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Building a Judaica library collection: A resource guide
218
Books on Library Acquisitions: The Review Section
A few drawbacks do exist. Some kind of appraisal of vendor reliabiity should have been included as a step in the evaluation of candidate systems. Also, most libraries planning for acquisitions automation would also need to obtain copies of the author’s volumes on Management Services (because fund control is not covered in Acquisirions), System Integration, and in some cases Serials Control. This leads to my last objection, which is the price. The cost of purchasing one or more of these guides will discourage librarians from purchasing them in order to keep up with the literature. Wowever, for anyone intending to automate acquisitions, this is a necessary purchase. Steve Johnson
Head, Monograph Acquisitions Unit The Robert Muldrow Cooper Library Clemson University Clemson, SC 29631
bang a Judaica Librmy CoueCto~ A Resorvce i&de. Edith Lubetski and Meir Lubetski. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1983. 185 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-87287375-7. LCCN 83-900. This work sets out to provide two types of essential information for the librarian seeking to acquire materials for a Judaica collection either in a large academic library or in a small library: the tools of selection, and the sources of acquisition. Some of the tools and the sources are identical and parallel with those of other disciplines. There are others that are elusive and known only to those more actively involved in the world of Judaica, which is defined by the authors as “any work in any language or alphabet that has some Jewish content or interest value.” This definition can extend beyond obvious Jewish content to works in the humanities and sciences at large and can include all Hebraica, items written in Hebrew characters. The first portion of this book is devoted to the tools of acquisition. Together with brief mention of such general tools as Publishers’ Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, the book provides in-depth discussions of those tools which are devoted to Judaica. Division of this portion of the work is by the type of library material being sought: books, periodicals, other materials including microforms, archives, manuscripts, oral histories, dissertations, pamphlets, and public documents, as well as media material. Separate chapters are devoted to the special aspects of selecting materials for a small Judaica library, as well as to library and book organizations. Where deemed appropriate, tools are divided as being American, Israeli, or worldwide in scope. The authors state in their introduction that there is little attempt to evaluate the selection tools presented. This approach is followed throughout the work; tools are described with both the negative and positive features stated. Tools considered useful in the selection of more than one type of material are described under each category with emphasis on their relevance to that particular category. The second half of the book is devoted to the sources of acquisition. As in the case of tools, the sources-which include publishers, book dealers, antiquarian book dealers, and media publishers and distributors-are divided according to whether the scope is American, Israeli, or worldwide. Listings are alphabetical with the addresses and specialities of the particular publisher or dealer noted. Under the section for Israeli book dealers, the authors are careful to note considerations in choosing a book dealer from Israel, such as determining whether prices reflect American or Israeli currency, and whether the dealer or the purchaser absorbs the cost of postage. Both
219
Books on Library Acquisitions: The Review Section
general sources and those sources dealing exclusively in Judaica are listed in the United States section; university and trade publishers are listed, as are American Jewish trade and organizational publishers. In terms of Israeli publishers, the authors limit themselves to pub~she~ of items relevant for Jewish studies; much is published in Israel that is not relevant, but could fit a broad definition of Judaica because it is printed in Hebrew. The volume is clearly indexed with names of publishers and terms both included in an alphabetical listing. Some subject access is provided, but the overwhel~ng number of the entries are for publishers, dealers, titles and authors. This work is not difficult to use; it is clearly organized and conveniently collects in one place the sources of selection and acquisition for Judaica materials. One slightly confusing aspect, however, is that in listings of some of the different selection sources there is no evident order to the arrangement of entries. Since the authors do not pass value judgments on the various tools, perhaps it would have made more sense to list those tools alphabetically. To use the sources of acquisition for the acquisition of certain types of materials it is necessary to scan the listings to see who covers which subject area. There is no access through the index, for example, for sources of philosophy materials. The last drawback is one that occurs with any work providing names and addresses-the element of becoming outdated. In this regard, in the future thi book will still provide the info~ation that such sources for Judaica did occur in certain areas and may still exist. In the final analysis, however, this work should prove to be valuable for those involved in the acquisition of Judaica, both as a guide for the beginner and as a ready reference for the veteran. A rnona ~ud~sk~
Judaica Librarian Hebrew Union College Jewiishinstitute of Religion Cincinnati, OH 45220
The Lam&cape of Literatures: Use of Subject Coueclom in a Univdy Metz. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983. (ACRL Publications ship; 43). 143 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0 83893 286 X.
Libmy.
Paul
in Librarian-
As circulation systems are automated, the potential for much more detailed analysis of the use of library collections becomes available to us. Not only can we gain a better unde~tanding of the kinds of library material in most demand, but we can also test our assumptions about the reading interests of various patron groups. Until now most circulation studies, such as the Pitt Study issued in 1979, have focused on the collection rather than the patron, pointing to patterns of use-or more often than not, nonuse-according to the age, subject, format, or language of library material. Paul Met& new work, The Lundrcape offiteratures, uses circulation data from an automated system to look at both the material used and the user groups in a large research library. The basic question he tries to answer in this fascinating study is “Who uses what?” To answer the question, Metz took a “snapshot” of circulation activity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U~versity (VPI) Library. He chose a time in late May 1982, when the amount of books in circulation was average for the academic year: over 58,000 titles checked out to 10,126 patrons. The circulation data was then sorted on a computer to generate a variety of statistical tables describing use of material in eighty-one subject categories by patron groups who are identified by status and department af~liation.
