ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

The Craft of Research,by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams (329 pages, 2d ed., March 2003), completely updates the 1995 edition by incorporating new electronic sources and improving the sections on evidence and visual representation of data. Like its predecessor, this handbook guides the researcher through the stages of framing and develop- ing a topic that will interest an audience, stating an argument clearly and defending it with logic and proper evidence, and writing a final report (after several drafts) that is clear, convincing, and readable. Following most of the chapters are “quick tips” on such matters as finding a topic, disagreeing with sources, qualifying an argument, and using quotation and paraphrase. The final section includes some observations on the ethics of research, a postscript for teachers, and a list of essential sources on major topics. $30.00. University of Chicago. ISBN 0- 226-06567-7.

Illustrated Dictionary of Automobile Body Styles,by Lennart W. Haajanen (165 pages, February 2003), is one of those books that you don’t think you will ever need—until, of course, you do. Haajanen provides concise definitions of bodywork for all types of automobiles, which encompasses all normal passenger-carrying vehicles smaller than buses (SUVs and minivans are included, but no trucks). The surprising inclusion of horse-drawn vehicles all the way back to chariots makes this volume especially useful to historians and literature students, who are often stumped by such terms as phaeton, cabriolet, or brougham. D. J. Smith’s Discovering Horse-Drawn Vehicles (Shire, 1999) is more detailed but hard to find. Twentieth-century terms such as business sedan, town car, and barchetta are also well-represented. Word origins, variations, foreign-language equivalents, and outline drawings add extra interest. $35.00. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1276-3.

Puzzles and Essays from “The Exchange”: Tricky Reference Questions,by Charles R. Anderson (190 pages, February 2003), are taken from “The Exchange” column that appeared for more than 35 years in the ALA Reference and User Services Association’s journal RQ (now Reference and User Services Quarterly). Anderson chooses the most intriguing reference questions and answers, arranging them in such categories as quotations, poem fragments, people and places, words and phrases, miscellany, and unanswered questions. A fun browse and probably useful at the reference desk. $34.95. Haworth. ISBN 0-7890-1761-X.

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers,by Daniel Ellsberg (498 pages, October 2002), consists of former Defense Department analyst Ellsberg’s meticulous and compelling account of how he—as well as many others in government at the time—came to recognize that the United States could never win the Vietnam War. Unlike the others, Ellsberg risked a prison sentence to release the top-secret documents that exposed the lies of two administrations which arrogantly withheld the salient facts from the public even as more soldiers went on futile and tragic missions overseas. $29-95. Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-670-03030-9.

Shakespeare for All Time,by Stanley Wells (442 pages, January 2003), is an entertaining introduction to the life and times of William Shakespeare, his plays, their performances and adaptations, and the world of Shakespearean scholarship. Wells, chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and general editor of the Oxford Complete Works, has spent more than 50 years as a Shakespeare scholar, and his knowledge of the bard’s literary and rhetorical techniques, as well as the effect the plays have had on English and world culture, make this a particu- larly insightful one- volume survey. Wellillustrated with many dramatic scenes from the 17th cen- tury to the present. $40.00. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-516093-2.

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

The Ten Commandments: A Handbook of Religious, Legal and Social Issues,by Joseph P. Hester (285 pages, January 2003), explores the controversy over how and whether Judeo-Christian ethical rules can be applied to legislation and litigation in the United States. Beginning with the origin and meaning of the biblical commandments and the development of ethics and reflective morality, Hester examines the basic American constitutional principle of the separation of church and state and whether an ethical compromise is possible between the religious and the secular. He looks at such specific issues as faith-based initiatives, posting the commandments on public buildings, character education, the pledge of allegiance, creationism, prayer in public schools, blue laws, stem cell research, euthanasia, capital punishment, pacifism, abortion, religious profiling, and covenant marriage. The commentary is balanced and well-researched. $45.00. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-1419-7.

The Verb “To Bird,”by Peter Cashwell (320 pages, April 2003), is one writer’s exploration of the joys of bird-watching in America. Peppered with literary allusions and natural history, Cashwell’s cogitations on crows and cow- birds led him from the Carolina woods and other southeastern habitats to the Library of Congress, where he unsuccessfully searched for the origin of the word “cardinal” for the North American red bird. (He found it later at the Orange County Public Libraries in North Carolina, but he really should have asked a librarian.) The author’s lively, postmodern writing style may well lure college-age readers into ornithology. $22.95. Paul Dry Books, 117 S. 17th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103. ISBN 1-58988-000-5.

The Virtual Reference Librarian’s Handbook,by Anne Grodzins Lipow (199 pages + CD-ROM, January 2003), offers practical advice on launching and building an online reference service involving point-of-need, live question-handling using chat and voice software to interact with distant clients. Filled with detailed checklists, examples, and exercises. $75.00. Neal-Schuman. ISBN 1-55570-445-X.

Voices from the Trail of Tears,edited by Vicki Rozema, brings together 29 contemporary writings documenting the forcible removal of more than 16,000 Cherokees from northern Georgia to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in 1837-1838. This collection of letters, editorials, records, and journal excerpts written by those who witnessed the event, including some Cherokees, corrects some misconceptions about this little-remembered and tragic event in American history, such as the fact that there were several trails (one of them a river route). $11.95. John F. Blair, 1406 Plaza Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27103. ISBN 0-89587-271-4.