College and Research Libraries


the original c a t a l o g , and the size of the b o o k 
w h e n k n o w n . O n the w h o l e , the individual 
entries are r e c o r d e d quite accurately, both 
f o r G e r m a n and f o r n o n - G e r m a n b o o k s . 

C o m p a r i s o n w i t h A m e r i c a n auction r e c o r d s 
indicates a distinctly l o w e r price trend, and 
this p h e n o m e n o n might w e l l be the s u b j e c t 
of a f a i r l y c a r e f u l investigation. I t w o u l d 
seem, in g e n e r a l , to be a d v a n t a g e o u s f o r 
A m e r i c a n librarians to participate m o r e a c -
tively in E u r o p e a n auctions rather than t o 
pay a p r e m i u m to d o m e s t i c firms w h o acquire 
b o o k s w e w a n t at these same a u c t i o n s . — L a w -
rence S. Thompson, University of Kentucky 
Libraries. 

Contemporary Book Design 
Contemporary Book Design. By Ralph E. 

E c k e r s t r o m . " B e t a Phi M u C h a p - B o o k 
N u m b e r O n e . " [ U r b a n a , U n i v e r s i t y of 
Illinois L i b r a r y ] 1953. 26 p. $3.00. 
E c k e r s t r o m ' s w o r k is the first in a series 

of b o o k s to be published u n d e r the auspices 
of Beta Phi M u , N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y Science 
H o n o r a r y F r a t e r n i t y . T h e f r a t e r n i t y , 
f o u n d e d at the U n i v e r s i t y of Illinois in the 
spring of 1949, decided that " f i r s t attention 
should be given t o the publication of a series 
of b o o k s w h i c h w o u l d be a u t h o r i t a t i v e and 
w o r t h w h i l e c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the l i t e r a t u r e of 
b o o k s and librarianship and w o u l d , at the 
same time, have the v i r t u e of presenting the 
best in b o o k d e s i g n . " T h e v o l u m e here under 
r e v i e w a d m i r a b l y fulfills the scope and p r o m i s e 
of the stated p u r p o s e of this series. If s u c -
ceeding v o l u m e s in the series are of like e x c e l -
lence, the B e t a Phi M u C h a p - B o o k s w i l l p r o v e 
distinguished c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the l i t e r a t u r e 
o f b o o k s and librarianship. 

M r . E c k e r s t r o m , art d i r e c t o r of the U n i -
versity of Illinois P r e s s since 1949, defines 
b o o k design as " t h e m a n n e r in w h i c h the 
p a p e r , cloth, ink, type face, and illustrations 
are b o u n d t o g e t h e r in b o o k f o r m to make a 
visual presentation of the a u t h o r ' s ideas." In 
his brief essay, the a u t h o r c o n t r a c t s t r a d i -
tional b o o k design w i t h that of today, noting 
the n e w techniques n o w being e m p l o y e d in the 
c o m p o s i t i o n of b o o k s . T y p e faces, i l l u s t r a -
tions, c o l o r , paper, b i n d i n g — e a c h plays an 
i m p o r t a n t role in the c o m p o s i t i o n of the physi-
cal b o o k ; and the r o l e of each is discussed 
clearly and concisely. 

T h i s c o n t e m p o r a r y " c h a p - b o o k " w a s d e -
signed by the author, and he has agreed to 
design the o t h e r v o l u m e s to be published in 
the series. T h e f o r m a t of the present v o l u m e 
o f f e r s ample p r o o f that M r . E c k e r s t r o m p r a c -
tices in b o o k design that w h i c h he preaches. 
Contemporary Book Design is an handsome 
e x a m p l e of typography, a delight to read and 
to own.—John David Marshall, Clemson 
College Library. 

Physics Literature 
Physics Literature: A Reference Manual. 

