College and Research Libraries Review Articles Compact Book Storage Compact Book Storage; Some Suggestions toward a New Methodology for the Shelv- ing of Less Used Research Materials. B y F r e m o n t R i d e r . N e w Y o r k , T h e H a d h a m P r e s s , 1949, 9 ° P - $ 3 - 0 0 . M r . R i d e r b e g i n s t h i s l i t t l e b o o k w i t h a n a n a l y s i s of t h e f u n d a m e n t a l s of b o o k s t o r a g e . W h i l e t h i s a n a l y s i s c o n t a i n s n o t h i n g n e w , it d o e s c o n s t i t u t e a g o o d p o i n t of d e p a r t u r e f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g c h a p t e r s . S i n c e t h e a u t h o r r e c o m m e n d s c o m p a c t b o o k s t o r a g e p r i m a r i l y f o r l i t t l e - u s e d r e s e a r c h m a t e r i a l s , t h e q u e s t i o n of s e g r e g a t i o n of t h e s e b o o k s f r o m t h e m u c h - u s e d o n e s is a n e c e s s a r y s e c o n d s t e p in h i s t h e s i s d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d in C h a p t e r 2 h e , " l o n g . . . a n a p o s t l e of s e g r e g a t i o n , " r e s t a t e s c o n c i s e l y t h e a r g u m e n t s f o r i t . C h a p t e r s 3 ( " T h e R u b e G o l d b e r g C h a p t e r " ) a n d 4 ( " R o l l i n g a n d H i n g e d S t a c k s " ) a r e s u p e r - fluous. T h e f i r s t a d d s n o t h i n g t o t h e d e v e l o p - m e n t of t h e s u b j e c t a n d t h e o t h e r d o e s l i t t l e m o r e t h a n d e s c r i b e s o m e t h i n g w h i c h is n o t r e c o m m e n d e d b y t h e a u t h o r . P a r t I , " A n a l y - s i s , " is c o n c l u d e d w i t h a c h a p t e r o n t h e f a c t o r s i n v o l v e d in t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l f o r m of b o o k s t o r a g e . P a r t I I is c a l l e d " S y n t h e s i s . " H e r e t h e a u t h o r r e v i e w s t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r i n c r e a s e d b o o k c a p a c i t y in e x i s t i n g b o o k s t a c k s , c o n - c l u d i n g t h a t s h e l v i n g b y s i z e is o n e of t h e b e s t w a y s t o e f f e c t s p a c e e c o n o m i e s . C h a p t e r 2 is p e r h a p s t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p a r t of t h e b o o k , f o r in i t t h e a u t h o r l e a d s u s l o g i c a l l y t o c o n c l u d e w i t h h i m t h a t s h e l v i n g b o o k s in a n u p r i g h t p o s i t i o n is t h e p r i n c i p a l c a u s e of t h e l o w p r o p o r t i o n of s t a c k s p a c e a c t u a l l y h o l d i n g b o o k s . H e r e c o m m e n d s " b o x i n g " f o r m o s t b o o k s n o t s h e l v e d in a n u p r i g h t p o s i t i o n , a n d t h e n p r o c e e d s , in c u s t o m a r y R i d e r f a s h i o n , t o g o i n t o t h e g r e a t e s t d e t a i l c o n c e r n i n g s o l u t i o n of a l l t h e i n f i n i t e s i m a l p r o b l e m s w h i c h a r i s e w h e n t h i s s y s t e m is p u t i n t o e f f e c t . H e is f u l l y a w a r e t h a t b i n d i n g p o l i c i e s a r e i n e x t r i - c a b l y i n v o l v e d in t h e p r o b l e m of b o x i n g , a n d t r e a t s t h i s i m p o r t a n t p h a s e of t h e s u b j e c t c o m p r e h e n s i v e l y . M r . R i d e r t h e n a t t e m p t s , w i t h v a r y i n g s u c c e s s , t o s h o w t h e r e l a t i v e e c o n o m y of c o m p a c t b o o k s t o r a g e . N e x t , t h e a u t h o r i n t e r r u p t s h i s t h e s i s in o r d e r t o a n s w e r q u e s t i o n s w h i c h h e a s s u m e s h a v e a r i s e n in t h e m i n d of t h e r e a d e r . H e r e h e is n o t n e a r l y s o s u c c e s s f u l a s h e w a s in h i s w i d e l y - r e a d The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library, w h e r e s u c h q u e s t i o n s w e r e f o r e s e e n a n d a n s w e r e d d u r i n g t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e t h e s i s , a f t e r t h e f a s h i o n of A r n o l d B e n n e t t a n d m a n y p r o f e s s i o n a l p h i l o s o p h e r s . T h e o b j e c t i o n s h e c i t e s w e r e n o t a t a l l t h e o n e s w h i c h b o t h e r e d m e m o s t a s I r e a d h i s b o o k . T h e final c h a p t e r d i s c u s s e s b y - p r o d u c t a d - v a n t a g e s of b o x i n g . T h e b o o k is i n t e r e s t i n g l y w r i t t e n . T h e s u b j e c t t r e a t e d is v e r y m u c h w o r t h w h i l e ; t h e p r o b l e m s p r e s e n t e d a n d t h e s o l u t i o n s s u g - g e s t e d a r e of c o n c e r n t o a l l of u s . W h i l e t h e a u t h o r h a s a i m e d h i s b o o k p r i m a r i l y a t t h e l a r g e l i b r a r y , t h e r e is m u c h in it w h i c h w i l l b e u s e f u l in s m a l l l i b r a r i e s . T h e r e a r e a n u m b e r of t y p o g r a p h i c a l e r r o r s , b u t in g e n e r a l t h e f o r m a t a n d p h y s i c a l a p p e a r a n c e of t h e v o l u m e a r e g o o d . — W i l l i a m H. Jesse, Uni- versity of Tennessee Libraries. Man and Pictures From Cave Painting to Comic Strip. A Kaleidosope of Human Communication. B y L a n c e l o t H o g b e n . N e w Y o r k , C h a n t i - l e e r P r e s s , 1949. $ 5 . 0 0 . A n e w c r i t e r i o n c a n b e a d d e d t o t h o s e e s - t a b l i s h e d n o t l o n g a g o by R u s s e l l L i n e s f o r t h e c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of t h e h u m a n s p e c i e s i n t o h i g h - , m i d d l e - a n d l o w - b r o w : w h e t h e r o r n o t o n e is i r r i t a t e d by t h i s n e w b o o k by t h e a u t h o r of Science for the Citizen a n d Mathematics for the Million. H o g b e n h i m s e l f s a y s in t h e f o r e w o r d of h i s b o o k t h a t " i t w i l l p l e a s e n e i t h e r t h e h i g h - b r o w n o r t h e l o w - b r o w . " O n first s i g h t , y o u r r e v i e w e r w a s c o n s i d e r a b l y i r r i t a t e d . M a n y of t h e r e a d e r s of t h e College and Research Libraries w i l l b e l i k e w i s e a f f e c t e d . S e r i o u s l y , t h e b o o k w h i c h l o o k s e x t r e m e l y s t i m u l a t i n g a n d c h a l l e n g i n g , h a s a n n o y i n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . T h e r e is o b s c u r i t y in i t s s t y l e OCTOBER., 1950 456