College and Research Libraries


Review Articles 
Government Publications 

United States Government Publications. By 
Anne M . Boyd. 3rd. e"d. rev. by Rae Eliza-
beth Rips. New York, H. W . Wilson Co., 
1949. xx, 627P. $6.50. 

Manual of Government Publications: United 
States and Foreign. By Everett S. Brown. 
N e w York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 
1950, ix, 12ip. $2.50. 

During the past few years many librarians 
have fervently wished that they might have 
a new edition of Miss Boyd's indispensable 
textbook with each new issue of the United 
States Government Manual, so rapidly did 
the publications as well as the agencies of 
the federal government change. In recogni-
tion of the continuing importance of many 
of the wartime publications, this revision de-
parts from the previous policy of including 
only governmental agencies in existence at the 
time of publication and in Chapter X X I V 
gives a very useful outline in retrospect of 
12 of the emergency agencies with their pub-
lications. 

Otherwise, this new edition follows very 
closely the original plan as to scope and ar-
rangement. One minor typographical change, 
the use of varied types for subheadings within 
chapters, has added noticeably to the already 
admirable clarity of the arrangement. Re-
visions consist mainly of changes within sec-
tions in order to bring up to date the infor-
mation about agencies, and to cite important 
new publications, more recent examples of 
different types of publications and additions 
to the bibliographies. T h e National Military 
Establishment necessitates a completely new 
chapter; the independent agencies have in-
creased from 24 to 3 1 ; and several depart-
ments, such as the Department of Commerce, 
receive expanded treatment. T h e list of types 
of publications given in Chapter I has been 
expanded as increased production justifies 
identification of new groups; of these, "Sta-
tistical Reports" and "Films and Other Visual 
Materials" are of particular interest. 

More important than specific changes or 
additions, however, is the continued develop-
ment of the features which have made this 

handbook so valuable from the appearance 
of the first edition. T h e plan of arrangement, 
by department and by issuing agency within 
each department, has made it possible not 
only to give a clear picture of the structure 
and functioning of the federal government, 
but also to relate the literature produced by 
the agency to its own activities and objectives. 
T h e various lists, indexes, bibliographies and 
handbooks are described in connection with 
the body of literature to which they are 
guides and the whole is related to the pur-
poses of an operating agency. 

I like the statement (new to this edition) : 
"Probably most publications issued today . . . 
stem from the fact that the collection and 
dissemination of information is generally ac-
cepted as an important duty of government."1 

T h a t this responsibility is being recognized 
is apparent in the activities of many federal 
agencies but nowhere is it better exemplified 
than in the description of the Department of 
Agriculture. This chapter amounts almost 
to a microcosmic case study of the institu-
tional arrangements and types of publications 
needed to carry out the research, educational, 
operational and popularization functions of a 
literate society. T h e value to the student 
librarian of gaining such an integrated pic-
ture can not be overestimated. T h e many 
suggestions as to selection policy and reference 
use in various types of libraries, research, 
special, school and popular, take full ad-
vantage of the many levels of government 
publications, and examples are given of the 
various levels as well as of different types. 

T h e new edition still carries the older ma-
terial on the processing of documents within 
the library, including the outline of the Su-
perintendent of Documents classification, and 
some material on the publicizing of govern-
ment publications has been added. 

Miss Rips, who is a former student of Miss 
Boyd's and at present chief of the History 
and T r a v e l Department of the Detroit Pub-
lic Library, is to be congratulated upon this 
excellent and welcome revision of an impor-
tant tool. Many librarians will join in the 

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202 • COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



hope that her interest in keeping it up to date 
will continue through many more revisions. 

In the absence of guides to the public docu-
ments of other nations and of international 
organizations as easily accessible and as com-
prehensive as Boyd's United States Govern-
ment Publications, librarians will find 
Brown's Manual of Government Publica-
tions very useful. T h e author, a professor 
of Political Science at the University of 
Michigan, has designed his handbook for the 
use of research workers or those interested in 
politics and it emphasizes tools for locating 
publications of use to these groups. 

Of the 17 chapters, nine are devoted to the 
United States, the ninth covering publications 
of state, municipal and local units of govern-
ment—the great uncharted wilderness of our 
public documents domain. Four chapters 
cover Great Britain and the British Com-

monwealth of Nations; one chapter covers 
Europe, including France, Germany, Austria, 
Soviet Russia, Italy and Ireland; and another 
single chapter is allotted to Latin America, 
the Near and Middle East, Japan and China. 
The international organizations whose pub-
lications are discussed are the League of Na-
tions, the Permanent Court of International 
Justice, the International Court of Justice 
and the United Nations. 

Obviously, in a handbook so slim as this 
with a scope so wide, only a few of the major 
series of publications can be mentioned specifi-
cally. Most of the references are to other 
bibliographic guides, but since these are fre-
quently difficult to locate readily this little 
handbook will be a very welcome addition to 
librarians as well as to political scientists.— 
Margaret E. Egan, Graduate Library School, 
University of Chicago. 

Old and N e w Scientific W o r k s 
A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts 

in the Army Medical Library. By Dorothy 
M . Schullian and Francis E. Sommer. Pub-
lished for T h e Honorary Consultants to 
the Army Medical Library by Henry 
Schuman, Inc. New York, 1950, 36ip. 
$15. 

Scientific, Medical and Technical Books, Pub-
lished in the United States of America. A 
Selected List of Titles in Print with Anno-
tations. Supplement of Books published 
1945-1948. Edited by R. R. Hawkins. 
Prepared under the direction of the Na-
tional Research Council's Committee on 
Bibliography of American Scientific and 
Technical Books. Washington ( N . Y . , R. 
R. Bowker Co.), 1950, 526p. $10. 
Here is a new reference tool for the his-

torian of science, and for those interested in 
fifteenth century books. It occupies a well-
deserved place beside its illustrious predeces-
sors in this field, Klebs, Osier, Sudhoff and 
Ballard. 

A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manu-
scripts in the Army Medical Library repre-
sents another example of the superb biblio-
graphic enterprises which we have come to 
expect from our National Medical Library. 
Instructors in the graphic arts will be happy 
to learn that lantern slides have been made 

of historically significant illustrations, title 
pages, printers' marks and other materials 
suitable for lectures based on the collection. 
T h e record of incunabula is of particular 
interest to scholars and librarians, for each 
has been microfilmed and is available for loan 
in that form. 

Young scholars in the history of science 
and civilization, following in the footsteps 
of Sarton and Thorndike, will have accessi-
bility denied to their predecessors. It is a 
pious hope that the disciples will utilize the 
material. 

T h e incunabula portion of the work is 
equipped with two concordances, Klebs and 
Stillwell. In addition, there is a general index 
of printers, places, owners, incidental names, 
variant forms of author names and dates. 

This volume has also a record of the 
western manuscripts in possession of the li-
brary. Part 2 of the work contains a record 
of their oriental manuscripts, predominantly 
Arabic. An index of names and titles en-
hances the checklist. 

This volume is one which every American 
library boasting a Rare Book Room will 
wish to have on its reference shelf. Printed 
by the Anthoensen Press, published by Schu-
man for the Honorary Consultants to the 
Army Medical Library, the volume is a fine 
example of book making. 

A P R I L . 1951 250 
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