Innovation for information: International contributions to librarianship: Festschrift in honour of Dr. Ahmed H. Helal

The Humanities and the Library, 2nd ed., edited by Nena Couch and Nancy Allen. Chicago: ALA, 1993.336~. $35. ISBN o-83989-06-8-7. LC 92-32610. This edition of a once-standard textbook is intended primarily for library school students but can certainly be of use to experienced librarians. Seven chapters, by eight librarians and one professor of religion, cover history, literature, fine arts, music, performing arts, philosophy, and religion. Each author defines the subject, usually extensively, then provides a solid and practical discussion of (a) the nature of library collections in each field, (b) issues in cataloging, classification, and public service, (c) key reference works and other resources in the literature, and (d) the work of librarians in these fields, including professional preparation and qualifications, professional associations, relations between academic librarians and faculty, and a list of professional reading. The authors write from the perspective of research libraries and, thus, describe the broadest and most intense levels of academic use and need, that of academic scholars and critics. They emphasize the importance of primary materials, along with the problems of preservation, collection building, and bibliographic access inevitably connected with primary materials; they recognize the need for historically deep collections. As subject specialists, they are sympathetic to their users’ needs. They offer new insights, such as Susan Wyngaard’s observation that “Often the artist is in the library to seek visual stimulation. An index, no matter how efficient, cannot fill that need,” and Nancy Cridland notes that “Historians may be particularly anxious to locate relevant research by political scientists, sociologists, economists, scholars in religious studies or literature, and others.” On the other hand, the emphasis on university research collections necessarily downplays the needs of undergraduate, two-year and four-year college programs and of nondisciplinary concerns such as art and music education, teaching of languages and composition, and providing for general student needs. Nor does there seem to be sufficient awareness here of trends in university teaching and culture, e.g., critical thinking, multiculturalism, gender issues, and challenges to both the predominantly Anglo-American emphasis in the humanities, and to the traditional canons in these various fields of art and literature. What implications these trends may have for collections and services are not adequately considered. Nonacademic librarians may wish for some discussion of censorship (a day-to-day concern for public and high school librarians) and of the role of public libraries in literacy programs, in public programming in the humanities, in providing such user services as Great Books discussion groups or film series, and in developing collections in local history, genre fittion, and video. It is important to remind ourselves that the humanities exist primarily for the literate, interested public, not for students and professors in academe. In contrast to related books, the discussion here is more sophisticated and extensive than that in Blazek’s and Aversa’s The Humanities: A Selective Guide to Information Sources (Libraries Unlimited, 1988) and broader in its concern with the nature of the subject, of library collections and services, and of librarianship than McPheron’s English and American Literature: Sources and Strategies for Collection Development (ALA, 1987). Inevitably, reading these specialized chapters by specialist librarians makes one ask: Is there a field called humanities, or is there merely a group of related but remarkably disparate fields, and, then, what is a humanities librarian? Clearly, it is not

enough to read poems, attend plays, listen to music, or even “keep up with the field.” The humanities librarian ultimately deals with texts and documents, and understands that texts are varied and multiple. Humanities librarians have the responsibility to identify, distinguish among, trace historically, locate, and access or acquire the texts that their users need. The humanities librarian is ultimately a bibliographer. This commitment to texts informs the authors’ discussion and results in an excellent stateof-the-art presentation.-William A. Wortman, Humanities Librarian, Miami University, Oxford, OH 4.5056. Innovation for Information: International Contributions to Librarianship: Festschrift in Honour of Dr. Ahmed H. Helal, edited by Joachim W. Weiss. Essen, Germany: Essen University Library, 1992.284~. Available on exchange (paper). ISBN 3-922602-16-9. ISSN 0931-7503 (Publications of Essen University Library, Vol. 16). The annual Essen Symposium is devoted to some aspect of library automation and/or new technologies, and emphasizes changes and future directions for library and information science professionals. This year’s proceedings honor Ahmed Helal, Director of the Essen University Library, who initiated the symposia series 15 years ago and sponsors the annual event. Articles in this volume are from librarians-all of whom are leaders and visionaries in their fields-in Germany, England, other parts of Europe, the United States, Israel, and Egypt. Contributors include Bernard Adams, Maurice Line, Ching-chih Chen, Richard De Gennaro, Frederick C. Kilgour, Mohammed M. Aman, Shmuel and Irene Sever, Morten Hein, David J. Price, Bent Bamholdt, Gunther Pflug, Hans-Peter Geh, Jean-Pierre Clavel, Salem Hasan, and others. Topics range from the commonality of libraries, how they have evolved over the years and will change in future years, to challenges libraries must address in a more technologically oriented, interactive multi-media environment. The last two articles on the Bibliotheca Alexandrina project, a particular dream and love of Dr. Helal, are fitting tributes to him. While the majority of articles are in English, several are in German, French, and Egyptian. The quality of articles, in general, is excellent with some more thought-provoking and stimulating than others. There is a focus on diversity, differences, and uniqueness in terms of approaches to library systems and problem resolution, particularly in countries where many different languages and cataloging/classification systems are in use. The value of this volume, as with all volumes in the series, is the emphasis on trends and directions of the future, and challenges and opportunities to be addressed. There is no similar series, covering such a broad and diverse approach to library automation and technologies, that includes as many different countries. It also discusses international or national approaches rather than more local ones. This stimulating volume, filled with information and further citations, is especially vital to developing countries which need this kind of information for their own growth and development in libraries and information agencies.-Maureen Pastine, University Librarian, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. TX 75275-0135. Internet Primer for Information Professionals: A Basic Guide to Internet Networking Technology, by Elizabeth Lane and Craig Summerhill. Westport, CT: Meckler, 1993. 182~. $37.50 (paper). ISBN O-88736-831-X. LC 92-36183. Acid free paper.

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