- Email: [email protected]
DataMap 1986: Index of published tables of statistical data
Reviews
2.55
tion workers who seek to acquire and organise local authority material and researchers who wish to use it. The seminar programme commenced with an overview of the issues associated with the collection and availabiiity of Iocal authority ofIXcia1publications, and an examination of reasons why they are difficult to obtain or identify. Users’ views were expressed by an academic librarian, a public librarian who runs a Local Government Information Service in a London Borough, and by the information services manager of one of the associations of local authorities. Current services which list local authority publications or make them accessible are described: the online databases ACOMPLINE and URBALINE; the British Library’s contribution of local government publication details to the European Grey Literature information system SIGLE and to the monthly publication British Reports, Trmnslutions nnd Theses, listing material which may be borrowed from the British Library Document Supply Centre; the Wrbcmdoc News current awareness service; the Departments of the Environment and Transport Library’s collections and current and retrospective bibliographies; and the Planning Exchange’s library and information service. Is there a way forward? The final speaker - Don Kennington, whose consultancy organization Capital Planning Information has undertaken several research projects on local government information, and also operates a local government document acquisition contract for the British Library Document Supply Centre - addressed that question. He posed - and left unanswered - the question whether attempts to provide general coverage of the full range of local government documentation can succeed, or if the development of services aimed at specialised segments of the market may be a more effective solution. The applications of new printing technology to local government document production, offering opportunities of on-demand publishing for material of limited interest; the general absence of marketing plans, indeed of any marketing awareness, in local authorities’ publishing activities; and the emergence of view-data and video as alternative media for communication, are other relevant factors. The discussion which followed this paper - reproduced, like all the discussions at the seminar, in extended summary form - included the suggestion that it is necessary to engage the interest of local authority chief executives if effective progress is to be made in bringing order to local government publishing. Guidelines on production, marketing and deposit of publications should be prepared, and presented to chief executives as something around which further action could be built. SCOOP is pursuing this through a reconstituted Local Authority Working Party. Thus, the seminar has had a practical outcome, as well as providing through its published proceedings a useful record of the position in early 1985 with regard to access to British local authority official publications. Subsequent developments, following the coming into force of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, await their chronicler.
Head of the Official Publications
GEOFFREY HAMILTON and Social Sciences Service The British Library Great Russel Street London WClB 3DG England
DataMap 1986: Index of Published Tables of Statistical Data by Jarol B. Manheim and Allison Ondrasik. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1986. ISBN O-89774-293-1 ISSN 0264-7745. LC 85-43552. $165.00. How much chocolate is produced each year? What is the membership of each religion in the United States? Are automobile deaths higher in states that don’t have seat belt laws? How many black prisoners were there in each state from 1864 to the present? How many degree days were there in Lewisburg, PA in 1985? Statistics, statistics, and more statistics - they’re always there to test our skills. Most of us quickly learn to start with the basic sources - Statistical Abstract, almanacs, appropriate yearbooks, the Cuunry und City Databook - and get creative after that. The challenge, of course, is to find a statisticaf table with current enough information, or with the necessary breakdown - race, sex, month, year, county, state, or city. The list could go on; certainly the statistics questions will. Not surprisingly, then, a number of authors and publishers have tried to bring statistics under control. American Statistics index (ASI) (Congressional Information Service, 1974-) and Wasser-
256
Reviews
man’s Statistical Sources (10th ed., Gale, 1986; are probably the best-known examples. However, we usually consult these sources last, primarily because they frequently send us to sources we don’t own in our library. Jarol B. Manheim and Allison Ondrasik have attempted to respond to our frustrations in DataMap 1986: Index of Published Tables of Statistical Data. They have prepared a master index to 28 sources that “have been selected for their breadth of coverage and their availability” (Introduction, p. ix). These sources include United States government publications, United Nations and related agency publications, and private publishers’ publications. In general, these are the sources that we consult first, as well as a number of sources that lie on the-periphery of that select group - sources that are easily forgotten or overlooked because we cannot (or do not) keep them at the reference desk. Most academic libraries will own all of these sources. In addition, Manheim and Ondrasik have created an indexing scheme that allows the user to determine, before retrieving the statistical table, whether the statistical information is broken down by the necessary criteria (year, race, sex, etc.). They assign every table both primary and secondary subject terms. The primary terms reflect the main topic of the table, while the secondary terms indicate the breakdown(s) used within each table. Thus, a typical entry looks like this: MUMPS Incidence (by Year/and/Projections). allow the user to determine, before going to the The secondary terms (“by Year, ” “Projections”) actual volume, whether the cited table is broken down by the necessary criteria. This is extremely useful. The authors have used 9,700 