ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C &RL N e w s ■ J u n e 1 9 9 9 / 4 8 3 N e w P u b l i c a t i o n s G e o rg e M. Eberhart Art: A W orld History (720 pages, O cto b er 1998) w as p ro duce d in collab oration w ith ex­ perts from le ad ing art galleries a n d m useum s and a team o f Italian art historians. T ho ug h its one-volum e app ro ach m ay be criticized b y purists, this m ay be the best intro du ctio n to the subject since H . W . Jan s o n ’s H is to r y o f A r t. n o w in its fifth edition. Illustrations are plentiful; com m entary is bite-sized b u t insight­ ful; a n d the analysis o f specific artw orks in terms o f pro po rtion, focal po in t, balance, al­ lusion, lighting, shape, a n d color is illu m in at­ ing. O th er sources are better for fin d in g a pic­ ture of, say, the M o n a Lisa; b u t here y o u w ill be le d into an assessm ent o f L eonardo’s in flu ­ ences o n m annerism a n d H ig h Renaissance technique. $59.95. D K Publishing. ISBN 0-7894- 2382-0. Blundering to Glory: Napoleon's M ilitary Campaigns, b y O w e n C o nne lly (254 pages, revised ed., M arch 1999), evaluates Bonaparte’s perform ance as a c o m m and er a n d com es to the co nclusion that he w as n o t a m ilitary ge­ nius b u t “a n im proviser w h o profited from his enem ies’ m istakes.” H e also sho w ed a dogged d eterm ination to w in at all costs, an attitude that m ost o f his contem poraries lacked. This up d a te d e d itio n o f C o nnelly's 1987 vo lu m e incorporates data from studies p u b lish e d in the past ten years. M aps a n d clear descrip­ tions o f cam paig ns a n d battles m ake this an excellent supplem ent to A lan Schom ’s award- w inning N a p o le o n B o n a p a r te (HarpeiCollins, 1997). $55.00. SR Books. ISBN 0-820-2779-3. Our Dum b Century, edited b y Scott Dikkers a n d the editors o f The O n io n (164 pages, A pril 1999), doe sn’t ne ed m y h e lp to sell any c o p ­ ies. H ow ever, I d o w an t to p o in t o u t that this parody o f 20th-century A m erican new spapers offers an entertaining su p p le m e n t to m ed ia history studies. The tone a n d typography used for all papers from 1900 to the 1990s are dead o n, a n d the satire is a devastating critique o f journalistic excesses as w ell as a crash course George M. E b e rh a rt is associate e d ito r o f A m erican Libraries; e-m ail: geberhart@ ala.org in critical th inking . $15-00. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-609-80461-8. The Photography Encyclopedia, by Fred W. M cD arrah an d G lo ria S. M cD arrah (689 pages, D ecem ber 1998), seems to be saying that color is unim po rtant, w h ile fram e, focus, a n d co n­ tent are king. There is n o t a single co lo r p h o ­ tograph in this reference w ork, th ou gh it credits G a b rie l L ip p m a n n w ith p ro d u c in g the first color ph o to g rap h ic plate in 1908. T hat’s 90 years o f ph o to g rap h ic history g o n e unrecog­ nize d . The highlights o f this b o o k are n o t so m u c h the biographies o f photographers (w hich are sketchy) or the technical definitio ns (you w ill learn m u c h m ore ab o u t f-stops from any K o d ak m anual), b u t Fred M cD arrah’s o w n im ­ ages o f fam ous photographers taken at galler­ ies or press conferences in N ew York. The tim eline, annotated b ib lio graph y , a n d gallery directory are h e lp fu l, b u t the 350 black-and- w h ite p h o to s are th e re a l stars. $80.00. M acm illan. ISBN 0-02-865025-5. The West o f Billy th e Kid, by Frederick Nolan (350 pages, N ovem ber 1998), ope ns w ith a one-paragraph sum m ary o f w h at is definitely k n o w n ab o u t the notorio us o utlaw , th e n pro ­ ceeds to fill in the details b y extracting reli­ ab le facts from the haze o f m y th that sur­ ro u n d e d W illia m H . B o nne y (o r w as his nam e H enry McCarty?) even w h e n he lived. Filled w ith dozens o f ph otog rap hs o f p e o p le w h o the K id interacted w ith a n d places he visited (b o th historical a n d contem porary im ages), the b o o k is b o th a m asterful narrative a n d picto ­ rial essay o f w h at life w as like in the South­ w est in the 1880s. W ell-researched a n d in ­ dexed. $39.95. University o f O k la h o m a Press. ISBN 0-8061-3082-2. Who's W ho in Space, by Michael Cassutt (665 pages, 3d ed., February 1999), offers bio graphi­ cal info rm ation o n astronauts a n d astronaut candidates, n o t o n ly from the U.S. a n d Russia, b u t from every country that has participated in a space program . Shuttle p ay lo ad special­ ists, X-15 pilots, a n d ind iv id uals scheduled for future tourist flights are also includ e d. Scat- mailto:geberhart@ala.org 4 8 4 / C & R L N e w s ■ J u n e 1 9 9 9 tered th ro u g h o u t are su c h first-person d e ­ s c r ip t io n s as Y u r i G a g a r in ’s r e m in is ­ cence o f the first space flight, the transcript o f th e last m o m e n ts o f the C h alle n g e r crew , a n d B u z z A ldrin’s ac­ c o u n t o f N e il (W h a t h a v