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Environmental impact assessment: A bibliography with abstracts
524
Book reviews
The second provisional issue continued these features and added two further listings. The first is the list of “discontinued and changed titles” which gives, in order of the old or discontinued title, the new title and the last number issued. The second listing is the list of “serials newly added to the Checklist.” Although the second provisional issue listed at least one newly added title which began as long ago as 1767 (Astronomical Ephemeris), this listing in subsequent issues has proved to be an excellent listing of new titles, enabling acquisitions and government document librarians to keep in touch with new titles. The third edition (June 1970) added a listing of “new and changed official bodies.” This gives the dates of establishment of new bodies and information on changed titles and responsibilities with the dates of the changes. This is another valuable feature of the Checklist which enables users to be informed of changes which will have effects on supply, cataloguing, and reader services. The 9th edition was expanded to include “all serials published by central government, the paragovernment bodies, and the nationalised industries and public corporations.” This has made an exclusion policy necessary. The Official Publications Library chose to exclude minor series and select committee reports and proceedings which appear in the Parliamentary papers; forms, offprints, examination and question papers; and publications of bodies of local membership or relevance. The Checklist now includes circulars, house journals, newsletters and certain internal departmental material, although frequently these are restricted in some manner. This makes the Checklist extremely valuable as a source for acquisitions and as a reference tool. The Checklist represents a formidable task of compilation accomplished to a high standard of accuracy and has proved to be comprehensive within the limits set. The latest edition of the Checklist follows the pattern established by the 3rd edition in 1969. The range of materials included has expanded, and there is no longer reliance on the Kardex records for inclusion of titles in the Checklist, but it is still a simple alphabetical listing of titles. The alphabetical arrangement has proved acceptable at least to the compilers. But it is questionable whether this arrangement remains the best one for those libraries and individuals who wish to obtain government materials selectively rather than comprehensively. A subject index to the Checklist would increase the variety of easy usage and help those selecting or searching by subject. Other possible arrangements would be by broad subject categories, or by organisation. Either of these would require an index by title to the location of the listing in the Checklist. The best arrangement would seem to retain the alphabetical listing, with the addition of a subject index, and with the possible addition of an appendix listing titles by organisations. Changes of this nature would improve the usefulness of this important reference tool for a wider range of purposes. The importance of this current listing of serial titles prompts one to wonder if the Official Publications Library has considered the compilation of a retrospective listing of titles. The basis for such a listing exists in the present series of Checklists, and could be a further important contribution to the bibliography of British official publications. STEPHEN RICHARD Bodleian Library Oxford OX1 3BG England Environmental Impact Assessment: A Bibliography With Abstracts. By Brian D. Clark, Ronald Bisset, and Peter Wathern. New York: Bowker; London: Mansell, 1980. 516 pp. $59.95. ISBN o-7201-0899-3. LC 79-67625. This select, annotated bibliography, prepared by three researchers affiliated with the Project Appraisal for Development Control team at the University of Aberdeen, is designed to bring together in one volume references on all important aspects of environmental impact analysis. It is intended as a “major reference work for planners in government, private consultancy and academic institutions” interested in the effects of development on the natural and human environments. The volume is organized around five major topic areas- assessment techniques, critiques of existing assessment approaches, the relationship of impact assessment to other aspects of planning, experience with impact assessment outside the U.S., and available sources of information on more specialized assessment topics. This is a large book containing nearly 1,100 references, more than half of which are accompanied by a brief abstract. The principal strong points of the book are its comprehensiveness, its treatment of non-U.S. sources, and its attention to the social impacts of development. The authors cover an extremely broad range of materials, reflecting a wide reading of the available literature. Particularly useful to American practi-
525
Book reviews
tioners in the coverage afforded impact assessment in other countries. Approximately 20% of the references cited deal with the experience of impact assessment in Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Australia. The book gives social impact assessment its due as an emerging discipline, devoting more than 130 references to the human impacts of development activity. Despite these strengths, there are a number of serious problems with this book which ultimately limit its potential value as a bibliographic resource. The suborganization beneath the five major topic headings is needlessly confusing. Subheadings often overlap, and it is frequently unclear why particular references appear where they do. A sequential numbering system appears to organize the citations alphabetically, but within individual subheadings the references cycle through the alphabet two or three times, leaving the reader to intuit the reasons for the particular ordering. More importantly, the bibliography does not appear to be selective enough. Important references are difficult to ferret out from among the many lesser volumes cited. The abstracts are typically more descriptive than critical, and frequently fail to establish why a particular woak might be valuable. Overall, the volume does not succeed in organizing the available literature into coherent, useful groupings which would give the reader a clear sense of where the field of environmental impact assessment is tending, i.e., what the important ideas and major trends are. This book is valuable to American planners for the digest of the non-U.S. impact assessment experience alone. However, its utility as a guide to the extant literature on impact assessment in this country is definitely limited. While its scope is encyclopedic, its ogranization is flawed and its critical focus too diffuse. JOHN WILLSON Manager, Environmental Planning and Analysis Department GCA/Technology Division 213 Burlington Road Bedford, Massachusetts 01730 U.S.A. Federal Yellow Book. Vol. l-
Monitor, Inc. Annual subscription
Bimonthly updates. Washington, D.C.: Washington , 1977(1981): $120.00. ISSN 0145-6202. LC 78642223.
