College and Research Libraries 568 f College & Research Libraries • November 1976 to make pilot versions work may have the effect of changing our image of what is feasible and desirable. We must not see ourselves in a lifeboat that is already so overcrowded that accepting more drown- ing persons endangers the boat and all in it, because we can expand its capacity by expanding our capacity for more imagina- tive problem-representations and more cre- ative ways of coping. An appended essay brings us back to re- ality with some discussion of the economic problems involved in a world brain. How, for example, shall we adequately compen- sate creators of information? And then there are the much more complex problems of hardware and software design compatibil- ity, the immense costs of data input, and such problems as coding for optimum re- trieval of related information. This review- er, perhaps too cynical, was reminded m_any times during his reading of the old, old JOke about the ultimate computer and data base. Having designed and built the hardware, and having patiently fed it every scrap of information known, the information scien- tists gather round to ask the ultimate ma- chine the ultimate question: "Is there a God?" The machine speaks back in a deep rumbling voice, "Now there is!" WISE may be wise, but I would judge it to be a step nearer to 1984.-W. David Laird, Univer- sity Librarian, University of Arizona, -Tuc- son. Stecher, Elizabeth. Catalogue Provision in Libraries of Colleges of Advanced Edu- cation. Melbourne: Royal Melbourne In- stitute of Technology, 1975. 1v. (var. pag.) $5.00 Australian plus freight. (ISBN 0-909099-00-6) (Available from Publishing Dept., Royal Melbourne In- stitute of Technology, 124 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3000.) A research project to investigate suitable methods of production of catalogs for col- leges of advanced education libraries from computer-based data files was undertaken by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Tech- nology Library. This is the report of the de- tailed study directed by Elizabeth Stecher. The project appears to have been per- formed in a rather elaborate way, and the report is w:ritten in a way that makes it basically unreadable. The findings of the study indicate that computer-output-microform (COM) gen- erated microfilm catalogs have advantages over computer-printed book catalogs. The cost figures presented in this report have no relationship to cost figures available in the U.S. In fact, in Australia, according to this report, more than twenty copies of a microfilm catalog cost more than the same number of book catalogs. This fact seems unusual even for Australian costs. The superficial consideration of micro- fiche versus miCrofilm that this study re- ports is the only major area of the study that lacks extensive attention. The pub- lished literature on the kind of microform used for catalogs is extensive. The bibliog- raphy of the current reports cites many _of the better-known articles, but the conflict of form has not been persued here. This in-depth study and the elaborate manipulation of the data appears to be much more than is needed to arrive at the end result. The specific hypotheses that are presented and the testing and end results are obvious and have been previously studied elsewhere. There is little to be · gained by every library doing or redoing other similar studies. This report does not provide any new information.-Helen R. Citron, Head of Administrative Services, Georgia Tech Library, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. Ellsworth, Diane J ., and Stevens, Norman D., eds. Landmarks of Library Litera- ture, 1876-1976. Metuchen, N.J.: Scare- crow, 1976. 520p. $17.50. (LC 75- 45139) (ISBN 0-8108-0899-4) There are those among us who have long complained that as a profession we have lost our sense of history; that we dissipate our energies needlessly ricocheting from en- thusiasm to enthusiasm, crying "Lo here," and "Lo there," making extravagant claims of salvation in the name of every cockama- mie idea that comes to mind. If we can talk louder than anyone else, we can make peo- ple listen, and if we are persuasive enough we can get them to follow until they learn, as we all have to learn sooner or later, that if the idea is worth anything, it will be hard to implement. A little looking, if we would but try it, will show also that if the idea is worth anything, it has been around for a long time. The value of the present volume, and of some of the other writing in this centennial year, is that it might help to thwart that pervasive tendency to as- sume that everything is new under the sun. i Here is William Frederick Poole's excel- lent reminder, made in 1893, of the essen- tial nature of library instruction for college students. Here is a discussion of the circula- tion of tennis racquets from public libraries in 1894. Here is a prediction of a quarter- century ago that interlibrary loan will col- <'1 lapse of its own weight unles·s a process is developed for reimbursing the lender. Here is E. C. Richardson calling in 1890 for "a central, national, lending library of the least frequently needed books," and here is Har- vard's President Eliot in 1902 repeating his earlier suggestion that the library commu- r- nity needed two or three joint storage re- positories "for books out of use," and Fred- erick Crunden advocating business-like practices in libraries in 1887, and Liberty Hyde Bailey pleading for library service to rural populations in 1908. And many more. As a general matter, this reviewer does not like anthologies, but he feels that the present one is somewhat exceptional in sev- eral ways: ( 1) it does, after all, observe our centennial; ( 2) the selection is excellent (although every library historian who reads it will doubtless miss at least one old friend) ; ( 3) the introductory headnotes are useful; and ( 4) the topical grouping of the selections is well done. "" This collection anthologizes articles only; all but one of the forty selections are from journals. There are seventeen articles from the Library I ournal, although only five of them appeared in the last seventy years. The Library Quarterly is represented by ten selections, of which eight appeared before .,.. 1952. Three of the four pieces from College & Research Libraries were published in the last fifteen years. American Libraries and the Wilson Library Bulletin each have two entries, and the balance are from other sources. It would be a salutary thing if all librari- "t-- ans were to read this book. But I guess we won't all do that, will we?-David Kaser, Recent Publications I 569 Graduate Library School, Indiana Universi- ty. Crix, F. C. Reprographic Management Handbook. London: Business Books, 1975. 288p. $23.50. (ISBN 0-220-66258- 4) New, Peter G. Reprography for Librarians. London: Clive Bingley; Hamden, Conn.: Linnet Books, 1975. 109p. $7.00. (LC 75-11631) (ISBN 0-208-01373-3) LaHood, Charles G., and Sullivan, Robert C. Reprographic Services in Libraries. Chicago: American Library Assn., 1975. 74p. $4.50. (LC 75-25585) (ISBN 0- 8389-3166-9) Just a few years ago, the word "repro- graphic" was not found in most librarians' vocabularies. Thanks to works like Nitecki's Directory of Library Reprographic Ser- vices, the term is becoming familiar, grad- ually replacing "photoduplication," "docu- ment copying," and "documentary repro- duction." It is generally understood to cov- er same-size and changed-size copying ( re- duction to micro- or enlargement to "large print" size), as well as duplicating (spirit, mimeograph) and small offset printing. Mi- cregraphics is a branch of reprography. Crix' s book emphasizes duplicating and printing. Less comprehensive, but still in- formative, is his coverage of copying; mi- crographics is kept to a scant five pages. This is the work of an experienced profes- sional who is thoroughly knowledgeable in all aspects of his field: technology, person- nel, management. Although the author's background is British and his book is gen- eral rather than library-oriented, it is so practical and well-reasoned that it can help American librarians with many personnel and other administrative problems. Crix' s approach is pragmatic, his common sense delightful, his style direct. Managers of (no matter how embryonic) repro graphic ser- vices, librarians who consider establishing such services, and students interested in du- plicating technology can profit from this well-illustrated book. Peter New counts on a much larger au- dience, writing for the librarian and library school student with a general interest in this subject, rather than the manager or the specialist. He attempts to cover the whole