College and Research Libraries


146 I College & Research Libraries • March 1978 

was thus , as Miksa says, "a reporter to the 
world of culture on the progress of the li-
brary movement ." Although he appeared in 
such diverse publications as the Boston 
Daily Advertiser and the North American 
Review, his two principal outlets were the 
Nation and the Library Journal . He joined 
in establishing the latter in 1876 and par-
ticipated in its editorship continuously from 
the beginning to October 1893. With its es-
tablishment, he was able to speak more di-
rectly to lihrari<ms, and his writings reflect 
the different audiences that they addressed. 

Cutter' s letter accepting the Boston 
Athenaeum headship includes his rationale 
for his extensive writing outside the library 
field : " Nothing freshens a man's ideas so 
much , preserves him from sinking into a 
mere drudge, or becoming a man with one 
idea and running in a rut, as writing on 
some subject a little removed from his ordi-
nary labors." 

Cutter wrote well whatever his subject 
and intended audience , pursuing a wide va- · 
riety of scholarly endeavors. Wit and irony 
flourish in his writings, often giving them 
what might he called "the Cutter edge." In 
the Nation of July 27, 1876, commenting on 
the upcoming Philadelphia convention of 
librarians-referring back to the 1853 meet-
ing, and perhaps taking a sly poke at a 
number of the leading librarians who were 
holding· aloof from the meeting-he notes , 
"Frequent conventions may become weari-
some, but one every twenty-three years can 
certainly be endured by the most indifferent 
of the profession." In his "Common Sense 
in Libraries," his 1889 presidential address 
to the American Library Association, he of-
fers a definition: "But if I must be explicit, I 
will say common sense is my sense; other 
people's sense, when it differs from mine, is 
little more than nonsense." 

At the end of the volume , the biblio-
graphic sources about Cutter cover a 
m.eager two pages and few of them deal ex-
clusively with Cutter. As Miksa points out, 
there is still work to be done. More of Cut-
ter's anonymous writings remain to be iden-
tified, and an analysis of his total influence 
on librarianship is to be made. Miksa him-
self is probably best prepared to do it. I 
hope he wilL-Helen W. Tuttle, Assistant 
University L,ibrarian for Technical Services, 

Princeton University Library, Princeton, 
New Jersey . 

Scholz, William H. "Computer-based Cir-
culation Systems--A Current Review and 
Evaluation," Library Technology Reports 
13:231-325 (May 1977). ($40.00 for single 
issue, available from American Library 
Assn., 50 E . Huron St., Chicago , IL 
60611.) 

Dranov, Paula. Automated Library Circula-
tion Systems, 1977-78. White Plains , 
N .Y.: Knowledge Industry Publications, 
Inc. , 1977. 102p. $24.50. LC 77-7382. 
ISBN 0-914236-10-5. 
Many libraries are about to embark on 

the automation of their circulation opera-
tions , the subject of these two publications . 
The Library Technology Reports study is 
neither authoritative nor worth its purchase 
price. The work is purported to he an up-
date on the excellent July/September 1976 
report by Barbara Markuson. In fact, 20 
percent of the volume is devoted to the his-
tory of computers and automation in 
libraries-topics with excellent treatment 
elsewhere. 

The product descriptions read as if they 
were taken directly from the vendors' litera-
ture , and no firsthand experiences on the 
operations of the systems are reported. The 
most serious defects of this issue of Library 
Technology Reports are the lack of an index 
;md lack of any citations to the extensive lit-
erature in this field. The publication ap-
pears to he the product of the author' s 
knowledge of the field and draws on little 
from practitioners in the field . 

The study by Paula Dranov, however, has 
both an excellent index and makes knowl-
edgeable use of the literature in the field. A 
selective bibliography is supplied. 

The circulation systems covered in 
Dranov' s volume include both " off the 
shelf' systems and those where the library 
will have to do much of its own software 
production. This volume gives one an excel-
lent overview of existing systems and those 
in the developmental stage. 

