ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

New Publications

George M. Eberhart

The ABC-CLIO Compan- ion to Women’s Progress in America,by Elizabeth Frost-Knappman (389 pag- es, June 1994), covers key events and legislation, and individuals involved in the women’s rights movements.

Many photos and drawings supplement this valuable encyclopedia. $55.00. ABC- CLIO, 130 Cremona Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117. ISBN 0-87436-667-4.

Academic Libraries: The Dimensions ofTheir Effectiveness,by Joseph A. McDonald and Lynda Basney Micikas (188 pages, April 1994), takes a cool, hard look at commonly accepted indicators of library effectiveness and the theoretical underpinnings of bibliographic instruction and information literacy. The ACRL performance measures come under some scrutiny in chapter 8. The authors’ observations are based on their study of academic library effectiveness in six Middle Atlantic States and the District of Columbia. $49.95. Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881. ISBN 0-313-27269-7.

African Placenames: Origins and Meanings of the Names of over 2000 Natural Features, Towns, Cities, Provinces and Countries,by Adrian Room (235 pages, May 1994), reveals the etymologies of African placenames, with appropriate historical, topographical, and biological references. Cross references provide both former names and alternative spellings. $51.95 postpaid. McFarland & Co., Box 6ll, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-943-6.

Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Coastlines,by Alan G. Smith, David G. Smith, and Brian M. Funnell (99 pages, June 1994), is an invaluable source of paleogeographical information. Thirty-one maps, generally corresponding to stratigraphic stages, provide a snapshot of the continents at approximately 8-million- year intervals and demonstrate the breakup of the Pangaea landmass into our modern continents. Nearly half the book is an excellent multilingual bibliography of 2,000 primary sources. $39.95. Cambridge Univ. Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011- 4211. ISBN 0-521-45155-8.

An Ethnohistorical Dic- tionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires,edited by James S. Olson (837 pag- es, April 1994), provides a complete description of 450 ethnolinguistic groups in the Commonwealth of Indepen- dent States. The essays are insightful, offering the his- tory and characteristics of such familiar peoples as the Cossacks, Jews, and Latvians as well as more obscure ethnic groups. The volume includes appendices on population statistics, a chronol- ogy of the Russian and Soviet Empires, and a brief history of Islam in the area. $125.00. Green- wood Press, 88 Post Road West, P.O. Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881. ISBN 0-313-27497-5.

Film Quotations,by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn W. Nowlan (745 pages, May 1994), identifies 11,420 cinematic quotations in more than 900 subjects. Each quote gives the movie title, production company, year of release, speaker of the line, and, when appropriate, a comment putting the quote in context. There is no subject for libraries, but under “books” there is: . . I’m going to help rebuild the library. And if anybody ever again tries to remove a book from it, he’ll have to do it over my dead body” (Bette Davis in Storm Center, 1956). $77.00 postpaid. McFarland & Co., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-786-7.

Historical Atlas of Colorado,by Thomas J. Noel, Paul F. Mahoney, and Richard E. Stevens (192 pages, August 1994), offers sixty black- and-white maps on topics of historical and geographical significance, among them territorial disputes, water diversions and reservoirs, stagecoach lines, lost mines and buried treasures, Native American tribes, and literary locales. The accompanying essays are succinct and accessible to the casual browser. $29.95 University of Oklahoma Press, 1005 Asp Avenue, Norman, OK 73019. ISBN 0-8061-2591-8.

Latin Literature: A History,by Gian Biagio Conte (827 pages, April 1994), is a definitive Woolworth workers strike for a 40- hour work week in 1937. (From The ABC-CLIO Companion to Women’s Progress in America.)

Library of Congress survey of Roman writing from the early Republic to the dawn of the Middle Ages.

This encyclopedic work can be used as a reader’s hand- book, a bibliographic guide, a literary study, or a supple- ment to the philosophies and politics of the ancient world.

Conte, Italy’s preeminent Latin scholar, gives equal time to Latin chronicles, ora- tory, poetry, creative writing, prose, and letters. An essen- tial reference work for any- one studying Roman lan- guage and literature. $65.00.

Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2715 N. Charles St., Balti- more, MD 21218-4319. ISBN 0-8018-4638-2.

New Employee Orientation,by H. Scott Davis (144 pages, February 1994), details the orientation program the author developed for the Indiana State University Libraries, Terre Haute. Written for personnel librarians and others who are responsible for assimilating new employees into the library staff, this manual presents a menu of program activities that can be tailored to suit the needs of many libraries. $39.95. Neal-Schuman Publishers, 100 Varick St., New York, NY 10013. ISBN 1-55570-158-2.

Selection of Library Materials for AreaStudies: Part II, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand,edited by Cecily Johns (111 pages, 1994), offers practical advice to collection development librarians on selection tools and the book trade in these countries. $25.00. ALA Order Dept., 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 606ll- 2795. ISBN 0-8389-0631-1.

U.S. Government Periodical Index,vol. 1, no. 1 (quarterly, March 1994- ), available in print, CD-ROM, and MARC-tape versions, provides access to articles with significant research, reference, or general interest value from some 170 federal periodicals. Not included are most titles appearing in the Periodicals Supplement to the GPO Monthly Catalog and those covered by CIS’ American Statistics Index. The single index is alphabetical by subject and name. Print and CD-ROM editions are $795.00 each, with a combined price of $995.00. Congressional Information Ser- vice, 4520 East-West High- way, Bethesda, MD 20814- 9836.

World History,by Bruce Wetterau (1,173 pages, April 1994), is a dictionary of 10,000 important people, places, and events from an- cient times to the present. With this many listings in one volume, most descrip- tions are brief and concise, with the exception of the entries for countries, which feature helpful chronolo- gies. Art, literature, science, and philosophy are well represented, and there is an emphasis on American his- tory not found in comparable works—yet the coverage outside North America is creditable. $60.00. Henry Holt and Co., 115 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011. ISBN 0-8050-2350-X.

The 7,500-entry Larousse Dictionary of World History, edited by Bruce P. Lenman (996 pages, 1994), has a few maps and dynastic tables, unlike Wetterau’s volume, and the listings are longer. Reference collections should have both volumes (as well as The Hutchinson Dictionary of World History, reviewed in June 1994). $40.00. Larousse, 95 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-7523-5001-3. ■