ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

PUBLICATIONS

by George M. Eberhart

• Artists’ Monograms and Indiscernible Signatures: An International Directory, 1800- 1991, by John Castagno (538 pages, 1991), illustrates and identifies the ambiguous or hard-to-read signatures of3,700 artists worldwide. Art researchers have always had difficulty identifying these initials and marks, but Castagno has made their jobs much easier. The book is divided into chapters on monograms and initials, symbols and oriental signatures, Cyrillics, illegible signatures, alternate surnames, and common last name signatures. An index by artist provides another access point. Available for $127.50 from Scarecrow Press, P.O. Box 4167, Metuchen, NJ 08840. ISBN 0-8108-2415-9.

• The Cultural and Political Environment of International Business: A Guide for Business Professionals, by Don Alan Evans (360 pages, September 1991), complements the author’s The Legal Environment of International Business published last year. Written for business students who may lack basic knowledge in the social sciences, the book gives a grand overview of cultural considerations likely to affect business relationships and marketing decisions overseas. Some of the topics discussed cross-culturally are: Western and non- Westem cultures, religions, family, the status of women, governmental systems, human rights, economic systems, and future cultural trends. A healthy dose of historical perspective pervades each essay. Although the comments are interesting, this book is less useful as a practical handbook in the field than the previous volume. Copies may be purchased for $39.95 from McFarland & Company, Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-89950-639-9.

• The Decorative Arts of the China Trade, by Carl L. Crossman (448 pages, October 1991), is a definitive reference on the identification and dating of paintings, furniture, silver, embroideries, lacquerware, clay figures, fans, and other exotic decorative art objects obtained by Western merchants in China during the 18th and 19th centuries. Containing 325 black-and-white and 136 color illustrations, the book describes the technicalities of trading with the Chinese and catalogs the range and specifics of the exported art. Appendices cover information on frames and stretchers on Chinese paintings; the dates and ports of all Chinese painters noted in the book; illustrations of Chinese and foreign ports as depicted by the China trade painters; a chronological arrangement of views of Canton; an illustrated panorama of the Pearl River from Canton to Whampoa; and two illustrated sets of trade industries (tea and porcelain). The book may be ordered for $89.50 from the Antique Collectors’ Club, Market Street Industrial Park, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590. ISBN 1-85149-096-5.

• Directory of Financial Aids for Minorities, by Gail A. Schlachter (600 pages, 1991-1993 ed.), has had more than 70% of its entries updated substantively, with 500 new programs added. The result is the only current and comprehensive list of scholarships, fellowships, loans, grants, awards, and internships open to American minorities and minority organizations. Each entry in the directory provides information on program title, sponsoring organization address and telephone number, purpose, eligibility, remuneration, duration, special features, limitations, number of awards, and deadline dates. The information is indexed by program title, sponsoring organization, geographic coverage, subject, and deadline dates. The volume lists the addresses and telephone numbers of all state sources of educational benefits and describes the 60 key directories that any individual (minority or not) can use to locate additional sources of financial assistance. The cost is $47.50, plus $4.00 shipping and handling. Contact Reference Services Press, 1100 Industrial Road, Suite 9, San Carlos, CA 94070. ISBN 0-918276-15-2.

• Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Volume II, Oceania, edited by Terence E. Hays (409 pages, September 1991), offers a sociological and historical description of every cultural group in the region. For example, the listing for the Sengseng people of southwest New Britain details their demography, linguistic affiliation, history and cultural relations, settlements, economy, kinship, marriage and family customs, sociopolitical organization, and religious and expressive culture. The first volume, published in March 1991, covers North America; the ten-volume set will be complete in 1993. The encyclopedia is being prepared with the support of the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. The Oceania volume sells for $100.00 and may be ordered from G.K. Hall & Co., 70 Lincoln St., Boston, MA 02111. ISBN 0-8161- 1809-4 (v.2).

• The Federal Budget: A Guide to Process and Principal Publications, by Edward Herman (220 pages, August 1991), describes how the U.S. budget is created, and how statistical information published by executive agencies, Congress, and nongovernmental sources can be located. Many examples are provided in this useful guide to federal debt, credit, and policy. Copies are available for $25.00 (plus $2.00 handling) from Pierian Press, P.O. Box 1808, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. ISBN 0- 87650-292-3.

