ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Catalog of Government Inventions Available for Licensing, 1992,lists more than 1,000 inventions issued during 1992. As part of the federal technology transfer initiative, these new devices or processes can be licensed by commercial and private businesses for their own use. Each entry summarizes the invention, names the inven- tor, and shows where addi- tional information can be ob- tained. The catalog is divided into 43 subject areas and offers com- plete subject and inventor indexes. The price is $59-00 (plus $3.00 handling) from the Na- tional Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. Order number PB93-128205KSB.

CD-ROM Buyer’s Guide & Handbook,by Paul T. Nicholls (700 pages, 3d ed., 1993), presents a wide range of information on the CD- ROM format and industry and gives practical techniques for buying, using, and managing CD-ROMs. Well-organized and filled with tables, reading lists, charts, and sidebars, this handbook also contains chapters on directories of CD-ROM products and drives, CD-ROM journals and newsletters, a directory of published CD-ROM product reviews, and brief, evaluative reviews of 200 core CD-ROM titles. Much of this material is appropriate for acquisitions librarians, since the author teaches at the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario. The book may be ordered for $44.95 (plus $3.00 handling) from Eight Bit Books, 462 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897. ISBN 0-910965-08-0.

Enser’s Filmed Books and Plays, 1928-1991,edited by Ellen Baskin and Mandy Hicken (970 pages, May 1993), lists more than 6,000 books and plays that have been adapted for film or television. The book is divided into three sections: film titles, authors, and changes of the original title when adapted for film. For some reason the editors prefer initializing the authors’ first and middle names (L. Tolstoy instead of Leo Tolstoy), a peculiar decision given the proliferation of main entries since 1968 when the first edition was published. On balance, however, a useful guide to filmed fiction. Indexes are provided for musicals, made-for-TV movies, and animated films. Copies are available for $69-95 from Ashgate Pub- lishing Company, Old Post Road, Brookfield, VT 05036. ISBN 1-85742-026-8.

Facts about the Presidents,by Joseph Nathan Kane (433 pages, 6th ed., May 1993), contains a wealth of trivia and significa about all 42 U.S. Presidents. The first part of the book is devoted to each President in chronological order and provides a family history, data on elections, congressional sessions, cabinet and Supreme Court appointments, the Vice Presi- dents, and highlights of the President’s life and administration. The second part lists such com- parative data as White House weddings, nick- names and sobriquets, Presidents wounded in action, Presidents on coins and postage stamps, and much more. A copy may be ordered for $55.00 from the H. W. Wilson Company, 950 University Ave., Bronx, NY 10452. ISBN 0-8242- 0845-5.

Fire,by Hazel Rossotti (288 pages, May 1993), sheds light on all aspects of combustion, from the physics of fire to its production, prevention, and control. Profusely illustrated and entertainingly written, Rossotti illuminates the mysteries of firewalking, smog reduction, steam engines, phlogiston, fire insurance, and thermoremnant magnetism. A good first place to go for pyrofacts, this book will spark the reader’s imagination. Copies are $27.50 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-855722-1.

The Great Paleozoic Crisis: Life and Death in the Permian,by Douglas H. Erwin (327 pages, July 1993), examines the mass extinctions that took place 250 million years ago at the close of the Permian period. Forget the end of the dinosaurs—the much earlier Paleozoic upheavals resulted in the extinction of 83% of all existing genera. In deducing the causes of this catastrophe, Erwin, a curator in paleobiology at the National Museum of Natural History, focuses on the larval ecology of marine invertebrates, fluctuations in stable isotopes, the history of the earth’s magnetic field during the Permian, and changes in the coremantle boundary. The book costs $55.00 from Columbia University Press, 562 W. 113th St., New York, NY 10025. ISBN 0-231-07466-2.

A Guide to the College Library: The Most Useful Resources for Students and Researchers,by Christopher Lee Philips (approx. 378 pages, September 1993), provides a subject-oriented approach to describing information sources, preceded by an overview of the various types of research material. The author gives one- or two-sentence reviews of each reference tool (primarily but not exclusively printed books and serials) and indicates the LC call number. Select subject headings, breakdowns, and LC call numbers are given for each subject category. Written especially for undergraduates. A copy may be ordered for $49.95 from Walker and Company, 720 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10019. ISBN 0-8027-1283-5.

Library Education in the United States and Canada,by H. A. Peiris (150 pages, 1993), offers some statistics and a historical perspective on education for librarianship in North America. Based on the author’s master’s thesis at Dalhousie University, this study gives a balanced account of developments in Canada. Copies are available for $24.50 (Canadian) from Chansa Publishers, 386 King George Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1K 1T5. ISBN 0-9697088-0-7.

Library Research Models: A Guide to Classification, Cataloging, and Computers,by Thomas Mann (248 pages, July 1993), extends the concepts that the author, a general reference librarian at the Library of Congress, developed in his Guide to Library Research Methods (Oxford University Press, 1986) to show the strengths and weaknesses of particular research methods. These methods are: the Specific Subject Model (searches by discipline), the Traditional Library Science Model (searches by LC classification scheme, LC Subject Headings, and classified bibliographies), the Type-of-Lit- erature Model (searches in almanacs, handbooks, yearbooks, etc.), the Actual-Practice Model (an informal combination of footnotechasing, ineffective browsing, and colleague recommendations), and the Computer Workstation Model (key word or word proximity searching of abstracts or full text). Mann shows that these models all have a place in 21st-century research and that one cannot effectively replace another. The limitations of computer key word searching and the feasibility of someday having “the entire Library of Congress online” especially come under close scrutiny.

Mann’s recommended model makes inherent sense to anyone who has ever attempted a multidisciplinary, multilingual, and multiformat research project. His model groups resources theoretically, if not physically in the reference room, according to the ways in which they are searched. He stresses that a reference room redesign to accommodate this model will produce instant results in user instruction (“paved roads create traffic”). Copies are available for $22.50 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-508190-0.

Thinking on the Edge,edited by Richard Kapnick and Aidan A. Kelly (410 pages, 1993), contains essays on sundry topics by members of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, a worldwide organization composed of individuals with an IQ at or above the 99.9th percentile of general intellectual functioning. Most of the chapters are accessible to the rest of us and range from poetry therapy, SETI, and the criminal justice system to traffic problems, vision aids, and clever inventions. An unusual and uneven anthology, yet one that is thought- provoking. Copies are available for $25.00 from Agamemnon Press, 10741 Moorpark St., #19, North Hollywood, CA 91602-2737. ISBN 1- 883322-00-6.

Virtual Reality: An International Directory of Research Projects,by Jeremy Thompson (235 pages, June 1993), provides an overview of virtual reality (VR) research in North America, Asia, and Europe, and gives detailed information on more than 200 research groups in 17 countries. This multinational approach is essential for an understanding of VR, which covers all technologies applicable to the replacement of human sensual interactions in the real world with interactions in computer-generated artificial environments. A directory of key researchers, selected bibliography, sources of further information, a list of VR-related companies, and a subject index to R&D activities are included. A copy may be ordered for $60.00 from Meckler Corporation, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880. ISBN 0-88736-862-X. ■