Title:	Management Basics for Information Professionals
Author:	G Edward Evan and Camila A Alire
Publisher:	Facet Publishing
Edition:	3^rd Revised Edition
Place:	London, UK
Year:	2013
Indian Price:	£49.95
ISBN:	9781856049542
Reviewed by:	A. Abdul Rasheed

Library Assistant, Central Library, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India

Email id: rasheedmkm@gmail.com

The book The Management Basics for Information Professionals, 3^rd edition, is a practical guide to management for any level of information professional that is full of great tips and pertinent references on all sorts of skills and concepts. It covers the basics of management that one should understand as he or she starts his or her career as a librarian. It discusses the qualities one likely to be called upon to begin to manage one or more people more quickly than one might expect. It further describes the scenario that thinking about the application of basic management has evolved, technology has changed and most significantly the economic environment in which libraries must operate is very different. The book addresses such developments throughout the text.

The book is divided into five major parts, and again each part is divided into different chapters. Part 1 starts with the basic environment of management such as basic concept and Chapter 3 in Part 1 draws attention to different legal issues in library management such as malpractices and librarian's role, user privacy, copyright, contract and licenses, etc. Part 2 travels through core managerial skill areas like planning, power accountability and responsibility, delegation, decision making, performance, communication and marketing, etc. Part 3 discusses about leaderships such as e-leadership and legal concerns in HRM. Part 4 elaborately discusses the concepts like managing people, money, technology and facilities. This portion of the books explains that the money is the underlying resource upon which everything else in the library depends and is a challenge in economic context. The book proves that one's role as a managerial leader is to utilise all the resources effectively. Part 5, the last part of the book, deals with managerial ethics, career development and ideas for the future.

While the content of the book is presented in a sequential manner, proper care has been taken to disclose the fact that the practice of management and leadership involves complex activities that are intertwined. This fact is why management is an art as well as a science. The most noteworthy modification in this edition is that a team of six readers or advisors has been created who reviewed each chapter as it was drafted. The advisors insightful comments provided invaluable improvements in the edition's content. Another added feature is the presence of sidebars featuring the authors’ experience and advisory board experience. As the titles suggest, those boxes present real-life managerial experiences of the authors and advisory board members. The content is not presented as best practices but instead is intended to illustrate what can and does happen in libraries. This book will, definitely, find a place in the wishing list of every prospective library globally. The language and the presentation of the book are easy to read and simple to comprehend fashion and the book would be a great resource for library professionals and those interested in library management and administration.

Author Profile

Mr. A. Abdul Rasheed is working as a Library Assistant in the University Library, Pondicherry Central University. Prior to his appointment he was associated with Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad. He got his BSc. (Physics) and MSc. (Information Science) from University of Calicut & University of Madras respectively. He also holds PGDCA & PGDLAN from Pondicherry Central University. He has attended many International, National, Seminar, Symposia and workshops. His area of interest is includes Information Literacy's, E-learning, E-resource Management. He can be reached at rasheedmkm@gmail.com

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