Reference Serials Richard R. Centing Communications regarding this column and publications to be reviewed should be addressed to Richard R. Centing, The Ohio State University Libraries, Columbus, Ohio 43210. All reviews in this column are signed with the reviewer's name. Persons interested in reviewing should contact Mr. Centing. Copies of items to be reviewed can be obtained for reviewers if they are not held at his/her home base. Suggestions of titles to be reviewed can come from the reviewer as well as the editor. Please contact Mr. Centing for guidelines and sample format of the ms. review. As always, an interchange of opinions is sought between the editor and his readers, and letters to the editor are welcome.
CONTRIBUTORS Bernard A. Block Ohio State University Libraries Nancy Buckeye Central Michigan University Library Richard Centing Reference Department Ohio State University Libraries James W. Fry Head, State Library of Ohio Cataloging Center Marianne Elissa Gelbert Ohio State University Libraries
Kathleen Heim Rosary College Library Jean Herold Reference Department University of Texas at Austin Nancy Keller Reference Department Ohio State University Libraries Jane L. Nelson! Head, Journalism Library Ohio State University Libraries
Milo G. Nelson University of Idaho Margo Sasse University of California, San Diego Stewart Saunders Ohio State University Libraries Dr. Louis Tenzis Chairman, Philosophy Department Rosary College Carol Ann Winchell Reference Department Ohio State University Libraries
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AMERICAN LITERATURE
1. 2,
9.
Training Film Profiles
American Literary Scholarship Proof
PERIODICALS--INDEXES 10. Index to U.S. Government Periodicals
ANTHROPOLOGY--ABSTRACTS PHILOSOPHY
3.
Abstracts in Anthropology 11. Philosopher's Index BOOKS-INDEXES REFERENCE--BIBLIOGRAPHY
4.
lndex to the Contemporary Scene 12. American Reference Books Annual CANADA REHABILITATION--ABSTRACTS
5.
Corpus Almanac o f Canada 13. Rehabilitation Literature CENSORSHIP RESEARCH
6.
Index on Censorship 14. Research Centers Directory ENGLISH LITERATURE SECURITY CLASSIFICATION (GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS)
7.
Year's Work in English Studies 15. Declassified Documents Reference System ENGLISH LITERATURE--ABSTRACTS SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN
8.
Abstracts o f English Studies 16. American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies for FILMS-REVIEWS
AMERICAN LITERATURE
American Literary Scholarship; An Annual. Publisher; Duke University Press, Box 6697, College Sta., Durham, North Carolina 27708. Editor, James Woodress. Annual, 1963--. Price varies: $13.50 to UCSD. Reference bibliography in American literature has grown from the check lists in the Cambridge History o f American Literature to significant serial bibliography such as the MLA International Bib-liography. According to G. Thomas Tanselle, three types of refer-ence bibliography currently serve the literary researcher; the a n n o tated lists, selected lists, and the bibliographic essay. (Resources for American Literary Study 1 [ 1971 ] : 3--6). American Literary Scholarship. An Annual (ALS) is the third type, bibliographic essays which explore the relations among the articles and books to each other and to previous work. Tanselle finds that the ALS vol-umes "have established themselves as basic tools, providing a convenient and reliable way for scholars to keep up with recent publications." The forward of the first volume of ALS states that its purpose is to be "a guide for scholars in areas adjacent to their own fields of specialization." Later prefaces state that these review annuals are not a substitute for the American literature section of the MLA International Bibliography upon which they are based; the essays are more selective and yet also include items not in MLA such as chapters of books. Each volume contains eighteen essays; those in the first part are exclusively devoted to "major" authors such as Twain or Melville, which in the second group are arranged historically and by genre. In general, the essays follow a similar format. They usually begin With an overview of the "industry," describing the quantity and quality of the output, lamenting o v e r the unmet needs or exalt-ing over the significant expansion. Sometimes they sound a little like a corporate annual report, "it was a big year for the Twurp industry, two major critical bibliographies, 12 dissertations, a new volume in the seven volume biography, and five special journal issues." The items reviewed are not exclus~ely in English but those in foreign languages are not common. The scope of the essays is both broader and narrower than the MLA Bibliography. The essays may cover books, chapters in books, essays, journal articles, new journals, book reviews, letters to the editors or dissertations. Some odd situations develop such as a contributor compelled to comment on her or his own book because she or he became an expert in this field by writing and continuing to write significant items which should be mentioned. Like the MLA Bibliography, it includes a section on folklore which contains discussions of songs, tales, folk
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1973
heroes, superstition, as well as the literary uses of folklore. There are a key to abbreviations of journals and books cited and a name index which includes the authors and subjects. A L S compares quite favorably to the other serial bibliographies in literature. For example, comparing citations on Kate Chopin in the 1972 ALS with the MLA International Bibliography, MLA Abstracts, Abstracts o f English Studies and American Literature Abstracts (ALA) for that year, I found that A L S commented on two articles which were included in the MLA Bibliography from a total of two dissertations and four articles and both articles were abstracted in the MLA AbStracts. American Literature Abstracts contained one abstract (the same author abstract that appeared in MLA Abstracts) and Abstracts o f English Studies picked up one article which the other three had reported in the 1971 volumes. If MLA Bibliography and Abstracts (1971 --present) or the MLA Bibliography and ALA (1967--1972) cover relatively the same ground as ALS and describe the contents of significant articles more fully, then why turn to ALS? One unique contribution is that it puts a critical work into the context of previous scholarship and tells how it fits and how it extends or diminishes previous work. Continuing the Chopin example, A L S tells us that the Chopin revival has slacked off. The article on the Awakening was unusual in that it gave a broad interpretation in terms of "the transcenden-tal concept of the soul's emergence into a new life" and the article on "Desiree's Baby" also departed from the usual criticism. Thus, the essayist has pre-selected the more significant works, related them to the corpus of Chopin criticism and described succinctly why these articles are important. Few want to read everything written about a particular work when they realize what "every-thing" means, and this unique record of how a piece of criticism fits into the whole is as helpful as an abstracting service, especially for those not submerged in Chopin. The essays on Henry James and Ezra Pound illustrate other strengths. In the 1969 and 1972 volumes, William T. Stafford summarized the critical reaction to Edel's latest volume of the James biography. Both sections run over four pages and the 1972 essay comments on the review by Philip Rahv and Norman Podhoretz's response. He also picked up the lively exchange of letters in the TLS on the reason James refused membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Besides providing an excellent sum-mary of critical reaction and Stafford's view on each item, the essay pulls out sources such as letters that other indexes fail to pick up. For a digested record of how critics reacted to Edel's biography, these essays give a better organized and more thoughtful approach than the capsules and citations in Book Review Digest. In his essay on Pound in the 1972 volume, Alvin H. Rosenfeld
It is possible that the cumbersome nature o f the bibliographic control o f the literary criticism industry is a contributing cause to the excessive redundancy. Librarians find explaining how to use
comments on three books, only two of which are noted in the
MLA Bibliography under Pound. It is possible that the third, Ezra Pound the Troubador Tradition is mentioned elsewhere in the MLA but because they note an item only once with see references only to citations in the same section, it is impossible to be certain. This particular book Rosenfeld found an "admirable well focused study." He also reviewed the new journal devoted to Pound studies, Paideuma, and describes the contents of the first two issues. Apart from Choice and Library Journal, it is difficult to find reviews of journals. The quality of the essays is uniformly high but there are some unfortunate departures from the reasoned scholarly tone. For example, M. Thomas Inge in his essay on nineteenth century fiction states, "'Perhaps a hundred years from now, someone will read Ms. Nilles essay and think how obvious and silly some female literary criticism could be in the twentieth century." The sarcasm seems uncaIled for; moreover, if it is such a worthless item, then why include it? There are several important differences between A L S and annual reviews such as the Annual Review o f Anthroplogy and the Annual Review o f Psychology. These tools usually cover different topics from issue to issue and include citations of all significant items rather than just that year's work. Therefore, the bibliographic essay on ethnographic film or child language may be unique to the 1973 volume of Anthroplogy although topics reappear or may be combined or split into other essays. The full citations are given at the end of each bibliographic essay and there is a subject index as well as an author index. I bring up the annual review because in many ways A L S functions as one and I think it could profit from a d o p t ing some aspects of this format and depart from its model Year's Work in English Studies, For example, taking up special topics and giving a ten or twenty year overview of criticism on Chicano literature or the urban novel would be a worthwhile addition. Certainly there are many topics which might not rate an o n going essay but which deserve more attention and better organization. Both mysteries and science fiction are taught in increasing numbers of literature departments. Also a subject index to schools, movements, and other logical categories such as Black Mountain Poets, or Black Drama would aid the researcher in finding those sections. One other matter that could be improved is the list of journals indexed which is alphabetized only by abbreviation. On the surface, it is a minor issue; but the lack of an alphabetical list by full title with publisher's address is one possible reason the MLA Biblio-graphy is not included in Chicorel Index to Abstracting and Index-ing Services. It is difficult to determine when a journal has been picked up or dropped from literature indexes or even whether that journal is included. Also there are often several journals of the same or similar titles and the only sure way to see which is which is by knowing the publisher and the place. Since the Reader's Guide and all Wilson indexes include this information, I would hope that the editors of ALS and the MLA publications would add this to their bibliographic tools. In my experience, undergraduates and even lower division undergraduates fred A L S exactly what they need for finding one or two good critical articles on a novel or a poem. I know that some of these students want to crib an essay from these articles but most want to find out what is going on in a work or feel the need for an outside opinion. Plowing through the MLA Biblio-graphy overwhelms undergraduates while the Humanities Index is not extensive enough. ALS is especially useful for authors on whom there is no Prentice-Hall collection of criticism. I personally like bibliographic essays and I think undergraduates profit from this form certainly more than unannotated indexes or lists. I trust A L S to describe the more significant criticism in such a way that most students can easily choose what interests them. Certainly, it is more than an updating tool for scholars. A recurring theme in the editor's forward and in many essays is the inflation of the criticism industry. In his 1971 forward, J. Albert Robbins called the increase a "glut" and noted that "scholarly inflation seems as resistant to control as fiscal inflation." His protest became much stronger in the 1972 forward and he cites ten complaints of A L S 'contributors that articles were gracelessly written, made obvious comparisons, were of marginal value or trivializing and noted in general, "There is still the lamentable tendency toward repetitiveness (a result primarily of slack scholar-ship) and a flailing about for critical approaches to replace the much-abused New Critical ones." He notes the academic pressures whach encourage this situation but lays the blame on the journal editors who fail to referee articles properly.
many of these tools nearly impossible. Because they were put off by the tools as undergraduates, students resist using them as grad-uates, and so by the time they become faculty they are ill equipped to advise their students about the bibliographic control of the field. Therefore, I suggest that the editors make this tool more accessible to a wider audience by the addition of such small things as a proper preface explaining the purpose and scope of the work along with some discussion of how to use it. A subject index (which would pull together topics scattered in the texts and iden-tify others hidden in sections) would encourage people to use it for more than current awareness, besides providing better access for that purpose. In summary, I find American Literary Scholarship a fine refer-ence tool for those who want to keep current in the conventional streams of literary scholarship. Unfortunately its self--concept of only serving scholars is too narrow and may contribute to the redundancy it abhors. Margo Sasse 2.