Federal Executive Directory. Vol. l-
Co. Annual subscription
Bimonthly. Washington, , 1980(1981): $96.00. ISSN 0270-563X. LC 80644147.
Energy Executive Directory. Vol. l-
Publishing
Co. Annual subscription
D.C.: Carroll Publishing
, 1980Three issues per year. Washington, (1981): $60.00. ISSN 02752905. LC 81640035.
D.C.: Carroll
The demand for access to federal and state government information grows apace in the modern library. Several fine products have developed to enable the researcher to plumb the depths beyond the helpful, but limited directory and descriptive entries for government agencies found in such standard works as the U.S. Government Manual, The Official Congressional Directory, and the Congressional Staff Directory. The following description and evaluation will consider some newer tools leading to directory information about federal and state officials and offices. The looseleaf Federal Yellow Book, a companion to the highly-regarded C+xzgressional Yellow Book, provides directory access to 25,000 managers in federal agencies. It does not1 define any specific limitations in its coverage, but obviously does not include information on Members of Congress or the federal judiciary. Bimonthly updates serve to keep the Yellow Book timely. The directory itself is organized in a simple fashion, dividing entries into sections covering the Executive Officessof the President and Vice President, the Cabinet-level departments, the so-called independent agencies, and the regional offices (Federal Information Centers, Regional Councils, regional offices of federal departments, as well as maps of standard and special federal regional structure). The final brief section consists of a rotated agency name index-similar to that found in the familiar U.S. Governmerit Manual- to the various departmental, bureau, office, and board listings. Federal Yellow Book entries appear in a two-column format on the page, with various administrative divisions indicated in boldface type and/or all capitals. There is a generous amount of white space left on the page, giving a gracious appearance to the layout. Each entry includes,a clear indication of position title and exact name of office, the individual’s name, room, location, and phone number. FTS
Book reviews
The second provisional issue continued these features and added two further listings. The first is the list of “discontinued and changed titles” which gives, in order of the old or discontinued title, the new title and the last number issued. The second listing is the list of “serials newly added to the Checklist.” Although the second provisional issue listed at least one newly added title which began as long ago as 1767 (Astronomical Ephemeris), this listing in subsequent issues has proved to be an excellent listing of new titles, enabling acquisitions and government document librarians to keep in touch with new titles. The third edition (June 1970) added a listing of “new and changed official bodies.” This gives the dates of establishment of new bodies and information on changed titles and responsibilities with the dates of the changes. This is another valuable feature of the Checklist which enables users to be informed of changes which will have effects on supply, cataloguing, and reader services. The 9th edition was expanded to include “all serials published by central government, the paragovernment bodies, and the nationalised industries and public corporations.” This has made an exclusion policy necessary. The Official Publications Library chose to exclude minor series and select committee reports and proceedings which appear in the Parliamentary papers; forms, offprints, examination and question papers; and publications of bodies of local membership or relevance. The Checklist now includes circulars, house journals, newsletters and certain internal departmental material, although frequently these are restricted in some manner. This makes the Checklist extremely valuable as a source for acquisitions and as a reference tool. The Checklist represents a formidable task of compilation accomplished to a high standard of accuracy and has proved to be comprehensive within the limits set. The latest edition of the Checklist follows the pattern established by the 3rd edition in 1969. The range of materials included has expanded, and there is no longer reliance on the Kardex records for inclusion of titles in the Checklist, but it is still a simple alphabetical listing of titles. The alphabetical arrangement has proved acceptable at least to the compilers. But it is questionable whether this arrangement remains the best one for those libraries and individuals who wish to obtain government materials selectively rather than comprehensively. A subject index to the Checklist would increase the variety of easy usage and help those selecting or searching by subject. Other possible arrangements would be by broad subject categories, or by organisation. Either of these would require an index by title to the location of the listing in the Checklist. The best arrangement would seem to retain the alphabetical listing, with the addition of a subject index, and with the possible addition of an appendix listing titles by organisations. Changes of this nature would improve the usefulness of this important reference tool for a wider range of purposes. The importance of this current listing of serial titles prompts one to wonder if the Official Publications Library has considered the compilation of a retrospective listing of titles. The basis for such a listing exists in the present series of Checklists, and could be a further important contribution to the bibliography of British official publications. STEPHEN RICHARD Bodleian Library Oxford OX1 3BG England Environmental Impact Assessment: A Bibliography With Abstracts. By Brian D. Clark, Ronald Bisset, and Peter Wathern. New York: Bowker; London: Mansell, 1980. 