College and Research Libraries


268 I CoUege & Research Libraries • May 1981 

abeth Sawyers, Health Sciences Library, 
Ohio State University, Columbus. 

SantaVicca, Edmund F. Refe,.ence Work in 
the Humanities. Metuchen, N.J.: 
Scarecrow, 1980. 173p. $9. LC 80-18783. 
ISBN 0-8108-1342-4. 
The title of this book may lead the reader 

to expect a treatise on reference work in the 
humanities. This work actually presents a 
variety of reference questions and case stud-
ies organized by subject. The subjects cov-
ered are philosophy, religion and mytholo-
gy, literature, music, fine arts, and theater 
arts; there is also a chapter on interdisci-
plinary problems. Each subject area has a 
set of exercises, divided into three sections: 
questions, search problems, and case stud-
ies. The exercises are designed to familiar-
ize readers with the disciplines that make 
up the humanities; to introduce the reader 
to the difficulties and complexities of the 
reference interview; and to provide search 
problems for every subject area using 
appropriate examples. Unfortunately, the 
author does not provide solutions to search 
problems. The appendix gives some exam-
ples of possible solutions in a few subject 
areas, .but it seems that a book of this type 
should have solutions, or at least some sug-
gestions on finding answers to the questions 
posed. This is also true for the case studies; 
no examples of possible solutions are given. 
Even if the main function of this work is to 
serve as a workbook in a classroom situa-
tion, suggested solutions appended at the 
end of the book would have enhanced its 
usefulness. 

The approach employed in this book 
helps the reader to understand how to 
translate the language of the library user 
into the terminology of potential retrieval 
systems in a given library situation. Often 
too much emphasis has been placed by the 
library science curriculum and by practicing 
reference librarians on the nature and refer-
ence qualities of specific reference titles, 
and too little emphasis on understanding 
how these qualities come into play in the 
process of reference work. In this respect 
the author is successful in identifying a 
number of questions that help to distinguish 
the difference between these two processes. 

In the absence of other titles in the area 

of reference service in the humanities, this 
work is a good beginning. The questions 
selected in the exercises are phrased in a 
variety of ways, having varying degrees of 
clarity and ambiguity and differing levels of 
depth, which may help the reader to under-
stand the kinds of questions he/she will en-
counter. A major weakness is the lack of a 
bibliography or notes suggesting further 
reading. This is a serious flaw in the book. 
One cannot help but compare this work 
with Reference Books in the Social Sciences 
and Humanities by R. E. Stevens (Stipes, 
1977). The latter work is broader in scope 
and provides extensive information on 
several hundred specific reference books in 
the social sciences and humanities. (Stevens' 
title referred to here is out of print. Avail-
able is Reference Books in the Social Sci-
ences by R. Stevens and D. Davis [Stipes, 
1977].) Had these features been present in 
SantaVicca's book, they would have con-
siderably increased its value.-George V. 
Hodowanec, Emporia State University, 
Emporia, Kansas. 

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Re-
sources. ERIC Basics; a Sound/Microfiche 
Instructional Package. Syracuse, N.Y. , 
1979. 53-frame color microfiche, 12-
minute audiocassette. $10. (Available 
from: Information Resources Pubs., 130 
Huntington Hall, Syracuse University, 
Syracuse, N~ 13210.) 
This unusual pairing of media formats, a 

cassette and microfiche, is attractively 
boxed and easy to use. Its aim is to teach 
the uninitiated how to use the two ERIC 
indexes, Resources in Education (RIE) and 
Current Index to journals in Education 
(CI]E), in order to access the ERIC docu-
ment collection and periodical literature in 
the field of education. It succeeds admir-
ably. The narrators assume nothing yet are 
not insulting. A woman gives clear instruc-
tions on how to load and follow the fiche, 
and these instructions are repeated at 
appropriate points. A man presents the con-
tent, and again is concise and clear. 
Visually, the fiche frames are simple yet 
effective; the use of color and the repetition 
of cover shots of the three sources discussed 
(RIE, CI]E, and the Thesaurus of ERIC 
Descriptors) reinforce the information that