ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

Civilizing the Internet: Global Concerns and Efforts Toward Regulation,by Joseph Migga Kizza (169 pages, December 1998), summarizes national, regional, and interna- tional attempts to control Internet content and cybercrime. This book is strictly an out- line of concerns and regulations, but it will be useful to information technology or li- brary school students as well as anyone need- ing a quick overview. Internet filtering soft- ware and security concerns are examined. $28.50. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0539-2.

Daring to Find Our Names: The Search for Lesbigay Library History,edited by James V, Carmichael Jr. (251 pages, December 1998), incorporates many reminiscences of the founding of ALA’s Task Force on Gay Liberation in 1970 and takes issue with the assumption that libraries and librarians have unequivocally defended the intellectual free- dom of all citizens. Also of interest are es- says on conducting archival research into gay history and developing lesbigay collections. $59.95. Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-29963-3.

Devil's Bargains: Tourism in the Twenti- eth-Century American West,by Hal K. Rothman (434 pages, October 1998), looks at the dark side of the tourism industry, which Rothman de- scribes as postmo- dern colonialism that transforms “locals into people who look like themselves but who act and be- lieve differently as they learn to market their place and its, and their, identity.”

He offers histories of how tourism came to specific areas of the American West (Colo- rado ski resorts, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, and elsewhere) that eventually evolved into caricatures of themselves— colorful backdrops for visitors looking for experiences and adventures based on preconceptions manufactured by the industry itself. A different kind of road trip. $34.95. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0910-5.

The Dictionary of Louisiana Creole, by

Albert Valdman, et al. (656 pages, November 1998), is the only comprehensive dictionary of this language, which was created by African slaves in Louisiana during the first half of the 18th century. Creole is not strictly a variety of French, but a language distinct from colonial French and Cajun dialects. Though once widespread, Creole is an endangered language only spoken by some 20,000 individuals, none of them monolingual; however, its structure and origins offer a unique glimpse into African American history. This dictionary offers an overview of pronunciation and grammar, and numerous examples of usage compiled from written sources dating back to 1850 and from material collected in Bayou Teche, the German Coast between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Pointe Coupee, and St. Tammany Parish. English-Creole and French-Creole indexes are also provided. $75.00. ISBN 0-253- 33451-9.

Elements of Bibliography,by Robert 13. Harmon (295 pages, 3rd ed., December 1998), has been thoroughly revised to take into account the influence of the Internet and computer databases. This essential guide provides an introduction to the art of bibliography, both analytical and enumerative, and offers basic standards for bibliographical compilation. Sections on evaluating bibliographic sources on the Internet and using electronic sources for bibliographic searching have been added, while a final chapter summarizes the future of bibliography in the Information Age. A fundamental text for library students, scholars, and professionals who want to evaluate or prepare bibliographies. $49.50. Scarecrow. ISBN 0- 8108-3529-0.

George M. Eberhart is associate editor of American Libraries; e-mail: geberhart@ala.org

Internet Power Searching: The Advanced Manual,by Phil Bradley (232 pages, January 1999), gets to the heart of using Internet search engines, gateways, database resources, and intelligent agents effectively. After the obligatory “What is the Internet?” introduction, each chapter features practical advice on finding targeted information quickly, from AltaVista to Liszt. The section titled “Thirty Tips and Hints for Better and Quicker Searching” should be required reading for all Web users. $45.00. Neal-Schuman. ISBN 1-55570-370-X.

Irving Berlin: A Life in Song,by Philip Furia (323 pages, December 1998), tells the story of America’s greatest pop songwriter, incorporating new archival information from the Berlin estate. Furia, the author of biographies of Ira Gershwin and the lyricists of Tin Pan Alley, captures the talent and personality of this Russian immigrant who had no formal musical training and could only play the piano in one key, yet who produced hundreds of songs of extraordinary quality. Some 280 of his songs reached the era’s equivalent of the Top Ten. A year-by-year “songography” from 1907 to 1977 complements the narrative. $25.00. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-864815-3.

Lessons of War: The Civil War in Children's Magazines,edited by James Marten (259 pages, December 1998), analyzes and reprints a number of stories, plays, and poems from children’s periodicals in the 1860s (The Little Corporal, The Little Pilgrim, and others). Marten points out the recurring themes of bravery, patriotism, orphans, the home front, and sacrifice found in these magazines that helped explain the Civil War to a generation of children. Especially recommended for historical collections of children’s literature. $55.00. SR Books. ISBN 0-8420-2654-1.

For a more general examination of popular culture during the Civil War, a good source is Daily Life in Civil War America, by Dorothy Denneen Volo and James M. Volo (321 pages, December 1998), a recent entry in die Greenwood Press “Daily Life Through History” series. This volume encapsulates the experience and philosophy of civilians, slaves, and soldiers. $45.00. Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-30516-1.

The Macedonian Empire: The Era of Warfare under Philip II and Alexander the

Great, 359-323 B.C.,by James R. Ashley (486 pages, December 1998), brings together everything known about the military campaigns of Alexander and his father Philip II. Taking as a starting point J. F. C. Fuller’s The Generalship of Alexander the Great (1958), Ashley reexamines all available sources to establish chronological and geographical probabilities. The Macedonian campaigns profoundly affected the course of history; Alexander’s legendary desire to conquer the world led him to vanquish the Persian Empire in just over a decade, never losing a single battle in his 12-year reign. Unlike many other histories, Ashley gives ample attention to Philip’s generalship, as well. $55.00. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0407-8.

Russian in Three Months,by Nicolas J. Brown (February 1999, audiocassettes and a 285-page book), is one of the latest in DK’s Hugo series of programmed language instruction courses designed for beginners, which also includes French, German, Greek, Hebrew, and Japanese. The text is a no-nonsense grammar-and-vocabulary handbook with sample conversations that travelers might engage in. The books are available separately ($12.95, 0-7894-3585-3), but the cassettes are invaluable for pronunciation drills (both, $29.95, 0-7894-3586-1). DK Publishing.

The Story of Libraries from the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age,by Fred Lerner (246 pages, November 1998), places the libraiy profession in its various cultural contexts from antiquity to the anarchy of the Internet. This modest but wide-ranging history is filled with incidents, quotations, and anecdotes that capture the essence of librarianship: the Roman philosopher Seneca who complained, “Among cold baths and hot baths a library is also equipped as a necessary ornament of a great house”; without libraries, said the Dutch Jesuit Peter Canisius, “we are like soldiers who march into battle without any weapons”; and the 13th-century Arab historian Ibn Hayyan said he never bought a book because “whatever book I want to have I can get on loan from any library, while if I wanted to borrow money to buy these books I should find no one who would lend it to me.” $24.95. Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-1114-2. ■