College and Research Libraries online systems are not comprehensive and up-to-date enough, and where retro- spective materials are concerned, they do not go back far enough. The readers were also advised that adequate training for be- ginning users was essential to overcome initial resistance. More importantly, un- less library professionals become more ag- gressive and more involved in the plan- ning and implementation of online projects, they would increasingly lose control over online services in their orga- nizations. It is regrettable that little attempt was made to pull all the data together across the wide spectrum of applications. How- ever, readers would be impressed and amused by the descriptions of many inti- mate case studies, notably the newspaper industry. I believe more can be gleaned from these interviews, and more inter- views should be attempted. The repro- duction of the research team's interview schedules or questionnaires would have improved the overall quality of the report. While data in percentage format, lists and charts were occasionally provided, the current study was mainly qualitative in nature. Examples of imprecise language and irrelevant editorializing are too many to mention. The following example is il- lustrative: When an information manager was cited as having suggested that the low demand of a certain legal database was due to a lack of perseverance on the part of the end-users, it was gratuitously intro- jected that this intermediary "runs half- marathons and, this, no doubt, influences his thinking!'' This detailed study calls for a better focus and self-discipline. -Sidney Eng, Borough of Manhattan Community Col- lege, the City University of New York. Fiction Writers Guidelines: Over 200 Peri- odicals Editors' Instructions Repro- duced. Comp. and ed. by Judy Mandell. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1988. 316p. $20.95 (ISBN 0-89950-249-0). LC 88- 42506. The freedom to write is worth protecting in any democratic society. Writing reflects the culture and the generation of each writer. The profligation of books about writing bodes well for this decade. Along Recent Publications 81 Published: Blockson, Charles L. A Commented Bibliography of 101 Influential Books by and about People of African Descent (1556-1982). A col- lector's Choice. Amsterdam 1989. 74 pp. with over 70 illustr. Royal 8vo. Cloth, with dustwrapper. ISBN 90-70775-03-4 $47,-- * Catalogue 29: Old, Rare & Out of Print Books, Jour- nals, Pamphlets and some Manuscripts relating to Anarchism Communism Socialism. Free on request. Ac GERITS & SONS Modern and Antiquarian Booksellers Library Agents Prinsengracht 445, P.O. Box 664 1000 AR Amsterdam, The Netherlands Teleph. 31-20-27 22 85 ·Fax 31-20-25 89 70 * Out of Print & Antiquarian Catalogues and Flyers of New and Forthcoming European Publications Free on request European (West & East) Out of Print Searching Service 82 College & Research Libraries with Writer's Market and Literary Market- place, we now have Fiction Writers Guide- lines. As the title suggests, this resource is a collection of guidelines reprinted directly from the editors of a representative collec- tion of large, small, and genre magazines, both commercial and literary, that use fic- tion of any kind. The range includes guidelines for Hustler, Isaac Asimov's Sci- ence Fiction Magazine, Humpty Dumpty's Magazine, for children, The James White Re- view, a gay men's literary quarterly, and Jive, for a black audience, as well as the usual variety of little and literary rags, children's, women's, and animal- oriented magazines. The editor, Judy Mandell, made a fair and judicious choice among the many ti- tles available. Her inclusion of such men's magazines as Hustler along with the radi- cal feminist litrags Sinister Wisdom and Ca- lyx, and Evangel along with The Young Ju- dean and Danish Brotherhood of America, shows an adroit diplomatic skill in creat- ing a balance among a variety of tastes and ethnicities among writers, as well as read- ers. Her choices show a sensitivity to and an awareness of American culture in the 1980s. That the collection includes several titles for blacks, gays and lesbians, and femi- nists indicates that these groups are finally being taken seriously, economically and creatively. All the guidelines want stories that show their group in a positive light. January 1990 When any group has a magazine dedi- cated to their advancement, it shows that such a group has made strides into the so- ciety, economically because they can sup- port a magazine, creatively because they have found the necessary space in which to write and publish fiction that knocks down stereotypes and gives outsiders an entree in a world they might right really inhabit. The variety and diversity of magazines available in this country is clearly indi- cated here. However, the common thread running through all these guidelines is the need for good writing that represents each specific audience. Writers seem not to look at the magazines they submit to first, nor do they seem to read enough good contemporary writing to know what that constitutes. Although Fiction Writer's Guidelines in- cludes only 200 sets from the vast number of titles available, and is therefore not as complete as comparable titles, it is repre- . sentative of the magazines currently being published in this country, and gives any- one connected with the field an insight into what the editors want. The guidelines contained in this selec- tion will give those who would learn how various groups and people with ideologi- cal orientations go about inventing and defining themselves, an unusual per- spective.-Jori Ranhand, New York, New York.