Summary: Publisher Summary 1 "This is a selection of papers from a 1987 conference of the same title. While the emphasis is on academic libraries, we are reminded of the crucial role of public and private libraries. Included are a survey of past research and stimulating ideas for future work, by Phyllis Dain; Wayne Wiegand's look at the role an ideology of reading played in the slow entry of academic libraries into scholarly communication in the 19th century; and a case study by Mary Niles Maack on the impact on African studies of collection inadequacies in U.S. and African libraries. Insightful reading for librarians working with research collections. Recommended." Library Journal "This book does a fine job of identifying the formal contributions of U.S. libraries to scholary communication since the middle of the nineteenth century. Several chapters go a step beyond that by capturing in lucid articulation library and scholarly phenomena that too often are elusive and ambiguous." Library Quarterly