• The Leon Trotsky Papers (41 reels), the first installment of the University Microfilms, Inc., micropublication of the Boris I. Nicolaevsky Collection, consists of 75 manuscript boxes of original papers from Trotsky (1879-1940) and his son, Lev Sedov, dating almost entirely from the period after Trotsky’s repulsion from the Soviet Union in 1929. Many of these documents have been previously unavailable for study. The papers contain extensive drafts of more than 500 books (including the only known drafts of his History of the Russian Revolution), articles, and circular letters. The microfilmed Trotsky papers cost $3,075.

The Nicolaevsky Collection, housed at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California, will be filmed in its entirety by UM I over the next four or five years. Some other features of this collection are personal papers of Maxim Gorky, Prince Kropotkin, Victor Chernov, Georgii Plekhanov, and Iurii Semenov; memoirs, reports, and other printed matter on the condition of Jews in Russian society, Karl Marx and the international socialist movement, secret police activities under the tsarist and socialist governments, the Kronstadt rebellion of 1921, and postwar Russian refugees; and the archives of the Social Democratic Labor Party, the Latvian Social Democratic Party, and the Socialist Revolutionary Party. For more information, contact UMI, Inc., Research Collections, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-9866.

• Library Services for Persons with Disabilities, SPEC Kit #176 (130 pages, July/August 1991), contains the results of an ARL Office of Management Services survey on issues and concerns associated with planning for persons with disabilities. Most libraries reported that they serve blind and visually impaired as well as physically challenged patrons; less than one-half reported that they serve the deaf and hearing impaired; and only 36% of the ARL libraries that provide special services reported that they serve learning disabled students. The kit describes the management and training programs in place, the space designated for special services, the adaptive equipment, and specific services offered by the libraries surveyed. Also included are four planning documents, three service policies, one staff training manual, two position descriptions, three building evacuation procedures, eight library brochures and handouts, three floor plans, two procedures for the use of study areas, and three campus guides. Other recent SPEC kits are on scholarly information centers (#175, June 1991) and expert systems (#174, May 1991). Individual issues may be purchased for $30.00 (includes shipping, prepayment required) from the Office of Management Services, 1527 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20036.

• Managerial Accounting for Librarians and Other Not-for-Profìt Managers, by G. Stevenson Smith (211 pages, August 1991), explains the techniques of accounting analysis to assist managers in making decisions about selecting equipment and determining whether costs are being efficiently incurred. The book discusses techniques for identifying costs that will make a difference in future decisions. Copies are available for $50.00 from the ALA Order Department, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. ISBN 0-8389-0568-4.

• The Map Cataloging Manual (257 pages, September 1991), issued by the LC Geography and Map Division, is a comprehensive and practical guide for cataloging and classifying nonbook cartographic materials. The manual covers classification, subject analysis, minimal level cataloging, MARC content designation, and special treatment. This tabbed, looseleaf publication costs $30.00 and may be ordered directly from the Library of Congress, Cataloging Distribution Service, Customer Services Section, Washington, DC 20541-5017. ISSN 0731-3527.

• National Information Policies: Strategies for the Future, by David R. Bender, Sarah T. Kadec, and Sandy I. Morton (62 pages, September 1991), has been published as number 2 in the Special Library Association Occasional Papers Series. The paper reflects the strong commitment of SLA and its members to influence the formulation of national and international information policies. The authors address such topics as information law, productivity and intellectual property, and offer possible strategies for building a national information policy network. Copies are available for $20.00 from SLA, 1700 Eighteenth St., N.W., Washington, DC 20009-2508. ISBN 0-87111-381-1.

• Nature’s Last Strongholds, edited by Robert Burton (256 pages, June 1991), a volume in the Oxford University Press “Illustrated Encyclopedia of Geography” series, highlights the last remaining natural wildlife refuges and explains why they are vital for the health of our planet. This lavishly illustrated book traces the process of global destruction from ancient times through its acceleration since World War II, and evaluates the steps that are being taken to conserve and protect the world’s fragile ecosystems. Chapters are arranged by region, from the Arctic to Oceania. Other volumes currently available in this series cover plant life, world government, and earth’s natural forces. Copies maybe ordered for $45.00 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-520862-5.

