ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

George M. Eberhart is associate editor of American Libraries

Alligators: Prehistoric Presence in the American Landscape, by Martha A. Strawn (227 pages, June 1997), features the author’s stunning photographs of alligators taken in streams and marshes from Texas to North Carolina. Commentary written by Strawn and three contributing essayists explores alligator natural history and the regulated alligator products industry. $39.95. Johns

Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5289-7.

Atomic Spaces: Living on the Manhattan Project, by Peter Bacon Hales (448 pages, October 1997), paints a vivid picture of what it must have been like to live and work at the three atomic development sites in the 1940s— Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford. Hales shows how the wartime necessities of building an atomic superweapon created a mindset and culture that intruded into American life and broadly affect our attitudes today. Especially interesting are the chapters on the treatment of women and ethnic minorities, on censorship restrictions and use of coded language at the sites, and on the first blast at Trinity and its effects. $34.95. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-02296-3.

The Complete Guide to Performance Standards for Library Personnel, by Carol F. Goodson (216 pages, May 1997), offers suggestions on rating scales and staff evaluations, and outlines performance standards for both professional and support staff that are modeled on ones that have been used successfully in libraries across the country. Methods for assessing the standards are specified. $49.95. Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. ISBN 1-55570-262-7.

Contested Words, Contested Science,by Douglas Biklen and Donald N. Cardinal (245 pages, June 1997), examines the controversy over facilitated communication, a method whereby persons with autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disorders type their thoughts on a typewriter or computer keyboard. The technique has been severely criticized for neglecting the influence of unconscious cuing by facilitators. This book addresses those criticisms and comes down squarely in favor of the method as a valid way to communicate with people with these disabilities. $24.95. Teachers College Press. ISBN 0-8077-3601-5.

A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords, by

Toshie M. Evans (230 pages, February 1997), describes several hundred words of Japanese origin that are now frequently used in Englishlanguage publications. The terms are taken from art, science, business, philosophy, martial arts, and many other fields. If you can’t remember the difference between banzai and bonsai, this book is for you. $75.00. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28741-4.

Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia, by Donald F. Glut (1,076 pages, September 1997), contains basic information on most dinosaurian genera (including dubious and excluded fossils) from Abelisaurus to Zizhongosaurus, with abundant photos and drawings of bones and life restorations prepared by artists who specialize in vertebrate palaeontology. In preliminary chapters, Glut supplies some background on dinosaur origins and relationships, theories on warm-bloodedness and extinctions, and descriptions of the higher taxa. The listing for each dinosaur genus provides a history of its discovery and the interpretation of its fossil remains. A solidly instructive volume that should retain its usefulness for some years. $145.00. McFarland & Co. ISBN 0-89950-917-7.

Encyclopedia of Fantasy, by John Clute and John Grant (1,049 pages, June 1997), is a comprehensive guide to fantasy literature in all its forms and formats. Fantasy, as defined by the authors, comprises a “self-coherent narrative which, when set in our reality, tells a story which is impossible in the world as we perceive it; when set in an otherworld, [it] will be possible in the otherworld’s terms.” This broad definition allows for a wide range of commentary, from grail romances and swordand-sorcery epics to surrealism, supernatural fiction, horror, and the Wizard of Oz. Illustrations have been spared to allow for dense text, frequent cross-references, and exhaustive title lists. Film, art, and comic genres are included, as well as a 25-page list of operas containing fantastic elements. $75.00. St. Martin’s. ISBN 0-312-15897-1.

Financial Aid for Native Americans, 1997-1999, by Gail Ann Schlachter and R. David Weber (6l6 pages, 1st ed., 1997), is a descriptive list of scholarships, fellowships, loans, grants, awards, and internships open to Native Americans. Programs specifically for Native Alaskans and Pacific Islanders are listed separately. All major subject areas are included, with sponsorships by more than 750 different private and public agencies and organizations. The listings are indexed by program title, sponsoring organization, residency requirement, geographic location where the grant is to be used, and subject. The volume is scheduled for biennial updates. $35.00. Reference Service Press. ISBN 0-918276-59-4.

Promoting Preservation Awareness in Libraries: A Sourcebook for Academic, Public, School, and Special Collections, edited by Jeanne M. Drewes and Julie A. Page (368 pages, May 1997), presents a variety of methods for educating patrons on the proper treatment of library materials. Techniques in academic libraries include Preservation Awareness Week, student-designed bookmarks, preservation in a for-credit course, preservation skills integrated into English 101, posters and signs, and interactive multimedia training. The ideas in this book can be adopted effectively by many different types of libraries and should be an essential part of any library instruction program. $75.00. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-30206-5.

Seeing the White Buffalo, by Robert S. Pickering (146 pages, July 1997), examines the legend of the white buffalo among the Lakota and other Native American peoples. The birth of a white buffalo calf named Miracle in Janesville, Wisconsin, in 1994 prompted Pickering’s research into the lore, history, and biology of buffalo albinism. In the process he interviewed three tribal elders who described the legend of White Buffalo Calf Woman, whose arrival portends deliverance in times of need. $24.95. Johnson Books. ISBN 1-55566-181-5. ■