College and Research Libraries Letters To the Editor: In "Perceptions by Educators and Admin- istrators of the Ranking of Library School Programs" (C&RL, May 1981), Herbert S. White mentions only in passing "vociferous objection to perception ranking studies" (p.192). But he provides no bibliographical citations to this body of literature as he does for articles favorable to such surveys. Criti- cally interested readers can consult Serge Lang's The File (New York: Spring, 1981), especially Part Eleven, which criticizes the Ladd-Lipset survey of rankings of academic departments cited by Dean White. On the question of response levels from li- brary administrators, Dean White fails to in- dicate by whom "56.2 percent is considered an acceptable level of response" (p.195). In view of the continuing controversy over such questions as what constitutes a representative sample (see especially William Kruskal's and Tore Dalenius' contributions to The File), it is unfortunate Dean White did not address these philosophical and methodological con- cerns more directly by at least making spe- cific reference to the critics' publications, some of which were published before Lang's 1981 compilation.- Jeffry Larson, Humani- ties Bibliographer, Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut. To the Editor: Mr. Larson is certainly correct when he points out that my article fails to provide evi- dence for the scientific justification of per- ception ranking studies. However, this is pre- cisely because no such justification was intended. The article went to some pains to point out that perception of quality is not synonymous with quality. External factors can cause programs to be rated higher or lower than they "deserve," and changes in ranking over time are probably more signifi- cant as indicators than the rankings them- COLLEGE & RESEARCH LIBRARIES selves. The article argued further that no generally accepted technique for qualitative ranking had been developed, whether based on perception or on hard data. I stressed that perhaps justification for perceptions are not really to the point , since in academia percep- tion of quality forms the basis of decisions by students, faculty members, and employers, as if those perceptions were proofs. Given the certainty that perception rank- ings will continue to be done and will con- tinue to be used, it was my intent simply to update and broaden data for the library edu- cation field, and to provide better perception data for those who are interested in such rankings. As expressed in the article, it is also my hope that an analysis of the characteris- tics shared by highly perceived programs can lead to the development of more specific qualitative requirements than are presently found in the general expressions of the ac- creditation standards. -Herbert S. White, Dean , School of Library and Information Science, Indiana University, Bloomington. To the Editor: Nancy John's review of my textbook, In- troduction to Cataloging and Classification, which appeared in the September 1981 issue of College & Research Libraries, contains er- rors, misquotations, and misinterpretations. Since you may not have the book at hand, I will list and comment upon typical examples of Ms. John's comments, quoting first from the review, and then from that portion of my text to which Ms. John refers. John: "The ISBDs are referred to as manual (p .6)" Downing, p.6: "Tendencies toward international standardization of cataloging codes and prac- tices, as exemplified in manuals, the I.S.B.D.(M), (1974), I.S.B.D.(S) (1974) and I.S .B.D .(C), (1977) mean that future catalogers must remain aware of up-to-the-minute devel- opments." I 243 244 I College & Research Libraries· May 1982 To refer to explanatory brochures as "man- uals" is not to say that the codes are "man- ual." A major point of my explanation of ISBD was to discuss the role of automation in national and international cataloging. John: "Two invalid Library of Congress subject headings are given: ARCHITECTURE IN AL- BANIA and ALBANIA - ARCHITECTURE (p.55)" Downing , p.55: " One particular instance of the failure to assign a necessary second heading oc- curs when a reversal of the word order may al- low retrieval from an appropriate second point of view. For example , a book on architecture in Albania can be analyzed both as Architecture in Albania or Albania- Architecture" At no point in my discussion of complemen- tary subject headings do I state that the ex- amples used are valid headings in any formal list. John: (Speaking of my discussion of non-book ma- terials , p.l66-167) "First is the suggestion that the main entry and the statement of responsibil - ity are always the same" Downing , p.l67: "The title main entry will occur much more often than for books and subsidiary contributionship to the 'creation' of the work is likel y to be more extensive than for books ... (examples given) The difficulty of pinning down 'authorship' for nonbook works may require a relatively lengthy statement of responsibility" The point of the paragraph cited is that, since the most likely main entry for non-book materials is a title entry, careful attention must be paid to the statement of responsibil- ity. John: (Referring to "errors" in the appendix of