B y R o b e r t H . W h i t f o r d . W a s h i n g t o n , 
D . C . , T h e S c a r e c r o w Press, 1954. 228 p. 
$5.00. 
T h e appearance of this g u i d e to the vast 

a m o u n t of reading m a t t e r and the c o m p l e x 
publishing pattern of physical science l i t e r a -
ture w i l l be w e l c o m e d by the librarians and 
students at the c o l l e g e level at w h i c h it is 
aimed. Physics Literature is a survey of 
l i t e r a t u r e , a r r a n g e d by " m o s t usual lines of 
inquiry t e r m e d ' a p p r o a c h e s ' " . E i g h t m a j o r 
approaches are outlined ( b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l , his-
torical, b i o g r a p h i c a l , e x p e r i m e n t a l , m a t h e m a t i -
cal, e d u c a t i o n a l , t e r m i n o l o g i c a l , and t o p i c a l ) 
and the m o s t u s e f u l titles in f u r n i s h i n g h e l p f u l 
guidance and a basic c o l l e c t i o n are listed. 

T h i s survey w i l l immediately be suspected 
of being a rival to N a t h a n P a r k e ' s Guide to 
the Literature of Mathematics and Physics 
. . . published in 1947. T h e s e b o o k s are only 
rivals in part. P a r k e ' s w o r k is largely a 
selected list of the o u t s t a n d i n g treatises on 
v a r i o u s subjects a r r a n g e d alphabetically by 
topic. T h e topical listing, h o w e v e r , is only 
one of m a n y approaches used by W h i t f o r d to 
d e v e l o p his guides to the l i t e r a t u r e of the 
v a r i o u s phases of physics. A l t h o u g h P a r k e 
lists m o r e titles, f r o m 30 to 4 0 % of the titles 
listed in W h i t f o r d ' s topical section w e r e p u b -
lished a f t e r 1947 and thus d o n o t appear in 
P a r k e ' s guide. P a r k e ' s excellent discussion 
of study m e t h o d s and l i t e r a t u r e searching, and 
his m o r e detailed s u b j e c t listing, and W h i t -
f o r d ' s c a r e f u l l y analyzed a p p r o a c h e s and 
m o r e recent titles are m o r e c o m p l e m e n t a r y 
than c o m p e t i t i v e . 

D r . W h i t f o r d used a n u m b e r of criteria to 
cull o u t the most u s e f u l titles to physicists. 
By the same criteria, his o w n b o o k w o u l d 
also be included. Physics Literature w i l l u n -

.476 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



d o u b t e d l y p r o v e to be a u s e f u l bibliographic 
t o o l . A t h o r o u g h reading of the chapter on 
the bibliographic approach w i l l p r e p a r e seri-
ous students, both of physics and of l i b r a r i a n -
ship, f o r effective use of physics literature. 
W h i l e one may find it difficult to decide j u s t 
w h i c h approach o r c o m b i n a t i o n of approaches 
w o u l d p r o d u c e the best results in his quest f o r 
literature, the b o o k has a virtue in being brief 
enough to a l l o w one to read any part d e e m e d 
pertinent in a short time. T h e b o o k ' s v a l u e 
as a ready r e f e r e n c e guide may be s o m e w h a t 
hindered by this b r o a d approach a r r a n g e m e n t , 
except to those w h o use it f r e q u e n t l y . 

T h e a u t h o r has been t h o u g h t f u l in his 
selection of titles. In this w o r k he surveyed 
f o u r extensive technical library collections. 
M o r e o v e r , he w a s guided by k n o w l e d g e gained 
as a science librarian. O m i s s i o n of titles does 
not indicate that they lack merit. Selectivity 
in r e f e r e n c e guides is b o u n d t o o f f e n d the 
personal opinions of users at some point o r 
another. I t w i l l not be difficult, using this 
b o o k as a guide, t o develop bibliographies and 
readily to fill in titles w h i c h have been omitted 
to keep the b o o k c o m p a c t and live. D r . W h i t -
f o r d ' s c o m m e n t s , t h o u g h brief, are pertinent 
and filled w i t h clues t o additional u s e f u l l i t e r -
ature on b o t h physical science and b i b l i o -
g r a p h i c w o r k in physics. 

