College and Research Libraries 278 I College & Research Libraries • May 1976 Dunkin, Paul S. Bibliography: Tiger or Fat Cat? Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books 1975. 120p. $7.50. (LC 75-5634) (ISBN 0-208-01519-1) Paul Dunkin's final book (unless there is a manuscript to be published posthu- mously) leaves us continuing evidence of his concern for bringing a degree of com- mon sense to the often tortuous task of combining the esoterica stemming from the physical characteristics of a book with the usually more mundane record which de- dares that a book exists and is available for use. Ranging through the spectrum separat- ing the bibliographer and the cataloger, here is a relaxed observer commenting ran- domly on such diverse and familiar aspects of bibliography as cast-off copy, press fig- ures, and skeleton forms-intermingled with doubts as to the wisdom of the ISBD and musings on what bibliographers will make of th& new printing with computer and film. A major portion of the slim volume con- sists of quotations from many of the bibli- ographers' "greats," assembled and juxta- posed to demonstrate discrepancies, incon- sistencies, and contradictions among them which have piqued the author's interest; one can enjoy the sound of the quiet pop- ping of pricked balloons as Dunkin com- ments on some of the hypotheses of biblio- . thecal Perry Masons which he feels are too feebly supported by fact. Although Dunkin purports to be writing for the armchair bibliographer (even de- fining "justification" for the novice), this book will interest largely those with back- ground in bibliography, and who in turn can add their comment to the reflections of the author-and who will argue with the author's contention that one of the most im- portant uses of bibliography is "certainly in better cataloging." Oh, yes: "Tiger or Fat Cat?" As Dunkin says, "Who cares?"-C. Donald Cook, Fac- ulty of Library Science, University of Toronto. Cook, Margaret G. The New Library Key. 3d ed. New York: H. W. Wilson Co., 1975. 264p. $5.00. (LC 75-11754) (ISBN 0-8242-0541-3) Downs, Robert B., and Keller, Clara D. How to Do Library Research. 2d ed. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1975. 298p. $3.45 Paper. (LC 74-28301) (ISBN 0- 252-00449-3; 0-252-00535-X pbk.) The titles of these two resource guides for the serious and intelligent layman might better be exchanged: Margaret Cook's Tanual !,s, i~ fact, a sensibly explained how to, while Downs and Keller's book describes more than twice as many ref- erence "keys" (some fifteen hundred to Cook's seven hundred), but without placing them in a practical research context. · Both works are revisions. The previous edition of The New Library Key appeared in 1963 and can be traced back to 1928 when its predecessor, Zaidee Brown's The Library Key first came out. How to Do Li- brary Research, by Robert B. Downs, as- sisted by Elizabeth C. Downs, was pub- lished originally in 1966. The current edi- tions of both guides include new and re- vised material into 1974. Only Cook, how- ever, mentions, but declines to evaluate Britannica 3 and considers the Social Sci~ ences Index ·and Humanities Index as two separate Wilson publications. Although both books discuss Dissertation Abstracts International, neither notes the monumental Comprehensive Dissertation Index, pub- lished in 1973. A random sampling of en- tries indicates that both guides have been carefully revised with many new works and editions cited and obsolete ones deleted. Cook has increased the total number of en- tries by one-third from the second to the third edition; Downs and Keller have added nearly half again as many titles in chapters 1 through 12 as were in the earlier edition with more than twice as many pages now devoted to specialized subject refer- ence books (chapter 13). Margaret Cook views the library as a complex yet fathomable whole and the act of research as a logical process within that whole. The product of this attitude is a wide-ranging yet well-organized guide in the true sense of the word. She defines her audience . in broad terms to include every- one from college freshmen to "individual adults who have not had previous opportu- nities to become acquainted with the ever- • growing services of librades" (preface). To meet the needs, both conscious and uncon- scious, of this vast group, Cook focuses on the organization and services of the typical college library, on the characteristics of various types of reference materials, and on particularly important tools in six major areas: the arts; geography, archaeology, and history; the social sciences; literature; the sciences; and mythology, religion, and philosophy. Proceeding on the very sound assumption that nothing about libraries is common knowledge, Cook manages to define every- thing from dust jacket to bibliography in a clear and succinct manner. In a tone that is instructive without being didactic, she takes time to explain points which many authors ignore: little mysteries such as how to tell the main entry of a work from the indentions on the catalog card, how decimal numbers are arranged on a shelf, or why encyclopedias seem to date so quickly. Em- phasis is repeatedly placed . on the concept of classification, in a separate chapter de- voted to that topic and again in introducing reference tools of different kinds and fields. On several occasions Cook acknowledges the complexity of a particular practice, for example, filing rules, and encourages her readers to seek assistance. An outstanding feature of this guide from a pedagogical standpoint is Cook's logical approach to research strategy. With- out Claiming that there is only one right way to investigate a topic, she advocates the use of dictionaries and encyclopedias, followed by periodical indexes and general and specialized reference sources. Chapter 3, "Writing a Research Paper," offers a · number of practical suggestions on note- taking and details of format. Cook's annotations are not only descrip- tive and evaluative, comparing and con- trasting similar tools, but often afford in- sights into why a particular tool is especial- ly valuable, as when she comments that Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism is "a remarkable source of information on changing literary tastes." Some curiosities of arrangement and in- clusion should be noted about Cook, how- ever. She intentionally omits specialized guides and bibliographies in the major dis- Recent Publications I 219 ciplines, concentrating