Books on Library Acquisitions: The Review Section
A few drawbacks do exist. Some kind of appraisal of vendor reliabiity should have been included as a step in the evaluation of candidate systems. Also, most libraries planning for acquisitions automation would also need to obtain copies of the author’s volumes on Management Services (because fund control is not covered in Acquisirions), System Integration, and in some cases Serials Control. This leads to my last objection, which is the price. The cost of purchasing one or more of these guides will discourage librarians from purchasing them in order to keep up with the literature. Wowever, for anyone intending to automate acquisitions, this is a necessary purchase. Steve Johnson
Head, Monograph Acquisitions Unit The Robert Muldrow Cooper Library Clemson University Clemson, SC 29631
bang a Judaica Librmy CoueCto~ A Resorvce i&de. Edith Lubetski and Meir Lubetski. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1983. 185 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0-87287375-7. LCCN 83-900. This work sets out to provide two types of essential information for the librarian seeking to acquire materials for a Judaica collection either in a large academic library or in a small library: the tools of selection, and the sources of acquisition. Some of the tools and the sources are identical and parallel with those of other disciplines. There are others that are elusive and known only to those more actively involved in the world of Judaica, which is defined by the authors as “any work in any language or alphabet that has some Jewish content or interest value.” This definition can extend beyond obvious Jewish content to works in the humanities and sciences at large and can include all Hebraica, items written in Hebrew characters. The first portion of this book is devoted to the tools of acquisition. Together with brief mention of such general tools as Publishers’ Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, the book provides in-depth discussions of those tools which are devoted to Judaica. Division of this portion of the work is by the type of library material being sought: books, periodicals, other materials including microforms, archives, manuscripts, oral histories, dissertations, pamphlets, and public documents, as well as media material. Separate chapters are devoted to the special aspects of selecting materials for a small Judaica library, as well as to library and book organizations. Where deemed appropriate, tools are divided as being American, Israeli, or worldwide in scope. The authors state in their introduction that there is little attempt to evaluate the selection tools presented. This approach is followed throughout the work; tools are described with both the negative and positive features stated. Tools considered useful in the selection of more than one type of material are described under each category with emphasis on their relevance to that particular category. The second half of the book is devoted to the sources of acquisition. As in the case of tools, the sources-which include publishers, book dealers, antiquarian book dealers, and media publishers and distributors-are divided according to whether the scope is American, Israeli, or worldwide. Listings are alphabetical with the addresses and specialities of the particular publisher or dealer noted. Under the section for Israeli book dealers, the authors are careful to note considerations in choosing a book dealer from Israel, such as determining whether prices reflect American or Israeli currency, and whether the dealer or the purchaser absorbs the cost of postage. Both
219
Books on Library Acquisitions: The Review Section
general sources and those sources dealing exclusively in Judaica are listed in the United States section; university and trade publishers are listed, as are American Jewish trade and organizational publishers. In terms of Israeli publishers, the authors limit themselves to pub~she~ of items relevant for Jewish studies; much is published in Israel that is not relevant, but could fit a broad definition of Judaica because it is printed in Hebrew. The volume is clearly indexed with names of publishers and terms both included in an alphabetical listing. Some subject access is provided, but the overwhel~ng number of the entries are for publishers, dealers, titles and authors. This work is not difficult to use; it is clearly organized and conveniently collects in one place the sources of selection and acquisition for Judaica materials. One slightly confusing aspect, however, is that in listings of some of the different selection sources there is no evident order to the arrangement of entries. Since the authors do not pass value judgments on the various tools, perhaps it would have made more sense to list those tools alphabetically. To use the sources of acquisition for the acquisition of certain types of materials it is necessary to scan the listings to see who covers which subject area. There is no access through the index, for example, for sources of philosophy materials. The last drawback is one that occurs with any work providing names and addresses-the element of becoming outdated. In this regard, in the future thi book will still provide the info~ation that such sources for Judaica did occur in certain areas and may still exist. In the final analysis, however, this work should prove to be valuable for those involved in the acquisition of Judaica, both as a guide for the beginner and as a ready reference for the veteran. A rnona ~ud~sk~
Judaica Librarian Hebrew Union College Jewiishinstitute of Religion Cincinnati, OH 45220
The Lam&cape of Literatures: Use of Subject Coueclom in a Univdy Metz. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983. (ACRL Publications ship; 43). 143 pp. $30.00. ISBN 0 83893 286 X.
Libmy.
Paul
in Librarian-
As circulation systems are automated, the potential for much more detailed analysis of the use of library collections becomes available to us. Not only can we gain a better unde~tanding of the kinds of library material in most demand, but we can also test our assumptions about the reading interests of various patron groups. Until now most circulation studies, such as the Pitt Study issued in 1979, have focused on the collection rather than the patron, pointing to patterns of use-or more often than not, nonuse-according to the age, subject, format, or language of library material. Paul Met& new work, The Lundrcape offiteratures, uses circulation data from an automated system to look at both the material used and the user groups in a large research library. The basic question he tries to answer in this fascinating study is “Who uses what?” To answer the question, Metz took a “snapshot” of circulation activity at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State U~versity (VPI) Library. He chose a time in late May 1982, when the amount of books in circulation was average for the academic year: over 58,000 titles checked out to 10,126 patrons. The circulation data was then sorted on a computer to generate a variety of statistical tables describing use of material in eighty-one subject categories by patron groups who are identified by status and department af~liation.