ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Access to Education for the Disabled: A Guide to Compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,by Salome M. Heyward (324 pages, De- cember 1992), analyzes per- tinent parts of the 1973 act and how to put them into effect. Hypothetical situa- tions based on actual cases show how the act has been interpreted by the courts and the Department of Educa- tion’s Office of Civil Rights.

A chapter on postsecondary education covers admissions and recruitment, treatment of students, and academic adjustments. Largely an exposition of the legal issues, this book is appropriate for law and social studies collections. The cost is $38.50 from McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-732-8.

The ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries 1992,by Mary Jo Lynch, Margaret Myers, and Jeniece Guy (57 pages, December 1992), reports salaries paid to incumbents in seven positions commonly found in U.S. public and academic libraries, with responses stratified by size and type of library and geographic area. The average salary was higher in 1992 for six of the positions (the largest increase is 11.3% for children’s and young adult services librarians), while the average salary for collection development librarians and subject bibliographers was the same as in 1991- Copies are available for $42.00 (ALA members, $37.80) from ALA, Order Department, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. ISBN 0-8389-7624-7.

The Almanac of Renewable Energy,by Richard Colob and Eric Brus (334 pages, January 1993), brings together a variety of information on emerging energy technologies for the informed general reader. The book describes and evaluates topics like biomass energy, energy conservation, storage systems, fusion, geothermal energy, and solar heating and cooling. It provides a history of each energy source, an explanation of how it is used, predictions for future use, statistics, and tips for consumers and businesses. The almanac should serve as a useful companion to the excellent 1993 Information Please Environmental Alma- nac ($10.95, Houghton Mifflin), compiled by the World Resources Institute. Copies may be ordered for $50.00 from Henry Holt and Company, 115 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011. ISBN 0-8050-1948-0.

Automated Library Sys- tems: A Librarian’s Guide and Teaching Manual,by Beverly K. Duval and Linda Main (273 pages, November 1992), is a teaching guide to familiarize librarians and library staff with the growing market for automated library systems. It identifies the key players in the field past and present, describes the planning process for library automation, and details the advantages and disadvantages of OPACs, microcomputer-based systems, and CD-ROM-based systems. A final chapter discusses future trends. Copies are $35.00 from Meckler Corporation, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880. ISBN 0-888736-873-5.

Columbus Documents: Summaries of Documents in Genoa,edited by Luciano F. Farina and Robert W. Tolf (l66 pages, December 1992), summarizes 179 fifteenth- and sixteenth-century documents, arranged chronologically, pertaining to Christopher Columbus’s Italian-Genoese origins. Also included is a guide to the Book of Royal Privileges, which sheds light on the rights and privileges that Columbus accumulated during his career. The index includes a complete list of individuals, places, and other entities mentioned in the documents. The book is available for $68.00 from Omnigraphics, Penobscot Building, Detroit, MI 48226. ISBN 1-55888-156-5.

Fantastic Cinema Subject Guide,by Bryan Senn and John Johnson (682 pages, August 1992), is a topical index to 2,500 horror, science fiction, and fantasy films for devotees of the genre. Eighty-one separate subjects arrange the films into such niches as comic book heroes, mad scientists, underground worlds, and zombie flesh eaters. What makes this guide different is that, in addition to the usual information, the authors provide tantalizing quotes and interesting facts about most of the films. For example, a 1950 film, The Flying Saucer, was partially financed by bingo winnings. The authors can’t quell their urge to rate each film from 1 to 10, but they do it unobtrusively in the index. The book costs $47.00 postpaid from McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-681-X.

The Green Encyclopedia,by Irene Franck and David Brownstone (486 pages, November 1992), covers a vast range of environmental issues concisely and comprehensively. Sources of information and action appear either directly following each entry or in separately boxed “information and action guides” that accompany major topics. There is no index, but one is not needed—when a related entry is mentioned in the text it appears in small capital letters so that readers may network their way to further information. A Special Information Section in the back of the book includes information on animal rights, ecotourism, and forests; a list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; toxic chemicals and hazardous substances; Superfund sites (those targeted for cleanup of hazardous waste); and recommended reading. This very well-organized encyclopedia is an excellent starting point for ecoresearch. Copies are available for $35.00 (cloth) from Prentice Hall General Reference, 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023. ISBN 0-13-365685-3. Information 2000: Library and Information Services for the 21st Century (596 pages, November 1992) is the final report of the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services (WHCLIS). This volume reflects the work of more than 700 delegates who met July 9-13, 1991, to formulate recommendations for improving library and information services for all Americans. It contains the complete proceedings of presentations and sessions, recommendations considered by delegates, and an overview of the planning and preparation before and after the conference. A copy is $33-00 from the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1111 18th St, N.W, Suite 310, Washington, DC 20036. ISBN 0-16-038157-6.

