College and Research Libraries BOOK REVIEWS Sable Martin H. International and Area St.,;dies Lilwarianship. Case Studies. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1973. 166p. "International" and "comparative" are among the "in" concepts in librarianship these days, as witness the marked increase in library school curricula offerings, both in Great Britain and the United States, and the geometric increase of index entries un- der these rubrics in Library Literature and Library and Info1'11ULtion Science Abstracts. Mr. Sable, too, has climbed aboard this bandwagon in choosing the title of his new book. Its purpose is to enable "students and teachers at library schools world-wide to become more aware of their international responsibilities and opportunities" (p.vi). The twenty-nine cases presented do not, unfortunately, accomplish this aim. They offer, rather, a series of problems in acquisi- tions, cataloging, circulation, bibliography, personnel, and reference in academic li- braries. Some, though by no means all, of the questions appended to the cases have to do with "foreign" publications, organiza- tions, or institutions, but the basic prob- lems posed by the cases are not internation- al in nature; the international aspect is of- ten incidental and not essential to the issues involved. Further, the questions for each case are generally a mixed bag; some have nothing to do with the "solution" of the problem, as do cases in law or business ad- ministration texts. Thus, the :first case, "The Chinese Cataloger," is concerned solely with personnel policy questions which do not in the least depend upon the fact that the staff member involved happens to be competent in Chinese (p.16-17). In case four, "Foreign Folklore," the principal ques- tions addressed to the student are whether folklore materials are essential in the teach- ing of Spanish and appropriate for a college library; what obligation the college librari- an has in aiding an instructor to obtain ma- terials she deems necessary for her teach- 372 I Recent Publications i'ng; who is responsible for setting acquisi- tions policy; whether folklore is a disci- pline; and abstracting and indexing services in the field of folklore ( p.34). Again, in case twenty-four, "International Noise Pol- lution Abstracts," the questions are biblio- graphical and reference ones (p.142-143). To call cases like these "international and area studies" seems to be stretching the concepts a bit. The cases are presented clearly and log- ically, though often rather naively, and they offer useful, often important questions con- cerning academic library policy, particular- ly personnel policy, and on reference and bibliography, sometimes of a "foreign" na- ture. Library school teachers should find the work useful. They will need to correct or modify, for the benefit of their students, a number of statements that appear throughout the work such as, for example, the following: "Dr. Avon has made it a practice of walking off with books without checking them out. Books that haven't even been cataloged yet" (p.36). [The anthropology depart- ment has] "commandeered the head of the reference department and she is now vir- tually working for the anthropology depart- ment." "It also seems that recently [pro- fessor] Avon has acquired one of our other reference librarians" ( p.37) . [The director of the University Library has] "introduced [the Farmington Plan] at those universities in which he served as acquisitions head" (p.120). [The titles acquired by the Na- tional Program for Acquisitions and Cata- loging are] collected by the Library of Congress for distribution to universities . . . all over the country" (p.122) .-]. Periam Danton, School of Librarianship, University of California, Berkeley. White, Carl M., and others. Sources of In· formation in the Social Sciences: A Guide to the Literature. 2d ed. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1973. Dr. White, in his introduction, states that "the purpose of the book is simple, to make ' · "4 -1 j I . it easier to get at knowledge and informa- tion of importance to all of us . . . , to throw light on the workings of the social science information system, and to support subject bibliography as a branch of study." While the intent may be simple, no doubt execution of the intent was not. The book clearly is a result of meticulous scholarship, creative effort, and thoughtful selection. These combine beautifully under Dr. Wln"'te' s direction into a thorough, scholar- ly contribution to bibliographic literature. The guide is divided into nine sections; social sciences in general, history, geogra- J}hy, economics and business administra- tion, sociology, anthropology, psychology, education, and political science. Each sec- tion, as in the first edition, is made up of a bibliographic essay on the discipline and its literature, followed by guides to the lit- erature and major reference works. The es- says are excellent and readable. The lists of sources and guides have been selected and annotated by authorities active in their respective fields. Biographical and profes- sional information about each contributor is included i'n the introduction and each section is signed. A library would do well to keep both edi- tions in its current reference collection. Be- cause Dr. White's associates have changed, the essays and emphases have changed. In the case of anthropology, Bernard J. Siegel (professor of anthropology, Stanford Uni- versity, and editor of Biennial Review of An- thropology) states specifically that his sur- vey in the second edition covers the litera- ture in anthropology between 1960 and 1971. It is inevitable that his bibliographic essay differs tremendously from that writ- ten by Felix Keesing in the first edition. The guides to the literature sections and reference materials sections are obviously more repetitive. The format of the second edition is, in my opinion, far more inviting and pleasing than the first. The annotations are authori- tative and useful. Cross-references are used extensively and well in dealing with this overlapping body of literature of the social sciences. The index is thorough. I would recommend that general refer- ence librarians at the college and university level not only buy this guide but read it as Recent Publications I 373 well. We all need to be reminded of cur- rent developments in each of these fields, to be reminded of sources we do not use frequently, and to be reminded that guides of this quality exist. Many sit forever on the shelves unused unless recommended to the scholar by the librarian.-]oyce Ball, Uni- versity of Nevada Libraries, Reno. Archives Procedural Manual. St. Louis, Missouri: Washington University School of Medicine Library, 1973. 118p. $5.00. Consistency. H one word must catch the attention of a librarian or archivist, be this it. Perhaps more so for the archivist who must maintain a complexity of specific pro- cedures within his/ her department to pro- vide adequate bibliographic control and or- ganization. The entire gamut of acquisi- tions, processing, storage, and reference are involved within the archival limits. Recent- ly, many archival institutions have been for- malizing daily procedures within their de- partment by way of a manual. Such at- tempts at standardization are commend- able, for without procedural manuals ar- chival consistency cannot be maintained. It is to this point that the staff at the archives of the Washington U Diversity School of Medicine Library addresses itself. This manual has been published to aid other archivists who might be considering setting up their own procedural system. Although the directions and forms apply to the spe- cific situation at Washington University, the Washington U Diversity archival staff be- lieves that the manual should be useful to the larger profession of archivists. The format is a spiral-type notebook printed in typescript with accessibility somewhat restricted due to no index and an insufficiently concise table of contents. The manual lists in minute detail the es- tablished steps entailed for the archival process from acquiring material through providing reference service. In addition to the textual explanation, excellent work-flow charts provide an added depth to the work. Also included are chapters that deal with procedures for such material as sound re- cordings, pictures, maps, and microforms. Examples of specific request forms and in- ternal control forms employed at the Wash- ington University Archives are also present-