College and Research Libraries 584 I College & Research Libraries • November 1981 what skews the presentation of reference tools, but it is a far more effective teaching method than mere discussion of each tool one by one. Furthermore, concentration on American history as a sample topic keeps the book to a manageable size for the student. Occasionally the author does not general- ize from the tools examined for the specific search topic to a search strategy useful for other topics. For example, on pages 6-7, spe- cialized book bibliographies are introduced, but the relationship between the three cited bibliographies and a search strategy for any other topic is not drawn. Presentation of such general and peripheral tools as PAIS Bulletin and Social Science Citation Index before spe- cific history tools appears to be in reverse or- der. Neither does Frick's work solve the prob- lem, exhibited by other guides to reference sources, of isolating abstracting services as a distinct form, and thereby inadequately em- phasizing their function as current bibliogra- phies. Here the most comprehensive current bibliography in American history, America: History and Life (AHL), is relegated to the end of the list of tools considered, a weakness made more noticeable by the absence of the AH L Index to Book Reviews from the discus- sion of book review indexes and the omission of the AHL American History Bibliography from the earlier section on history indexes. The text is generally well designed, clear, and amply illustrated (37 figures). There are, however, several instances of references in the text that are not clear in the illustrations; one of the illustrations on page 28 is in reverse order of the text's discussion, for no useful reason; and several captions need more com- plete information for accurate identification. The list of basic reference sources inexplica- bly begins, following its initial outline, with- out even a heading or generous space divi- sion, in the last two inches of the inside column of a verso page. This useful, attractive guide to history re- search may be used effectively by biblio- graphic instruction librarians and history professors, and it is priced for student purchase.-]oyce Duncan Falk, American Bibliographical Center, Santa Barbara, Cal- ifornia. Boston Printers, Publishers, and Booksellers: 1640-1800. Ed. by Benjamin Franklin V. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1980. 545p. $30. LC 80-17693. ISBN 0-8161-8472-0. This reviewer likes books, and in particu- ·lar he likes books about books. How-some- ever, as someone once said, he does not like this book. The book contains a number of excellent biographical sketches of printers and pub- lishers who were active in the Town of Bos- ton, Massachusetts-particularly those by Mary Ann Yodelis Smith, J.P. O'Donnell, R. E. Burkholder, John B. Hench, Charles E. Clark, and a few others who did some origi- nal research. Madeline Stern contributed a tour de force that overwhelms sketches of persons in the trade who were much more important to it than was Joseph Nancrede. The primary yardstick for determining the length of the entry allotted to a person ap- pears to be his significance, but nowhere is "significance" defined, except in an indirect way, such as the number of imprints in which the subject's name appears. Thus, "less im- portant individuals" are defined as "gener- ally those appearing in fewer than twenty- five imprints." The emphasis on imprints and the editor's device of attaching to each sketch lists of "Major Authors" and "Publishers Served" has caused authors of the sketches to emphasize highlights and milestones in their subject's lives which sometimes obscures a balanced view of the whole. The narrative style decreed for all sketches makes the brief- est ones appear ludicrous. A telegraphic "Who's Who" style of entry might have been more appropriate for those. The majority of the sketches are based on common secondary sources (or no sources) and add little to the sum of our knowledge. The best that can be said about this compilation is that it lists in one convenient place the known members of the Cambridge-Boston book trade in the sev- enteenth and eighteenth centuries. This reviewer dislikes saying such critical things about a book put together by someone carrying as distinguished a name as Benjamin Franklin V. But! ... It begins with an illus- tration of a "Ramage Press as used by James and Benjamin Franklin." Ramage made his first press about the year 1795. The sketch of Isaiah Thomas contains the amusing, but apocryphal, story of Thomas's printing of Fanny Hill. The manufacture of this book about printers is all but a disaster, although one could say that the typewriter typeface is "nice" and "open." The reviewer's copy of the book is coming apart at the front inner hinge. Condolences to the editor, contributors, and publisher! This is not a very good book and is not recommended to any but the most basic reference collection-Marcus A. Mc- Corison, American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts. University Library History: An International Review. Edited by James Thompson. New · York: K. G. Saur/Clive Bingley, 1980. 330p. $35. ISBN 0-85157-304-5. (Avail- ablefrom: TheShoeStringPress, 995 Sher- man Ave., Hamden, CT 06514.) Although the title is a misnomer, Univer- sity Library History is an interesting book and well worth reading by the academic li- brarian. It is not, strictly speaking, a history, nor is it an "international review." Among the fifteen essays, three might be regarded as history but the majority can only be regarded as perceptive observations of the growth of academic libraries in the United States and Great Britain from the twenties to the present, with great emphasis upon the emer- gence of the academic library as a large com- plex organization of relatively recent origin. Anyone like the reviewer, who has only modest knowledge of the growth of British academic libraries, will be struck by the par- allel growths in collection development, processing, staffing, buildings, and financial support in the two countries. The British uni- versity libraries grew as collections of collec- tions (there is a very interesting first chapter on the University of Manchester by F. W. Ratcliffe), they were often starved for ade- quate support for materials and staff salaries, and they did not secure funds for buildings until theirs were crowded and inefficient. These problems are similar to those of this country, but with a time lag of perhaps twenty-five years. After the American uni- versities "flight to LC" in post-World War II, some librarians may be surprised to learn that over 50 percent of the British university libraries use the LC classification scheme (p.4, 153). Indeed Alan Jeffreys asserts that "British university libraries are almost totally reliant on American schemes of classification and show almost no signs of being directly Recent Publications I 585 influenced by any other school of thought."(p.154). There are good compara- tive tables on a variety of topics: collections, p. 12-17, 49; staffing, p.ll2, 121-24, and facilities, p. 248-49. Moreover, the battle within the Library Association among uni- versity librarians and public librarians which ultimately resulted in the formation of the Standing Conference of National and Uni- versity Libraries (SCONUL) bears striking resemblance to the love/hate relationship of ALA and its siblings, ARL and ACRL. The essays were written by thoughtful British and American academic librarians, including such well-known persons as David Kaser, Jerrold Orne, and John Y. Cole from the U.S., and R. 0. MacKenna and Norman Roberts from the U.K. In addition to the Ratcliffe essay, this re- viewer found the following essays of particu- lar interest: J. M. Smethurst on library staff- ing in the United Kingdom since World War II, MacKenna on library organization, Nor- man Roberts on library financing, and T. H. Bowyer on SCONUL. Two other essays warrant careful reading by the American academic librarian: Geof- frey Briggs on university library development in Canada and a superb essay by Harrison Bryan on university library development in Australia and New Zealand with accompa- nying statistical tables, (p.306-14). Aside from these two essays, the only other essay dealing with non-U.S. and non-U.K. univer- sity libraries is a dull essay on Italian univer- sity libraries in the past century. Thus my comment that this is not truly "an interna- tional review." There are useful references to various re- ports, e.g., the University Grants Commit- tee, and the Robbins (1963), Parry (1967), and Atkinson (1976) Reports, etc., which may provide thoughtful comparisons as one sorts out the future of American academic libraries as they relate to the U.S. govern- ment. The essayists show familiarity with the monographic and journal literature as well as the report literature. There are a few typo- graphical errors, e.g., citing Wilson begin- ning at GLS in 1938, and a few inaccuracies, but the work as a whole is free of such impedi- ments. In comparing U.S. and U.K. university li- braries one notes a real difference in the edu-