Proof. The Yearbook o f American Bibliographical and Textual Studies. Editor: Joseph Katz. Vols. 1--3, 1971--1973, University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina 29208. ($27.50 ca). (Vol. 4-, 1974--, J. Faust and Company, Box 5616, Columbia, South Carolina; not yet published, due August 1975.) Proof is of value to the literary and the social historian, to the student of bibliography, to the humanities, reference and special collections librarian. Annual in appearance, its scope of interest is American, that interpreted in its broadest sense. Thus the English piracies of Hawthorne's books, differences between the simultan-eously published English and American editions of Woolf's To the Lighthouse, as well as commentary on the British expurgations of The Adventures o f Tom Sawyer come under scrutiny. Contributors, many of whom have themselves directed the preparation of Amer-ican literary standard editions, are drawn primarily from university departments of English. Volumes average 450 pages in length (excluding the index) al-though of this only a moderate proportion is devoted to the usual bibliographic concerns. Examples of these include Morse Peckham's exploration in Proof I of the many choices editors ought to consider in preparing a text for publication. In particular Peckham is' concerned with the multiple functions possible for any single edition and he emphasizes the importance of determining prior to beginning the work the specific audience to which the text is to be addressed. In Proof II Hershel Parker voices serious concern for the practice of regularizing accidentals. While he encourages editorial change for accidentals which are a reflection of invariable usage, he strongly warns against the decision to 'correct' if a carefu ! study of the work does not assure that the accidentals follow from the author's intent. Editor Katz, along with James B. Meriwether, examines difficulties encountered in establishing the 'issue' state-ment for any book. To alleviate this bibliographical puzzle they review historical data and recommend a division of concern, both for the printing and for the publishing history of any single book. In effective contrast to these thoughtful approaches to tradition-al bibliographical problems, a balance is provided by contributions which focus on computer applications. And as editor Katz is to be especially commended for his attention to this newest biblio-graphical tool. In a review of the state of the art, Robert Oakman (Proof I1) examines two approaches to computerized collation. These are Project OCCULT (Ordered Computer Collation of U n prepared Literary Texts) as well as a method develped at UCLA. In Proof l l I Oakman examines with equal care the brief history of computer prepared concordances. In this regard he reviews c o n eordances now available for the poetry of both Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost as well as for the plays of Eugene O'Neill. And in this same Proof, T.H. Howard--Hill predicts for the near future the preparation of critical editons on a computer assisted basis. He notes that the necessary hardware is operational and needs only the preparation of appropriate software. Every volume of Proof contains lengthy review articles_ Random examples of these are the William Cagle (I) discussion of the Serif Series published at the Kent State Univeristy-Press, Robert R. Allen's evaluation of "The First Six Volumes of the NorthwesternNewberry Melville" (III) and G. Thomas Tanselle's analysis (Ill) of the David Lewis bibliographies. Representing other types of contributions in Proof there are Kenneth A_ Lohf's "The Library of Hart Crane" (Proof III) and Lillian Gilkes' "Park Benjamin: Literary Agent, et cetera" (Proof
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I), "A Death in the Family and Agee's Projected Novel" by Victor A. Kramer (Proof I1) and Calhoun Winton's "The South Carolina Book Trade" (ProofIl). Certainly what has been described thus far is sufficient for any publication with the scope of Proof. Yet there is m u c h more, in-chiding four regularly appearing foci deserving extended review here. These are CONTRACT, DUMMY, PRACTICAL EDITIONS, and A REGISTER OF CURRENT PUBLICATIONS. In CONTRACT: Moby--Dick (Proof D Harrison Hayford analyzes Melville's contracts for The Whale with both Harper and Brothers (American publisher) and Richard Bentl (British publisher) and compares the provisions in these with other Melville contracts. He shows how the difference in content provides the researcher with insight into Melville's writing process for this book. Repro-ductions in color o f the Melville/Harper and Brothers contract have been provided. In Proof H Frederick Anderson and Hamlin Hill study Samuel Clemens' negotiations with James R. Osgood. There are, again, reproductions of these manuscript papers. Clemens formed his association with Osgood which involved him more fully in the publishing process so as to improve the financial benefits he could expect from his writings. When the association proved unsuccessful here (Osgood went bankrupt) Clemens then embarked on his own publishing career establishing the firm of Charles R. Webster & Co. (his niece's husband) to provide himself with a larger percentage of the profits. A n d students o f Twain know where that venture led. DUMMY appears both in Proof I & II. Issued by publishers for the use o f the firm's salesmen, a d u m m y contained at most the first few chapters followed by sufficient blank pages to give the full appearance of the book. These could be shown to prospective bookstores m u c h the way furniture miniatures were used to sell a product. Editor Katz is convinced that m u c h can be learned about the publishers' roles in editing and marketing books since a d u m m y m a y differ significantly from the final published version. Neda Westlake's examination is o f the d u m m y for Twelve Men (Proof II) which offered only the first ten pages (the sketch entitled "Peter"). Not only is there a complete photostatic r e p r o d u c tion o f the text here, b u t in addition Westlake provides a table o f textual variants from the first edition as published. Since this d u m m y survices as the only extant pre--publication text of the story it serves a unique function in specifying in what ways the editor directed revisions. It is interesting to note that Proof I itself was preceded by a d u m m y which included a color frontispiece of the Moby Dick Harper and Brothers contract along with the first thirty two pages of Hayford's examination. Katz provided as well a special statement on salesmen's dummies. PRACTICAL EDITIONS is the selected printed text of Proof seminars now established on an annual basis. A Practical Edition is a "text o f works read by most Americans or which represent American culture abroad, in editions for the use of students, teachers, and the general reading public" (Proof111, p. 369). The importance of these editions lies in their use by large numbers o f readers. In various Proof volumes attention has been paid to the development of practical editions ofMoby-Dick, Emerson's A m e r ican Scholar, the writing o f William Dean Howells, and The Red Badge o f Courage among others. The final special feature, A REGISTER OF CURRENT PUBLICATIONS, is a selective descriptive record of in-print works. Entries typically provide information such as LC Card No., ISBN, the inclusion o f historical and textual notes, contents, and, fie-quentty a quoted statement which indicates the scope of the work. The REGISTER divides into 13 subjects: Primary Works; Reprinted Primary Works; A u t h o r Bibliographies and Checklists; Subject Bibliographies and Checklists; National Bibliographies and C h e c k lists; Writings and Autographs; Printing, Binding, Publishing, Bookselling; Copyright and Intellectual Property; Libraries and Book Collection; Bibliographical and Textual Theory and Practice; Concordances and Indexes; and Dictionaries, Rhetorics, and Guides to Language. One other section, Miscellaneous, is a listing o f works of general bibliographical interest: these might be American Book Prices Current or Kirk's supplement to Allibone. Within some categories there are further subdivisions, e.g_, Subject Bibliographies and Checklists provides a subject approach: Drama, Graphic Arts, M u sic, are examples. This particular section o f Proof ought to serve each library as a checklist of recent bibliographic publications to be added to the collection. But it must be noted that the R E G ISTER selects from only those materials which are sent for review by publishers. Both the Contents and Index deserve attention here. Contents
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provides an abstract o f the article which is fairly detailed. Indexes to each volume are carefully prepared and should be considered paradigms for others to follow. The entry for 'accidentals' in Proof III reflects thoroughness of indexing, the breadth of information the indexer provides to the searcher, and the clarity of presentation. In Proof, too, there has been no cost savings in the number or quality of illustrative material -- contracts, published texts, com.puter collations. Each is easy to read and supplements the text well. If there is any failing of Proof it is that the contributors come from too narrow a base. More frequent inclusion of bibliographic experts from libraries, the book trade, and other literary and social disciplines could offer valuable and diverse perspectives on matters discussed here. An excellent review by G. Thomas Tanselle comparing Proof (v. 3) to Studies in Bibliography (v. 27) appeared in the Times Literary Supplement (August 8, 1975), p. 904. Nancy Buckeye ANTHROPOLOGY -- ABSTRACTS
Abstracts in Anthropology. Editor: Eleanor Burke Leacock. Pub-lisher: Baywood Publishing Company, 43 Central Drive, Farming-. dale, New York 11735. Quarterly. $48.00. v. 1 - no. 1 - February, 1970. Abstracts in Anthropology, one of the m a n y new highly special-ized abstracting services to appear in the last decade, attempts to collect, evaluate, classify, abstract, and index relevant literature in the fields of cultural and physical anthropology, archaeology, and linguistics. Originally edited by Margaret K. Bishee and published by Greenwood Press (through volume 3, n u m b e r 4, November, 1972), this research tool makes a valuable contribution to an area in need of bibliographic citation. Topics covered in current issues include four major categories: 1. "Archaeology" (divided into "Theoretical, Methodological, and General" and geographic-cultural divisions which are further subdivided into "Historical" and "Prehistorical"); 2. "Cultural Anthropology" (divided into fourteen sub--topics such as "Arts," "Cultural Ecology," "Economics," "Kinship," etc.); 3. "Linguis-tics" (including ethnosemantics, sociolinguistics, and semiotics); and 4. "Physical Anthropology" (divided into "General Physical Anthropology," "Living Humans," and "Living Non--Human Primates"). A "Table of Contents" precedes each volume of the abstracts. The abstracts themselves are arranged by these topics and are numbered consecutively throughout the four issues_ Within each topic, arrangement is alphabetical by the author's surname. In each issue, journal citations include name (secondary authors are given as well), title o f the article, full journal title, date, volume number, issue number, and inclusive pages. The abstracts vary in length, but are generally about one paragraph long. They are unsigned by the abstractor. Occasionally abstracts are borrowed from the journal article itself and so designated in the text. Two useful indexes complete each issue. The " A u t h o r Index" alphabetically lists surnames and either the initials or forenames of the individual cited as author or joint author in the abstracts. Item numbers follow each name. The detailed "Subject Index" alphabetically lists topics not reflected in the broad subject cate-gorization. Item numbers follow each term. Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 selections, culled from numerous scholarly journals and society and university publications, are abstracted annually in the Abstracts in Anthropology. U.S. and foreign materials are included. Some of the journals regularly searched for pertinent materials are indexed elsewhere, e.g., Social Sciences Index, Humanities Index, Art Index, and the International Bibliography o f Social and Cultural Anthropology. A few are abstracted elsewhere e.g., Sociological Abstracts, Psychological Abstracts, and Biological Abstracts. In addition, an effort is made to cover articles by anthropologists appearing in n o n - a n t h r o p o l o g ical journals in the areas o f psychology, philosophy, history, and ecology. Abstracts in Anthropology is a valuable research tool for num-merous reasons. Foremost, it covers material n o t abstracted elsewhere and it is more current than other materials in the area. In addition, it comprehensively covers the field in b o t h Western and non--Western journals, and it includes the area of physical anthropology which is not found elsewhere. The publication is compiled by an illustrious staff headed by General Editor Dr. Eleanor Leacock, Ph.D. Columbia University, 1952, now Chairwoman of the Department of Anthropology, City College, City University of New York, four special editors (one for each branch of a n t h r o pology), and a staff o f thirty--five prominent advisory editors.