• Readings in White-Collar Crime, edited by John Lichtenberger (301 pages, March 1991), gathers together essays written by expert practitioners in a wide variety of corporate criminal activities. As the extent of the BCCI and other scandals unfolds, new public attitudes towards white-collar crime will demand tougher laws. This volume analyzes such issues as criminal securities enforcement; financial fraud; forfeiture related to money laundering and organized crime; and trends in prosecuting corporations for environmental offenses. Not overly technical, the book will be of interest to students of criminology and business. Copies are available for $59.50 from the Meckler Corporation, 11 Ferry Lane West, Westport, CT 06880. ISBN 0-88736-679-1.

The Whole Library Handbook:Facts and figures to make you smile

• The Whole Library Handbook, by George M. Eberhart (500 pages, 1991). Every librarian can find something useful in the Whole Library Book, an almanac, handbook, and miscellany of library lore. Statistics, standards, guidelines, checklists, how-to advice, address lists, glossaries, awards, and librariana quizzes, nearly all drawn from other sources, are organized in ten broad topical chapters (e.g., materials, special populations, technology, issues). The selections emphasize practical concerns such as preparing for a job interview, evaluating an academic library director, shifting books, dealing with disruptive patrons, planning national library week observances, and orientation for new employees. Many of the items have been drawn from the pages of C&RL News (which Eberhart edited 1980-1990), making the book especially useful to academic librarians. Some items can help deal with everyday minor administrative tasks (writing a position description) or major administrative challenges (responding to a censorship attempt). Others can be used to answer patrons reference questions (howto choose an encyclopedia). Others are handy resources on professional matters (code of ethics). Still others give renewed visibility to basic texts all librarians need to know and take to heart (Ranganathan’s immortal “Five Laws of Library Science”). And others will provide a few moments of needed relief when professional matters weigh so heavily one wants to do anything but deal with professional matters. Among these are an amusing method of determining who on a staff will be selected to attend a conference, a test to judge whether or not one is a book batterer, an irreverent history of online access, and a sprinkling of Norm’s Library Levity features by Norman Stevens of the Molesworth Institute. (One wishes for more humor and hopes the next edition will include weather forecasts for host cities of major conferences, a much needed planning aid.) The book is, of course, indexed for easy access. Through the index and its selection of items that address librarians most immediate needs, it promises to be frequently used. This speaks to so many issues and interests that few who visit its pages for one purpose will be able to resist pleasurable detours into other sections. Copies may be ordered for $25.00 from ALA Order Department, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611- 2795. ISBN 0-8389-0573-0.—Reviewed by James Rettig, College of William and Mary

Excerpts from the Handbook

We thought you’d enjoy some of the Quasi- Notable Awards compiled by the cataloging staff at the Hennepin County (Minnesota) Library (HCL) that are included in the Whole Library Handbook.

Quasi-best dedication

“To our husbands … who first interested us in mating and reproduction.” [Successful Dog Breed- mg]

“To my honey.” [The Simple Art of Perfect Bak- ing]

“To Pal and his male descendants who successfully impersonated Lassie to a generation of moviegoers.” [What a Drag: Men as Women and Women as Men in the Movies]

Quasi-perverse subject headings

Breakfast cereals—Computer-assisted instruction—Software. [HCL]

Truth—Fiction. [HCL]

Hormones—Addresses, essays, lectures. [LC]

Hemmorhoids in the Bible. [HCL]

Fish pastes. [May subdivide geographically] [HCL]

Graham crackers and sexuality. [HCL]

Infant psychiatry. [HCL, LC]

Raccoons—Biography. [LC]

Turkey—Operas. [HCL]

Sex aids (for canaries). [HCL]

Game and game-birds, Dressing of. [LC]

Quasi author/title matches

What to Do When the Russians Come, by Robert Conquest.

Keepers of the Sea, by Edward L. Beach.

Acne: Advice on Clearing Tour Skin, by Robert

Marks.

Child Protection: The Role of the Courts, by Thelma Stiffarm.

Runningwith Man’s Best Friend, by Davia Gallup. Tree of Paradise, by Jane Arbor.

A Quiver Full of Arrows, by Jeffrey Archer. Seasonal Gifts from the Kitchen, by Emily

Crumpacker.

Business Math Basics, by Robert E. Swindle. The Slendemow Diet, by Richard A. Passwater. EggsheZZs to Objets d’Art, by Ima Ova.

January 1992 / 57