As one of only two professionals left in a small academic library after a recent restructuring, I found this book timely reading. Increasingly, librarians in all fields are being called upon to work on their own. Judith Siess has not only worked in various types of special libraries, but was also the first chair of the SOLO Librarians' Division of the Special Libraries Association. Her sourcebook masterfully surveys the current state of SOLO librarianship. Siess describes the heavy demands of being a SOLO librarian, provides advice on management savvy, and examines the related issues of outsourcing and downsizing.
Most programs focus instead on public and academic libraries.
This could be solved with courses taught by practitioners. Despite occasional lapses of style and proofreading, Siess has a real flair for communication and succinct analysis. Her assessments of technology, the Internet, and the future of SOLO librarianship are particularly engaging. Although her information on the United States is excellent, she makes some curious gaffes elsewhere. Data Warehousing and Data Mining for Telecommunications by Rob Mattison.