ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference,edited by Andrea Pritchard, David E. Pritchard, and John E. Mack (682 pages, March 1995), contains the papers presented at a conference held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 13–17, 1992. Whatever the cause, hundreds of people—perhaps thou- sands—around the world are recounting very strange experiences of being abducted and examined on a table in unearthly surroundings by alien beings. The scientists and researchers who presented the 118 papers have examined a wide spectrum of evidence and numerous hypotheses to account for the phenomenon. Selected authors include: Thomas E. Bullard, Indiana University; Stuart Appelle, SUNY-Brockport; David Pritchard, MIT; J. Gordon Melton, UC- Santa Barbara; and Mark Rodeghier, University of Illinois at Chicago. The unabridged questions and comments of conference participants after each paper are also reprinted. $69.95. North Cambridge Press, P.O. Box 241, North Cambridge Post Office, Cambridge, MA 02140.

The Atlas of the Civil War,edited by James M. McPherson (223 pages, November 1994), contains 200 specially commissioned and easy- to-read maps showing troop movements and battles. McPherson offers excellent commentary on the war’s broader issues and provides well-chosen extracts from eyewitness accounts, letters, newspapers, and journal entries. The photographs and other illustrations include both the familiar and the unusual. $40.00. Macmillan Publishing USA, 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023. ISBN 0-02-579050-1.

Cannon's Concise Guide to Rules of Order,by Hugh Cannon (176 pages, March 1995), strives to be both a practical guide and a concise one. It falls between the intricate details of Robert’s Rules of Order and the sparse standing rules that most organizations follow. Cannon, who has been parliamentarian for the Democratic Party and the National Education Association, narrows the rules down to twelve basic motions. He examines the roles of the chair and the members and outlines the structure of meetings. Model standing rules, model bylaws, and a glossary are provided in appendices. A useful book for anyone wishing to understand procedures at ALA meetings. $9-95. Houghton Mifflin Co., 215 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10003. ISBN 0-39573326-X.

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses in Polish Studies 1900–1990,edited by Bernard Wielewinski (November 1994), catalogs 3,220 works at 353 educational institutions. Nearly 100 sources were used to compile this annotated bibliography. The information is contained in self-extracting files on one 3.5" 1.44 MB disk. $27.00 (postage included). Walter Lasinksi, Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences, 208 E. 30th St., New York, NY 10016.

The Great Battles of Antiquity,by Richard A. Gabriel and Donald W. Boose Jr. (714 pages, December 1994), reexamines 31 wars, battles, or campaigns from Megiddo (1479 B.C.) to the fall of Constantinople (A.D. 1453) that had a substantial impact on the ancient world, including the Far East. Each treatment describes the strategic setting leading to the engagement, the strengths and weaknesses of the antagonists, the details of the battle, and the lessons in strategy and tactics that the conflict imparts. Besides the well-known campaigns of Hannibal, Caesar, and Alexander, the authors offer similar insights into Korean, Mongol, Chinese, and Japanese warfare. $95.00. Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, P.O. Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007. ISBN 0-313-28930-1.

The Historical Atlas of New York City,by Eric Hornberger (192 pages, November 1994), presents the history of New York in a series of maps, diagrams, photographs, and engravings for 400 years from Dutch New Amsterdam to the modern metropolis. Special topics illustrate New York City’s role in the American Revolution, its growth as the capital of commerce, the effects of the devastating fire of 1835, the building of the Crystal Palace in 1853, gangland New York, the founding of the United Nations in Turtle Bay, Coney Island, Harlem, Broadway, and the development of the New York City subway system. This is an excellent historical overview with much detail revealed in the maps and charts. Also included are a bibliography, a chronology of major events, and biographical notes on prominent New Yorkers throughout the years. $45.00. Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 115 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011. ISBN 0-8050-2649-5.

How to Use Index Medicus, Psychological Abstracts, and Excerpta Medica,by Barry Strickland-Hodge (114 pages, 2d ed., November 1994), highlights the most effective ways of searching these indexes, pointing out potential problems and how to overcome them. The manual concentrates on the paper-copy version of the first two services, and on the tools that can help in searching the online and CD-ROM versions of Excerpta Medica. The numerous examples are particularly helpful for first-time users. $51.95. Ashgate Publishing Company, Old Post Road, Brookfield, VT 050369704. ISBN 0-566-07555-5.

A companion volume, How to Use Biological Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, and Index Chemicus, by Barbara Allan and Brian Livesey (103 pages, 2d ed., November 1994), offers similar guidance for these services. $51.95. ISBN 0-566-07556-3.

The Image of the Library,edited by Valeria D. Stelmakh (131 pages, 1994), is an interesting collection of studies on public perspectives of libraries and librarians in various countries. Four articles look at the image of librarians in film and fiction (including Soviet literature). Others survey attitudes towards the profession in Israel, Russia, and Hungary, and among participants at the 57th IFLA General Session in Moscow in 1991. Published by the University of Haifa for IFLA’s Round Table on Research in Reading. $15.00. Shmuel Sever, Director of the Library, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel. ISBN 965-222-552-5.

The National Directory of Addresses and Telephone Numbers: Geographic Edition(752 pages, February 1995) contains all of the 123,000 entries found in the 1995 alphabetical version of the directory. Arranged by state and city, this edition includes phone, fax, and toll-free numbers, and addresses for businesses, agencies, associations, and institutions. Freenets are also listed for major metropolitan areas. $80.00. Omnigraphics, Inc., Penobscot Building, Detroit, MI 48226. ISBN 0-7808-0050-8.

Notes for Music Cαtαlogers,by Ralph Hartsock (355 pages, November 1994), is a compilation of notes (annotations) on music catalog records created since the implementation of AACR2. Each of the 2,007 examples shows clearly the relationship between the note and the information contained elsewhere in the bibliographic description. $50.00. Soldier Creek Press, P.O. Box 734, Lake Crystal, MN 56055-0734. ISBN 0-936996-63-3.

Outsourcing Cataloging, Authority Work, and Physical Processing,edited by Marie A. Kascus and Dawn Hale (40 pages, January 1995), offers a checklist of questions librarians should ask when contracting with an outside vendor to provide technical services. This booklet will help in selecting services to be outsourced, determining associated in-house concerns and costs, and gathering information about a contractor. The checklist was prepared by the Commercial Technical Services Committee of ALA’s Association for Library Collections and Technical Services. $15.00 (ALA members, $13.50). ALA Order Code 3449-5-0010. Book Order Fulfillment, American Library Association, 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606-1719-ISBN 0-8389-3449-5.

Vandals at the Gates of Medicine,by Miguel A. Faria Jr. (403 pages, January 1995), examines the practice and philosophy of medicine from antiquity to the Renaissance in an effort to draw parallels with the debate over modern health care reform. Faria compares Clinton’s now-abandoned Health Security Act of 1993 to the bureaucratic and autocratic economic policies of the Emperor Diocletian, who in the 4th century managed to eradicate the last vestiges of republican government in the Roman Empire. However, even after you discern the shape of the axe that is grinding, the book remains a reasonably informed history of medical ethics interspersed with a plea for physicians to take up a more activist role in influencing health care policy. $41.95. Hacienda Publishing, P.O. Box 13648, Macon, GA 31208- 3648. ISBN 0-9641077-0-8.