A distinct disadvantage is that the publication does n o t cumulate the subject indexes, thus making it necessary to consult four i n dexes for each year. Many of the abstracts are too brief for ade-quate summation. Also, there is no list o f journals abstracted in each issue: only one issue of a volume lists the publications and addresses. Initially priced at $20.00 per year, the cost of Abstracts in Anthropology has risen sharply in price during its five year history. Although in 1975 the average increase o f an American serial service was 8% over 1974 (see Library Journal, July, 1975), this publication rose from $35.00 in 1974 to $48.00 in only one year, an increase o f 37%. In addition,, the publication would p e r haps be more useful it it extended coverage to monographs, disser-tations, government documents, and other fugitive documents, even though Reviews in Anthropology and the American Anthro-pologist cover standard scholarly books, films, etc. Bibliographic citation form should be brought in line with the style used by most other abstracting services. The m o n t h o f the cited journal and the n u m b e r o f references would also be helpful, Since only one other publication, the International Bibliography o f Social and Cultural Anthropology attempts to control the pro-liferation o f literature in this diverse field, the Abstracts in Anthro-pology is most valuable as an on--going, extensive world--wide survey o f contemporary publications. It is recommended for s t u dents o f anthropology, academic and research libraries, colleges and universities that offer majors in the field, cultural and physical anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists who wish to keep abreast of current literature. Additional c o m m e n t a r y on this p u b lication m a y be found in the recent Choice review (May, 1975, page 359). Carol A n n Winchell
symposia contents. Also, a n u m b e r o f the latter type sources are more up to date in their coverage. By its second and final volume, this series being reviewed h a s fallen three years behind in indexing and is therefore o f minimal value as far as immediately contempo-rary sources are concerned. Chiefly because o f such a time lag, blanket recommendation o f this tool is tempered with t h e admonition for use only after the more comprehensive general tools have been exhausted_ Most calls for present social c o m m e n t a r y would, in m a n y cases, be sufficiently answered b y current newspaper and periodical indexes c o m p l e m e n ting weightier sources accessed by t h e card catalog. Nancy Keller CANADA 5.
BOOKS-INDEXES l n d e x to the Contemporary Scene, prepared by David W. Brunton. Volume 1--2, 1973--1975. Detroit, Gale Research Co., $14.00 each. Slated to fill the void in access tools for recent non--periodical collections inadequately approached by card catalog indexing, this annual series already was killed by Gale with the second volume. First appearing in 1973, volume one carries 322 publications o f 1971, and intended annual coverage o f similar literature. Volume two covers 299 books reviewed in 1972 and "probably . . . pur-chased by medium--sized libraries." Concentrating on those books or "works on currently important topics in t h e social and popular culture . . . frequently inquired about by library patrons," the index does not, according to Gale publicity, contain those titles "adequately" described by Library of Congress subject headings and classifications. Instead, the index attempts to be "an analytical guide to the contents o f . . . recent monographs, collections, symposia, anthologies, handbooks, guides, surveys, and other works o f n o n - f i c t i o n dealing with topics o f current interest." The entries have been made under multiple access points as deemed necessary, rather than cross references to facilitate information retrieval. In addition, the dictionary listing designates author and title entries to avoid possible confusion with subject entries. For further efficiency via subject approach, geographical locations are assumed to be for the United States, unless otherwise described, and U.S. government bodies have been listed directly under their names (i.e. Commerce, Department of). Each article is indexed under its author(s), and title entries are included when the article has been published previously. If, in such cases, the editor notes, the title has changed, an entry is also made under the previous title. References at the end o f each entry designate specific titles in the "List of Books Indexed" where titles appear under author or editor, as they would in the card catalog, and include bibliographic information, plus price and Library o f Congress card number, when available. While admirable in the in--depth coverage o f selected titles, the n u m b e r o f sources is definitely limited. This fact immediately imposes certain restrictions on a complete picture o f the c o n t e m porary scene, especially when only a general statement o f source selection criteria is given in the introduction. While not denying the representation o f those works which are included, one cannot help feeling this tool is aimed more at the literary user who knows his social history sufficiently to search out the various types o f literature written by a particular author on a certain popular subject during the period covered. In general, material on subjects indexed is more accessible tl~rough separate guides to the individual types of literature, for example the Essay and General Literature Index, and calendars o f
Corpus Almanac o f Canada, 1975. Corpus Publishers Services Ltd., 6 Crescent Road, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1T1. $23.95. 1972--. In 1972 the first annual edition of the Corpus Directory and Almanac o f Canada, which was a completely revised version of the McGraw-Hill Directory & Almanac o f Canada ( 1 9 6 6 - 1 9 7 1 ) was published. Like m a n y serials, the title of the current edition has undergone changes since t h e 1972 edition and is now The 1975 Corpus Almanac o f Canada. With the 1975 edition, quick reference information such as tables of weights and measures which are available in other sources was eliminated from the Corpus Almanac. New features added in-clude municipal government and expanded provincial government information, "1972 Current Events," a brief daily account of happenings in Canada, and tourism. In any almanac, ease of access to information is important_ A general table o f contents lists the 19 sections, then each o f these sections has a detailed table o f contents. Since pagination is not continuous, tables o f contents and index references include a section and a page n u m b e r - 10--23 (section 10, page 23). The index has a readable format with a few See references. However, if one has the title o f a magazine, the name of a n e w s paper or library the index is o f little use since these items are not listed individually. Magazines are classified by subject, newspapers and libraries are arranged by province then by city which makes it difficult to locate titles or n a m e s that are not obvious as to subject or location. Much of the information is presented in alphabetical lists -libraries, publishers, magazines, associations, museums, newspapers, radio and television stations, educational institutions, denomina-tional churches, banks, stock exchanges, federal, provincial, ter-ritorial and municipal government departments and officials. Narrative text is also extensively used for various aspects of law, business organization and regulation, governmental incentives for business, the banking system, tax system for corporations and individuals, labour legislation, the boards and agencies o f the provinces and information about the peoples of Canada. Statistical data and tabular presentations are minimal. The notation on t h e cover indicates this is "The annual hand-book of Canadian business, scientific, cultural and government affairs." All o f the areas are covered, with emphasis on business information. However, scientific information is limited to a section on a s t r o n o m y and t h e index lists only the names o f scientific organizations. Of interest to sports enthusiasts is the 70 page section devoted to individual and team sports which includes descriptive material as well as the current Canadian champions for sports. In comparison with the Canadian Almanac and Directory (To-ronto, Pitman Pub., 1974) there are similarities and differences. Both almanacs have the lists of information noted above. The Canadian Almanac . . . has a directory o f law firms, a 118 page post office and shipping guide arranged in tabular form, list of insurance companies, Canadian honours list, m o n t h l y solar and lunar tables for 1974, climatic chart and various statistical data which are not included in the Corpus Almanac . . . The information on peoples of Canada, sports, real estate and housing, labour legislation and explanatory business, tax and law information are unique to the Corpus Almanac . .. Since there is essentially the same data in both almanacs, the basis for purchasing would be the need for the information which is unique to that almanac. Jean Herold CENSORSHIP
6.
Index on Censorship. Editor: Michael Scammell, Writers & Scholars International Ltd., 21 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HP England. Orders to Oxford University Press, Neasden, London N W l 0 ODD.
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Distribution to U.S. and Canada by Random House. U_S. represen-tative: Geoffrey C. Ryan, R o o m 221, 156 Fifth Avenue, NYC 10010. Quarterly. 1972-. $10.00. All back issues available. This relatively new quarterly journal was first published in t h e spring o f 1972 as an answer to a personal plea from the son of an imprisoned Russian writer who, in a letter to Graham Greene, requested that intellectuals o f the Western world find some means o f helping their persecuted colleagues throughout the world. Many similar appeals had already been issued by others from the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Chile, Turkey, and elsewhere. In response, an organization was formed called "Writers & Scholars International," with Stephen Spender as the prime mover. As was stated in the first issue o f the Index on Censorship, "it is clear that the suppression o f ideas and the harrassment of those who wish to express themselves freely results in a loss for us all and for civilization." Thus their initial aim was to draw attention to the situation, publish the facts as they could determine them, and promote free discussion of relevant issues. It was felt that censorship was being employed all over the world as an instrument o f local governments; and that it is not self--perpetuating but m u s t be constantly maintained by careful vigilance of those who care about it. In a true sense of the word, this publication is not an index, but a compilation o f articles, quotes, reports, and book reviews about censorship throughout the world. One can find original articles by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Stephen Spender, Pavel Litvinov, and other established writers who have experienced censorship in one form or another. Reports of injustice and suppression m a y con-stitute only one page or one parfigraph. Pleas for assistance m a y be published, such as in the Spring 1975 issue where friends of Vlad-imir Bukovsky are asking for financial assistance in order to secure his release from prison. A letter from Andrei Gromyko to Henry Kissinger has been published, showing Russian concern over the s y m p a t h y and asylum that the United States has accorded certain Russian intellectuals. Brief accounts culled from current news sources concerning s u b versive action taken against scholars, including arrests, imprison-ment, expulsion from their native country, censorship o f literary work publically, are reported. A short article on the expropriation by the Peruvian government o f all the independent newspapers in Lima was compiled from reports by the International Press Insfi-tute's correspondents in that city is timely. A protest by inter-national performers against South Africa's policy of apartheid even for musical or dramatic performances is the occasion for a questionnaire widely distributed to writers and artists of m a n y nations. Several issues have contained poems of protest. Lists of con-cerned intellectuals world-wide m a y appear in support of some cause or celebrity. Letters to the Editor both criticize and acclaim the Index's efforts and goals: A somewhat similar publication was begun in 1973 in the United States. Compiled and distributed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Press Censorship Newsletter purports to be "the only legal research and defense fund organizahon in the nation exclusively devoted to protecting the First A m e n d m e n t and freedom of information interests o f the working press of all media." It is a compendium of legal action taken at local, state, or federal level, affecting information interests of the news media. It is by no means as all-inclusive as the Index on Censorship, and concerns it-self only with the United States. One cannot help but wonder if this journal is reaching a wide enough audience to accomplish the mission which it has under-taken. At present, circulation figures are elusive. Funding problems have plagued the publishers; b u t currently some assistance is being received from the Arts Council of Great Britain. A worthy cause has been undertaken by this Index. It is to be hoped that its impact will be felt around the world. An admirable spinoff of Index activities was the publication in 1974 o f Solshenitsyn's influential Letter to the Soviet Leaders (distributed in the U.S. by Harper & Row). Jane L. Nelson ENGLISH LITERATURE The Year's Work in English Studies. v. l--. 1919/1920-. London, English Association, 1921--. Apply for membership. Despite ~ two year lag in the date of coverage, the Year's work in English studies is one o f the major reference tools in the field o f English and American literature. This work was begun in the early nineteen twenties and was patterned after the Year's work in classical studies (which was begun in 1906 by the Classical A s s o ciation). According to this pattern, an individual reviewer will survey the major works published during a certain year in a specific
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topic, period or on a specific writer. The first volume covers the major works for the two year period of 1919/1920, and the most current volume (published in 1974) covers t h e year 1972. Each volume is divided into chapters (expanded from only ten in the first volume to sixteen in the most current). In the most recent volume the chapers are: 1. General works on literary history and criticism 2. English language 3. Old English literature 4. Middle English, excluding Chaucer 5. Chaucer 6. The earlier sixteenth century 7. Shakespeare 8. English drama, 1550--1660, exluding Shakespeare 9. The later sixteenth century, excluding drama 10. pt. 1. The earlier seventeenth century, excluding drama pt. 2. Milton 11. The later seventeenth century 12. The eighteenth century 13. The nineteenth century 14. The twentieth century 15. American literature to 1900 16. American literature: 20th century and two indexes, one to the critics and the other for subjects. Since in the first volume the chapters ended with the nineteenth century and did not include American literature, one can consider the great expansion o f material covered to date. Yet in using this tool, it is also important to note that it lacks coverage in new fields o f increasing importance: Commonwealth (Australia and New Zealand, Canada, Caribbean Islands, India, etc.) literature, African literature i n English, etc. Another aspect not considered is local literature, either o f the specific areas of Great Britain (Scotland, Wales and Ireland) or the areas of the United States (The West, The South, New England). The work remains concerned primarily with the mainstream o f literature. With the exception of a few chapters, or parts of chapters, tile only access to works in a particular genre, i.e. drama, the novel or poetry, is in the subject index. The only other approach is to go through the book itself looking at each time period and writers hoping to find a book of interest. Each individual reviewer presents an annotated bibliographic essay. In this essay he considers particular aspects of a specific time period. For instance in the period of the neneteenth century, one reviewer covers the Social and intellectual background for the period while another does the reviews on Novels and novelists. Each reviewer will consider only the major books, with a few selected articles, published during the year_ It is important to realize this, that this reference work does not consider itself a review/bibliography of all the works published in the field during the year, b u t instead a critical review of the best. This work is definitely a major reference tool in English and American literature. It is a primary starting point for the beginning researcher, since it points out the best of what has been done, and illustrates areas not being covered. Marianne Elissa Gelbert ENGLISH LITERATURE - ABSTRACTS 8.