primary subject headings; their diligence shows in the quality of the “see” and “see also” references. We may not always agree with the subject heading they have elected to use, but at least we will be able to find it. For example, take the degree days question. which When we look under the subject “Degree Days,” we do not find a listing; try “Weather,” refers us to “Climate.” There we find a list of additional subject headings we could consult, including “Cooling Degree Days” and “Heating Degree Days.” Unfortunately, Manheim and Ondrasik have been caught by the problem of time. Unless they update DataMap more than annually (the current publication schedule), in many cases the sources it indexes will not be the most recent edition available. Because DataMap includes the page number for each table, each reference is edition-specific. Currently, a more recent eidition is available for 82% of the titles; 50% of the titles had published more than one edition. This problem seriously affects DataMap’s usefulness, because it forces the user to take an additional step to determine whether the statistical table located in the 1984 edition of Statistical Abstract is still available in the 1986 edition and the page on which that table appears. Thus, what could be a beautifully simple procedure - to check DataMap to locate the correct page number for an appropriate statistical table -becomes more cumbersome, especially when we need more current information. Moreover, because most libraries keep only the most recent edition of these titles at the reference desk, the out-of-date references cause the librarian or user to seek an edition that may not be close at hand. Manheim and Ondrasik could alleviate this problem by updating DataMap more frequently. They more frequently than the annual printed editions” plan an online database to provide “updates (Introduction, p. ix). This may be a partial solution. However, the DataMap idea (to provide a master index to readily available statistics sources) would seem to make an online database somewhat superficial for all but the most difficult statistics questions. How many librarians would be willing to go online to find just the page number in the most recent edition of these basic sources? Of course, the ability to use boolean and positional operators with the secondary and primary subject headings Manheim and Ondrasik have provided would be useful. Whether we would use the online version of DataMap as a source of first resort remains to be seen. In conclusion, DataMap is a great idea, but time is not kind. DataMap provides good indexing to a core list of statistical sources. It might be especially useful in library systems where only one copy of these standard sources can be purchased, but where there is more than one reference desk, or in special libraries that do not own all of these basic sources, but would like to have access to them. IS the idea good enough, if the source does not index current editions? That is the question each library should answer before they purchase this source. DEBORACHENEY Reference Librarian Bertrand Library Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837-2088 USA
2.55
tion workers who seek to acquire and organise local authority material and researchers who wish to use it. The seminar programme commenced with an overview of the issues associated with the collection and availabiiity of Iocal authority ofIXcia1publications, and an examination of reasons why they are difficult to obtain or identify. Users’ views were expressed by an academic librarian, a public librarian who runs a Local Government Information Service in a London Borough, and by the information services manager of one of the associations of local authorities. Current services which list local authority publications or make them accessible are described: the online databases ACOMPLINE and URBALINE; the British Library’s contribution of local government publication details to the European Grey Literature information system SIGLE and to the monthly publication British Reports, Trmnslutions nnd Theses, listing material which may be borrowed from the British Library Document Supply Centre; the Wrbcmdoc News current awareness service; the Departments of the Environment and Transport Library’s collections and current and retrospective bibliographies; and the Planning Exchange’s library and information service. Is there a way forward? The final speaker - Don Kennington, whose consultancy organization Capital Planning Information has undertaken several research projects on local government information, and also operates a local government document acquisition contract for the British Library Document Supply Centre - addressed that question. He posed - and left unanswered - the question whether attempts to provide general coverage of the full range of local government documentation can succeed, or if the development of services aimed at specialised segments of the market may be a more effective solution. The applications of new printing technology to local government document production, offering opportunities of on-demand publishing for material of limited interest; the general absence of marketing plans, indeed of any marketing awareness, in local authorities’ publishing activities; and the emergence of view-data and video as alternative media for communication, are other relevant factors. The discussion which followed this paper - reproduced, like all the discussions at the seminar, in extended summary form - included the suggestion that it is necessary to engage the interest of local authority chief executives if effective progress is to be made in bringing order to local government publishing. Guidelines on production, marketing and deposit of publications should be prepared, and presented to chief executives as something around which further action could be built. SCOOP is pursuing this through a reconstituted Local Authority Working Party. Thus, the seminar has had a practical outcome, as well as providing through its published proceedings a useful record of the position in early 1985 with regard to access to British local authority official publications. Subsequent developments, following the coming into force of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, await their chronicler.
