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Subject catalogue of the house of commons parliamentary papers. 1801–1900
Reviews
511
The section on “EC information developments” offers a potpourri of information about new EC titles and programs, existing sources of information, the activities of groups concerned with EC information, etc. This issue noted, among other things, that the Statistical Office will be issuing a new series on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, that there is a new publication describing the Community budget, and that the new European Business Isolation Centre program in UK and Ireland is to be expanded. Last, but by no means least, the “Bibliographic review” section provides a detailed bibliographic survey on some major EC topic. The sample issue dealt with European Political Cooperation and gave citations to EC and other publications concerning its history, institutions, the major issues with which it has been concerned, etc. This section will be of special value to those researching the history of EC institutions and policies. European Access has obviously been put together by people who are intimately acquainted with not only the EC and its documentation, but with the needs of librarians and their patrons as well. It is well organized and its contents ~0~~~11~ selected. If it can remain current, European Access should fill the long existing need for one moderately priced, timely source for English language information on the most important EC-related activities and publications. It is recommended for all libraries supporting research in modem Western European history, politics, economy, or law, and it would also be useful for those covering narrower fields, such as agriculture, in which the EC is especially active. TIMOTHY KEARLEY Foreign Law Librarian & Associate Director University of Illinois Law Library Champaign, IL 61820 USA
Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. 1801-1900. Compiled Cockton. Cambridge, United Kingdom: (set). LC: 87-5128. $1,700. (Distributed
by Peter Chadwyck-Healey, 1988. 4,800~. 5 ~01s. ISBN: O-85964-133-3 in the United States by Chadwyck-Healey, Alexandria, VA).
The British House of Commons Sessional Papers form one of the richest collections of government publications in existence. Consisting of Bills, Reports of Committees and Co~ssione~, and Account and Papers, the Sessional Papers cover a wide range of political, historical, and economic information important not only to students of British history but, because of Britain’s role in world affairs, to students in many other fields as well. Included in the Sessional Papers are the so called Command Papers, papers non-Parliamentary in origin but presented to Parliament “By Command of Her Majesty.” Usually such documents deal with issues likely to be the subject of legislation or are of broad interest. Very often they include government “white” or position papers and signi~cant Royal Commission reports. Also found in the Command Papers is the British Treaty Series, containing the text of treaties, agreements and notes exchanged between Britain and various foreign powers. It has been estimated that there are no more than 15 sets of the original Sessional Papers in existence. Most libraries rely on either the Readex Microprint version or one of the more recent publication efforts of the last 20 years. These have included the massive lOOO-volume collection of selected nineteenth-century Sessional Papers produced by Irish University Press, as well as the 147-volume edition of the eighteenth century ~o~ons Sessional Papers edited by Sheila Lambert. Most recently, the complete collection of 80,000 nineteenth-century papers has been offered on microfiche by Chadwyck-Healey and the Eve-volume Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1900 is a companion to the ChadwyckHealey project. Fortunately, however, there is no difficulty in using the catalog with other collections, since all entries include the standard citation to the Sessional Papers by year, volume and page number as well as the Chadwyck-Healey microfiche number. Until the arrival of this new five-volume set, access to the nineteenth century Sessional Papers has been through a variety of indexes produced by the House of Commons, as well as several more specialized privately produced tools such as A Century of Diplomatic Blue Books, 1814-1914 by Temperley and Penson, Guide to the Principal Parliamentary Papers Related to the Dominions, 1812-1911 by Adam and the Select List of British Parliamentary Papers, 1833-1899 by the Fords. The most general of the indexes have been the official 50-year cumulations covering the periods 1801-1852 and 18.52-1899. The earlier period is actually covered by a set of three indexes, each covering a document type, that is, bills, papers. or reports of select
512
Reviews
committees. Within each official index the arrangement is by subject, with numerous cross references which users often find cumbersome. There have also been problems of non-standardized indexing terminology from one volume to the next. The new Subject Curalogue provides indexing for the complete collection of nineteenth-century papers. Treatment is by broad subject groupings, similar to that found in Hansard’s Cutulogue and Breviate of Parliamentary Papers 1696-1834 and the Select List of the Fords. In the case of the Subject Catalogue there are 19 broad subjects or chapters, which the Forward states were chosen to “reflect the concerns and interests of nineteenth century administrators rather than modern catalogers. ” Within the chapters are further subdivisions or main sections such as “International Trade and Navigation,” and “Import and Export Duties,” which are found under the chapter “Trade and Commerce.” These