Abstracts o f English Studies was founded in 1957 by members of the Department of English faculty at the University of Colorado. The first issue appeared in January 1958 and, since that date, AES has been published without interruption. The original frequency of twelve issues per year was reduced to ten issues (September--June) in February 1962 and this policy has remained in effect. In 1958 the National Council of Teachers o f English assumed funiancial responsibility for operation of the journal. The publication present-ly circulates to 3,729 subscribers, carries a yearly subscription rate of $12.00 for members and $30.00 for institutions, and is over-seen by J. Wallace Donald, University of Colorado, who recently became Editor-in-Chief. In the original issue the editors stated that A E S was intended as "a means by which scholars, teachers, and students of English and American literature and the English language m a y keep abreast of the current periodical literature in the field." But the passage of almost two decades, and the concurrent increase in periodical hterature in English studies, has made a rather modest and u n complicated editorial goal seem like an impossibly idealized expression of what might be accomplished. It was the intention of the founders of A E S to produce a journal that could be, at one sitting, read easily and swiftly rather than to create a reference instrument that would only be consulted at need, and it was m e a n t to be a resource for scholars who did not
necessarily have access to large academic libraries. The format of the early issues substantiates this premise. What you find is an alphabetical listing of journal titles followed by a series of numbered abstracts. There is an unspoken assumption, based on the arrangement, that the reader is going to take time to examine most of the volume. That is still the supposition of the editors, although the format has evolved to make it easier for the reader to be selective. By 1968 the pages had been enlarged and boldface type employed to make titles and authors' names more prominent. These innovations were followed by a more significant alteration when the editors abandoned arrangement of abstracts by journals and created a classified format that makes it easier for ,the scholar to locate the specific areas of his interest in each issue. This arrangement is still in use. Abstracts are arranged in four sections: General, English, A m e r ican, and World Literature in English and Related Languages. With-in each of these main sections there is a system of two sub-sections to further identify the material being abstracted. There are both monthly and annual indexes which are based on the item numbers rather than page numbers. The monthly index contains two types of entries: (1) names of people referred to significantly and (2) subjects treated. The annual index cumulates the ten monthly indexes and lists the names of the authors of the articles and monographs that have been abstracted. The editors want to develop, eventually, a cumulative index and organize several specialized indexes. It is the policy of the journal to publish abstracts that indicate the content of an article or monograph succinctly and without bias. The abstracts set forth the thesis, indicate the method of development, and outline the major implications. The abstracts are not meant to be a substitute for reading the article but are intended to indicate to the reader whether or not the material seems relevant to personal research interests and may be usefully read in its com-plete form. One of the valued services of AES is its habit o f publishing, in English, articles originally written in a foreign language. The AES editors feel that it is better to have the abstracts c o m posed by someone other than the author of the article being ab-stracted. Such a policy not only makes for greater standardization but, presumably, ensures a r higher level of objectivity. Abstractors write in the declarative mood, do not attempt to reproduce the style of the original article, refrain from evaluation, and write in complete sentences. In its first seventeen volumes AES has published 49,867 abstracts at an average length of 100 to 120 words_ Abstracts are prepared by 137 regular volunteer contributors who are supervised by seventeen editors and assistant editors and two full--time, salaried staff m e m bers, the Managing Editor and the Editorial Assistant. The first issue of AES abstracted articles from nineteen journals; a current issue deals with about sixty periodicals including publications issued not only in America, but in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Great Britain. And we know that during the period 1969 to 1974 (Volumes 13 through 17) AES abstracted material from 687 journals. The problem is that, in spite of these seemingly progressive statistics, the debut issue incorporated 111 separate abstracts and the m o s t recent issue at hand, seventeen years later, contains only 137 abstracts. So while more material is being considered for abstraction, and we are told that approximately 1500 journals are examined for material dealing with English and American literature, AES seems to be, finally, as exclusive today as it was when established. Coverage is, as the editors concede, a major editorial problem. And this difficulty has to do both with what journals are selected for examination and, having decided this, with what material is selected for abstraction. It is, generally, AES policy to abstract every journal that concentrates on English studies, their preeminent interest being the literary development of the English language. Newly appearing journals devoted to such an interest are routinely added to the list ofjour-nals covered. But articles of potential interest to English scholars that appear in periodicals unrelated to English studies have proven hard to identify and locate. And only contributors situated near large libraries have access to such peripheral journals. Foreign journals are also a problem. While AES has a comprehensive list of foreign periodicals that contain material of interest to English scholars, they do not have the resources to cover them. They have found that it is not only difficult to find contributors who are fluent in the two languages involved, but impossible, at the present time, to find money to buy additional space for in-creased coverage. Then there is the difficulty of what to do with those publications devoted to the interests of practicing artists.
In spite of the fact that the emphasis of AES is on scholarship, they have not wished to ignore journals concerned with publishing the creative work of literary artists. Although this they have largely had to do. And, of course, predictably, there are financial problems associated with the publication of AES. Editor--in--Chief Donald has written to this reviewer as follows: "We are working very hard with an immense amount of material with a very small professional staff. We have a large and enthusiastic group of contributors who are producing a great amount of copy. We have an excellent group of volunteer editors who work over this material for scholarly intelligence, but, finally, this copy must be assembled, edited for style and form, proofed, indexed, and carried through the press by a staff o f two people. We need at least one more person working on the staff full--time to catch up with the flow of copy. We also need to double the space in each issue of AES in order to catch up with the copy that we already have on hand. We cannot do so without more funds." Still, in spite of financial anxieties, a backlog of copy, a tendency to appear late, and an adherence to policies that exclude certain journals from the scrutiny o f A E S abstractors, it seems indisputably true that the publication has, over the years, been appropriately ambitious in attempting to notice a great number of periodicals devoted to English studies. The problem is not that AES should dare to do more (in fact, it would very likely be a better service if it attempted less) but that we - scholars, teachers, researchers, and librarians -- should find some way of encouraging sister enterprises to share the biblio-graphic burden of identifying, abstracting, and indexing the accum-ulating wealth of material in the field of English studies. William Carlos Williams said, m Spring and All, that "everything must be known immediately and at once." That is, as it was meant to be, a visionary statement. But the continuing part of that line, "there must never be permitted confusion," is, as related to the discussion above, something we might take to heart. Milo G. Nelson FILMS - REVIEWS 9.
Training Film Profiles. Olympic Media Information, 161 West 22 Street, New York, NY 10011. Bimonthly with annual cumula-tion. 1968-. $150.00 annually. Training Film Profiles is a unique service providing authoritative reviews of films, filmstrips, media kits, etc., in the area of instruc-tional media. The items reviewed range from a film on consumer power with Ralph Nader to a guidance film about teenagers solving their career problems. There are films included on self--improve-merit, human relations and psychology. The reviews, written by well--qualified reviewers, are not signed, as the reviews may reflect the opinions of a round robin approach. The sixth edition alone covered 240 films, and there seems to be a very low percentage of overlap with comparative services like Landers Film Reviews. Each profile is complete on one page, providing information and evaluation within a standard format which provides the title, the running time, color, type of film, year of release, primary audience, a short statement of content, a long synopsis of the film, discussion questions, evaluation and ordering information. The profiles come with a sturdy vinyl binder. A complete set of v. 1--7 (which includes some revised editions) sells for a package price of $375.00. New subscribers may want to start with v. 8 which will come out in six installments through May 1976. I have examined the cumulated Title and Subject Indexes: Volumes I--VI, 1969--1974, and the publisher indicates that a copy of the index can be obtained gratis upon request. I would suggest that anyone considering purchase of the service send for a copy of the index as an introduction to its scope. An excellent review of this service appeared in The Booklist feature, "Reference and Subscription Books Reviews" (November 1, 1974), and Olympic has reprinted t h e review (after updating the headline) as an advertising flyer. In the last paragraph of the Bookltst review two other services were cited as providing indexing access to Training Film Profiles: Film Review Index and Multi Media Reviews lndex. The new names of those two services, of course, are International Index to Multi Media Information and Media Review Digest, respectively. The publisher, Walter J_ Carroll, has a Masters in Communication Arts from NYU (1963), has experience in film production and works as a consultant in training media. His company offers other outstanding services such as Hospital/Health Care Training Media
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pierian press As your budget gets tighter you n e e a t h e b e s t a d v i c e you c a n find. r~wl~'Pq
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Media Review Digest is the most comprehensive and current selection, acquisition, cataloging, and reference tool in its field - the world o f non-book media. A n d that makes it the handiest comparative yardstick for media-making people. • MRD (as we call it) covers both educational and feature films, filmstrips, records, tapes, (popular, classical, and spoken word) plus the special media: slides, transparencies, overlays, kits, maps and charts. • A l l educational material is catalogued with descriptions o f subject content, Library o f Congress headings, Dewey Decimal numbers, and grade level indications. • MRD carries from f i f t y to sixty thousand review citations per year, many thousands o f which include digests o f major reviews. • You can find anything from A i r Pollution to Marlene Dietrich in our extensive mediagraphies. • There's even a special section on awards and prizes, in addition to award citations with the regular entries. • The subscription package includes the big hardcover annual cumulation followed by quarterly supplements updating them, plus a subject index to the year's entries at the end of the subscription year. • And i f you're a specialist in either sound or visual media, you don't have to buy the whole shebang to get total access to your area. Here are our packages: MRD Part I: Films and Videotapes, Filmstrips and Miscellaneous Media. Annual Cumulation, Three supplements, Subject Index $42.50 plus postage •MRD Part I1: Records and Tapes Annual Cumulation, Three supplements, Subject Index $30.00 plus postage MRD Parts/arid I1: (both of the above packages at a savinq) $65.00 plus postage
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Consumers Index
ON MEDIA REVIEW DIGEST AND SO WHAT HAS CONSUMERS INDEX TO DO WITH ALL THIS? Well, Consumerslndex is the consumer's source for review information on products and services, right? Right. We didn't leave out media aids like projectors, record players, tape decks, cameras, associated furniture, a n d sound equipment. In fact, there's a whole section devoted to it: SIGHT AND SOUND. You'll find an awful lot we didn "t leave out.
