In a discussion of network traffic, the manual has a veiled warning that “generalization of traffic statistics” is difficult. Given the potential importance of this measure, this caveat deserves more emphasis. This reviewer has never met anyone who can unambiguously interpret any but the simplest network traffic data. To their credit, the authors recommend using these quantitative data in conjunction with qualitative measures such as user satisfaction.

Several sections harbor questionable assumptions. In a dis- cussion of measures of the use of clusters or public sites for net- work access, the manual states: “If the institution provides network access in dormitory rooms, the need for public access will be reduced.” The experience at Dartmouth, which has one of the longest histories of campus networking, contradicts this. The more important the network becomes, the more access users require (to check their e-mail while on the way to their next classes, e.g.), and very few carry portable computers at all times.

Repeatedly, the manual recommends that the best measure- ment periods are “typical,” not “unusually heavy or light.” However, the academic calendar is very important in the use of many network applications, and performance at peak use may be by far the most important measure. The manual recommends unobtrusive testing of help desk staff. It should warn that on some campuses unobtrusive testing may fall under the guide- lines for experimentation with human subjects.

Part IV is a sample user survey, but the authors recommend that no institution use it without customizing it. They offer it as a beginning basis. A few questions contain non-overlapping ranges of numbers, but otherwise it seems a useful foundation. The manual should have recommended that anyone wanting to develop a network survey should contact his or her campus office of institutional research or other appropriate local survey center.

Four appendices, A-D, comprise over a third of the manual. Appendix A, “Self Assessment Tools,” is the most confusing. It contains reprints of a long self assessment “Professional Paper” published by CAUSE and a shorter document of evaluation guidelines published by the HEIRAlliance. The former itself contains two appendices, A and B. There is virtually nothing to alert the reader to the fact that these latter two appendi- ces-within-an-appendix are not Appendices A and B of the manual itself. Finding the information referenced and mis-ref- erenced by the manual in Appendices C and D is made even more difficult by the “false” Appendices A and B.

In their conclusion, the authors admit that initially they “expected to provide more options and strategies for assessing the impacts from the academic networked environment.” This reviewer had the same expectation, yet at only $15, this manual is recommended for all academic libraries. For potential users who know a lot about networking and assessment, this manual would be a useful companion. For those who know a lot about networking and little about assessment, this is as good an intro- duction as any, but heed closely the authors’ many warnings about the preliminary nature of their work. For those who know a lot about assessment and little about networking, this manual would be of less value.-John Webb, Assistant Director for Library Automation, Washington State University Librar- ies, Pullman, WA 99164-5610 cjwebb@wsu.edu>.

Assessment in Practice: Putting Principles to Work on College Campuses, by Trudy W. Banta et al. San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 1996. 387 p. $34.95. ISBN o-7879-0134-2.

This work is predominantly a collection of brief descriptions of 86 assessment programs, widely varying in scope and focus, at colleges and universities throughout the United States. The book’s authors, who also edit the estimable periodical Assess- ment Update, produced this compilation by soliciting reports, policies, and testimonials from contributors to the Update and relevant personnel at institutions which are consistently repre- sented at national assessment conferences. The case studies which were subsequently assembled are organized into six cat- egories covering academic achievement, other aspects of stu- dent and faculty development, and institutional effectiveness.

Augmenting the cases are essays illustrating principles of sound assessment and a brief concluding chapter which consid- ers whether assessment has “made a difference” in higher edu- cation. These essays are interesting for their reflection of the almost parochial enthusiasm of the contemporary assessment movement (“it is a fact,” we are rather incredibly told in the preface, “that most faculty still have not considered the assess- ment of student outcomes seriously”), but the book’s main attraction is its collection of case studies.

Each case is presented in a format delineating an assessment project’s purpose, method, findings, and use of findings. Inno- vative assessment techniques dealing with a variety of aca- demic subjects and other institutional concerns are described, and the collection potentially offers practical information to a diverse audience of educators and administrators. Librarians will be interested in the case treating the assessment of library skills. The breadth of the authors’ working definition of “assess- ment,” however, ranging from testing students at the classroom level to developing institutional missions, results in treatments of specific issues (easily located due to thorough indexing) that will seem frustratingly thin to many readers. A serviceable bib- liography is included, and the long list of case contributors could serve, at least for awhile, as a catalog of informal consult- ants. Despite the book’s wide scope and able execution, it can only be recommended for librarians heavily involved in the development of institutional assessment strategies.-Paul Coleman, University Librarian, Cornette Library, West Texas A&M University, Canyon, TX 79016.

Copyright Theft, by John Gumsey. Aldershot, England: Aslib Gower, 1995. 196~. f28.50 (UK). ISBN l-56750-01503.

This book begins with the assumptions that copyright viola- tions occur everywhere constantly and that violators rarely view their actions as theft. Whether one is concerned about the ethics of unlicensed duplication of videotapes, audiotapes, books, arti- cles, or computer programs, the damage to producers is not obvious until cumulative results are revealed. The book does that by examining large-scale piracy and equally damaging individual copyright violations.

Copyright Theft provides a history of British copyright and copyright theft, and examines copyright violations worldwide, with special attention given to Third World countries. The industries most affected by copyright violations are discussed individually. These include:

l Print publishing, where pirates work so fast that inferior copies appear on the market before legitimate copies do;

396 The Journal of Academic Librarianship