College and Research Libraries Review Articles Information for Administrators Information for Administrators; a Guide to Publications and Services for Management in Business and Government. By Paul Wasserman. Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1956. 375p. $6. A guide to information for administrators might deal only with the function and art of management. Far broader in scope, this man- ual provides a comprehensive guide to infor- mation sources in the fields of business and economic activity, knowledge of which is an essential tool for the implementation of de- cision-making in business. It is not solely bibliographic; rather it emphasizes organiza- tions and other sources of information which may or may not include publications. An outline of the services of libraries and the government as dispensers of business in- formation is followed by the rna jor portion of the book, which is developed by types of in- formation sources, with separate chapters on business services, periodicals, newspapers, sources of statistical data, associations and organizations, and general reference books. Nex t, sources of information on local areas and guides to international information are discussed. In the last two chapters, basic pub- lications in business administration and in public administration are pulled together from all types and sources, in the only two wholly bibliographical sections in the book. The result is an extraordinarily compre- hensive survey, yet one which is specific enough to be a useful tool, always accurate but minus the web of intricate detail which usually accompanies descriptive annotations of statistical data. Mr. Wasserman has been highly successful in producing a book which falls squarely between the usual rudimentary or elementary guide, chiefly distinguished by its sins of omission, and the involved techni- cal discussion of statistical series, distin- guished by its abstruseness for the layman. For instance, the chapter on the sources of legislative and regulatory data is the clearest, most concise exposition for the layman-and incidentally the non-legal librarian-that this business librarian has seen. The legisla- tive process is described succinctly from the drafting of the bill through its consideration in committee, placement on the calendar, procedure in the House and Senate, referral hearings in conference, presidential action, and enactment into law. Short, careful de- scriptions of the government documents which . are the by-product of the legislative process are included. The description of leg- islative documents is carried to the State and municipal level. The treatment of other aspects of United States federal government documents seems less compact. In Chapter II there is a verv short general survey of the government as ~ source of information; in Chapter VII, de- voted to the sources of statistical data, guides to governmen.tal sources are given only cur- sory attention , followed by a fairly detailed but rather loose account of the Federal sta- tistical system and an inadequate list of "compilations" (meaning basic statistical sources); in Chapter 10, covering business and government r esearch organizations, there is a short section on the role of government in research. Anyone who works with business information sources understands well the dif- ficulty of dealing with the complexity of gov- ernment documents in a survey of this kind. Either they receive wholly inadequate treat- ment, too vague to be useful , or they simply move in and take over the book. Fortunately there are available excellent guides devoted wholly to government documents as business sources, all of which Mr. Wasserman faith- fully lists. The sections on periodicals and newspa- pers are particularly well done. The selection of titles is discriminating, the ann.otations careful and detailed, and the discussion of indexes, directories, guides, abstracting serv- ices, union lists and so on most helpful. In- cluded are rather detailed descriptions of the financial sections of the New York Tim es and the New York Herald TribuneJ and an expo- sition of financial terms. The sources for statistical data are the seg- ments of business information which always 162 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES ) give conscientious compilers the jitters. Whether to develop primarily by type of source, type of publication, by area, or by subject is a difficult decision and hard to stick by, once made. Mr. Wasserman has succeeded in avoiding the seemingly inevitable incon- sistencies and compromises no better and no less than the rest of us. It is most important to the layman, perhaps, that the compiler, in any discussion of statistical sources, should map a clear trail from the currently issued statistics in any series to the annual compila- tion and on to the historical base book (or vice versa, of course). This guide is only part- ly successful in performing this function. The facilities of trade associations and chambers of commerce receive more than adequate attention, the contributions of re- search and professional associations perhaps not enough, if consideration is taken of the comparative quality of their publications. On the other hand, the author no doubt had in mind that local chapters of trade associations are often the most accessible source of aid to business men, even though they publish noth- ing. The outline of the kinds of information basic to appraisal of local areas (including primary sources of such information) is some- thing beyond what this reviewer has come across anywhere else and should be most useful to students in marketing, business men and all those interested in the marketing re- search process. It adds to a field scantily cov- ered in most bibliographic guides. It is difficult to compare this book with others in the field. Coman's Sources of Busi- ness Information (1949) is out of date. Miss Manley's Business Information (1955) was based on public library experience and serv- ice and so conceived for a different purpose. This book does not, in intention, compete with the technical manuals such as Govern- m ent Statistics for Business Use ) by Hauser and Leonard (1956), Measures of Business Changes) by A. H. Cole (1952) , or Measuring Business Changes by Richard Snyder (1955). The paucity of the information given in some of the bibliographical citations is to be deplored. Often no address is given for asso- ciations and organizations. Some of the list- ings of services without issuing body are so fragmentary as to be useless as a guide to pro- curement. No prices are given. Omission of MARCH) 1957 such information is particularly unfortunate since many of the types of publications listed are not included in standard publishing lists. On the whole, the book well fulfills its pur- pose as "an aid for those active in business and government, as well as for students in the field." In fact, the author seems unneces- sarily modest when, after stating that "in- clusion or exclusion [of information sources] was determined on the basis of the author's personal familiarity with publications and organizations and his accessibility to data," he adds that "the examples used as illustra- tions throughout the book do not necessari- ly represent the best or even the most im- portant of their types." Why not? Mr. Was- serman is obviously well informed and well able to defend his selections, which are ex- cellent. The typography and format of this book are a credit to the Cornell University Press. -Janet Bogardus) Librarian) Federal Re- serve Bank of New York. The Classified Catalog The Classified Catalog) Basic Principles. By 1 esse H. Shera and Margaret E. Egan. With a Code for the Construction and Mainte- nance of the Classified Catalog, by 1 ean- nette M. Lynn. Chicago, American Library Association, 1956. 130p. $4. It is always a pleasure to welcome a new addition to the material on librarianship. From the first notice to the profession in 1950 of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for a study of a classified catalog, librarians particularly interested in this problem, or in the potentialities of such a medium of con- trol, awaited the results with interest. The study was instituted at the 1 ohn Crerar Li- brary in Chicago by 1 esse H. Shera and Mar- garet E. Egan, with the cooperation of Her- man Henkle, librarian. We have now the finished work which Mr. Henkle in his Fore- word says will leave some unsatisfied, please others, but pr:ovide, he hopes, a useful study for those librarians interested in developing this type of catalog. It is a useful and needed study, and al~ though some may smile a little at the pontifi- cal statement in the Foreword about becom- ing a better classifier by reading Chapter 163