College and Research Libraries sors of the research and respondents to questionnaires) throughout the course of the research. Hafner, Hernon, and Slater, therefore, together offer a useful introduction to library research-what it is, how to col- lect data for research, how to do quanti- tative and qualitative analysis of data, and how to turn research into deci- sions.-Kendon Stubbs, University of Vir- ginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. Forester, Tom, and Perry Morrison. Computer Ethics: Cautionary Tales and Ethical Dilemmas in Computing. Cam- bridge, MA: The MIT Pr., 1990. 193p. $19.95 (ISBN 0-262-06131-7). LC 89- 71358. The computerization of society during the last twenty years has brought with it astounding gains in our ability to col- lect, store, manipulate, and manage in- formation. The power of the tools that computers place in our hands has led many-one need not search long for ex- amples-to make extravagant claims about the ability of computer technology to provide revolutionary solutions for a host of previously intractable problems, from office management to automated factories, from ATM machines to expert systems. It is against the grain of these claims that Forester and Morrison's vol- ume attempts to work by relating in de- tail a constellation of problems that they believe are inherent to computers: they are subject both to malfunctions in hard- ware and software and to misuse by human beings. What is the downside of information storage if not the invasion of privacy, and what is the downside of information management if not the com- pletely automated battleground of Star Wars? Computer Ethics has its origins in Forester's and Morrison's classroom work (both teach in Australia) on the human and social context of computing. It is their attempt to highlight some of the more important social and ethical issues that arise from computerization. The book is well suited for both the class- room and for the general reader, and Book Reviews 209 1.1 National Library Bibliotheque nationale of Canada du Canada Canadiana Products from the National Library of Canada The National Library is responsible for promot- ing, gathering and preserving the published her- itage of Canada. The Library has a vast collection of Canadiana dating from Canada's earliest days to the present. In order to provide access to Canada's published heritage the Li- brary has developed various products which are invaluable to those with an interest in Canadian Studies or research. The Library produces Canadiana, a compre- hensive bibliography which documents the na- tion's published heritage. Canadiana is a valuable aid for Canadian Studies and is avail- able in printed and microfiche formats and on magnetic tape. Canadiana authorities lists verified name head- ings of Canadian origin and can help in compil- ing bibliographies and answering research and reference questions. Canadian Theses is a microfiche bibliography of masters' and doctoral theses accepted by Canadian universities~ as well as selected foreign theses of Canadian authorship or inter- est. DOBIS is a Canadian online library system that provides access to the collections of many Ca- nadian libraries via its continuously updated Canadian Union Catalogue of more than 5 000 000 bibliographic records. For more information or a descriptive brochure of Canadiana products please contact: Canadiana Editorial Division National Library of Canada 395 Wellington Street Ottawa, Canada K1AON4 Canada 210 College & Research Libraries should find its place in the burgeoning number of college courses in technology and society. Although of interest to the general reader, the book is designed so that it can be used as a teaching text. It is divided into eight chapters and touches on such subjects as computer crimes, software theft, viruses, hacking, invasion of privacy, and artificial intelli- gence. Each of the eight main chapters contains a section entitled "Suggestions for Further Discussion." These sections are based on material covered in the chapter and set up scenarios for the classroom or provide the basis for fur- ther reflection. The subtitle describes precisely the au- thorial strategy: to bring together in one place a list of facts, anecdotes, study re- sults, and surveys that pertain to a gen- eral theme, such as computer crimes, and to let these then define the landscape for discussion. There is no attempt here to grapple with ethical issues in a struc- tured, logical fashion. The object is rather to show both the range of social issues within a problem set and inherent difficulties in structuring clear, unam- biguous positions. The value of this ap- proach is that it places the computer back into a social structure and makes potent arguments from the sheer mass of assembled evidence. The danger of such a strategy is that it can lack coherence or that the examples chosen may be care- fully filtered to reflect the political agen- das of the authors. Within this general framework, the authors also do an excellent job of pre- senting the problem set and technical language of computers to a nontechnical audience. For example, the chapter "Hacking and Viruses" provides an ex- cellent differentiation among viruses, Trojan horses, logic bombs, and other arcane examples of programming with a malicious intent. The general discussion of software engineering techniques in- cluded in the section on unreliable com- puters should make it possible for the general reader to get a glimpse of some of the problems and difficulties of pro- ducing reliable software and hardware (although Tracy Kidder's Soul of the New March 1991 Machine remains the definitive, if some- what romanticized, statement on this subject). Similarly, the brief but cogent discussion of the major positions in the current debates on intellectual property, copyright, and patents in the chapter on software theft is noteworthy. If an agenda is at work here, then it is decidedly democratic, antitechnocratic (not antitechnical), antimilitaristic, and highly skeptical of highfalutin claims, particularly when these are offered as social solutions or make extravagant de- .mands on the public purse. The more egregious claims and some of the episte- mological underpinnings of the artificial intelligence (AI) crowd come under par- ticularly sharp attack, as does former President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), to which the authors devote a separate appendix. While one can certainly disagree with individual points of the authors' political agenda, these are fundamentally social and polit- ical issues for which computers provide tools for answers, but computers are not the answers in themselves. This work is largely successful in heightening that awareness and should prove of value to those interested in pursuing the social aspects of computing in greater depth.- James Coleman, Research Libraries Group, Inc. Mountain View, California. Harris, William V. Ancient Literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Pr., 1989. 383p. alk. paper, $35 (ISBN 0- 674-03380-9). LC 89-7588. From lead curse-tablets in archaic Greece to graffiti on the walls of imperial Pompeii, from monumental inscriptions to bills of sale, medical treatises, and epic poems, the Greeks and Romans left abundant evidence that writing, once in- troduced, was quickly adapted to a range of purposes. Assumptions about the level of literacy in this part of the ancient world-the title does not dis- close that its subject is restricted to Greco-Roman antiquity-have varied, but have often been optimistic. In this well-documented and thorough study, William V. Harris surveys the evidence for the nature and extent of literacy in the