College and Research Libraries


procedures receive only theoretical treat-
ment by Ford. Indeed, Ford's work should 
be read prior to taking on Grieder because 
of its discussion of the various types and 
needs of libraries and of the ways to acquire 
the diverse types of library materials. 
Grieder provides a case study, as it were, of 
one library's operation, and thereby gives 
the student hands-on practice with acquisi-
tions. The assumption of a university envi-
ronment may create overly explicit reading 
but provides enough insight to the process 
of acquisitions for the sharp student to gen-
eralize for theory and then particularize to 
smaller operations . 

The practicing librarian will find the work 
useful for review and perhaps restructuring · 
forms , statistics gathering, and attitudes 
within his or her library . Because of 
Grieder's experience with faculty , the book 
comes off less than helpful for " academic 
faculty." The lore of the profession is re-
plete with tales of faculty errors in ordering 
materials and in requesting materials for re-
serve; Grieder makes us abundantly aware 
of faculty weaknesses in these matters . I 

Recent Publications I 419 

question the public relations value of hand-
ing any faculty member this text.-James E. 
Weaver , Whitworth College , Spokane , 
Washing_ton. 

Information Work with Unpublished Re-
ports. Part I , Work in 'Large National In-
formation Centres , by A. H. Holloway , 
Elizabeth H . Ridler, Domenic A. Fuc-
cillo, and Marvin E. Wilson . Part II , 
Work in Company-Based Information 
Units, by B. Yates . A Grafton Book. In-
stitute of Information Scientists , Mono-
graph Series. Boulder, Colo.: Westview 
Press, in association with the Institute of 
Information Scientists, 1977. 302p. 
$18.50 . LC 76-43306. ISBN 0-89158-
717-9. 
The management of scientific and techni-

cal information poses special problems when 
the medium used is not conventional. Un-
like journal articles and books, unpublished 
reports are not available to the public as a 
matter of right . This may be the reason why 
the book trade does not handle them. Their 
circulation is controlled by the originators to 

The newest title on Faxon's reference team ... 

Index to Outdoor 
Sports, Games, and Activities 

. by Pearl Turner 

Joining the Useful 
Reference Series of 
Library Books, this 
new title indexes 
nearly 500 publica-
tions and seven 
periodicals on out-
door sports and activities, 
from the most popular competitive 
team sports to the most exotic in-
dividual pastimes. From baseball 
to skin diving, soccer to kayaking, 
football to falconry - the Index to 
Sports provides quick complete 
access to information sources for 

amateur athletes, 
armchair sports en-
thusiasts, and busy 
reference librarians. 
The Index includes 

rules, techniques, 
skills and equipment 

necessary for outdoor 
games and sports. 

For information on the Index to 
Sports and other titles on Faxon's 
Useful Reference team, write for 
our Publications Catalog. 
ISBN 0-87305-105-X 408 pp. $18.00 

[5ID F.W. FAXOn COmPAnY, IDC. 
Publishing Division 

15 Southwest Park, Westwood. Massachusetts 02090 



420 I College & Research Libraries • September 1978 

protect or refine fruits of private research or 
explore commercial possibilities and patent-
ing. 

However elusive these reports are, librar-
ies cannot ignore them. They constitute an 
accepted channel of communication in sci-
entific and technical circles. They are, 
therefore, primary source material. These 
reports seldom reappear in their original 
form or in entirety. In recent years, much 
has been said about the complexity of bib-
liographic control and dissemination of un-
published reports. The time . is obviously 
ripe for a comprehensive manual that not 
only synthesizes the state of the art but also 
fills gaps in literature . 

The book under r~view, first published in 
London in 1976, assumes a certain familiar-
ity with information science terminology, 
but the authors cannot be faulted for tech-
nical treatment of the material. In fact, the 
two-part book introduces the reader to 
many types of unpublished reports and fol-
lows up with a thorough discussion of their 
origin and acquisition. Considerable atten-
tion is devoted to cataloging, abstracting, 
and indexing of the material. The subject 
analysis of the reports is a key element in 
any retrieval system, needing skill, in-
genuity, and training on the part of the li-
brary staff, a fact well brought out in the 
book. 

Particularly informative is the analysis of 
mechanization, automation, arid com-
puterization, especially in the treatment of 
microforms, including computer output mi-
croform (COM). To make the survey com-
plete, the authors also delve into the ques-
tion of security, storage, and weeding, as 
well as the organizational aspects of infor-
mation centers. Part II examines the gen-
eral principles as applied to the manage-
ment of smaller company units where the 
pressure for fast retrieval may be severe on 
the librarian. 

In addition to an extensive bibliography, 
the book contains handy lists of acronyms, 
abbreviations, and names and addresses of 
national information centers. While its focus 
is on larger centers and company-based 
units, the underlying principles have wider 
applications. Students as well as practition-
ers would, therefore, find the textbook 
treatment quite instructive. 

Admittedly, the authors do not touch 
upon how the problems of unpublished ma-
terials are tackled in countries like Japan 
and Eastern Europe. This may be left for 
later editions. It is also true that there is 
more to say in each section of the book than 
is possible to compress within a volume. 
Perhaps it is too much to ask for a case 
study approach, which would have brought 
out specific practices, followed by some of 
the better known information centers and 
corporate libraries.-Sarojini Balachandran, 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Baker, Robert K. Introduction to Library 
Research in French Literature. A 
Westview Special Study. Boulder, Colo.: 
Westview Press, 1978. 137p. $15 cloth; 
$6.95 paper. LC 77-18074. ISBN 
0-89158-060-3 (cloth) ; 0-89158-082-4 
(paper). 
This little volume of some 140 pages 

should henceforth be item number one in 
the impedimenta of every prospective 
French major or graduate student or, for 
that matter, anyone who wants to learn how 
to use a research library effectively. 

Robert Baker, who qualifies both as ref-
erence librarian and French scholar, has put 
together a compendium that introduces the 
student to the library starting with the card 
catalog and its intricacies, the classification 
systems-Dewey and LC-LC subject 
headings, and, finally, the reference tools. 
These are mostly French, but some of the 
bibliographies would, of course, be of more 
general use. Baker's treatment of subject 
headings is especially praiseworthy, as he 
shows again and again how they may be 
used to open up new avenues of investiga-
tion. 

One finds all the old stand-bys plus some 
more recent works like Paul Imbs' Tresor 
de la langue fraru;aise, (1971- ) and Fer-
nande Bassan' s Bibliography of French 
Language and Literature ·(1976), "addressed 
to the English-speaking reader with some 
knowledge of French." The Livres disponi-
bles '77, which continues the Catalogue de 
l'edition franr.;aise,. and the 1977 MLA 
Handbook, which replaces the MLA Style 
Sheet, probably came out too late for inclu-
sion; but these are bagatelles. Baker fre-
quently suggests consulting a reference li-