ex- hibits) " Nonstandard dates in headings (p.240 ff.)" There are no "pages 240 ff." in the text. The "nonstandard dates" alluded to were pur- posely included among the exhibits as guides to students confronted with the problem. In view of the representative errors cited above, it is not surprising that Ms. John failed to mention any of the particular strengths of the text, such as the extended dis- cussion of authority control comprising Chapter3. A problem arises in the dissemination of a rebuttal to a review such as Ms. John's. Read- ers of the original review, not having access to the text for verification, may be dissuaded from examining the text at all. I should therefore appreciate any efforts you may wish to make to rectify this situation. -Mildred H. Downing, Assistant Professor , School of Library Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To the Editor: Ms. Downing suggests that she has found "typical examples of errors." In fact, two er- rors cited are typographical. The word "manuals" appeared in my original review (the ISBDs are international cataloging stan- dards), and p.240ff. should be p.204ff., as should be clear from the correct citing of ex- ample numbers. I stand by the rest of the review as written. -Nancy R. John , Assistant Univer- sity Librarian, University of Illinois at Chi- cago Circle. BOLERIUM BOOkS 931 Judah Street • San Francisco, C aliforni a 94122 • USA 415 665 -6110 Specialists in out-of-print scholarly books. Catalogs of quality research literature in all languages issued. Library collection development assistance available. Free and extensive search services. Inquire about our many services to libraries at our ALA exhibit. Announcing the 42nd Edition Who's Who lnAnterlca 1982-1983 ~o's • (I -. :ii'z~ ~I ~ " .. . by far the best single source of current biographical information for notables in this country." -Bohdan S. Wynar American Reference Books Anoual ~~o·s ~--ifj!Jl .. 0 ....... ... _ l'l\1i'l!3 t'l-t• ~" " .. . as a librarian who has used Who's Who in America for almost twenty years, I appreciate Marquis for maintaining such high standards of excellence. " -(Miss) Billie Bozone Librarian, Smith College Library This is the new edition of the biographical reference that students, businessmen and librarians turn to again and again. Among the more than 73,000 biographies presented here, more than 13,000 profile emerging personalities, and countless others have been revised and updated. In addition to the Necrology listing, a new Retiree section will provide names of those who have retired since the 41st edition. Be among the first to benefit from this new edition . .. its new information ... and its new insights. Publication Date: May 1982 • 2-Volume Set • ISBN 0-8379-0142-1 • 11030260 • ($5 shpg) • $109.50 Announcing Volume VII Who Was Who In America 1977-1981 This new volume commemorates more than 9,000 outstanding personalities of this era that have stepped into history ... joining more than 96,500 listees of previous volumes in a historic compendium that has become the first step in historic research . And now a separate index volume guides you to the sketches contained in all 8 Volumes of the Who Was Who Library. Volume VII ... 1977·1981 . .. (11030209) Pub. Dec. 1981 • 636 pages; hardbound • ISBN D-8379-0210.X • ($3 shpg) • $55.00 Index Volume .. . 1607·1981 . . . (11030300) Pub. Dec. 1981 • 261 pages; hardbound • ISBN 0.8379-0212-6 • ($3 shpg) • $24.50 Save $70.50 on the 9·Volume Set . . . 1607·1981 . .. (11030295) Hist. Vol.; Vol. /-VII; Index Vol • ISBN 0.8379-0211 -8 • ($15 shpg) • $394.00 Keep your collection up-to-date ... order your copies from Marquis today. Please add postage and handling shown (also add state sales tax where applicable). I MARQL'IS WnosWno 200 East Ohio Street, Room 146 Chicago, Illinois 60611 • (312) 787-2008 Biological & Agricultural Index The Quick, Easy Approach to lnfor01ation in the Life Sciences "Highly recommended to all libraries needing a professional indexing tool in the life sciences 0 0 0" American Reference Books Annual Librarians, teachers, students, and others who do research in the pure biological sciences and agriculture know the value of Biological & Agricultural Index. As a cumulative index to 202 English-language periodicals, the Index offers the researcher the most complete and cur- rent indexing of important life science periodicals in a quick and easy-to- use format. The subject approach is interdisciplinary in nature. Among the more than 25 subject fields covered are: Biochemistry Botany Ecology Environmental Science Food Science Genetics Horticulture Marine Biology Microbiology Nutrition Physiology Zoology Entries are arranged alphabetically by subject and include complete bib- liographic data. Specific yet flexible subject headings, numerous cross- references, and use of technical as well as everyday science terminology provide many approaches. Separate sections contain author citations to book reviews and subscription information about the periodicals indexed. Published monthly except August, with quarterly cumulations and per- manent bound annual cumulations. Sold on the service basis rate. For more information, please write to: Dept. 99 The H. W. Wilson Company 950 University Avenue, Bronx, NY 10452