College and Research Libraries cations, 1979. 105p. $24.50. LC 79-16189. ISBN 0-914236-34-2. Like circulation vendors exhibiting at ALA conferences, studies about automated circulation control systems seem to be pro- liferating. Markuson's landmark 1975 analysis in Library Technology Reports was followed by Scholz (1977) and Boss (1979). Now from Knowledge Industry Publications comes this second edition of Automated Li- brary Circulation Control Systems, updat- ing the previous work by Dranov. Bahr' s study largely follows the format and style of its predecessor. Introductory chapters describe the technologies available, provide an overview of alternatives and sys- tems, and offer guidance in criteria for sys- tem selection. Following the introductory materials are descriptions of twelve auto- mated circulation systems and summaries of user comments. Concluding the volume is a list of manufacturers and users. The infor- mation is presented in a lively journalistic style, with liberal quotes from both the pub- lished literature and from librarians using the systems. Much of the text, however, is derivative from previous studies. A major problem with the book is that it oversimplifies the complexities of library au- tomation to the point that a less than knowledgeable librarian can be misled. For instance, Bahr states that "another reason universities design their own systems is that most have computer equipment and staff al- ready available to them .. (p.8). She cites, as examples, the development of the Ohio State University circulation system and its later transfer to SUNY at Albany and the University of Illinois. Surely, there were other more compelling reasons for these in- stitutions to automate than the availability of computer time and staff. In another instance, the author discusses the loading of a machine-readable data base from another library as one means for bib- liographic conversion (p.13). Omitted, how- ever, is the crucial point that even when this method is used, it is still necessary to match every circulating volume against the data base in order to assign item-specific bar code labels. The chapter describing the operational characteristics of the tWelve automated sys- tems appears to be based largely on a cull- Recent Publications I 161 ing of product literature · and interviews with vendors. While Bahr admits that "no attempt is being made to evaluate systems .. (p.24), she does include numerous subjec- tive statements based apparently on man- ufacturers' claims. To describe a system as being "particularly responsive to innovations which librarians request .. (p.33), when the system is operational in only one library, does not add credibility to a report. The amount of detail concerning the sys- tems varies, in part because some were not operational when the study was undertaken. All, however, are covered with greater clar- ity, objectivity, and detail in Boss' study for Library Technology Reports.* The very brief section on user comments, four and a half pages on eight systems, contributes lit- tle additional knowledge. That Automated Library .Circulation Sys- tems is less than the definitive volume on circulation control should by now be clear. Librarians embarking on an automation pro- gram would do well to read the reports by Markuson and Boss in Library Technology Reports and to contact the vendors for more recent product information. Bahr' s study is simply not worth the money.-Howard Pas- ternack, State University of New York at Stony Brook. *Editor's note: The July-August 1979 issue of Library Technology Reports includes Richard W. Boss' "Circulation Systems Update .. (p.423-29), which adds to the information presented in his January-February 1979 LTR article. Allen, Nancy. Film Study Collections: A Guide to Their Development and Use. Research assistance, Laura Drasgow. Cataloging chapter, Michael Gorman. Ungar Film Library. New York: Ungar, 1979. 194p. $14. LC 78-~0935. ISBN 0-8044-2001-7. Film Study Collections is a bit of an ano- maly. It is the only title in the Ungar Film Library that deals with libraries and film study, the other titles being concerned with the analysis of film content (Faulkner and Film) or the study of certain filmmakers (Fellini the Artist). It is partly a manual on collection development, partly a guide for reference and information services, and partly a survey of available resources. And it seems to suffer from · some uncertainty as to 162 I College & Research Libraries • March 1980 the nature of its intended audience. The author, communications librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, is overly fond of lists. Much of her material is derived from a 1978 Ameri- can Film Institute Workshop on FilmtrV Documentation and smacks somewhat of handouts for workshop participants. There are lists of publishers, lists of film archives, lists of periodicals, lists of bookstores selling film memorabilia, even lists of monographic series dealing with film. This material cer- tainly has value, but it will date the book rather quickly and might have been better presented as a series of periodical articles. The collection development portion in- cludes short chapters on different formats: periodicals, nonprint materials, scripts, trade magazines, and so forth. Chapter 6 contains a handy checklist of ·criteria for evaluating various types of film reference materials plus examples of the application of these criteria to specific titles. An asset of this portion of the book is the author's stress on understanding the somewhat esoteric terminology of film study. She is careful to distinguish, for example, between a shoot- ing script and a continuity script and stress- es the unique value of each for cinema col- lections. The reference and public services portion seems intended for a beginner in the field. The discussions of interlibrary loan, the im- portance of networking, . and copyright , are cursory and excessively general. By con- trast, Michael Gorman's chapter on the cataloging and classification of film study material deals at length with such topics as the differences that would result if a script were cataloged under AACR 2 and under the rules promulgated by the Documenta- tion Commission of the Federation Inter- nationale des Archives du Film (FIAF). His presentation assumes a good deal more background on the part of the reader-an assumption that seems rather at odds with the rest of the book. Several portions of the book leave the dis- tinct impression that something has been started but not finished. The chapter on li- brary use instruction is a good example. It purports to provide a sample outline for a ·group presentation on the use of film library collections; yet only the portion dealing with the card catalog is included. The chap- ter is fine as far as it goes but would " have been much more helpful if the rest of the suggested outline had been included. The same comment-expand and amplify-could be made about the sections on interlibrary loan and networking mentioned above. Film Study Collections certainly has some assets. The author's crisp, no-nonsense style is a pleasure to read. She obviously knows her subject. Her material should prove use- ful to anyone charged with beginning a film study library. But the book could be made considerably better, both by clarifying the nature of the intended audience and by ex- panding the superficial portions. Perhaps a revised second edition will remedy these defects.-Cathleen Flanagan, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Wiegand, Wayne A. The History of a Hoax: Edmund Lester Pearson, john Cotton Dana, and The Old Librarian's Al- manack. Beta Phi M u Chapbook. no.13. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Beta Phi Mu, 1979. 75p. $4. LC 78-23377. ISBN 0-910230-13-7. (Available from: Beta Phi Mu, Publica- tions Office, College of Library Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506.) Edmund Lester Pearson (188~1937)­ librarian, editor, free-lance writer-tweaked the library community and the general pub- lic for fourteen years through his weekly column in the Boston Evening Transcript (1906-20). Satire, hyperbole, and humor laced his prose assaults on the pomposities and · idiosyncracies of an emerging profes- sion. Pearson loved a good tale and con- cocted many for his readers. Once, he even perpetrated a literary hoax with the publica- tion of The Old Librarian's Almanack in 1909. The story of that deception is superbly reconstructed by Wayne Wiegand, Univer- sity of Kentucky, in the thirteenth number of the Beta Phi Mu chapbook series. A re- print of the Almanack follows the account of its genesis, reception, and denouement. The "Old Librarian" and his Almanack were first introduced in Pearson's news- paper column of July 24, 1907. Early the next year Pearson's fictitious character was resurrected, and the hoax was born.