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ject headings for t h e same subject and come up with variant cita-tions. Since there are no cross references there is no way the u n wary searcher will realize that he is losing information. The lndex duplicates itself, adds to the printing cost because of greater bulk when it repeats the same (or part of the same) data under permu-tated subject headings, and creates a poor data retrieval system. Other examples o f inconsistent subject headings abound. All of the entries under " E d u c a t i o n " are handled in the same manner as "Secondary Education." Under "Women" there are articles under three different subject headings all related to the same topic -- W o m e n in the military, To obtain complete data on this topic the searcher m u s t check three citations: "Women -- in Armed Forces," "Women in U.S. A r m e d Forces," and "Women in Armed Forces Service." Such vagaries in assignation of subject headings make the searcher suspicious o f the logic behind the Index's organization and wary o f the quality o f retrieval. Typographical errors are disturbing, not so much for themselves but because they are exacerbated by the use of the computer which, when it reads an incorrect alphabetization mechanically prints it. Thus under CHICA, People's Republic of, a citation is printed and lost forever to t h e real subject CHINA. More careful proofreading is needed to avoid such serious results. There is confusion in m y mind as to the criteria used in placing a citation under a "general" topic rather than the specific. Why un-der "Kissinger, H e n r y " are there subjects for "Press Conference" and "Press Conferences"? The lack o f synonomy must derive from variations in h u m a n indexers -- but it is mandatory that this p r o blem be solved if the Index is to be of use in either the general or documents library. The basic concept behind the lndex is laudable. We do need access to more government publications, but it must be t r u s t worthy access. Review based on annual volume for 1974. Other reviews: RQ Spring, 1975 ; WLB Dec. 1974; ARBA, 1975. Kathleen Heim
Profiles (1974 - ) and the new in 1975 Educational Media Catalogs on Microfiche. Training Film Profiles will n o t be a necessary purchase for gen-eral reference collections, but it is highly recommended for s p e cialized learning resource centers and audiovisual collections i n terested in providing information on vocational training and other manpower development films. A n o t h e r market for Training Film Profiles would be businesses with training programs, and other large institutions. Richard Centing PERIODICALS -- INDEXES Jan., 1 9 7 4 - - . Editor: 10. Index to U.S. Government Periodicals. Allan Carpenter. Published quarterly in May, August, November and March. Indexing for the fourth quarter is included in the c u mulative issue published in March. Publisher: Ivan A. Watters, Jr. lnfordata International Incorporated, Suite 4602, 175 East Delaware Place, Chicago, Illinois 60611. $ 150.00 per year. This new guide to the contents o f government periodicals is a significant addition to bibliographic control o f periodical literature. There is no d o u b t that a service which analyzes the contents o f 139 publications is a substantial accomplishment deserving recognition from librarians and information users. This index is a necessary purchase for medium and large libraries o f ~ill types. A good indi-cation o f need would be the P.A.I.S. service. Libraries using P.A. /,S. should find the Index to U.S. Government Periodicals a useful addition to retrieval tools. However, there are two glaring pro-blems which need to be solved before the lndex is the valuable tool it should be: 1) justification for the journals chosen for indexing and 2) problems with the Index's organization and choice o f sub-ject headings_ 1) Journals Chosen for Indexing The Index lists an Editorial Advisory Board o f prominent li-brarians and yet there is no indication o f h o w the lndex makes use of their expertise. It would greatly enhance the confidence of the user if a preface or introduction by the Editorial Board outlined cricriteria for the inclusion o f a periodical in the Index. The pool o f possible journals for inclusion is best delineated in the February, 1974 edition of the Monthly Catalog: 1;203 sub-scription publications are listed therein. Of this 1,203 (some o f which are n o t suitable since they themselves are abstracts or i n dices) the Index to U.S. Government Periodicals indexes 139 approximately 10%. Of the 139 chosen periodicals at least 35 are indexed elsewhere (P.A.1.S. provides the most duplication, but the Social Science I n dex, Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, Education Index, and Business Periodical lndex all offer some duplication)_ Of the r e maining publications some 35 are o f a military nature -- titles such as Air Reservist, Army Logistician, and Navy Lifeline -- which corn-prise 25% of all the journals indexed. Since military publications bulk so large in the scope of the Index it seems that there m u s t be a tacit editorial policy. If this is so, w h y not make it public so that users are aware o f the scope? There is real difficulty in fitting this index into a search s t r a tegy. If kept in the Documents area it functions as a supplement to the Monthly Catalog in that it provides access to government p r o duced data. The duplication with other services indicates that this might be the best use, since the publications important to the gen-eral subject search are covered by standard indexing services. How-ever, the range o f the lndex is so vast (besides the DoD publications mentioned above journals as disparate as Postal Life and Shellfish Market Review and Outlook are covered), that it should probably be included in literature searches that wish to be exhaustive. There is a real problem in passing the lndex to the unwary user, however, and the librarian suggesting the lndex as a source of data should a lert the user to t h e contrarieties o f its organization. Problems with the lndex's Organization and Subject Headings Subject searches are greatly frustrated when using the lndex due to a poor cross--referencing system and inconsistent use o f sub-ject headings. The lndex is an author--subject computer-generated product and once a mistake is programmed it repeats to irritate the 2)
user.
Consider a sample search: Approach the lndex under "Secon-dary Education." Ten citations are listed. There is no cross r e f erence to other terms. Under "Education, Secondary," there are two citations and under "Education - Secondary" there are nine citations - neither has a cross reference to the other heading. This means that one can approach the Index under three different sub--
PHILOSOPHY 11.
The Philosopher's Index. Editor: Richard H. Lineback. The Philosopher's Index, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403. Quarterly. $32.00/year. Single issues, i n cluding back issues, $8.00. Annual cumulative edition, published in the Spring, hardbound, $20.00. Spring, 1967 - .
Repertoire bibliographique de la philosophic. Editor: Georges Van Riet. Editions de l'Institut superieur de Philosophic de 1' Universite Catholique de Louvain, Kardinaal Mercierplein 2, B-3000 Louvain, Belgium. Quarterly. The Repertoire supplements the quarterly, Revue philosophique de Louvain. The Repertoire with the Revue, $31.00/year. The Repertoire without the Revue, $18.00/year, excluding postage. 1949 --. Put aside Choice, Katz, Farber and Winchell. Their descriptions are out of date. The Philosopher's Index needs a new analysis be-cause it has finally evolved into a first--rate bibliographic tool -changing most dramatically only this last year. This review d e scribes and analyzes the more important changes and provides a comparative evaluation with t h e Repertoire bibliographique de la
philosophie_ The Philosopher's Index is a computer produced publication of the Philosophy D o c u m e n t a t i o n Center at Bowling Green State University. It is "a subject and author index with abstracts_ All major philosophy journals in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian are indexed, along with selected journals in other languages and related interdisciplinary publications." (Index, Spring, 1975, ii.) In addition it contains a book review index and a "Transla-tions in progress" section. Richard H. Lineback, editor of the lndex since its beginning, has been working with computer applications in philosophy since 1966 chiefly as director of the Philosophy Documentation Center. Un-der his direction the Center also publishes the Directory o f Amert--
can Philosophers, International Directory o f Philosophy and Philos-ophers, prepares custom bibliographies in philosophy u p o n request and serves as Editorial Center, U.S.A., for Bibliography o f Philosophy. The lndex probably owes its growth into an excellent re-search tool to his continuing editorship. Since its first issue the Index has undergone almost constant change. Those w e will assess include: journal selection; abstracts; format; "Book Review Index;" "Subject Index." Journal Selection. Using as a g u i d e " l ) t h e purpose o f the journal, 2) its circulation, and 3) recommendations from members of the philosophic c o m m u n i t y , " the editors selected for vol.I "all major
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American and British philosophical periodicals, selected journals in other languages, and selected related interdisciplinary publications." But the first list was truly lean, only 70 titles. Ulrich's for 1 9 6 5 1966thad about 230 philosophy or philosophy related titles; the Repertoire Bibliographique (1967) indexed over 350. A n o t h e r shortcoming, the l n d e x was closer to forecast t h a n fact when it claimed to be international, with only a third of its titles in foreign languages - mostly in French. For comprehensiveness the .early volumes could scarcely rival the Repertoire. But by 1975 the Index has expanded its coverage to over 270 periodicals - "all major philosophy journals in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian with se!ectedjournals in other, tongru e s . . . " Over half are in other languages, 12 from Latin America, 10 from the East, 8 from European Communist countries and 1 from Africa. The lndex holds several Indian journals and in all about 80 titles not in the Repertoire. (Neither the Index nor the Repertoirq list Russian or Chinese periodicals.) The present lndex, though still n o t matching the Repertoire, has reached respectable size. The interdisciplinary titles in the Index are of special n o t e . Whether or n o t philosophers simply fostered the impression that philosophy must operate in a vacuum, the interdisciplinary trend in education has pressed philosophy teachers to relate their know-ledge to other fields. PhilosOphy related interdisciplinary journals provide a needed bridge of increasing interest to all members o f the college c o m m u n i t y concerned with the inter-relations between philosophy and other disciplines. The Index does a fine job o f locating these journals in one place. Neither the Humanities Index, which has only a few of the philosophy related titles listed in the Index, nor the Repertoire can touch it. In fact the Repertoire, while including some interdisciplinary titles, deliberately avoids them. The aim of the Repertoire is to list philosophical literature as such; t h e adjective is understood rather strictly, with the result that scientific disciplines which are more or less related to philosophy, even the auxiliary sciences of philosophy, are not treated o f in their own right. (Repertoire, 1974, vi.) This means that philosophy proper is concerned with knowledge for its own sake, not with its applications to other fields. It reflects the long standing classical bent o f its editorship_ The effects o f this pohcy are interesting compared with the Index. Over a third of t h e titles found in the lndex and not in the Repertoire are clearly interdisciplinary. For example the lndex has titles such as the Journal o f the Philosophy o f Sports, Journal
o f Social Philosophy. Philosophy and Public Affairs, Philosophy in Context, Political Theory. It also indexes 8 philosophy related education journals excluded from the Repertoire. The Repertoire also bypasses interdisciplinary titles because the increasing volume of this literature, plus the availability of specialized bibliographical guides to it, rule out any p o s sibility of incorporating it into the Repertoire. This underscores the attractiveness of the Index. University libraries might house such special bibliographies; college libraries probably would not. But m a n y students o f philosophy-related topics have no easy access to university libraries and use college libraries instead, The Index with its good selection o f interdisciplinary journals would be valuable to libraries that cannot invest in a n u m b e r o f bibliographic specialities. Abstracts. The Index introduced its abstract section in 1969. Each entry in this section begins with the author's name and also contains the complete title of the article, other biblio-graphic ,information and an abstract of the article. The list is arranged in strict alphabetical order with the author's last name first. The abstracts are in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and sometimes in Polish. Almost all abstracts are provided by the author of the article. A few come from the Philosophical Institute of the University of Dusseldorf and from the staff o f Language and Language Behavior Abstracts_ The editors of the Index will prepare abstracts "only under extenuating circumstances, e.g., the death of the author." While the Index never experienced a serious time lag in listing article titles, it does seem to have a problem with the supply of abstracts. Some articles lack abstracts because they were not s e n t in time for publication. Using Spring, 1975, as a sample, two-thirds of the articles in English have abstracts b u t fully two--thirds of the articles in other languages do not. Like the interdisciplinary titles, the abstracts not only distinguish the Index from the Repertoire but also make it a special value for college libraries since the user can read abstracts for content before
