Book Review: Technology for the Rest of Us: A Primer on Computer Technologies for the Low-Tech Librarian

lines say that each country should make its own publications available but requesting them can be a time-consuming and expensive operation, especially if full postage or transmission costs have to be met. The IFLA Voucher scheme which uses plastic vouchers purchased centrally is outlined (about which this reviewer is delighted as it was his invention!!) but the problem of electronic vouchers, which were under discussion as long ago as 2000, has still not been solved. Finally, there is a look into the future which seems as uncertain as it has been in the past. The role of a central repository such as BLDSC seems likely to diminish further as consortia share electronic resources under licence from the publisher and can therefore access far more material directly than they actually subscribe to. Similarly the impact of Open Access and such initiatives as Creative Commons are making ILL less of a necessity as more material can be reached directly by end-users. Each chapter concludes with a useful further reading list and helpful website addresses. There is a glossary of ILL terms and an adequate index. This is a practical volume which gives a good picture of ILL in the past and the future. It should be in every ILL department and solo librarian’s collection. It would be good to think that an eye could be kept on it for further updating as this rapidly changing area of library work continues to develop.