Brandt is the Associate Head of Collection Management in the Engineering and Science Library at MIT. He explains that “The purpose of this book is to introduce librarians to Unix, describe file and data management related to library applications, discuss communications and programming in the library setting, and give some examples of automated library processes and tasks using scripts or shell programs” (p. xiii). Since many academic libraries, and their librarians, have access to UNIX, an introductory book of this nature, with its many examples, could serve a useful purpose by helping librarians use UNIX to create, sort, edit, and maintain bibliographic files.

After the introduction and a brief history of the development of UNIX, the reader is provided with basic instructions on how to log in and out, and how to create, delete, and copy directories and files. All examples are set off in a box that represents a window containing an actual UNIX interaction. After login, each box begins with the UNIX system prompt (a percent sign, %). The user’s response is shown in boldface to distinguish it from the system’s response. The examples are instructive and easy to follow; indeed, the entire book was designed to be used as a tutorial.

Chapter 3, “Advanced Unix Concepts,” describes how the UNIX shell works, how the pipe symbol (|) can be used to connect commands, and how various input and output processes and commands can be used to reroute and redirect files. The next chapter, “Advanced Commands,” explains how the user can combine commands and manipulate data files to create lists; to search; to count lines, words, and characters; and to print files. A new UNIX user will find this chapter particularly important; again, the examples are clear and helpful.

The remaining chapters deal with “File Management,” “Editing,” “Communications and Networks,” “Data Management,” and “Uniq Solutions.” This last chapter describes programs and methods that allow UNIX to be used for such specific library functions as acquisitions, a public access online catalog, interlibrary loan transaction files, and other bibliographic databases. An appendix lists a number of commercial products that run under UNIX. To help the reader delve more deeply into UNIX, a fairly extensive bibliography is included. The index is skimpy and does not include references to all the functions and commands discussed.

A word of caution is in order. Although the book can be used as a tutorial when learning to use UNIX, and specifically to use UNIX for library applications, it does not replace the UNIX manual. Indeed, the book, the manual, and any special instructions prepared by the host organization need to be used together so as to supplement each other. In many UNIX installations, the UNIX manual is also available online, although it is not always updated regularly. To see appropriate portions of the manual on the screen, the user simply needs to type “man” followed by a utility or command term. Finally, as is true of any computer system, learning requires patience and practice; reading a book is just the beginning.