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requesting pertinent articles on inter--library loan. Format. Format problems plagued the Index from the start. Computer produced, set in uniform caps (like the Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities), it was hard to scan, and for some reason its printing quality was terribly uneven. So it was often hard to read. Vol. III added mind strain to eye strain by employing a "reference code" to lead the user from subject or author entries to entries in the "Bibliographic Data and Abstracts" section. For example the code PAUSML-69--JAP unravels as Marian L. Pauson (author), 1969, Jung: A Priori (a paraphrase of the article title). Fortunately the editors soon opted for citing the author's full name after the article title. But I can vouch that even serious undergraduate majors had given the Index the kiss of death. Happily the present Index shows dramatic improvements: a new page size to reduce bulk (from quarto to octavo), and a new layout. Now a page in the Index looks m u c h like a page in the new Humani,. ties Index -- two columns, bold face caps for subject and author headings, plain face smaller type for the entries under them. At last the Index is easy to scan, pleasant to read. "'Book Review Index. "' The new format makes the "Book Review Index" a pleasure to use. It "lists in alphabetical order the authors of books reviewed in philosophy journals." Each entry gives complete bibliographic information. Under each entry is listed the reviewer's n a m e , t h e journal in which the review appeared, the volume, pagination and date. Sometimes more than one review is cited. Often book reviews for the same work appear in more than one issue. The Repertoire, however, offers a far more extensive book review section each November. It carries twice the titles o f the Index though it claims to indicate only the more important reviews. The book review section lists author, abbreviated book title, title initials of the reviewing journal, year, volume, pagination_ It too is easy to scan. "Subject Index." The Philosopher's Index has a valuable subject index which lists in alphabetical order the significant words and names describing the content of the articles indexed. It works like the index at t h e back of a textbook. The entries under each subject heading include the complete article title and the author's name. A scan of subject headings locates the desired topic. If the article title seems relevant, the author's name is used to find complete bibli0graphic information in the " A u t h o r ' s Index and Abstracts." (By inadvertance p. xv of the Spring, 1975, issue refers to this section as "Bibliographic Data and Abstracts," its earlier Index designation.) Cross--references in the subject index are minimal. Curiously the cross--reference for "Western Philosophy, see Occidental" is a blind entry. A subject index succeeds if it can be scanned readily, if its headings are sufficient to describe the content o f an article and if the headings are correctly applied. The Index does well on all three counts. First, the new format takes care of scanning. Second, coming up with sufficient headings proves no problem. The Index uses proper names, nationalities, historical periods, major fields of philosophy, major subdivisions of philosophy, other specific topics, and bibliography. The divisions under these classifications conform to c o m m o n usage in the philosophic community. Third, the Index applies these headings well_ This calls for an editorial staff of philosophic competence. As the Index relates, " t h e editors read each article to determine which subject headings accurately describe it," The same skill is needed for the more difficult task of creating headings that fit special topics and which the general philosophic c o m m u n i t y might be expected to recognize - e.g., Nelson Goodm a n ' s fictitious colors "grue" and "bleen." The Index has such specialists. Most are in the Directory o f American ,Scholars. Their interests span all major areas of philosophy. The reliability of the subject index undoubtedly owes m u c h to them. The Regertoire does not have a subject index as such. The body o f the Repertoire is a classified list of book and article titles (with full bibliographica data) laid out according to major divisions 0[ philosophy such as ancient, contemporary, aesthetics, ethics, etc. Each entry has an identifying n u m b e r attached. The user consults the table to proper names or the table des anonymes (something like an index of titles--cum-subject headings) for the name, title, or subject and identification number which will locate the rele" r a n t entry in the classified list. Actually a simple procedure_ He w~ ever, since titles often misrepresent the content and since the head" ings of the Repertoire are quite generic and the user m a y well by" pass pertinent material The Repertoire could benefit from a sub" ject index like that of the Index. Comparative Evaluation. Both for price and comprehensivene~ the Repertoire has the distinct advantage. It even boasts a list of
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July/September 1975
47
book titles its editors consider exhaustive. On the other hand the Repertoire's table of names and table des anonymes provide limited access to article content. In this area the Index, with its excellent subject index and abstracts, is clearly superior. The Repertoire aims primarily at storage of bibliographic data, the Index at service -efficient and simple data retrieval. Which should the library hold? Ideally both. But the Index has special value for m e d i u m to small academic libraries because of its interdisciplinary titles, subject index and abstracts. It seems d e signed b o t h for the student and professional_ However, libraries like bibliographies -- often see themselves as either storage or service centers. Probably those tending one way will stock the Repertoire; those leaning the other way will supply the Index. Either choice is excellent. Dr. Louis Tenzis REFERENCE--BIBLIOGRAPHY 12. American Reference Books Annual 1975. Volume 6. Editor: Bohdan S. Wynar. Assistant Editor: Sally Wynkoop. Editorial Assistant: A n n J_ Harwell. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., PO Box 263, Littleton, Colorado 80120. Annual. 1970 --. $25.00. Index to American Reference Books Annual 1970--1974: A Cumulative lndex to Subjects, Authors, and Titles. [By] Joseph W. Sprug. Preface by Bohdan S. Wynar. Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1974. $18.50. As I was preparing this review, correspondence was received in the Reference Department of The Ohio State University Libraries from editors at Libraries Unlimited concerning the July 15, 1975 review o f ARBA in The Booklist column "Reference and S u b scription Books Reviews," prepared by members of t h e ALA Reference and Subscription Books Review Committee (RSBRC). Part o f the correspondence was a series of complaints entitled "Unfair Review o f American Reference Books Annual" signed by Bohdan S. Wynar and directed to the RSBRC. Wynar has called for an airing in the library press of his concern about the review, and I would suggest that members of the p r o fession interested in a publisher's response to a RSBRC review write Mr. Wynar for a copy o f his statement. Perhaps in a follow--up review in Serials Review we can take into consideration all sides of the issue_ One problem in dealing with reviews in the RSBRC column, of course, is thetr a n o n y m i t y , and t h e problem of "too m a n y cooks_" The practical justification for a n o n y m i t y in the case of the RSBRC is the fact that no one person writes the review: it is a group effort. It would be possible to string o u t the initials o f each committee reviewer after each review to which a member contributed: but still we would n o t know who wrote which damning line or corn-posed which blurbable phrase_ It was Schopenhauer in his essay " O n Criticism" who said: " A n a n o n y m o u s review has no more authority than an a n o n y m o u s letter." Following this thinking, the TLS moved away from its traditional policy of a n o n y m i t y June 7, 1974, and in an editorial called "Naming Names" came to the conclusion that modern readers would best be served by signed reviews_ This prompted a letter to the editor of TLS (June 28, 1974) complaining about the change. " A n o n y m o u s j u d g e m e n t s , " according to the letter writer, "focus attention on their truth whereas personal judgements lead to speculations about personality and individual opinions." There are probably not m a n y n o w who would defend the cloak of ano-n y m i t y for reviews written by one person. Actually, the art of reviewing reference tools is a question very germane to a discussion o f A R B A , for ARBA has elected to provide the profession not only a convenient bibliography of American reference books (a service which alone makes ARBA a top priority choice for any well--stocked reference shelf) but evaluative reviews of those tools as well. The first page o f introductory material in ARBA raises the point of anonymity, by offering a qualification of its usual procedure o f signed reviews: "The reviews that are not signed were prepared by members of the ARBA editorial staff, b u t any editorial reviews that are critical are signed." In other words, reviews by the editorial staff that are positive are not signed. Why not? A positive review offers as m u c h judgement as a critical one. In fact, a positive review (assuming that one agrees with its p o s i tive position) has a heavier responsibility: it tempts one to purchase the item reviewed. ARBA signs its critical reviews so the p r o f e s sion can respond to the signatory reviewer. It should sign every review. The very first review in ARBA 1975 is of ARBA 1974; it is positive and unsigned. At the very least, ARBA should have a s signed this review to a disinterested party. As ARBA says, "ARBA is an important aid to selection," and it is this process o f evahia-
48
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July/September 1975
tion, selection and purchase which is vital to libraries, and especially so in these budget--crunching years, The reviews in the literature of librarianship rarely compare on an analytical level to those published in established scholarly periodicals. G. Thomas Tanselle's review of Proof and Studies in Bibliography in the TLS (August 8, 1975) and Leonard Rapport's fantastic dissection of Poulton's Historian's Handbook in The American Archivist (January 1973) are rarely matched in library literature. ARBA has an admirable policy of citing reviews in other professional reviewing sources; mostly library journals, except for the worthy inclusion of the New York Times Book Review. ARI~A (4:301) says that Poulton's Historian's Handbook is "useful in libraries of a l l types," and despite its faults, I would agree with that judgment. I would just like to see more citations to scholarly journals other than library journals. In the area of library journals, however,lARBA added a special feature to ARBA 1975, an article by Ching--Chih Chen and Thomas J. Galvin, "Reviewing the Liter-ature of Librarianship: A State of the Art Report." The sixth volu m e of ARBA has increased its coverage of "general monographs of interest to the library profession," in a chapter entitled "Librarian_ ship and Library Resources," reviewing 150 items over 80pp. It is a great innovation. The books reviewed in the article are not all reference books (by ARBA's own admission) but the whole article is of inestimable reference value . . . to library school students and to professionals' continuing education. ARBA is released in the Spring of each year (the sixth volume lists the date of publication as April 28, 1 9 7 5 ) - - " f o u r months after the close of the year" as their news release says -- and it is so gratifying to see this schedule accomplished_ This makes ARBA valuable as a checklist for acquisitions purposes. While most libraries would have purchased m a n y of the obvious titles akeady (Ulrich's et al), the ARBA compilation serves as a backup for selection since it attempts to list anything that might be deemed a reference book (as there is no universal standard definition of a reference book, I think it is better to accept the possible inclusion in ARBA of marginal titles than to face the possibility of Libraries Unlimited not listing something by applying an overly rigid definition . .. again see The Booklist review). The majority o f the reviews in ARBA exhibit timeliness and helpfulness. There are occasional omissions. ARBA 1975 did not review Scholar's Market: An International Directory o f Periodicals Publishing Literary Scholarship, published by The Ohio State University Libraries in 1974. Hopefully, this will be picked up by ARBA in 1976, as ARBA does re-view books a year later when they did not receive a copy for review in time. It is incumbent on publishers to make sure that Bohdan S. Wynar does receive copies of reference publications; in my opinion, a determined effort of the publishing c o m m u n i t y should assist and insure that editors at ARBA have a copy of every American reference book before each annual goes to press. But what will ARBA do about titles that it missed completely in the past? It has not reviewed two newspapers indexes: The Atlanta Constitution: A Georgia Index (1971--) and the Minneapolis Tribune & Minneapolis Star Index (1971--). To miss a newspaper index, the mainstary of reference work, is an unjustifiable lapse. A n d the lateness of some reviews brings into question the whole process of selection. The review in ARBA 1975 of The Whole COSMEP Catalog (1973) offers little guidance toward selection. Should a librarian (after he reads the ARBA 1975 review) go out and purhcase the Catalog? ARBA says that the "information" in t h e Catalog "is certainly not available elsewhere." Is this an unqualified endorsement? At this point in time, I would say that purchase of the Whole COSMEP Catalog was not a valid decision (see m y review of the Catalog in RSR, v.2, no.4). The Small Press Review, Margins, and the 1 lth edition of the International Directory o f Little Magazines . . . not to mention the more mainstream bibliographic tools . . . review and checklist enough little magazines to keep a budget officer quite busy: an assemblage of outdated advertisements such as the Catalog is part of the problem, not part of the solution. It would seem that ARBA could be treated as other professional ' serials in large research libraries, and extra copies purchased for professional routing pools. ARBA should be read and digested. It is not an inert, retrospective checklist, but a major reviewing media, one that should be consumed u p o n delivery as we devour a new issue of RQ. The Republic o f Information has been enriched by the six volumes o f ARBA. The issuance o f a five--year cumulative index to ARBA and the continuation o f its annual index is a contribution deserving o f sustained applause. When reference publishing has reached such a sorry state that Abstracts in Anthropology (Baywood) doesn't even issue annual indexes, we must render psychic and economic support to a publisher that improves
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All from recent issues of COMMENTARY, and there's a lot more unconventional wisdom coming in the months ahead. We encourage the rare thinkers who can turn a popular argument around and get us to look at it from new vantage points, who can summon the facts necessary to help us distinguish truth from something someone wants us to believe is true. Our mission is to put conventional wisdom to the t e s t . . , to search out and publish authentically new thoughts and ideas.
