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Official publishing: An overview; An international survey and review of the role, organization and principles of official publishing
440
Book reviews
The chronology is useful, but not so detailed as that provided by the Middle East Journul (published quarterly by the Middle East Institute, Washington, D. C.). It is extremely handy, however, to have such a chronology readily available in one volume. Qn the whole The Middle East appears to be accurate, but there are some disturbing lapses. With regard to Iran, for example, the judgment (p. 114) that “the United States prevented . . . Soviet attempts to absorb parts of [Iran] after World War II” totally ignores the diplomatic and political successes of Iranians, especially including Prime Minister Qavam as_Sultaneh. Similarly, the statement (p. 116) that “Modem Iranian history begins with a nationalist uprising in 1905” ignores the usual judgment of historians that modem Iranian history begins with the Safavids in 1501. Contemporary patterns in Iranian politics begin in the nineteenth century, as the works of Nikki Keddie and Hamid Algar make clear. Furthermore, the statement that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was a “consortium of British and American interests” is not true. AIOC (now BP) was controlled by the British government. It was replaced as the foreign exploiter of the Iranian oil industry after 1953 by an international Consortium with only 40% British participation (and an equal American interest), The characterization of the Iranian National Front as “rightist” (p. 116) is absurd. There were conservative and religious elements in the Front, but it also contained liberal, progressive, and secuhuizing elements. It was usually denounced by the Shah as ‘leftist.” If a simple label must be provided, “patriotic” is most appropriate. On balance, this is a valuable work. Its flaws are not unique: they are shared by American policy and by the American public perception of the Middle East. As the publisher intended, it does provide an up-to-date analysis of issues and disputes in the region. It is not, in the opinion of this reviewer, an in-depth analysis. It is far too present oriented to provide insight into motivation by people for whom history is desperately relevant. It provides very little information on Islam and on Islamic society, which-events are making clear-are essential parts of sll issues and disputes in the region. Further, in concentrating so much on the Arab-Israeli dispute, it has ignored other national, ethnic, and religious disputes which are of great importance. Nevertheless, the work does provide much needed information in a compact, readily accessible form. It belongs in all libraries. MICHAEL P. ZIRINSKY Associate Professor of History Boise State University Boise, Idaho 83725, U.S.A. Official Publishing: An Overview; An International Survey and Review of the Role, Organization and principles of Official Publishing. By J. J. Chems. Oxford: Pergamon Press, Inc., 1979. (Guides to Official Publications, Vol. 3) $40.00. ISBN O-08-0233406. LC 7841157.
The title page and the introductory material announce the author’s intention of surveying on an international scale ‘The role, organization and principles of official pubhshing.” This book is both more and less than what the reader expects. There is a vast need for guides to official publishing on an international scale. One would hope that such a guide would include lists of government printers and the secrets of obtaining official publications especially from developing nations. What are the payment requirements for purchasers of government material? In short, a documents librarian needs certain practical information. Some of it is contained in Cherns’ volume, but this type of information is quite secondary in his study. The book is overly lengthy. Chems has chosen 20 countries with histories of representative government to examine. These studies are of uneven length and coverage. For example, the chapter on Canada is approximately 50 pages long and the one on Belgium is three pages long. In fact, the chapter on Belgium is much more useful because of its brevity. Chems in the section on Canada tells me more about the dissolution of Information Canada than this reviewer wants to know. The 20 countries that he chose are mainly large Western nations with highly developed government administrations and systems of official publishing. Some non-western nations such as India and Indonesia are briefly studied. Even though the author considered the stufy of less developed nations outside of his scope it would have been of inestimable value to some documents libmrians. Within the over 500 pages there is some useful information. However, this information is
Book reviews
441
difficult to locate because of the sheer size of the volume. The comparative chapters which comprise about one-fifth of the book have some excellent tables. For example, there is a table on “forms of government information and publishing organization,” and one “records of parliamentary debates” that this reviewer knows will be referred to if she can remember where they are. The author set out to study the relationship between government and dissemination of public information. Unfortunately, this important topic is overwhelmed by the mass of facts and history that Mr. Chems presents. NATALIE SCHATZ Chief Documents Librarian Harvard College Library Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A. Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: A Guide to Information Sources. Edited by M. Leonard Bryan. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Company, 1979. 