ACRL College & Researc Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

The American Presidents,edited by Melvin I. Urofsky (530 pages, April 2000), contains qualitative evaluations of 42 presidents by historians who focus on the policy successes and failures of each administration. As we assess Bill Clinton’s legacy and voice con- cern about the abilities of his successor, it helps to see how history rates other holders of the office. The contributors strive for bal- ance and manage to avoid partisan view- points, though they do comment on the ways in which presidential personality affects per- formance. $110.00. Garland. ISBN 0-8153- 2184-8.

Developing and Managing Electronic Journal Collections,by Donnelyn Curtis, Virginia M. Scheschy, and Adolfo R. Tarango (267 pages, October 2000), demystifies the process of selecting, acquiring, licensing, or- dering, cataloging, and promot- ing journals in electronic format. The authors, who gained much experience setting up an e-jour- nal acquisitions program at the University of Nevada, Reno, pass along much practical and techni- cal advice for both beginners and those more advanced. $55.00. Neal-Schuman. ISBN 1-55570- 383-6.

Dinosaurs of Darkness,by Thomas H. Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich (222 pages, October 2000), examines the extensive fossil discoveries at Dinosaur Cove in southeastern Australia that date from 100-120 million years ago when Australia was joined to Antarctica and the area was located within the polar latitudes. The dinosaurs that lived there in the Early Cretaceous had to contend with a harsh climate, several months of 24-hour darkness each year, and possibly permafrost. But the real protagonists of this story are the authors, who played a crucial role in the discovery. Their account of the challenges, mis- steps, and excitements involved in a quest for fossil birds and mammals that unexpect- edly turned up polar dinosaurs lends an in- sight into the ways that scientific investiga- tions actually work—and how they must con- tinue to work, despite ever-increasing layers of bureaucratic funding hurdles and admin- istrative red tape. $35.00. Indiana University. ISBN 0-253-33773-9.

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

The Drunken Journalist: The Biography of a Film Stereotype,by Howard Good (200 pages, May 2000), demonstrates the principle that just when you think there is a book on every conceivable film genre, someone comes up with a new, underappreciated theme. Journalism professor Good looks at how the hard- drinking journalist has been por- trayed in films from the silent era to Fear and Loathing in Las Ve- gas, examining why the stereo- type exists and whether there is a historical basis for it. Good con- cludes that depicting newspaper- men as alcoholics was one way to marginalize and harness the seemingly unrestrained power of the press. $40.00. Scarecrow. ISBN 0-8108-3717-X.

Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe: From the Congress of Vienna to the Fall of Communism,edited by Richard Frucht (958 pages, March 2000), offers an excellent introduction to the politics, geography, economics, culture, trends, and peoples in the former Soviet bloc from 1814 to the 1990s. A handful of maps are the only illustrations, but this is somewhat compensated for by the clear and thorough treatment by 215 contributors, the references (not limited to English) that accompany the entries, and a comprehensive index. The historical overviews given for each of the seven primary countries are sweeping in scope, while the more specific entries add depth. $145.00. Garland. ISBN 0-8153-0092-1.

Milestones in Health and Medicine,by Anne S. Harding (267 pages, September 2000), provides 500 entries describing ad- vances in the treatment of disease and the understanding of human health. Descriptions of specific diseases include the first time the disease was noted historically and significant advances in treating it; drugs, therapies, and technologies are also given a chronological treatment; an a 13-page timeline offers an overview of developments since the first evi- dence of trepanation around 10,000 B.C. $71.00. Oryx. ISBN 1-57356-140-1.

The Tomb of Christ,by Martin Biddle (172 pages, paperback ed., October 2000), reviews the archeological and architectural history of the structures at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, held at least since the year 325 to have been the loca- tion of the rock- cut tomb at Golgotha where Jesus was in- terred after the Crucifixion. The present version of the Edicule, the “little house” in the church that encloses the tomb, dates from 1810, but Biddle argues—based on an 11-year investigation—that there are vestiges of earlier Edicules stretching all the way back to the time of Constantine, and that much of the original rock-cut tomb may still exist. As he puts it, “the layers of previous Edicules can survive one inside the other like the skins of an onion. They suggest that there is much to be discovered when the time comes for resto- ration.” A fascinating analysis, with many pho- tographs, detailed drawings, and diagrams. $21.95. Sutton Publishing, 260 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10001. ISBN 0-7509-2525-6.

Unheralded Victory: The Defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, 1961-1973,by Mark W. Woodruff (338 pages, September 1999), is a reassessment of the success of the American Vietnam War effort, often portrayed as a military defeat. I missed this small-press title when it first came out, but luckily discovered it at a recent conference. Woodruff, an American Marine Corps veteran who now works as a psychologist for the Royal Australian Navy, challenges the popular concept that the conduct and performance of the allied ground troops was substandard, and claims that by the time of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, the Viet Cong had been soundly defeated and the North Vietnamese Army was a spent force. How and why the myths and misperceptions of the war became generally accepted is the theme of the second part of this book, which offers a sound counterargument to other historians. $24.95. Vandamere Press, P.O. Box 5243, Arlington, VA 22205. ISBN 0-918339-51-0.