College and Research Libraries


The fact that this festschrift was conceived 
and published during Asheim' s active career 
shows the respect held for him by his col­
leagues and former students. This reviewer 
is not only a former student but also one 
who went through registration with him at 
GLS almost thirty-three years ago. 

To sum up the contents of this book one 
can do no better than to quote from its 
jacket: ''The essays collected span a range of 
areas in which Lester Asheim has been in­
fluential: library education, intellectual 
freedom, the humanities, academic librar­
ies, public libraries, and international librar­
ianship." 

The first of the fourteen essays is entitled 
"Lester E. Asheim-An Appreciation," writ­
ten, appropriately, by Grace T. Stevenson, 
who gave Les his first library job when he 
was a high school student in Seattle. More 
than three decades later, he was to work 
very closely with her when both were at 
ALA Headquarters. In a few short pages, 
Grace Stevenson presents a fitting tribute to 
the subject, whose career is so distin­
guished. 

Ruth French Carnovsky, a devoted col­
league and admirer of Les Asheim, writes 
informally and interestingly about his life 
and work. It is obvious to the reader that 
parental traits set the stage for a great fu­
ture, one in which devotion to duty, intelli­
gence, and appreciation for others is re­
markably evident. The honors that have 
come to him reflect his success and make 
him "one of the most respected figures in 
librarianship, not only in this country but 
-around the world." 

Library issues in the seventies are well 
stated by Ed Holley, a library school dean 
who successfully recruited Les Asheim to a 
distinguished named professorship at the 
University of North Carolina. Asheim, so 
states Holley, "is fully appreciative of the 
importance of these issues, for whose solu­
tion the library profession now awaits crea­
tive leadership." 

Dave Berninghausen comments on a sub­
ject of great importance to Les Asheim in 
his contribution entitled "Asheim' s Liberal 
Approach to Intellectual Freedom." Citing 
his "Not Censorship but Selection" as one 
of the most widely read and influential 
statements on the librarian's responsibility 

Recent Publications I 293 

to preserve intellectual freedom, Berning­
hausen states that Asheim' s discussion of the 
subject is as pertinent today as when it was 
written, during the McCarthy period, more 
than a quarter of a century earlier. 

Other essays in this volume dedicated to 
a colleague whose professional life and work 
touched on ~he subjects being discussed in­
clude: Haynes McMullen, "American Li­
brarians and the Pursuit of Happiness"; 
Alice Ihrig, "Librarians and the Political 
Process"; Cyril Houle, "Seven Adult Educa­
tional Roles of the Public Library"; Rod 
Swartz, "The Library Change Agent: A 
State Library Role for the Future"; Kath­
leen Heim, "Professional Education: Some 
Comparisons"; Irving Lieberman, "Library 
Education-Changing Goals"; Robert 
Downs, "Changing Trends in Academic Li­
braries"; Boyd Rayward, "The Literature of 
International and Comparative Librar­
ianship"; and Joel Lee, "Asheim Confronts 
the Catalog: A University of Chicago Fan­
tasy." There is also an extensive bibliogra­
phy, classified by subject, compiled by Eric 
Halvorson that clearly reveals the scope of 
Les Asheim' s career. 

As noted in the book, "this festschrift is 
representative of the quality of scholarship, 
the clarity of thinking, and the honesty of 
purpose which characterize Lester Asheim' s 
career. This encomium to his continuing 
distinguished service is not only a tribute to 
the scholar, Lester Asheim, but it is also a 
contribution to scholarship." 

This handsomely designed and printed 
volume, although containing some of the 
usual typographical errors, should be re­
quired reading for all librarians and particu­
larly those just entering the profession. The 
substance contained therein not only 
epitomizes a talented and humble individual 
but also characterizes much that is impor­
tant in librarianship.-Dale M. Bentz, Uni­
versity of Iowa, Iowa City. 