Head of the Official Publications
GEOFFREY HAMILTON and Social Sciences Service The British Library Great Russel Street London WClB 3DG England
DataMap 1986: Index of Published Tables of Statistical Data by Jarol B. Manheim and Allison Ondrasik. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1986. ISBN O-89774-293-1 ISSN 0264-7745. LC 85-43552. $165.00. How much chocolate is produced each year? What is the membership of each religion in the United States? Are automobile deaths higher in states that don’t have seat belt laws? How many black prisoners were there in each state from 1864 to the present? How many degree days were there in Lewisburg, PA in 1985? Statistics, statistics, and more statistics - they’re always there to test our skills. Most of us quickly learn to start with the basic sources - Statistical Abstract, almanacs, appropriate yearbooks, the Cuunry und City Databook - and get creative after that. The challenge, of course, is to find a statisticaf table with current enough information, or with the necessary breakdown - race, sex, month, year, county, state, or city. The list could go on; certainly the statistics questions will. Not surprisingly, then, a number of authors and publishers have tried to bring statistics under control. American Statistics index (ASI) (Congressional Information Service, 1974-) and Wasser-
256
Reviews
man’s Statistical Sources (10th ed., Gale, 1986; are probably the best-known examples. However, we usually consult these sources last, primarily because they frequently send us to sources we don’t own in our library. Jarol B. Manheim and Allison Ondrasik have attempted to respond to our frustrations in DataMap 1986: Index of Published Tables of Statistical Data. They have prepared a master index to 28 sources that “have been selected for their breadth of coverage and their availability” (Introduction, p. ix). These sources include United States government publications, United Nations and related agency publications, and private publishers’ publications. In general, these are the sources that we consult first, as well as a number of sources that lie on the-periphery of that select group - sources that are easily forgotten or overlooked because we cannot (or do not) keep them at the reference desk. Most academic libraries will own all of these sources. In addition, Manheim and Ondrasik have created an indexing scheme that allows the user to determine, before retrieving the statistical table, whether the statistical information is broken down by the necessary criteria (year, race, sex, etc.). They assign every table both primary and secondary subject terms. The primary terms reflect the main topic of the table, while the secondary terms indicate the breakdown(s) used within each table. Thus, a typical entry looks like this: MUMPS Incidence (by Year/and/Projections). allow the user to determine, before going to the The secondary terms (“by Year, ” “Projections”) actual volume, whether the cited table is broken down by the necessary criteria. This is extremely useful. The authors have used 9,700 primary subject headings; their diligence shows in the quality of the “see” and “see also” references. We may not always agree with the subject heading they have elected to use, but at least we will be able to find it. For example, take the degree days question. which When we look under the subject “Degree Days,” we do not find a listing; try “Weather,” refers us to “Climate.” There we find a list of additional subject headings we could consult, including “Cooling Degree Days” and “Heating Degree Days.” Unfortunately, Manheim and Ondrasik have been caught by the problem of time. Unless they update DataMap more than annually (the current publication schedule), in many cases the sources it indexes will not be the most recent edition available. Because DataMap includes the page number for each table, each reference is edition-specific. Currently, a more recent eidition is available for 82% of the titles; 50% of the titles had published more than one edition. This problem seriously affects DataMap’s usefulness, because it forces the user to take an additional step to determine whether the statistical table located in the 1984 edition of Statistical Abstract is still available in the 1986 edition and the page on which that table appears. Thus, what could be a beautifully simple procedure - to check DataMap to locate the correct page number for an appropriate statistical table -becomes more cumbersome, especially when we need more current information. Moreover, because most libraries keep only the most recent edition of these titles at the reference desk, the out-of-date references cause the librarian or user to seek an edition that may not be close at hand. Manheim and Ondrasik could alleviate this problem by updating DataMap more frequently. They more frequently than the annual printed editions” plan an online database to provide “updates (Introduction, p. ix). This may be a partial solution. However, the DataMap idea (to provide a master index to readily available statistics sources) would seem to make an online database somewhat superficial for all but the most difficult statistics questions. How many librarians would be willing to go online to find just the page number in the most recent edition of these basic sources? Of course, the ability to use boolean and positional operators with the secondary and primary subject headings Manheim and Ondrasik have provided would be useful. Whether we would use the online version of DataMap as a source of first resort remains to be seen. In conclusion, DataMap is a great idea, but time is not kind. DataMap provides good indexing to a core list of statistical sources. It might be especially useful in library systems where only one copy of these standard sources can be purchased, but where there is more than one reference desk, or in special libraries that do not own all of these basic sources, but would like to have access to them. IS the idea good enough, if the source does not index current editions? That is the question each library should answer before they purchase this source. DEBORACHENEY Reference Librarian Bertrand Library Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA 17837-2088 USA