College and Research Libraries 276 I College & Research Libraries • May 1979 some of which may appear on hundreds of cards, is not a happy one either to those who would do the work or those responsible for cost-effective library management. Interfiling different forms of the same name is tolerable here and there but causes confusion in users and dizziness in filers if it is extensive. Nor is the thought of a maze of see also references, linking incompatible forms, much more appealing. As a result, many libraries are planning to close their current catalogs and to start others with the adoption of AACR 2. The impact of the new rules is not confined to catalog records. Serial control records are usually based on entry forms. The book numbers added to the classifica- tion numbers are derived from main entry forms. The cataloging and classification of library materials are important investments accounting for perhaps 25 percent of library revenue and staff time, and the prospect of instant obsolescence, proposed for January 2, 1981, is unnerving. With this prospect before us, asking how the new rules advance the art of cataloging may seem to be an exceedingly curious question. With what object in view is it proposed that libraries break with an index- ing system and classification system that have been maintained inviolate (more or less) for many decades? That is, in fact, quite clear. The progression is: (1) agreed-on interna- tional cataloging standards; (2) standard and compatible computer tape records produced by each country for its publications and ex- changed. AACR 2 is a step in this direction, though not an entirely firm one . Recom- mendations of the IFLA Working Group on Corporate Headings (Cataloging Service Bulletin 2:30--44 [Fall 1978]) propose ver- nacular forms of names (Venezia, Deutsch- land [Bundesrepublik], Ecclesia Catholica) and a return to entering a government agency under the name for the government if it has an administrative function. How- ever, the goal is worthy, the technology exists, and such variations can be handled as they arise. The following progression offers another and parallel prospect: 1. Libraries close down labor-intensive in-house catalogs , which repeat the work done in other libraries for essentially the same material. 2. Libraries join networks using and con- tributing to large data bases of MARC rec- ords. The records are tied to an authority control system, supplying authenticated forms of names and the appropriate cross- references. These authority files allow forms on records to be changed easily when this is necessary or desirable. 3. Local and regional records can be de- rived from the main data base as desired. Any record base can be searched by name, title, subject, classification, and keyword combinations and for holdings in particular libraries. 4. Some libraries agree to collect material intensively in limited and specified subject areas and to analyze and annotate this mate- rial fully. Records for this material are added to the data base. This progression, with various modifica- tions in detail, has been suggested for sev- eral years . It is now technically possible and may become economically feasible. Many academic libraries are involved in its early stages. Assessing the effect of the adoption of AACR 2 on the library user must, we think, take into consideration these pos- sibilities rather than limiting it to the merits of particular usages or types of references proposed. If AACR 2 provides the impetus for this, it will have rendered a great ser- vice. AACR 2 , as we have suggested, can well be the catalyst for bringing about far- reaching, . indeed revolutionary, change in accepted patterns and procedures of biblio- graphic control. That there are problems in implementation , some presently identified and others yet to be defined, is clear. Far from the least of these is the matter of costs-costs on national and international levels and the costs of change in our own li- braries. The rules have been published. Now the critical factor is their implementa- tion .-Lois Hacker and]. R. Moore , Grad- uate School and University Center , The City University of New York. Heaps, H. S. Information Retrieval: Com- putational and Theoretical Aspects. Li- brary and Information Science. New York: Academic Press, 1978. 344p. .a·./ r~ . ·~ Who has the answer TO STATEWIDE QUESTIONS ON --~. ~ ENERGY . . . 111111.~~ A~ TAXATION . . . •~.r·• .... .,f " WELFARE . . . . ~~#j NATURAL RESOURCES . . . .I - I . EDUCATION . . . ·~~ ... ~ VITAL STATISTICS . . . ~~ • ~ THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY OF STATE AGENCIES/1978-1979 The authoritative reference for identifying key sources of information for 94 state agency functions. Opening a whole network of sources for those who need information at a state level, this comprehensive guide covers functions, agencies, and key personnel in the governments of the 50 states , and the District of Columbia, and U.S. posses- sions and territories. An essential tool for business, aca- demia, libraries, government, and others who must receive information from, or do business ·with, the states, the Directory is conveniently divided into two sections: the first lists information by states, the second by specific functions (i.e., agricul- ture, consumer affairs, environment, etc.). TIMELY ANDACCURATE To ensure the greatest possible reliability, the National Directory verifies every en- try, updating until press time. SPECIAL APPENDIX For those interested in nationwide associ- ations of state government officials, 63 such organizations are listed, with names, addresses, and phone numbers for easy reference. Durably and handsomely clothbound, 71h x 1 0~, 679-pages ... $55.00 (plus $2.40 for postage and-handling). L.C. No. 74-18864, ISBN 0-87815-023;4 Send for this vital~n:ference now- call (202) 293-2605 or mail the coupon below: ·----------~-------, THE NATIONAL DIRECTORY , OF STATE AGENCIES 191f-lf7' -=~·---·· """"",......,..::,: ............. IR INFORMATION RESOURCES PRESS E 2100 M St., N.W., Dept. CR 039 Washington, DC 20037 YES, please send __ copy(ies) of the National Directory of State Agencies/ 1978-1979 @ $55.00 each (plus $2.40 for postage and handling) . Name ______________________________ __ Title------------------------------- Organization------------------------ f. Address------------------------- ___._._.- City, State, Zip--------.