188 pp. $24.00 ISBN @8103-14134. LC 79-22792. Remote sensing is ushering in a new era of information. This technique of using electronic sensors on high-altitude aircraft and satellites for obtaining information about the physical environment has given government and the academic community a wide range of useful data. The decade of the 1970s has seen both tremendous technological advances in remote sensing and equally as important, an increasing acceptance of remotely sensed data. This topic has generated a great deal of published material. Bryan’s information guide provides a good foundation for starting a literature search and identifies appropriate references concerning remote sensing and its application to the earth’s resources. The substantive part of the guide consists of eight sections: (1) general and descriptive literature which provide an overview and a few specifics in the field of remote sensing; (2) proceedings of symposia and meetings; (3) manuals and guides concerning computer systems, processing techniques used in preparation of remotely sensed data, lesson guides and workshop notes dealhrg with the application of such data; (4) catalogs of products derived from remote sensing; (5) cartographic materials-mainly maps-generated from remotely sensed data; (6) bibliographies; (7) journals; and (8) workshops, university and training courses, which usually are recurring on an annual basis. Introductory paragraphs am written for each section. This has a dual purpose of defining the nature of the information being considered and advising the user on additional reference searches: for example, those cited materials which will possibly be updated in the future. The bibliographic citations are complete with informative annotations. The annotative part is written in a concise manner and usually indicates whether the cited source is introductory or advanced reading. Analytical entries are included in some cases for proceedings, technical reports, and multivolume publications. An important consideration made in compiling this guide is the accessibility of those publications cited in the guide; most, if not all, can be obtained from the federal government, NTIS, or the commercial establishment. The classified arrangement of this information guide helps the user to find the appropriate bibliographic information. Access to this information is facilitated by author, title, and subject indexes, There are two other indexes which will prove helpful in accessing bibliographic informa tion: series and NTIS indexes. The series index provides an aid for finding those publications which are part of a series. This is extremely helpful because many times the user may be cognizant of a series (or the publisher of the series) but not the individual titles within the series (e.g., Council of Planning Librarians’ Exchange Bibliography Series). Many of the cited materials in this guide are technical reports and publications of NASA and other government agencies which are indexed and available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). This NTIS index is arrsnged by accession number. Bryan’s Remote Sensing of Earth Resources is Volume 1 in the Geography and Travel Information Guide Series which is part of the Gale Information Guide Library. If the following
Book reviews
The chronology is useful, but not so detailed as that provided by the Middle East Journul (published quarterly by the Middle East Institute, Washington, D. C.). It is extremely handy, however, to have such a chronology readily available in one volume. Qn the whole The Middle East appears to be accurate, but there are some disturbing lapses. With regard to Iran, for example, the judgment (p. 114) that “the United States prevented . . . Soviet attempts to absorb parts of [Iran] after World War II” totally ignores the diplomatic and political successes of Iranians, especially including Prime Minister Qavam as_Sultaneh. Similarly, the statement (p. 116) that “Modem Iranian history begins with a nationalist uprising in 1905” ignores the usual judgment of historians that modem Iranian history begins with the Safavids in 1501. Contemporary patterns in Iranian politics begin in the nineteenth century, as the works of Nikki Keddie and Hamid Algar make clear. Furthermore, the statement that the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was a “consortium of British and American interests” is not true. AIOC (now BP) was controlled by the British government. It was replaced as the foreign exploiter of the Iranian oil industry after 1953 by an international Consortium with only 40% British participation (and an equal American interest), The characterization of the Iranian National Front as “rightist” (p. 116) is absurd. There were conservative and religious elements in the Front, but it also contained liberal, progressive, and secuhuizing elements. It was usually denounced by the Shah as ‘leftist.” If a simple label must be provided, “patriotic” is most appropriate. On balance, this is a valuable work. Its flaws are not unique: they are shared by American policy and by the American public perception of the Middle East. As the publisher intended, it does provide an up-to-date analysis of issues and disputes in the region. It is not, in the opinion of this reviewer, an in-depth analysis. It is far too present oriented to provide insight into motivation by people for whom history is desperately relevant. It provides very little information on Islam and on Islamic society, which-events are making clear-are essential parts of sll issues and disputes in the region. Further, in concentrating so much on the Arab-Israeli dispute, it has ignored other national, ethnic, and religious disputes which are of great importance. Nevertheless, the work does provide much needed information in a compact, readily accessible form. It belongs in all libraries. MICHAEL P. ZIRINSKY Associate Professor of History Boise State University Boise, Idaho 83725, U.S.A. Official Publishing: An Overview; An International Survey and Review of the Role, Organization and principles of Official Publishing. By J. J. Chems. Oxford: Pergamon Press, Inc., 1979. (Guides to Official Publications, Vol. 3) $40.00. ISBN O-08-0233406. LC 7841157.