instead on "fact find- ers." To provide some additional help to the more advanced student, she offers another ninety-six items in two appendixes. The guide is indexed by author, title, and sub- ject. Downs and Keller's book is much more easily described, being a mini-Winchell of English language reference works in virtu- ally all fields of contemporary interest. The first chapter, "America's Libraries," includes a handy list of one hundred major u.s. academic and research libraries, giving the holdings and significant strengths of each . Other introductory material concerns the organization of libraries, the card catalog, and classification schemes. Explanations in all cases are adequate but cursory and ap- parently unchanged from the 1966 edition, except for the updating of statistics. Chap- ter 3, "Practical Use of Reference Books," turns out to be no more than a demonstra- tion without comment of the infinite variety of reference tools which exist and reference questions possible. An appropriate source is given for each hypothetical question, but without indicating that many other tools might serve equally as well. Subsequent chapters are titled "Books about Books," "The Periodical World," "The Nonbook World," "Books about Words," "Books about Places," "Books about People," "Covering the World" (en- cyclopedias), "The Literary World," "The Historical View," and "Specialized Subject Reference Books." These are subdivided by scope of the sources entered. Annotations are brief and descriptive only, and pagina- tion is given for one-volume works. Tools dealing with government documents appear in "Books about Books" (Cook lists them under nonbook materials). Works relating to both popular and academic subjects are covered in the final chapter. There is an author-title-subject index. Two things are necessary for the enlight- ened use of library resources: an awareness of what information exists and some sense of how to discover it. Both these guides address the former requirement, and insofar as Downs and Keller describe a greater number of sources, theirs is the more help- ful work. Only Cook, however, deals squarely and perceptively with the matter 280 I College & Research Libraries • May 1976 of efficient use. Her book can be highly recommended as a basic text for both class and self-instruction.-Mary W. George, Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library, Univer- sity of Michigan. Oluwasanmi, Edwina; McLean, Eva; and Zell, Hans. Publishing in Africa in the Seventies. Proceedings of an Internation- al Conference on Publishing and Book Development held at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, 16-20 December 1973. Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Univ. of Ife Pr., 1975. 377p. cloth $16.50; paper $10.50. This volume is not merely concerned with publishing in the narrow sense but also writing, reading, and librarianship. Most of the contributors to the. volume are from Nigeria. The conference recommendations, eight in all, follow the brief introduction; there next appear summaries of conference pa- pers, twenty-six of them; the contributed papers, presumably in full (twenty-one in all); appendixes of more or less formal speeches; and, £nally, a good index. To most readers of this journal, only a few of the names will be familiar in a list of one hundred participants which included the distinguished novelist, Chinua Achebe. The discussion, rather repetitious, deals with the history of missionary presses, state publishing houses, and academic presses. Particularly noteworthy is the lengthy essay by S. I. A. Kotei of the Department of Li- brary Studies, University of Ghana, on "Some Cultural and Social Factors of Book Reading and Publishing in Africa." Unfortunately, there is no explicit discus- sion of the economic role of expatriate pub- lishing houses in Africa. Keith Smith in "Who Controls Book Publishing in An- glophone Middle Africa?" Annals af the American Academy of Political and Social Science 421:140-50 (Sept. 1975), provides preliminary data on his investigations. The signi£cant result of this conference on publishing in Africa in the 1970s was the start of two serial publications, both edited by Hans Zell in England: the bian- nual African Books in Print (London: Man- sell, 1975- ) , updated by the quarterly The African Book Publishing Record. This volume is well produced and will be read and referred to in years to come, not only by students of librarianship and publishing (for example, see Thomas Lask, "Program Is Established at Hofstra [Uni- versity] to Teach Courses on Book Publish- ing," New ·York Times, Oct. 21, 1975, p.40), but by persons concerned with de- velopments in the Third World.-Hans E. Panofsky, Curator, Melville ]. Herskovit~ Library of African Studies, Northwestern University Library, Evanston, Illinois. Beeler, Richard J., ed. Evaluating Library Use Instruction: Papers Presented at the University of Denver Conference on the Evaluation of Library Instruction, De- cember 13-14, 1973. Library Orientation Series, no. 4. Ann Arbor: Pierian Pr., 1975. 97p. (LC 75-677) (ISBN 0-87650- 062-9) That many librarians are involved in pro- grams of library instruction, and are experi- menting with a wide variety of approaches, is evident from the many articles, confer- ences, and workshops devoted to the sub- ject. However, less readily available is in- formation about program evaluation. This collection of seven papers provides a step toward remedying the situati.on. There is general agreement among the papers' authors that objectives are a pre- requisite for evaluation design and develop- ment and that accountability to manage- ment is an important function of evalua- tion. Of interest to readers as well will be the range and diversity of topics covered. Emphasis is placed on the evaluation of in- structional, and not orientation, programs. The first paper is by Thomas Kirk, sci- ence librarian at Earlham College and chairman of the ACRL Bibliographic In- struction Task Force. Although structurally flawed, the paper is one that should be read by all who are, or will be, involved in the evaluation of instructional programs. He reviews past research, provides critical dis- cussion of evaluation attempts and studies of selected instructional programs, and pro- vides some practical suggestions. The second paper, by Richard R. John- son, experimental psychologist and program manager for the Exxon Education Founda- tion, deals with the purposes and method- ology of data collection. ., t