516 pp. $59.95. ISBN o-7201-0899-3. LC 79-67625. This select, annotated bibliography, prepared by three researchers affiliated with the Project Appraisal for Development Control team at the University of Aberdeen, is designed to bring together in one volume references on all important aspects of environmental impact analysis. It is intended as a “major reference work for planners in government, private consultancy and academic institutions” interested in the effects of development on the natural and human environments. The volume is organized around five major topic areas- assessment techniques, critiques of existing assessment approaches, the relationship of impact assessment to other aspects of planning, experience with impact assessment outside the U.S., and available sources of information on more specialized assessment topics. This is a large book containing nearly 1,100 references, more than half of which are accompanied by a brief abstract. The principal strong points of the book are its comprehensiveness, its treatment of non-U.S. sources, and its attention to the social impacts of development. The authors cover an extremely broad range of materials, reflecting a wide reading of the available literature. Particularly useful to American practi-
525
Book reviews
tioners in the coverage afforded impact assessment in other countries. Approximately 20% of the references cited deal with the experience of impact assessment in Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Australia. The book gives social impact assessment its due as an emerging discipline, devoting more than 130 references to the human impacts of development activity. Despite these strengths, there are a number of serious problems with this book which ultimately limit its potential value as a bibliographic resource. The suborganization beneath the five major topic headings is needlessly confusing. Subheadings often overlap, and it is frequently unclear why particular references appear where they do. A sequential numbering system appears to organize the citations alphabetically, but within individual subheadings the references cycle through the alphabet two or three times, leaving the reader to intuit the reasons for the particular ordering. More importantly, the bibliography does not appear to be selective enough. Important references are difficult to ferret out from among the many lesser volumes cited. The abstracts are typically more descriptive than critical, and frequently fail to establish why a particular woak might be valuable. Overall, the volume does not succeed in organizing the available literature into coherent, useful groupings which would give the reader a clear sense of where the field of environmental impact assessment is tending, i.e., what the important ideas and major trends are. This book is valuable to American planners for the digest of the non-U.S. impact assessment experience alone. However, its utility as a guide to the extant literature on impact assessment in this country is definitely limited. While its scope is encyclopedic, its ogranization is flawed and its critical focus too diffuse. JOHN WILLSON Manager, Environmental Planning and Analysis Department GCA/Technology Division 213 Burlington Road Bedford, Massachusetts 01730 U.S.A. Federal Yellow Book. Vol. l-
Monitor, Inc. Annual subscription
Bimonthly updates. Washington, D.C.: Washington , 1977(1981): $120.00. ISSN 0145-6202. LC 78642223.
Federal Executive Directory. Vol. l-
Co. Annual subscription
Bimonthly. Washington, , 1980(1981): $96.00. ISSN 0270-563X. LC 80644147.
Energy Executive Directory. Vol. l-
Publishing
Co. Annual subscription
D.C.: Carroll Publishing
, 1980Three issues per year. Washington, (1981): $60.00. ISSN 02752905. LC 81640035.
D.C.: Carroll
The demand for access to federal and state government information grows apace in the modern library. Several fine products have developed to enable the researcher to plumb the depths beyond the helpful, but limited directory and descriptive entries for government agencies found in such standard works as the U.S. Government Manual, The Official Congressional Directory, and the Congressional Staff Directory. The following description and evaluation will consider some newer tools leading to directory information about federal and state officials and offices. The looseleaf Federal Yellow Book, a companion to the highly-regarded C+xzgressional Yellow Book, provides directory access to 25,000 managers in federal agencies. It does not1 define any specific limitations in its coverage, but obviously does not include information on Members of Congress or the federal judiciary. Bimonthly updates serve to keep the Yellow Book timely. The directory itself is organized in a simple fashion, dividing entries into sections covering the Executive Officessof the President and Vice President, the Cabinet-level departments, the so-called independent agencies, and the regional offices (Federal Information Centers, Regional Councils, regional offices of federal departments, as well as maps of standard and special federal regional structure). The final brief section consists of a rotated agency name index-similar to that found in the familiar U.S. Governmerit Manual- to the various departmental, bureau, office, and board listings. Federal Yellow Book entries appear in a two-column format on the page, with various administrative divisions indicated in boldface type and/or all capitals. There is a generous amount of white space left on the page, giving a gracious appearance to the layout. Each entry includes,a clear indication of position title and exact name of office, the individual’s name, room, location, and phone number. FTS