The title page and the introductory material announce the author’s intention of surveying on an international scale ‘The role, organization and principles of official pubhshing.” This book is both more and less than what the reader expects. There is a vast need for guides to official publishing on an international scale. One would hope that such a guide would include lists of government printers and the secrets of obtaining official publications especially from developing nations. What are the payment requirements for purchasers of government material? In short, a documents librarian needs certain practical information. Some of it is contained in Cherns’ volume, but this type of information is quite secondary in his study. The book is overly lengthy. Chems has chosen 20 countries with histories of representative government to examine. These studies are of uneven length and coverage. For example, the chapter on Canada is approximately 50 pages long and the one on Belgium is three pages long. In fact, the chapter on Belgium is much more useful because of its brevity. Chems in the section on Canada tells me more about the dissolution of Information Canada than this reviewer wants to know. The 20 countries that he chose are mainly large Western nations with highly developed government administrations and systems of official publishing. Some non-western nations such as India and Indonesia are briefly studied. Even though the author considered the stufy of less developed nations outside of his scope it would have been of inestimable value to some documents libmrians. Within the over 500 pages there is some useful information. However, this information is
Book reviews
441
difficult to locate because of the sheer size of the volume. The comparative chapters which comprise about one-fifth of the book have some excellent tables. For example, there is a table on “forms of government information and publishing organization,” and one “records of parliamentary debates” that this reviewer knows will be referred to if she can remember where they are. The author set out to study the relationship between government and dissemination of public information. Unfortunately, this important topic is overwhelmed by the mass of facts and history that Mr. Chems presents. NATALIE SCHATZ Chief Documents Librarian Harvard College Library Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A. Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: A Guide to Information Sources. Edited by M. Leonard Bryan. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research Company, 1979. 188 pp. $24.00 ISBN @8103-14134. LC 79-22792. Remote sensing is ushering in a new era of information. This technique of using electronic sensors on high-altitude aircraft and satellites for obtaining information about the physical environment has given government and the academic community a wide range of useful data. The decade of the 1970s has seen both tremendous technological advances in remote sensing and equally as important, an increasing acceptance of remotely sensed data. This topic has generated a great deal of published material. Bryan’s information guide provides a good foundation for starting a literature search and identifies appropriate references concerning remote sensing and its application to the earth’s resources. The substantive part of the guide consists of eight sections: (1) general and descriptive literature which provide an overview and a few specifics in the field of remote sensing; (2) proceedings of symposia and meetings; (3) manuals and guides concerning computer systems, processing techniques used in preparation of remotely sensed data, lesson guides and workshop notes dealhrg with the application of such data; (4) catalogs of products derived from remote sensing; (5) cartographic materials-mainly maps-generated from remotely sensed data; (6) bibliographies; (7) journals; and (8) workshops, university and training courses, which usually are recurring on an annual basis. Introductory paragraphs am written for each section. This has a dual purpose of defining the nature of the information being considered and advising the user on additional reference searches: for example, those cited materials which will possibly be updated in the future. The bibliographic citations are complete with informative annotations. The annotative part is written in a concise manner and usually indicates whether the cited source is introductory or advanced reading. Analytical entries are included in some cases for proceedings, technical reports, and multivolume publications. An important consideration made in compiling this guide is the accessibility of those publications cited in the guide; most, if not all, can be obtained from the federal government, NTIS, or the commercial establishment. The classified arrangement of this information guide helps the user to find the appropriate bibliographic information. Access to this information is facilitated by author, title, and subject indexes, There are two other indexes which will prove helpful in accessing bibliographic informa tion: series and NTIS indexes. The series index provides an aid for finding those publications which are part of a series. This is extremely helpful because many times the user may be cognizant of a series (or the publisher of the series) but not the individual titles within the series (e.g., Council of Planning Librarians’ Exchange Bibliography Series). Many of the cited materials in this guide are technical reports and publications of NASA and other government agencies which are indexed and available through the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). This NTIS index is arrsnged by accession number. Bryan’s Remote Sensing of Earth Resources is Volume 1 in the Geography and Travel Information Guide Series which is part of the Gale Information Guide Library. If the following