Transforming Research Libraries for the Global Knowledge Society. Ed. Barbara I. Dewey. Oxford, United Kingdom: Chandos, 2010. 208p. $75 (ISBN 9781843345947)

ized as an entailment mesh, in which key concepts and propositions (circles) are connected to each other by relationships (arrows). This provides readers with a comprehensive, yet compendious, overview of the territory being mapped. The third section comprises an alphabetical listing of each of the concepts or propositions—that is, “agreements”—that appears in the diagram. In this listing of agreements, each entry includes a picture of the fragment of the diagram in which the agreement appears, information for locating the agreement in both the threads and the diagram, and, in many cases, a brief essay that supplements the discussion of the agreement in the threads: in short, it functions as an analytic index that allows the reader to enter into Lankes’ representations of new librarianship at a number of different thematic points. Finally, let us note that Lankes’ articulation of new librarianship is very much an ongoing project: accordingly, he has set up a supplement to the book in the form of a Web site (www.newlibrarianship. org/wordpress) that contains supporting materials and promises to incorporate, over time, new additions to the model of new librarianship. Taken as a whole, Lankes’ Atlas is a remarkable work of synthesis that integrates a plethora of insights into a coherent general philosophy of librarianship. The book is addressed to all persons interested in the profession of librarianship, be they practitioners, academics, or students. To write for such a diverse intended audience requires considerable skill in exposition: the matter must be presented in such a way that it conveys complex ideas clearly without oversimplifying them. In this, Lankes has succeeded brilliantly: his explanations and arguments are models of lucid and effective exposition, often leavened by humor, that will get his message across to all segments of his audience. The book, however, is more than a work of analysis; it is also very much a work of evangelization. Lankes passionately believes in new librarianship and so has written the Atlas in a deeply personal style that seeks to entice, persuade, and, indeed, inspire the reader to take up the banners of his vision. It is true that the rhetoric sometimes becomes overheated and enters the realm of bathos; nevertheless, many readers will draw inspiration from the engaged and affirmative tone of Lankes’ prose. Whether one agrees with all details of Lankes’ vision or not, one cannot but profit from perusal of the Atlas, the contents of which will doubtless contribute to many conversations about the Wesen und Werden of librarianship.— Thomas M. Dousa, University of Illinois, Urbana–Champaign.