The treatment on the cost of such systems 
is weak in both studies, though Dranov' s is 
the stronger of the two. This issue could he 
developed more completely by having all 
the vendors submit bids for the installation 



of a system in a model library. Only then 
would cost figures have any meaning. The 
comments of customers of these systems are 
of little value because, as Dranov states, "As 
things stand today, the only system in oper-
ation long enough to be fairly judged is the 
LIBS 100 from C. L. Systems, Inc. , of 
Newtonville, Mass." Almost all other sys-
tems have only one or two . customers with 
special vendor relationships. 

I would recommend the purchase of 
Paula Dranov' s work to anyone with a mild 
interest in automating circulation, for it has 
a great deal of valuable information. Anyone 
who plans to purchase a system should also 
purchase the Library Technology Reports 
i')sue for the small amount of additional in-
formation to he gained. If you are going to 
spend $100,000 on a system for circulation, 
the additional forty dollars may be a worth-
while investment.-Edmond A. Menegaux , 
Executive Director, South Central Research 
Library Council, Ithaca, New York. 

Schlachter, Gail Ann, with Belli, Donna. 
Minorities and Women: A Guide to Ref-
erence Literature in the Social Sciences. 
Los Angeles: Reference Service Press, 
1977. 349p. $19.50. LC 76-53061. ISBN 
0-918276-01-2. (Order from Reference 
Service Press, 9023 Alcott St., Suite 201 , 
Los Angeles, CA 90035.) 

McKee, Kathleen Burke. Women's Studies: 
A Guide to Reference Sources. With a 
Supplement on Feminist Serials in the 
University of Connecticut's Alternative 
Press Collection , by Joanne V. Akeroyd. 
With the assistance of B. Mcilvaine, 
Government Publications Department. 
Bibliography Series, Number 6. Storrs, 
Conn. : University of Connecticut Library, 
1977. 112p. $5.00 (prepaid). (Order from 
Acquisitions Department, University of 
Connecticut Library, Storrs, CT 06268.) 
In recent years there has been growing 

interest in ethnic affairs and in women's 
studies. Comprehensive guides to reference 
sources in these areas, however, have been 
lacking. Two recently published bibliog-
raphies together help fill this gap, each 
complementing the other. 

Minorities and Women describes over 800 
reference books related to women, Ameri-
can Indians, Asian Americans, black Ameri-

Recent Publications I 14 7 

cans , Spanish Americans, and other minor-
ity groups in America. One section of "In-
formation Sources" is presented in chapters 
by form (fact books, biographies, documen-
tary sources, directories, and statistical ma-
terials), with entries in each chapter ar-
ranged by author under women or the 
minority groups. A second section of "Cita-
tion Sources" (bibliographies, abstracts, in-
dexes, catalogs, guides to the literature, 
etc.) is presented in chapters by group and 
listed alphabetically hy title . For each item, 
complete bibliographic information plus a 
descriptive annotation detailing purpose , 
scope, arrangement, special features, and 
publication history is given. Author, title, 
and subject indexes provide easy access to 
all publications cited. 

Schlachter and Belli intend their guide to 
fill a bibliographic gap in reference litera-
ture , and they appear to succeed. Other 
reference works are available for individual 
minorities but differ in format and scope or 
need updating. Schlachter and Belli provide 
in-depth, current reference sources for sev-
eral minorities together in one convenient 
volume. This reviewer was satisfied that 
their coverage is exhaustive when a spot 
check for two dozen recent, relevant works 
uncovered no omissions . 

While their sections on women also are 
commendably thorough, these could have 
been published as a separate and expanded 
volume. Particularly for women ' s studies, 
the intentionally restrictive scope of 
Minorities and Women requires consultation 
of other guides . Possibly because their sub-
ject range is broad, the authors exclude 
several categories of publications, including 
those dealing primarily or exclusively with 
society in general; publications after mid-
1976; reference materials in foreign lan-
guages and/or emphasizing areas outside of 
the United States; plus noncataloged mate-
rials , e. g. , pamphlet-like publications of 
sixty pages or less. 

A reference tool for women 's materials 
filling most of these gaps is Women's 
Studies: A Guide to Reference Sources, by 
Kathleen Burke McKee . Based on the col-
lection of the University of Connecticut Li-
brary, Storrs, it will be useful to librarians 
and researchers at other institutions. Items 
are presented by type of publication and are