The Journal of Information Ethics(vol. 1, Fall 1992- ) explores the role information plays within an ethical context. Edited by Robert Hauptman (St. Cloud State University), the journal is published in the spring and fall. Some highlights from the first issue include: “The Scientific Ethic of AIDS Testing,” by Denise McGuire and Patricia M. Freihammer, and “Library Security: The Blumberg Legacy,” by Washington State University police sergeant J. Steve Huntsberry. Book reviews and article alerts are also featured. Subscriptions are $38 ($44 foreign) by volume only, from McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISSN 1061-9321.

Making Sense of Journals in the Life Sciences,by Tony Stankus (278 pages, August 1992), has been published as a companion to the author’s survey of journals in the physical sciences (see C&RL News, January 1993). As with the other volume, this serves as an excellent introduction to scientific periodical literature and the disciplines it serves. Charts scattered throughout the book compare the characteristics of selected journals that make them attractive to scientists and librarians. This volume is a monographic supplement to The Serials Librarian and is not part of the regular journal subscription. The cost is $39.95 from the Haworth Press, 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. ISBN 1-56024-181-0.

Martianus Capello and the Seven Liberal

Arts: Volume II, the Marriage of Philology and Mercury,translated by William Harris Stahl and Richard Johnson, with E. L. Burge (389 pages, November 1992), is an annotated translation of Martianus Capella’s allegorical and cultural encyclopedia, De Nuptiis. Capella was a writer and lawyer who lived in Carthage during the fifth century, and his work was one of the most widely used schoolbooks of the Middle Ages. The seven liberal arts under his consideration were grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and harmony. The book costs $55.00 (cloth) and is available from Columbia University Press, 562 W. 113th St., New York, NY 10025. ISBN 0-231-03719-8.

The Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments,by Anthony C. Baines (404 pages, November 1992), examines a large variety of Western and non-Western acoustic instruments. The book contains general articles on the instruments of specific periods and the .instruments of individual countries and regions. Many of the articles have been reprinted from the 1983 New Oxford Companion to Music, a few have been substantially rewritten, and others have been split up into separate entries. Experimental and digital instruments have been excluded, although the latter will be found in Oxford’s Dictionary of Electronic and Computer Music Technology (see C&RL News, October 1992). Many photos, diagrams, musical examples, and charts accompany the text. Copies are $35.00 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-311334-1.

The Prairie West: Historical Readings,edited by R. Douglas Francis and Howard Palmer (748 pages, 2d ed., August 1992), is a collection of 35 articles on key topics in the history of prairie Canada written by leading Canadian historians, political scientists, and economists. The articles cover 15 topics including native peoples and the fur trade, the economics of settlement, prairie women, the modem West, and literature and art. A copy is $30.00 (Canadian) from the University of Alberta Press, 14 Athabasca Hall, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E8. ISBN 0-88864-227-X.

Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference,by Micheál Clodfelter (2 vols., 1,414 pages, December 1992), presents a record of the casualties of modern warfare from 1618 through 1991. More than just a list of statistics, this book summarizes the short- and long-term effects of each conflict and cuts through the propaganda endemic to this topic. Civil disturbances, revolutions, and pogroms are also covered. This will prove a worthwhile reference for finding information on lesser conflicts like the 18th-century slave revolts in Surinam or the 1947 Paraguayan civil war. A copy is $127.75 postpaid from McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-544-9.

Western Ways: Images of the American West,by Bruce I. Bustard (115 pages, October 1992), accompanies the 1992 National Archives and Records Administration exhibition on display through October 17, 1993. It offers 127 images of the trans-Mississippi West, plus Alaska and Hawaii, dating from the early 19th century to the present. Many were created by well- known artists and photographers attempting to capture a historic moment; others were made by persons unknown. The topics include Native Americans, migration, surveying, towns and cities, and natural resources. The catalog costs $9-95 (plus $3-00 handling) from the National Archives, Publications Department, Washington, DC 20408. ISBN 0-911333-97-5. ■