e y o u d o n e . . . co nt. fr o m p a g e 4 7 4 ) librarians, th ey m u st hire p e o p le w ith o n g o ­ in g interest in q uality teaching, quality research, a n d q u a lity service. H ow ever, they m u st also p ro v id e high-quality graduates w h o pe rform w e ll fo r pragm atic em ployers. A nd , u n lik e aca­ d e m ic librarians, they serve tw o masters: prac­ titioners a n d their institutions. C ertainly, they w a n t to k n o w w h a t w e th in k , b u t the b u d g e t they receive is base d o n h o w w e ll their a d ­ m inistrative superiors ju d g e they are m e e ting the in stitu tio n ’s m ission. T hey m ay b e, for ex­ am p le , w a lk in g a tigh trop e stretched betw e en the needs o f the em plo ye rs in their reg io n a n d the m ission o f their in stitutio n to g a in in ­ te rnatio nal stature. G ive • Go to a library school reunion at ALA. T alk n o t o n ly w ith y o u r fe llo w classm ates a n d others y o u k n o w g rad uate d fro m y o u r institu­ tio n , b u t also w ith current faculty a n d fin d o u t w h a t they’re u p to a n d h o w y o u m ig h t h e lp. • Volunteer to help a library school p ro­ gram . E v e n if y o u ’re n o t in th e g e o g ra p h ic a l lo ca le o f a lib rary s c h o o l, c o n ta ct o n e a n d fin d o u t w h a t y o u can d o at a d istance. C an y o u p a rticip a te in a n e le ctro nic list? A nsw e r q u e stio n s o f a s tu d e n t fo r a p a rtic u la r a ssign­ m e n t relevant to y o u r expertise? B e p a ire d as a m e n to r w ith a student? • Offer an internship in the field. Li­ brary e d u c atio n is a b o u t b o th theory a n d prac­ tice. V olunteer to p ro v id e a practical experi­ ence th at allo w s a library scho ol stud e nt to g ra p p le w ith a real-life acade m ic library p ro b ­ le m a n d co m e u p w ith a so lu tio n . G iv e the stu d e n t b o th th e la titu d e to d o s o m e th in g m e a n in g fu l a n d the a p p ro p riate g u id a n c e a n d tools w h ic h w ill a llo w for success. B e honest in y o u r e v a lu a tio n o f th eir w ork. • Teach. V olunteer as a guest lecturer for a library scho ol class. B e com e a n ad ju n ct a n d A rm strong’s w a lk o n the m o o n . A p p e nd ice s offer a c o m p le te list o f m a n n e d flights in c h ro ­ n o lo g ic a l order, w o rld d u ra tio n a n d EVA (ex- tra-vehicular activity) logs, a n d the nam e s o f teachers a n d journalists selected in 1985 a n d 1986 p rio r to the C h alle ng e r disaster. D escrip­ tions o f h o w each g ro u p o f astronauts were chosen a n d a color section show ing N ASA m is­ s io n c re w p a tc h e s a d d v a lu e . $ 1 1 5 .0 0 . M acm illan. ISB N 0-02-864965-6. ■ te ach a n e ntire course. S tud ents better u n ­ d e rs ta n d m u ltip le p e rsp e ctiv e s w h e n th ey h a v e b o th full- tim e lib ra ry e d u c ato rs a n d practitio ners as th e ir professors. • Participate in professional com m it­ tees th a t c o n trib u te to lib rary e d u c a tio n . For e x a m p le , b e c o m e in v o lv e d in p e r tin e n t g ro u p s w ith in ACRL. T hese in c lu d e th e E d u ­ ca tio n a n d P ro fe ssio nal D e v e lo p m e n t C o m ­ m itte e o f th e Rare B o o k s & M an u scrip ts Sec­ tio n , th e E d u c a tio n fo r Library In s tru c tio n C o m m itte e o f th e In s tru c tio n S e c tio n , th e D istan ce L e arn in g S ection, o r th e c o n tin u in g e d u c a tio n co m m itte e s in th e C o lle g e Librar­ ies S ection, th e In stru c tio n S ection, th e Sci­ e nce & T e c h n o lo g y S ection, a n d the Slavic a n d Eastern E u ro p e a n Section. Seek a p p o in t­ m e n t to ALA s ta n d in g C o u n c il co m m itte e s, w h ic h d ire ctly address e d u c a tio n issues: the E d u c a tio n C o m m itte e a n d the A ccre d itatio n C o m m itte e . V o lunte er fo r th e site v isito r p o o l o f th e latter b o d y b y c o n ta c tin g A n n O ’N eil, d ire cto r o f A LA ’s O ffic e fo r A ccre d itatio n. • Give m oney. D u rin g th e Congress, I h e a rd th e story o f a lib rary e d u c a to r w h o gave b a c k to his lib rary sc h o o l one-tenth o f w h a t h e e a rn e d e a ch year. B u d g e tin g , after all, is w h a t y o u m a k e it. I ’m n o t a s k in g y o u to tithe; I ’m a s k in g y o u to c o n s id e r c o n trib ­ u tin g m o re th a n in th e p ast the n e x t tim e y o u get o n e o f th o se s o lic ita tio n letters or p h o n e calls fro m y o u r lib rary sch o o l. W h a t have y o u d on e fo r a lib ra ry school lately? N o w , d e a r c o lle a g u e , if y o u ’v e re a d th is fa r, I o ffe r y o u a c h a lle n g e : V o w th a t b y th is tim e n e x t y e a r, y o u , as a n a c a d e m ic lib r a r ia n , w ill b e d o in g m o re th a n y o u are n o w fo r lib ra ry e d u c a tio n . A fte r a ll, c o n ­ tr ib u tin g to th e e d u c a tio n o f n e w lib r a r ­ ia n s is o n e o f th e m o s t im p o r ta n t th in g s y o u c a n d o ! — M a r io n T. R e id ■