subdivisions are themselves divided and the result is an arrangement of 19 chapters, 73 main sections and some 630 subsections. When a Parliamentary paper covers more than one subject it is listed as many times as appropriate in an effort to avoid cross-referencing. The thematic approach works very well when a researcher’s interests fall nicely into one of the Subject Catalogue’s topical groupings such as “Slavery and the Slave Trade,” but presents some difficulties when that is not the case. The catalog can also be a challenge for a reference librarian seeking to locate a citation to a specific report. The compiler, Peter Cockton, has made an effort to handle this problem through the use of numerous margin notes, called “descriptors,” within the various headings. These notes are the basis of the subject index found in volume five. In many cases this approach succeeds very well in directing the user to the various topics of interest. In other cases, however, it is difficult to deduce what the proper entry might be and there are limited cross references. For example, researchers in women’s studies will find materials of interest scattered among several chapters. A check of the index under “women” reveals entries for “women’s suffrage” and cross references to “married women,” “medical profession,” “technical education” and “universities (Scotland).” There is no mention of headings beginning with “female” (there are two) or any of the other descriptors related to women. It is interesting to contrast what is indexed under the terms “women” and “female” in the Subject Cutulogue to what one finds in the official indexes. In the General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Estimates, Accounts and Papers, 1852-1899 under the subject “women and girls” one finds a list of bills, reports and papers dealing with assaults and murders of females along with numerous cross references. In the Subject Cutulogue these same materials are listed primarily under the subject “assault” with no cross references to or from “women” or “female.” In addition to the index, volume five includes a List of Unprinted and Unpublished Papers, chiefly bills, discovered during the compilation of the Chadwyck-Healey edition, a List of the Principal Ministers in nineteenth century cabinets, and an interesting glossary of unfamiliar or archaic terms used in the nineteenth-century papers. The Subject Catulogue complements but does not replace the existing indexes to the nineteenth-century Sessional Papers. It does not measure up to Congressional Information Service’s U.S. Serial Set Index, despite the similarities in the two collections. Nevertheless, the Subject Catulogue does add a new approach to material that has often been difficult to access in the past. Libraries where research is done in this area will consider this a basic purchase. ELIZABETH A. MCBRIDE Head, Documents Center Robert W. Woodruff Library Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322 USA
Handbook of Business Information: A Guide for Librarians, Students, and Researchers. By Diane Wheeler Strauss. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1988. 537~. ISBN: O-87287-607-1. LC: 88-23093. $37.50 (U.S.); $45 (elsewhere). As described in the introduction, the major objective of the Handbook ofBusiness Information is to provide a “ . . grounding in business basics, and to identify, describe, and in many instances illustrate the use of key information sources” (p. xxi). This actually is the unique character of the work. It combines the annotation of key reference works such as Loma Daniells’ Business Information Sources (University of California Press, 1985), with the commentary of K.D.C. Vernon’s Information Sources in Management and Business
511
The section on “EC information developments” offers a potpourri of information about new EC titles and programs, existing sources of information, the activities of groups concerned with EC information, etc. This issue noted, among other things, that the Statistical Office will be issuing a new series on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, that there is a new publication describing the Community budget, and that the new European Business Isolation Centre program in UK and Ireland is to be expanded. Last, but by no means least, the “Bibliographic review” section provides a detailed bibliographic survey on some major EC topic. The sample issue dealt with European Political Cooperation and gave citations to EC and other publications concerning its history, institutions, the major issues with which it has been concerned, etc. This section will be of special value to those researching the history of EC institutions and policies. European Access has obviously been put together by people who are intimately acquainted with not only the EC and its documentation, but with the needs of librarians and their patrons as well. It is well organized and its contents ~0~~~11~ selected. If it can remain current, European Access should fill the long existing need for one moderately priced, timely source for English language information on the most important EC-related activities and publications. It is recommended for all libraries supporting research in modem Western European history, politics, economy, or law, and it would also be useful for those covering narrower fields, such as agriculture, in which the EC is especially active. TIMOTHY KEARLEY Foreign Law Librarian & Associate Director University of Illinois Law Library Champaign, IL 61820 USA
Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. 1801-1900. Compiled Cockton. Cambridge, United Kingdom: (set). LC: 87-5128. $1,700. (Distributed
by Peter Chadwyck-Healey, 1988. 4,800~. 5 ~01s. ISBN: O-85964-133-3 in the United States by Chadwyck-Healey, Alexandria, VA).
