ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 7 2 /C&RL News C a ta lo g o f G o v e r n m e n t I n v e n t io n s A vailab le fo r L icen sin g, 1992, lists m ore than 1,000 inventions issued during 1992. As part of the federal technology transfer initiative, these new devices or processes can be licensed by commercial and private businesses for their ow n use. Each entry sum marizes the invention, nam es the inven­ tor, and show s w here addi­ tional information can be ob­ ta i n e d . T h e c a ta lo g is divided into 43 subject areas and offers com ­ plete subject and inventor indexes. The price is $59-00 (plus $3.00 handling) from the Na­ tional Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. O rder num ber PB93-128205KSB. CD-ROM B u y er’s G u id e & H a n d b o o k , by Paul T. Nicholls (700 pages, 3d ed., 1993), pre­ sents a w ide range of information o n the CD- ROM format and industry and gives practical techniques for buying, using, an d m anaging CD-ROMs. W ell-o rg a n iz e d an d filled w ith tables, reading lists, charts, and sidebars, this hand b o o k also contains chapters o n directo­ ries of CD-ROM products and drives, CD-ROM journals and newsletters, a directory o f p u b ­ lished CD-ROM p ro d u ct reviews, an d brief, evaluative reviews of 200 core CD-ROM titles. Much o f this material is appropriate for acqui­ sitions librarians, since the author teaches at the School o f Library and Information Science at the University o f W estern Ontario. The book m ay b e ordered for $44.95 (plus $3.00 h an ­ dling) from Eight Bit Books, 462 D anbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897. ISBN 0-910965-08-0. E n ser’s F ilm ed B o o k s an d Plays, 1928-1991, edited by Ellen Baskin and Mandy H icken (970 pages, May 1993), lists m ore than 6,000 books and plays that have b een ad ap ted for film or television. The b ook is divided into three sec­ tions: film titles, authors, and changes o f the original title w h en adapted for film. For some reason the editors prefer initializing the authors’ first and m iddle nam es (L. Tolstoy instead of Leo Tolstoy), a peculiar decision given the pro­ liferation o f main entries since 1968 w h en the first edition w as published. O n balance, how ­ N e w Publications G e o rg e M . E b e rh a rt ever, a useful guide to filmed fiction. Indexes are provided for m usicals, m ade-for-TV movies, and anim ated films. C o p ie s are a v a ila b le fo r $69-95 from A shgate P u b ­ lishing Company, O ld Post Road, Brookfield, VT 05036. ISBN 1-85742-026-8. F a c ts a b o u t t h e P r e s i ­ d e n ts , by J o s e p h N athan Kane (433 pages, 6th ed., May 1993), contains a wealth o f trivia and significa about all 42 U.S. Presidents. The first part o f the book is devoted to each President in chronological o rder an d provides a family history, data on elections, congressional sessions, cabinet and Suprem e Court appointm ents, the Vice Presi­ dents, an d highlights o f the President’s life and administration. The second part lists such com ­ parative data as White H ouse w eddings, nick­ nam es and sobriquets, Presidents w o u n d ed in action, Presidents on coins and postage stamps, and m uch more. A copy m ay be ordered for $55.00 from the H. W. Wilson Company, 950 University Ave., Bronx, NY 10452. ISBN 0-8242- 0845-5. Fire, by Hazel Rossotti (288 pages, May 1993), sheds light on all aspects o f com bustion, from the physics o f fire to its production, preven­ tion, an d control. Profusely illustrated and en­ tertainingly w ritten, Rossotti illum inates the mysteries o f firewalking, sm og reduction, steam e n g in e s , p h lo g is to n , fire in s u ra n c e , a n d therm orem nant magnetism. A g ood first place to go for pyrofacts, this boo k will spark the reader’s imagination. Copies are $27.50 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-855722-1. T h e Great P a leo zo ic Crisis: Life a n d D eath in th e P erm ian , by Douglas H. Erwin (327 pages, July 1993), exam ines the mass extinc­ tions that took place 250 million years ago at the close o f the Perm ian period. Forget the end of the dinosaurs— the m uch earlier Paleozoic upheavals resulted in the extinction o f 83% of all existing genera. In deducing the causes of th is c a t a s t r o p h e , E rw in , a c u r a t o r in paleobiology at th e National Museum o f Natu­ Septem ber 1 9 9 3 / 4 7 3 ral History, focuses o n the larval ecology o f marine invertebrates, fluctuations in stable iso­ topes, the history o f the earth ’s magnetic field during the Permian, and changes in the core­ mantle boundary. T he boo k costs $55.00 from Columbia University Press, 562 W. 113th St., New York, NY 10025. ISBN 0-231-07466-2. A G uide to th e C ollege Library: T he M ost U se fu l R e s o u r c e s f o r S tu d e n ts a n d R e­ search ers, by Christopher Lee Philips (approx. 