Austin, Derek, and Verdier, Veronica. 
String Indexing. PRECIS: Introduction 
and Indexing. London, Ont.: School of 
Library and Information Science, Univer­
sity of Western Ontario, 1977. lv. $5. 

Craven, Timothy C. String Indexing. 
NEPHIS: Introduction and Indexing. 
London, Ont.: School of Library and In­



294 I College & Research Libraries • May 1979 

formation Science, University of Western 
Ontario , 1977. 1 v. $5. 

Farradane, Jason. String Indexing. Rela­
tional Indexing: Introduction and Index­
ing. London , Ont.: School of Library and 
Information Science, U niversi ty of West­
ern Ontario, 1977. lv. $5. 
These three publication s repr~sent th e 

indexes produced by three different kinds of 
string-based languages . The fundamental 
methodology is described briefly in each 
case, an d then th e same corpus is used: ar­
ticles taken from two volum es of th e j ournal 
of the American Society for Information 
Science (v.24-25) . Apparently th e project 
was planned with a iew to comparing the 
three string indexing lang uages, but th e re­
sults aried to such a degree that this objec­
ti e had to be abandoned. 

This review cannot succeed where the 
project failed. Therefore, one short example 
has been selected, and the resulting index 
in all three systems is given h ere. An index 
produced by PRECIS is converted to alph a­
betical order au tomatically, so the other two 
were rearranged accordingly. 

MCGREGO 
"PERSONALIZED 
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE'' 
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Office" representative. You comspond direct; any title 
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With over 45 years exper!Mce, McGregor has built a 
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about McGregor's "Automatic " plan de­
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free copy. OUR 

46th 
YEAR 

Mount Morris, llllnolsl1054 

ARTICLE: William B. Rouse, "Circu la tion 
D ynami cs: A Planning Model," 
j ournal of the American Society fo r 
Information Science , v .25 , 
p .358- (1974). 

NE PHIS (Nested-Phrase Indexing System ) 

CI RCULATION IN LIBRARIES. PREDIC­
TION. MATHEMATICAL MODELS 

JASIS 25:358 

LIBRARIES . CIRC ULATION. PREDICTION. 
MATHEMATICA-L MODELS 

JASIS 25 :358 
MATHEMATICAL MODELS fOR PREDIC­

TION OF C IRCULATION IN LIBRARIES 
JASIS 25:358 

PREDICTION OF CIRC LATION IN LIBRAR­
IES. MATHEMATICAL MODELS 

J ASIS 25:358 

PRECIS ( PREsert;ed Context Index System ) 

Circulation. Stock. Libraries 
Prediction. Mathematical models 25:358 

Libraries 
Stock. Ci rcu lati on. Prediction . Mathematical 

models 25:358 
Mathematical models. Prediction of circulation 

of library stock 25:358 

Models. Prediction of circulation of library stock 
Mathematical models 25:358 

Prediction. Circulation of li brary stock 
Mathematical models 25 :358 

Relational Indexi ng 

Circulation 
of documents of library . Predicting by 

mathematical model. 25358 

Documents 
of library. Circulation predicting by mathemat­

ical model. 25358 
Library 

documents circulation predicting by mathemat­
ical model. 25358 

Mathematical model 
see under Model , mathematical 

Model 
mathematical , of predicting circulation of 

documents of library . 25358 

Most of the ar ticles indexed were longer 
than this. Some had more variation in 
number of terms and of resultan't entri es. As 
a rule all three strin gs were close enough to 
allow the read e r to tell what was the topic 
of th e indexed article. Only the Relational 
Indexing example used a cross-reference in 
this situation, although PRECIS has them 



for use in cases where the headword might 
call for elucidation . 

The relational features for the three sys­
tems are equivalent but not equal. -Phyllis 
A. Richmond, Case W este rn Reserv e Uni­
versity , Cleveland , Ohio . 

