Book Review: The Subject Liaison’s Survival Guide to Technical Services

Abstract

What happens when an experienced subject liaison is teamed with a veteran technical services librarian? You get a slim but informative volume that details the fine points of technical services in a way that anyone can understand.

The Subject Liaison’s Survival Guide to Technical Services is divided into chapters corresponding to different aspects of library technical services: “Collection Development,” “Budgets and Budgeting,” “Submitting Orders” (from the subject liaison’s perspective), “Acquisitions Ordering” (what the technical services department does with those submitted orders), “Receiving and Processing,” “Cataloging,” and “Collections Maintenance.” While the guide could be read in a single sitting, the way it is arranged also makes it useful as a reference tool. A subject liaison can consult each of the chapters as needed. Each chapter contains a section titled “Questions You Should Be Asking,” which serves as a concise summary of the most important things subject liaisons will need to know during the course of their daily duties.