--------------- I I I I · I I I I I I ----------------------------~ 278 I College & Research Libraries • May 1979 $19.50. LC 78-3338. ISBN 0-12-335750-0 . . The author has two stated purposes: first, to introduce the student of computer sci- ence to the basic concepts of the retrieval of alphabetic information and to describe tech- niques for developing suitable computer programs for retrieval and, second, to de- scribe the general structure of data bases and computer programs so that librarians, information scientists, and others without a computer science background can under- stand and appreciate basic design considera- tions of information retrieval systems. The volume is organized as a self- contained textbo<;>k rather than as a compre- hensive examination of the state of the art of information retrieval. The book is rich with diagrams and examples illustrating the con- cepts developed in each chapter; problems are provided in each chapter to test the student's understanding of the concepts in- troduced so far. There is no general bibli- ography, but footnote references guide the reader to more extensive discussions of top- ics covered in each chapter. Many chapters survey several techniques briefly , requiring classroom discussion and/or additional read- ing to fully appreciate the details and appli- cations. For those trained in computer science, early chapters describe characteristics and requirements of alphabetic data bases and retrieval systems, using examples from many current data bases. While a knowl- edge of computer processing fundamentals would be helpful to the information spe- cialist, the volume develops enough back- ground information so that most readers will be able to understand the concepts in- volved. A few chapters require a mathemat- ical facility to fully understand; however, the reader not well versed in mathematics should be able to understand the concepts described , as well as their significance for effective information retrieval. This is not a book on how to program re- trieval systems. The emphasis is instead on the identification , storage, organization, and searching of alphabetic information in an efficient and effective manner. The text is divided into fourteen chapters. Chapters 1 to 4 develop general concepts of information storage and retrieval, includ- ing brief discussions of Boolean operators , AMBASSADOR BOOK SERVICE, INC. ; AMBASSADOR BOOK SERVICE, INC. "serving academic and research libraries" 42 Chasner Street • Hempstead, NY 11550 Call us 516/489-4011 collect! indexing schemes, recall, preciSIOn , the interface between the user and the com- puter, inverted files , bit codes for data stor- age, and blocks/records/files. Various data base formats are described in terms of cur- rent data bases such as MARC , ERIC , CAIN , and others. Chapter 5 discusses how to process data stored in internal memory , with considera- tion for efficiency in memory space and pro- cessing. Chapter 6 covers the structure of search programs , and chapter 7 investigates the vocabulary characteristics of document data bases and the relationship of those characteristics to search and storage consid- erations. Chapters 8 and 9 look at the information content of textual data and mes- sages and at coding and compression tech- niques. In an excellent chapter 10, the author poses requirements for a hypothetical document retrieval system 1 and with basic assumptions, guides the reader through de- sign considerations. In chapter 11 , a data base is described in which search terms are assigned to describe documents in the data base, rather than indexing attributes of In- formation from the documents . Chapters 12 and 13 take up the question of the optimiza- tion of retrieval effectiveness and automatic document classification techniques. Chapter 14 contains brief concluding remarks. In summary, this text does a very nice job of outlining design and efficiency con- siderations for information data bases and retrieval systems.-Eleanor Montague , Uni- versity of California, Riverside . Tebbel, ·John . A History of Book Publishing in the United States. Volume Ill : The Golden Age Betwee n Two Wars, 1920- 1940 . New York : Bowker; 1978. 774p. $32.50. LC 71-163903. ISBN 0-8352- 0498-7. Like the two previous volumes, the third of Tebbel's promised four-volume History offers both overview and detail, here of what he justly characterizes as the golden age of book publishing. A brief " General View, 1919-1940" precedes two longer chapters, "1919: The Year of Transition'' and " General Trends of the Twenties." This in- troductory section is followed by a series of resumes of the histories of the older houses Recent Publications I 279 during this decade; and these, in turn, are followed by accounts of the emergence of the "New Publishers of the Twenties. " The succeeding chapters in the twenties section deal with a broad range of specific aspects of publishing and marketing: e.g., paperbacks, educational books, reference works, the religious publishing houses , uni- versity presses, book clubs, advertising, manufacturing, and censorship. Essentially the same pattern is repeated when Tebbel moves on to publishing in the thirties, the book then concluding with three appendixes~the most useful a statisti- cal "Economic Review of Book Publishing, 1915-1945"~and a voluminous if somewhat haphazard index . From its beginning in 1972, Tebbel' s His- tory was regarded an endeavor as valuable as it was ambitious. To chronicle in almost awesome detail the growth of an industry that has been so involved with the direction and quality of our cultural life is a contribu- tion that we cannot but acknowledge with appreciation. It is not, however , a work without some flaws . The principal problem with the book is its structure: its failure to organize spe- cific facts, anecdotes, and data so as, on one hand, to support closely many of the histor- ical generalizations or, on the other, to serve as a workable, easily accessible re- source for the researcher. The reader's difficulty in making out the forest amid all the trees is not lessened by the frequent inclusion of material that may be fairly regarded as of marginal sig- nificance. It is slightly annoying, for exam- ple, to find oneself reading that Alfred Har- court's secretary married him "after his first wife, Susan, beset by ill health and depres- sion, committed suicide in 1923 only a few hours before she was to be sent to a private sanitarium in New Rochelle. " One may , of course, criticize Tebbel' s craftsmanship as a historiograph er and at the same time recognize th e historical riches to be found in his book. The index, as was noted , is not an adequate guide to the contents of the volume. The patient reader, however , will be rewarded with fact piled on fact, minor revelations, useful and suggestive statistics, unexpected relation- ships, and, finally , a broad and specific