ABSTRACTS 

Th e fol/ou;ing abstra c ts are bas ed on 
those pre pared by th e ERIC Clearinghouse 
on Information Resources, School of Educa­
tion , Syrac use Unit;e rsity. 

Docume nts tcith an ED numbe r he re may 
be orde red in e ith e r mi c rofich e ( MF ) or 
pape r copy (HC ) from th e ERIC Doc ument 
Re production Senice, P .O . Box 190 , Ar­
lington , VA 22210. Orde rs should include 
ED number , specify format desired , and in­
clude payment for do c ume nt and postage. 

Furth e r information on orde rin g docu­
ments and on c urrent posta ge charge may 
b e obtain e d from a rece nt iss u e of Re­
sources in Education. 

An Evaluation of the · Use of Self Instruc­
tional Materials in the Library. Occa­
s ional Publication no .3. By N. D . C. 
Harris and S. Kirkhope . Bath , England: 
Educational Se rvice s Unit , Bath Univ. 
1977. 138p. ED 158 710. MF - $0 .83 ; 
HC-$7.35. 
An escalation in the use of nonbook materials 

in the library at the University of Bath created 
the need for an evaluation of their uses, learning 
efficiency , and cost-effectiveness. Data were col­
lected during 1976-77 using observations, short 
and long questionnaires, free responses , group 
interviews with students, and cost analysis. All in­
formation collected from the questionnaires , 
interviews, and free responses was transferred to 
cards indicating the name of th e originator of ma­
terials , the number sequence of the student, type 
of re sponse, and the material . Cost analysis was 
conducted by calculation of the cost of providing 
the materials for which a cost for each u se could 
be determined . Findings are reported on (1) the 
use of study packs, videocartridges , slide/tape, 
and microfiche by both lecturers and students in 
various academic departments ; (2) student reac­
tions to study packs and videocartridges , based 
on feedback from students either in writing or 
during interviews concerning how th e materials 

Recent Publications I 295 

were used , the loan period , the basis of provi­
sion , where they were used , and access to them 
in the library; (3) feedback to lecturers and the 
library ; and (4) cost analysis. Conclusions and 
recommendations are divided into the areas of 
proposed research, research strategies , the sys­
tem that was investigated , and suggestions for 
further work . The study is supported by numer­
ous tables and graphs and a copy of the question­
naire evaluation form is included. 

The Serial Perplex. By Maree Macon 
Blackwell and Pearl Chopra. 1978 . 34p. 
ED 158 713. MF-$0.83; HC-$2.06. 
The problems associated with the acquisition of 

periodicals from various sources and different sys­
tems used by two University of Alabama libraries 
for the acquisition, controlling, and recording of 
serials are described in this report. Sources iden­
tified and discussed include local sources and 
suppliers , direct subscriptions placed with pub­
lishers , special departments designed to handle 
subscriptions on behalf of libraries , and exchange 
agreements . To ensure prompt and efficient ser­
vice, it is suggested that librarians should acquire 
periodicals from the most advantageous combina­
tion of the several sources available. The two sys­
tems described for acquisition, controlling, and 

A Basic Music Library 
Essential Scores and Books 
Pauline Bayne, editor 
Music Library Association, compiler 

A series of selective lists of essential 
scores and books about music that will 
be of great value to the small and me­
dium-sized library interested in enrich­
ing its music collection . It is intended to 
complement and to closely relate to a 
basic record collection. Complete order­
ing information is given for each item . 

The collection areas covered include 
study scores for orchestral music ; cham­
ber music for strings an.d winds; perform­
ing editions for string and wind chamber 
music; solo song ; piano-vocal scores for 
opera and oratorio, reference books ; 
biographies ; books on American music; 
periodicals ; year-books ; and instru­
mental methods and studies. 
182 pages Paper LC 78-11997 
ISBN 0-8389-0281-2 (1978) $5.00 

Order Department 

American Library Association 
50 E. Huron St. , Chicago, IL 60611