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SERIALS REVIEW
C-1
July/September 1975
49
the species.
Richard R. Centing REHABILITATION - ABSTRACTS
13. Rehabilitation Literature. Editor: Helen B_ Crane. Published by the National Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults, 2023 West Ogden Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60612. Monthly. $12.50. 1940-. Rehabilitation Literature was initiated at a time when society began to realize the need for more and more abstract journals in new and highly specialized subject fields. This important abstracting service has been published for thirty-five years by the National Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children and Adults, a nationwide federation of societies dedicated to the purpose o f improving the care and treatment of handicapped persons. Formerly titled Bul-letin on Current Literature (volume 1--16, 1940--1955), it is an educational service of t h e National Easter Seal Society, t h o u g h n o t a house organ of that group. Rehabilitation Literature~s purpose is twofold: First, it attempts to serve as a facility to promote communications among t h e various specialists in the field, i.e., to inform readers o f current developments in one's own field and in related areas. Second, it attempts to collect, identify, organize, describe, and abstract current books, journal articles, pamphlets, and government documents pertaining to the care, welfare, education, and employment of handicapped children and adults. Current issues are about thirty pages long and are usually divided into seven sections: "Article o f the m o n t h , " "Special Articles," "Special Report," "Book Reviews," "Abstracts of Current Literature," "Events and C o m m e n t s , " and "Author Index." The "Article of the M o n t h " runs about five pages, and might be considered a " s t a t e - o f - - t h e - a r t " message in that it summarizes current knowledge and recent developments in a given area. Appreciably shorter, "Special Articles" consists o f opinions o f authors on particular subjects, or a report on a program, project, or piece of research by an individual or group. "Special Report" is similar, b u t apparently focuses attention on a single subject. Articles are by prominent professionals in the field. Most o f the papers include a "List of References" at the end. The "Book Reviews" section presents summaries of recent Eng-lish language publications on all phases of handicapped children and adult rehabilitation. The books are excellently cited (including price and address), and t h e reviews are usually three or four p a r a graphs long. "Abstracts o f Current Literature" is a guide to materials appearing in current English language journals. Entries are alphabetically arranged by the subject headings in use in the Library o f the N a tional Easter Seal Society. It is particularly helpful to find authors' names and addresses given for each article. Notices of u p - c o m i n g conferences and symposia, legislative reports, new publications, and other news items are found in "Events and C o m m e n t s . " An " A u t h o r Index" alphabetically lists surnames and forenames of persons cited as author (personal or corporate) in the issue. Rehabilitation Literature is extremely current -- most references in the June, 1975 issue are March and April citations! The abstracts are complete and well-written, and the publication is attractive and easy to use. Because o f its thirty--five years o f publication, one is able to gain an historical perspective in the literature. Earlier issues (prior to three years) are kept on microfilm by University Microfilms, Inc. Xerox copies are available. A micro-film edition o f Volumes 1-25 (January, 1940--December, 1964) is available for $55.00. Current subscribers to the regular printed edition m a y also subscribe to a microfilm edition that is distributed at the end of each volume year. Rehabilitation Literature is covered more than adequately by other sources. Contributed articles are indexed selectively in Index Medicus, Excerpta Medica : Section 19, Psychological Abstracts, Hospital Literature Index, Abstracts for Social Workers, Mental Retardation Abstracts, DHS Abstracts (Deafness, Speech and Hearing Publications, Inc.), Exceptional Child Education Abstracts, Current Contents, Current Index to Journals in Education, and Language Behavior Abstracts. The publication could be improved by providing the user with a list o f journals regularly searched. Monthly and annual subject indexes would be a great time-saver for the researcher who has m a n y years o f the set to check. Subject headings would be more useful if they were standardized according to Index Medicus or the Library of Congress classification. Rehabilitation Literature is intended for use by professional
50
SERIALS REVIEW
July/September 1975
personnel and students in all disciplines concerned with rehabili_ tation of the handicapped. Physicians, occupational, physical, and speech and hearing therapists, nurses, welfare workers, teachers of exceptional children, psychologists, counselors and others working with handicapped children and adults will find this publication useful. The documentation provided by this service at a modest price is a m u s t for hospitals, college and university libraries, public libraries, schools and research institutions. Carol A n n Winchell RESEARCH 14. Research Centers Directory, Fifth Edition. Edited by Archie M. Palmer. Gale Research Company, ~Detroit, 1975 (1,039 pages). $68.00. New Research Centers Directory: A Periodic Supplement to Research Centers Directory (Covers the period between the Fifth and sixth Editions o f Research Centers Directory). Edited by Archie M. Palmer_ Gale Research Company, Detroit. (Softbound, interedition subscription with binder) $64.00. May, 1975--. Research Centers Directory is a standard reference work that is utilized in m a n y reference departments t h r o u g h o u t the country. The Fifth Edition contains 5,491 entries, which include 1,200 new listings since the F o u r t h Edition (1972). According to Arehie M. Palmer, Editor of the Directory, the listings include research institutes, centers, foundations, laboratories, bureaus, experiment stations and similar non--profit research facilities, activities and organizations. In addition to being non-profit, the research units are idetnified by specific or distinctive n a m e s or titles and are established on a permanent basis as separate entities for carrying on continuing research programs. Research Centers Directory covers the following fields of endeavor: agriculture, business, conservation, education, the humaniities, the social and behavioral sciences, religion, government and public affairs, labor and industrial relations, the life sciences, the physical and earth sciences, regional and area studies, the professions, engineering and technology. Each entry lists, when applicable, the following invaluable information: formal name, name of parent or affiliated institution, previous name, address, phone number, director's name, year founded, status: affiliated, independent, etc., sources o f support, size and type o f staff, annual budget, principal fields of activity, special research facilities and their availability for use by outsiders, media in which results are published, serial and periodic publications with their frequencies, recurring seminars, conferences courses, and special library facilities. The research centers are organized into sixteen broad classified sections. Within each section the research centers are arranged alphabetically under their parent institutions. In addition to these sixteen broad classifications, the Directory provides three indexes: (1) institutional index, (2) alphabetical index of research centers and (3) an extensive subject index which lists the centers by their principal fields of research. The Research Centers Directory is an invaluable and authoritative reference tool that provides, in one volume, comprehensive and concise information on non--profit research organizations. The excellent arrangement and indexes makes this information easily accessible to the user. The Directory is an absolute must for medium and large research reference departments. New Research Centers is a periodic supplement to Reserach Centers Directory, which covers the period between the Fifth and Sixth Editions o f both the Research Centers Directory and New Research Centers, the supplement provides information in the same format as entries in the Directory. New Research Centers provides the following information: centers established since the current edition (Fifth) of Research Centers Directory went to press, those centers which were omitted inadvertently and centers in the process o f formation. The supplem e n t also includes significant changes in the status o f the centers and additional information on activities o f centers listed in the Research Centers Directory. The supplement provides both a institutional and alphabetic index of the listings. On the surface, the New Research Centers supplement appears to be a valuable companion in up--dating the Research Centers Directory (there is no m e n t i o n or projection as to when the-Sixth Edition of Research Centers Directory will appear), but until a pattern of frequency of publication is established, one would need to question spending $64.00 for this work. James W. Fry SECURITY CLASSIFICATION (GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS)
15. The Declassified Documents Reference System. Carrollton Press, Inc_, 1911 Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22209. 1975-. With The Declassified Documents Reference System, Carrollton Press is beginning the publication o f a major new research source and reference tool for the study o f America's role in the post-World War II era. Carrollton publisher William Buchanan is attempting nothing less t h a n the acquisition, cataloging, indexing, and microfiche publication o f the m a n y thousands of formerly classified U.S. government documents which have been and are being declassified under Executive Order 11,652 and t h e recent Freedom of Information Act amendments. Executive Order 11,652 appeared in the Federal Register on March 10, 1972 and became effective on June 1, 1972. Basically it laid down new rules for the classification o f documents in s p e c ified categories (Top Secret, Secret, and Confidential), and r e stricted the authority to classify to certain departments a n d a g e n - cies which allegedly have such need. Most important, it also laid down specific rules under which classified d o c u m e n t s m u s t be automatically declassified after a m a x i m u m o f ten years, a change from the former thirty-year rule. Exception to automatic d e classification is made for " e x e m p t e d " material whose declassification might still not be in the national interest, mainly d o c u m e n t s dealing with intelligence operations, cryptography, and the like, However " e x e m p t e d " items are subject to "mandatory review" of classification status after ten years if such review is requested by any m e m b e r o f the public_ The a m e n d m e n t s to the Freedom of Information Act, effective February 19, 1975, have made it possible to request declassification of more recent material r e lating to current national security issues. E.O_ 11,652 also requires classifying agencies and departments to submit annual declassification lists to the newly established Interagency Classification Review Committee, which will serve as a watchdog to restrict "overclassification" and to monitor compliance with the new regulations. T h o u g h still permitting a substantial a m o u n t o f secrecy in g o v ernment operations, the new regulations are resulting in an acceleration o f declassification procedures, especially m the case o f d o c u ments classified within the last thirty years. However the U.S. government has no formal provision for making the newly declassified material available to the public, and the Carrollton Press is undertaking to fill this gap in the transmittal of these once-secret documents. The Declassified Documents Reference System's main ongoing publication is issued quarterly, beginning with Volume One, Num-ber One, January--March, 1975, and consists of three parts. There is a microfiche set of declassified d o c u m e n t s from a variety of departments and agencies. A printed Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog gives full citations and abstracts of t h e d o c u ments in the microfiche set, arranged alphabetically by the names of government agencies and departments. Also a printed Cumulative