The British House of Commons Sessional Papers form one of the richest collections of government publications in existence. Consisting of Bills, Reports of Committees and Co~ssione~, and Account and Papers, the Sessional Papers cover a wide range of political, historical, and economic information important not only to students of British history but, because of Britain’s role in world affairs, to students in many other fields as well. Included in the Sessional Papers are the so called Command Papers, papers non-Parliamentary in origin but presented to Parliament “By Command of Her Majesty.” Usually such documents deal with issues likely to be the subject of legislation or are of broad interest. Very often they include government “white” or position papers and signi~cant Royal Commission reports. Also found in the Command Papers is the British Treaty Series, containing the text of treaties, agreements and notes exchanged between Britain and various foreign powers. It has been estimated that there are no more than 15 sets of the original Sessional Papers in existence. Most libraries rely on either the Readex Microprint version or one of the more recent publication efforts of the last 20 years. These have included the massive lOOO-volume collection of selected nineteenth-century Sessional Papers produced by Irish University Press, as well as the 147-volume edition of the eighteenth century ~o~ons Sessional Papers edited by Sheila Lambert. Most recently, the complete collection of 80,000 nineteenth-century papers has been offered on microfiche by Chadwyck-Healey and the Eve-volume Subject Catalogue of the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1801-1900 is a companion to the ChadwyckHealey project. Fortunately, however, there is no difficulty in using the catalog with other collections, since all entries include the standard citation to the Sessional Papers by year, volume and page number as well as the Chadwyck-Healey microfiche number. Until the arrival of this new five-volume set, access to the nineteenth century Sessional Papers has been through a variety of indexes produced by the House of Commons, as well as several more specialized privately produced tools such as A Century of Diplomatic Blue Books, 1814-1914 by Temperley and Penson, Guide to the Principal Parliamentary Papers Related to the Dominions, 1812-1911 by Adam and the Select List of British Parliamentary Papers, 1833-1899 by the Fords. The most general of the indexes have been the official 50-year cumulations covering the periods 1801-1852 and 18.52-1899. The earlier period is actually covered by a set of three indexes, each covering a document type, that is, bills, papers. or reports of select
512
Reviews
committees. Within each official index the arrangement is by subject, with numerous cross references which users often find cumbersome. There have also been problems of non-standardized indexing terminology from one volume to the next. The new Subject Curalogue provides indexing for the complete collection of nineteenth-century papers. Treatment is by broad subject groupings, similar to that found in Hansard’s Cutulogue and Breviate of Parliamentary Papers 1696-1834 and the Select List of the Fords. In the case of the Subject Catalogue there are 19 broad subjects or chapters, which the Forward states were chosen to “reflect the concerns and interests of nineteenth century administrators rather than modern catalogers. ” Within the chapters are further subdivisions or main sections such as “International Trade and Navigation,” and “Import and Export Duties,” which are found under the chapter “Trade and Commerce.” These subdivisions are themselves divided and the result is an arrangement of 19 chapters, 73 main sections and some 630 subsections. When a Parliamentary paper covers more than one subject it is listed as many times as appropriate in an effort to avoid cross-referencing. The thematic approach works very well when a researcher’s interests fall nicely into one of the Subject Catalogue’s topical groupings such as “Slavery and the Slave Trade,” but presents some difficulties when that is not the case. The catalog can also be a challenge for a reference librarian seeking to locate a citation to a specific report. The compiler, Peter Cockton, has made an effort to handle this problem through the use of numerous margin notes, called “descriptors,” within the various headings. These notes are the basis of the subject index found in volume five. In many cases this approach succeeds very well in directing the user to the various topics of interest. In other cases, however, it is difficult to deduce what the proper entry might be and there are limited cross references. For example, researchers in women’s studies will find materials of interest scattered among several chapters. A check of the index under “women” reveals entries for “women’s suffrage” and cross references to “married women,” “medical profession,” “technical education” and “universities (Scotland).” There is no mention of headings beginning with “female” (there are two) or any of the other descriptors related to women. It is interesting to contrast what is indexed under the terms “women” and “female” in the Subject Cutulogue to what one finds in the official indexes. In the General Alphabetical Index to the Bills, Estimates, Accounts and Papers, 1852-1899 under the subject “women and girls” one finds a list of bills, reports and papers dealing with assaults and murders of females along with numerous cross references. In the Subject Cutulogue these same materials are listed primarily under the subject “assault” with no cross references to or from “women” or “female.” In addition to the index, volume five includes a List of Unprinted and Unpublished Papers, chiefly bills, discovered during the compilation of the Chadwyck-Healey edition, a List of the Principal Ministers in nineteenth century cabinets, and an interesting glossary of unfamiliar or archaic terms used in the nineteenth-century papers. The Subject Catulogue complements but does not replace the existing indexes to the nineteenth-century Sessional Papers. It does not measure up to Congressional Information Service’s U.S. Serial Set Index, despite the similarities in the two collections. Nevertheless, the Subject Catulogue does add a new approach to material that has often been difficult to access in the past. Libraries where research is done in this area will consider this a basic purchase. ELIZABETH A. MCBRIDE Head, Documents Center Robert W. Woodruff Library Emory University Atlanta, GA 30322 USA
Handbook of Business Information: A Guide for Librarians, Students, and Researchers. By Diane Wheeler Strauss. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1988. 537~. ISBN: O-87287-607-1. LC: 88-23093. $37.50 (U.S.); $45 (elsewhere). As described in the introduction, the major objective of the Handbook ofBusiness Information is to provide a “ . . grounding in business basics, and to identify, describe, and in many instances illustrate the use of key information sources” (p. xxi). This actually is the unique character of the work. It combines the annotation of key reference works such as Loma Daniells’ Business Information Sources (University of California Press, 1985), with the commentary of K.D.C. Vernon’s Information Sources in Management and Business