contained, this directory could be a useful starting point for those thinking of having an online search