Subject Index to the Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog indexes in depth the Quarterly Catalog and the microfiche collection, which is arranged in the same sequence as the entries in the Quarterly Catalog. The index cumulates through each year, so reference to earlier quarterly index issues is unnecessary.ln addition to the quarterly publication, Carrollton Press is offering a R e t r o spective Collection o f more than 8,000 declassified d o c u m e n t s on microfiche with its own printed catalog and subject index, So far the first two quarterly issues of 1975 have appeared. They include somewhat more than seven hundred and fifty de-classified d o c u m e n t s from the AEC, CIA, Department o f Defense, National Security Council, Department of State, and the White House. The second issue contains a n u m b e r of items n o w housed in presidential libraries, a feautre which should prove useful to researchers who formerly had no easy means of access to classified material in these institutions. T y p e s o f d o c u m e n t s include telegrams, letters, memoranda, field reports, intelligence e s timates, minutes of cabinet-level meetings, military directives, position papers, and messages from foreign leaders. Content covers a wide range o f foreign and domestic matters, for example n u m e r ous CIA reports on Vietnam, East Germany, the Middle East, and other trouble areas o f the world. Defense Department items include the parts of the Pentagon Papers not previously released, a good sequence o f d o c u m e n t s on the 1948 Berlin Blockade, and reports on military involvement in the civil-rights riots of t h e 1960's. State Department documents include Embassy telegrams on the Chinese Civil War, 1948-9, reports on DeGaulle's policies, and studies o f the police organization o f East Germany in t h e 1940's. Former classifications included Top Secret, Secret, Confidential, and Limited Official Use. A few d o c u m e n t s are "sanitized," i.e. not completely declassified, for example the Pentagon Papers;
however m o s t o f t h e d o c u m e n t s have been released in their en-tirety. The d o c u m e n t s date mostly from the 1940's through the 1960's, with a very few items which were classified after 1970. Coverage, so far, tends to be mainly political and military, with emphasis on foreign relations. Future material is promised from a wider variety of government azencies and departments. Excluded from the collection are d o c u m e n t s which were declassified auto-matically in bulk following expiration of the thirty year rule (mainly d o c u m e n t s prior to 1945), items included in Foreign Relations of the US., and research reports indexed and published on microfiche by NTIS, AEC, and NASA. So far The Declassified Documents Reference System is impressive as a well-organized, competently-published source for a type of material which has never before been dealt with by a commercial publisher. The abstracts in the Quarterly Catalog adequately describe the contents o f the documents, and each item is fully cited by issuing agency or department, date, type of document, author, security classification, and declassification or release date. A useful glossary of terms and abbreviations appearing in documents is printed in each Quarterly Catalog. The indexing is of sufficient depth, with emphasis on n a m e s o f countries, proper names, and general subject terms. Each term indexes to the year, page number, and letter designation of t h e entry on the page. For example, a search in t h e index under Germany and the sub--heading Berlin Blockade reveals an item callled "Meeting of Molotov and Walter Bedell Smith," (75) 107C. In the Quarterly Catalog, page 107, item C is found the abstract of a State Department telegram describing the meeting which dealt with the Soviet position on the Berlin Blockade and which was originally classified Top Secret: Eyes Only for the Secretary o f State. The full text of the d o c u m e n t appears in the microfiche set, arranged in the same page and letter order (paging is consecutive through each year), so the researcher has the choice of going from the index to the abstract or directly to the full document. The microfiche is standard 4X6 size, 98 frame, with an eye-visible frame finding arrangement to facilitate reading. It's difficult to fully evaluate a project of this scope which is just beginning and for which there is no comparison. The obvious problem in obtaining formerly classified documents or in requesting the declassification o f classified material is how the requestors are supposed to know what to ask for if the material has been obscured in secrecy. The Carrollton Press was asked about this problem and responded that its searchers, while not themselves cleared for classified items, do have sufficient familiarity with the various departments and agencies to know generally what types of material to request. Cooperation from the government in making declassified documents available is reported to vary from excellent to minimal, depending on the specific department or agency. Many items, of course, will be easily available under the automatic declassification feature of E.O. 11,652. The Carrollton Press has made a strong beginning toward d e veloping a good collection o f declassified documents, well cata-loged, abstracted, and indexed. The importance of such material for historians, political scientists, and other researchers cannot be overestimated. The Declassified Documents microfiche collection and related catalogs and indexes are highly recommended for aca-demic and public research libraries. Currently (September, 1975) the annual subscription price for the Declassified D o c u m e n t s Quarterly set, including four issues of the Catalog, four Cumulative Indexes, and the complete 1975 microfiche collection is $560.00, with the Quarterly Catalogs and lndexes available separately for $285.00. The Retrospective Collection, consisting of more than 8,000 documents on microfiche plus a printed cumulative catalog volume and a cumulative subject index volume, is priced at $1575.00, with the catalog and index volumes available separately for $210.00. Both the quarterly and the retrospective sets are available together for a combined price of $1935.00, a saving o f $200.00. Postage is paid in North America and a 5% discount is offered if payment accompanies the order. Needless to say in these inflationary times, prices should be d o u b l e checked with the publisher before ordering. Bernard A. Block SLAVIC AND EAST EUROPEAN 16. The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies for 1973. Editor: David H. Draus. Associate Editor: Anita R. Navon. Prepared at the Library of Congress for the American Association for the Advancement o f Slavic Studies. (Columbus, Ohio: 1975). $8.00 ($6_00 to members of AAASS). Direct orders to AAASS. The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies
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that the greater resources of the Library o f Congress and the bibliographic expertise of the Slavic and Central European Division could better serve the purposes of the American Bibliography_ Financial support still comes from the AAASS. The format of the 1973 issue is m u c h the same as the 1970/71] 72 issue (For a review o f this issue see Serials Review 1(1), 1975.) The major difference is size. For 1973 there are almost double the n u m b e r of entries as for the previous year. Likewise the number of journals covered has increased substantially. It is hoped that the American Bibliography has found a permanent home and will continue to be current. A work o f this quality and importance is indispensable for any academic library. Stewart Saunders
is still being published by the AAASS, but starting with the 1973 issue the bibliographic and editorial tasks were transfered to the Slavic" and Central European Division of the Library o f Congress. The early years, 1956 to 1966, of the American Bibliography were published by the Indiana University Press, the 1967 issue by the Ohio State University Press, and the 1968/69 and 1970/71/72 issues by the AAASS. At the time the AAASS took over publication, the American Bibliography was woefully behind its publication schedule. The AAASS closed this gap by publishing a double issue for 1968/69 in 1974 and the triple issue 1970/71/72 also in 1974. Having once brought the American Bibliography up to date, the last two editors, James P. Scanlon and Kenneth E. Naylor, believed
pierian press PUBLIC AFFAIRS INFORMATION SERVIC BULLETIN CUMULATIVE AUTHOR INDEX 1965-1969 Oren, J e r r o ] d 69p525cls 69p527cls Orentlicher, Herman I ....... 66p307c2s Orestov, 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 p 3 0 1 c l s 65p379c2s 65p575c2s 65p758c2s 6 6 p 4 4 1 c l s 6 7 p 3 9 2 c 2 m 68p379cls 69p332cls 69p386c1s Orfie]d, Lester B ........... 67p238cls Organski, A.F.K ............. 69p918cls Ori, Kan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 p 6 9 9 c 2 s Orick, G e o r g e T . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 p 6 2 3 c 2 s Origgi, G i a n c a r l o ........... 6 8 p 3 3 1 c l s O'Riley, Ivan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 p 7 3 4 c l s Oritz, B o b b y e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 p 5 1 2 c 1 s Orlans, H a r o l d .............. 6 7 p 8 6 4 c 2 s 69p179c1~ Or]eans, ~ L e o A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 5 p 1 5 7 c 2 s 65p660cls 69p557cls Orlich, D o n a ] d C. . .......... 6 6 p 3 0 3 c l s 66p715cls Orlich, D o n a l d C. and Potter, R o b e r t E . . . . . . . . . 6 8 p 1 5 3 c 2 s Or]or, B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 6 p 7 4 6 c l s Or]ov, V ] a d i m i r ............. 6 6 p 5 3 4 c 2 s O r ] o v s k y , Yu. P . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 8 p 3 1 5 c l s 68p726cls 68p841cls Or]ow, D i e t r i c h ............. 6 9 p 3 7 2 c l s O r l o w s k i , M i r o s l a w and P i r o z y n s k i , Z b i g n i e w ..... 6 6 p 3 0 2 c 2 s Ornati, Oscar ............... 67p682c2s Ornati, O s c a r and Stevens, Carl M. 66p113cls 66p178ols 66p443cls Orne, J e r r o ] d ............... 6 7 p 5 3 7 c 2 s 6 8 p 5 2 9 c l s 6 8 p 5 3 1 c l s 69p178c2s 69p525ols 69p525cls .
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PA IS is a subject index to current literature in the fields of economics, political science, government, sociology, etc. It indexes books, pamphlets, government documents and key articles in more than 1000 periodicals published in English throughout the world. Many of the periodicals, pamphlets and other materials which are indexed in PAlS are not analyzed in any other index. PAlS is an indespensible tool for college, university, and large public libraries.
Now an author index has been developed which will further enhance the usefulness of the PAlS Bulletin. Compiled in cooperation with the Public Affairs Information Service, the i n i t i a l author index volume provides access (by personal names) to all appropriate entries in PAlS between 1965 and 1969. Publication of a second five-year cumulation for 1970 through 1974 is planned. ISBN 0-87650-014-9 LC 70-143238 Cloth
PAIS AUTHOR INDEX, 1965-69 . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 3 9 . 9 5
5000 52
washtenaw
SERIALS REVIEW
July/September 1975
ann arbor, michigan 4 8 1 0 4