T h i s b o o k does fill a m a j o r gap. I t is n o w 
the only suitable b o o k that can be used as a 
text f o r prospective physics librarians. I t 
brings P a r k e up to date by listing b o o k s p u b -
lished in the last seven years. I t a n s w e r s a 
need f o r an effective guide t o literature, a r -
ranged t o p r o v i d e a m a x i m u m a m o u n t of in-
f o r m a t i o n on all phases of physics ( i n c l u d i n g 
teaching, philosophy, p o p u l a r i z a t i o n and in-
dustrial applications) f o r a variety of types of 
users.—Russell Shank, Columbia University 
Libraries. 

Document Reproduction 
I n t e r n a t i o n a l F e d e r a t i o n f o r D o c u m e n t a t i o n . 

Manual on Document Reproduction and 
Selection. F . I . D . P u b l . N o . 164. T h e 
H a g u e , F . I . D . , 1953. $7.10 plus $2.50 f o r 
Suppls. 
In the last chapter of the Manual on 

Methods . . . R o b e r t Binkley w r i t e s : " I t has 
seemed almost impossible to close the b o o k , b e -
cause the rush of innovation makes a chapter 

o u t of date almost as soon as it leaves the 
typist's h a n d s . " ( J o i n t C o m m i t t e e on M a -
terials for Research. Manual on Methods of 
Reproducing Research Materials . . . by 
Robert C. Binkley . . . Ann Arbor, Edwards, 
1936. p. 183.) T h a t w a s in 1936. T h e n o r -
mal p r o g r e s s to be expected in eighteen years 
w a s accelerated by the f o r c e d e f f o r t s resulting 
f r o m a w o r l d - w i d e w a r . T h e r e has l o n g been 
a need f o r a study t o bring Binkley up to 
date. 

T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l F e d e r a t i o n f o r D o c u -
mentation has published w i t h assistance f r o m 
U N E S C O a m a n u a l that is by no means a 
revision of Binkley, but an entirely n e w ap-
p r o a c h t o the p r o b l e m . W h e r e a s the earlier 
r e p o r t w a s limited to practices and p r o c e d u r e s 
native to the U n i t e d States, the n e w p u b l i c a -
tion is g l o b a l in scope. In o r d e r to be as uni-
versal as possible, it speaks w i t h t w o tongues. 
M o s t of the e x p o s i t o r y material is presented 
in both English and F r e n c h . T h e editorial 
b o a r d , under the leadership of F. D o n k e r 
D u y v i s ( S e c r e t a r y G e n e r a l of F . I . D . ) p r e -
sents as international a gathering as does the 
U n i t e d N a t i o n s . 

R e a l i z i n g that d o c u m e n t a t i o n m e t h o d s and 
equipment are not of a static nature, the 
editors of this m a n u a l wisely decided to bring 
it out in a loose leaf f o r m . T h e first mailing 
consists of t w o t h r e e - r i n g binders filled t o 
about one-half of capacity. T h e pages are 
not n u m b e r e d consecutively, but sections and 
sub-sections are given expandable classifica-
tion n u m b e r s , and the pages are n u m b e r e d 
w i t h i n classes. T h i s w i l l facilitate the inser-
tion of supplementary material as it is r e -
ceived. 

A t present P a r t I is all that has been issued. 
It consists of sections o n : R e p r o d u c t i o n , 
D o c u m e n t R e p r o d u c t i o n M a t e r i a l s , T h e C o s t 
A n g l e of D o c u m e n t R e p r o d u c t i o n , S t a n d a r i z a -
tion f o r D o c u m e n t R e p r o d u c t i o n , and a G e n -
eral B i b l i o g r a p h y on D o c u m e n t R e p r o d u c t i o n . 
P a r t I I , w h i c h is due t o appear later in 1954, 
and w i l l be sent a u t o m a t i c a l l y t o buyers of 
P a r t I , w i l l contain sections o n : Selection, 
T r a i n i n g of P e r s o n n e l f o r D o c u m e n t R e p r o -
duction, and an I n d e x to both parts. 

T h e largest section of P a r t I is that on 
R e p r o d u c t i o n . I t is divided into sub-sections 
o n : R e p r o d u c t i o n by H a n d o r M e c h a n i c a l 
M e a n s ( e . g . typing, relief printing, offset 
printing, e t c . ) , P h o t o g r a p h i c R e p r o d u c t i o n , 

OCTOBER, 1954 477.