378 pages, Septem ber 1993), provides a sub­ ject-oriented approach to describing informa­ tion sources, p receded by an overview o f the various types of research material. The author gives one- o r tw o-sentence review s o f each reference tool (primarily but no t exclusively printed books and serials) an d indicates the LC call num ber. Select subject headings, break­ downs, an d LC call num bers are given for each subject category. Written especially for under­ graduates. A copy may b e ordered for $49.95 from Walker and Company, 720 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10019. ISBN 0-8027-1283-5. Library E ducation in th e U n ited States an d Canada, by H. A. Peiris (150 pages, 1993), of­ fers som e statistics an d a historical perspective on education for librarianship in North America. B a se d o n th e a u t h o r ’s m a s te r ’s th e s is at Dalhousie University, this study gives a bal­ anced acco u n t o f develo p m en ts in Canada. Copies are available for $24.50 (Canadian) from Chansa Publishers, 386 King G eorge Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1K 1T5. ISBN 0-9697088-0-7. Library R esearch M odels: A Guide to Clas­ sification , C ataloging, an d C om p u ters, by Thomas Mann (248 pages, July 1993), extends the concepts that th e author, a general refer­ ence librarian at the Library of Congress, de­ veloped in his G uide to Library Research Meth­ ods (O xford University Press, 1986) to show the strengths and w eaknesses of particular re­ search m ethods. These m ethods are: the Spe­ cific Subject Model (searches by discipline), the Traditional Library Science Model (searches by LC classification schem e, LC Subject Headings, and classified bibliographies), the Type-of-Lit- erature Model (searches in alm anacs, h an d ­ books, yearbooks, etc.), th e Actual-Practice Model (an informal com bination o f footnote­ chasing, ineffective brow sing, an d colleague recom m endations), and the C om puter W ork­ station Model (key w ord o r w ord proximity searching o f abstracts or full text). Mann show s that these m odels all have a place in 21st-cen­ tury research and that o n e cannot effectively replace another. The limitations of com puter key w ord searching and the feasibility of som e­ day having “the entire Library of Congress o n ­ line” especially com e u n d er close scrutiny. Mann’s recom m ended m odel makes inher­ en t sense to anyone w h o has ever attem pted a multidisciplinary, multilingual, and multiformat research project. His model groups resources theoretically, if not physically in the reference room , according to the ways in w hich they are searched. He stresses that a reference room re­ design to accom m odate this m odel will pro­ duce instant results in user instruction (“paved roads create traffic”). Copies are available for $22.50 from Oxford University Press, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-508190-0. T h in k in g o n th e E dge, e d ited by Richard Kapnick and Aidan A. Kelly (410 pages, 1993), contains essays o n sundry topics by mem bers of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, a w orldw ide organization com posed o f individuals w ith an IQ at or above the 99.9th percentile of general intellectual functioning. Most of the chapters are accessible to the rest o f us and range from poetry therapy, SETI, and the criminal justice system to traffic problems, ision aids, and clever inventions. An unusual and uneven anthology, yet one that is thought- provoking. Copies are available for $25.00 from gamemnon Press, 10741 Moorpark St., #19, orth H ollyw ood, CA 91602-2737. ISBN 1- 83322-00-6. irtual Reality: A n In tern ation al D irectory f R esearch Projects, by Jerem y Thom pson 235 pages, June 1993), provides an overview f virtual reality (VR) research in North America, sia, and Europe, and gives detailed informa­ ion o n more than 200 research groups in 17 ountries. This m ultinational approach is es­ ential for an understanding o f VR, w hich cov­ rs all technologies applicable to the replace­ ent o f hum an sensual interactions in the real orld with interactions in com puter-generated rtificial environm ents. A directory o f key re­ earchers, selected bibliography, sources of urther information, a list o f VR-related com pa­ ies, and a subject index to R&D activities are ncluded. A copy may be ordered for $60.00 rom Meckler Corporation, 11 Ferry Lane West, estport, CT 06880. ISBN 0-88736-862-X. ■ v A N 8 V o ( o A t c s e m w a s f n i f W