The present and future of the library profession provide the focus on this new collection of 57 of previously published articles and speeches. The essays in this work were written during a time (early 1980s to 1994) when there was significant change in librarianship. Professional issues examined range from library education, funding, personnel, volunteerism, and leadership, to technology, ethics, diversity, and burnout. Opportunities and dangers on the horizon of information science are discussed. The book is divided into three sections: "Librarians and Their Role As Defined by Themselves and by Others"; "Librarians, Their Self-Image, and the Perceptions That Define Their Preparation"; and "Librarians in the Cruel World of Politics and Money." Each section begins with general remarks by Herbert S. White about the issues raised in the articles. Throughout these sections, several unifying themes emerge: the dangers inherent in what Drucker calls the "moral imperative"; the unwillingness of some librarians to cope with either administration or politics; the substantial differences between the concepts of education and training; the consequences of management styles; the interdependence of librarians and journal publishers; the political realities and rivalries inherent in the clashes over resources; and the paradoxical notion that "in the absence of money, there is money." (MAS)