College and Research Libraries


280 College & Research Libraries 

one thing, eight of the contributions 
(one-third of the book's length) concern 
the history of the preservation move-
ment. Will there be enough significant 
"advances" to fill a volume annually? 
The series will fulfill its potential for use-
fulness only if the editors can get con-
tributions from articulate experts and if 
they can maintain the fine balance be-
tween useful practical information and 
theoretical considerations.-Susanne F. 
Roberts, Yale University, New Haven, Con-
necticut. 

Electronic Documents. Oxford: Learned 
Information (U.S. distribution: Med-
ford, N.J.: Learned · Information), 
1992- . $179 per year for 12 issues of 
the journal and an accompanying 
newsletter. (ISSN 0965-2035). 
Each issue of Electronic Documents re-

ports at length on a single subject, and 
contains briefer articles on other topics. 
Issues are written by the editor, Peter 
Hyams, and one or two other authors. 
They consult the secondary literature (and 
provide brief bibliographies), but most of 
the information comes from the vendors' 
literature and from interviews with both 
vendors and users. In one issue the edi-
tor describes his procedure: "[W]e offer 
no pretence to test, let alone to recom-
mend products. Instead, we . . . learn 
where [product vendors] 'come from' 
and whom they aim to please, [and] 
hear I see what they offer, especially the 
key features." A review is expected to 
make a recommendation, but otherwise 
this does not seem a bad procedure to 
follow. 

Despite their similar structure, there 
was considerable variation among the 
three issues I examined. Perhaps the 
most interesting was entitled "Hypertext 
in Action," an excellent introduction to 
hypertext for the layperson, well written 
and illustrated. It conveyed the excitement 
many people feel about this topic, but also 
addressed the amount of thought and ef-
fort required to produce a product that 
offers any real advantages over a well-
designed "regular" text. The general 
presentation was accompanied by refer-
ences to specific hypertext authoring 

r. 

May1993 

systems and accounts of hypertext in 
use. Criteria for choosing hypertext soft-
ware were followed by descriptions of 
some currently available products. 

A second issue, "Producing CD-
ROMs," placed much more emphasis on 
technical issues, as might be expected, 
but was also devoted to text preparation 
and the issues of emerging standards for 
tagging text (SGML). The third issue, ''Rec-
ognizing Characters," contained less ex-
planatory material than the others. The 
outlines of the topic had been covered ear-
lier in the year in an issue on ''Reading 
Typefaces (OCR)," and this issue, after de-
scribing some additional user experience, 
concentrated on descriptions of specific 
higher volume, more complex, and 
higher priced systems. 

Reader surveys have already caused 
some changes in format and are also 
used to determine topics to be covered. 
Recent and coming issues discuss such 
themes as image capture and handling, 
workflow, on-demand documents, mul-
timedia, document storage and trans-
port, and publishing and the networks, 
a topic that has been neglected in most 
of the publishing trade journals. The 
newsletters accompanying each issue 
draw heavily on announcements from 
vendors, but significant events from 
government and research are also noted. 

The key feature of Electronic Docu-
ments is its solid introductions to the is-
sues involved in the production of 
electronic documents. The reader will 
not understand information theory or be 
able to take apart a CD server after read-
ing an issue, but will be able to evaluate 
production options. The reader will also 
know reasons not to put data into hyper-
text or on a CD-ROM, but will not know 
why a given software program should 
be avoided. 

· The primary audience for this journal 
seems to be managers who will be inter-
viewing vendors and making decisions 
about production systems. Librarians and 
end users of electronic documents can 
learn a great deal from this journal, not only 
about techniques but also about the 
economic decisions publishers are making, 
but the editors are not aiming at them. This 



is very clear in a conference description 
which mentions speakers who "range 
into very marginal areas like the effects 
of networking CD-ROMs in academia." 

The contributors come from Britain. 
American and some continental European 
products are frequently mentioned, but 
most of the vendors and users interviewed 
are British or the British representatives of 
non-British firms. The (admittedly selec-
tive) list of hypertext products in one issue 
omits such major United States compa-
nies as DynaText and Eastgate. Since 
most related publications come from 
North America, it is interesting to see a 
different perspective, but unfortunate 
that the coverage stresses Britain at the 
expense of its partners in the European 
Community. 

The price, which is not unreasonable 
for a publication researched and written 
in-house, will probably keep most librar-
ies from subscribing to Electronic Docu-
ments to help meet staff information 
needs in emerging technologies, but li-
braries should consider it seriously if 
they support programs in publishing, in-
formation science, or business programs 
with an interest in document hand-
ling.-James Campbell, University of 
Virgnia, Charlottesville. 

Giroux, Henry A. Border Crossings: Cul-
tural Workers and the Politics of Educa-
tion. New York: Routledge, 1992. 258p. 
$45.50 (ISBN 0-415-90466-8); paper, 
$15.95 (ISBN 0-415-90467-6). 
About a quarter of a century ago in the 

northeast of Brazil, Paulo Freire 
developed theories that have had a 
global ripple effect among educators 
concerned with the kind of society that 
results from the process of education. 
Freire's ideas and his friendship have 
had a significant influence on Henry 
Giroux, professor of education at Penn-
sylvania State University. Giroux has 
published many monographs, compila-
tions, and journal articles-all stressing 
the importance of education in the 
search for freedom and as an essential 
component in the survival of democracy. 

The 1980s saw the emergence of the 
term politically correct which, as Calvin 

Book Reviews 281 

While 
other publications 

gather dust, 
ours gather 
readers ... 

Publications that gather dust on a library 
shelf are the stuff that canceled subscriptions 
are made of. 

But then librarians tell us time and time 
again that the CQ Weekly Report is the one-
stop resource for all their questions about 
Congress and national affairs. 

The Weekly Report is an essential part of 
any reference collection or government 
documents department. It crystallizes the 
key issues bef9re Congress, gives patrons 
readable bill summaries and Supreme Court 
decisions, offers the texts of presidential 
speeches and news conferences, and out-
lines the results of key votes. 

Your library subscription also includes 
useful wall posters, special reports, and that 
sought -after reference- the CQ Almanac. 

By now you should be getting the picture. 
The CQ Weekly Report is more than a 
magazine. It's the publication of record. 
Your patrons' ticket to following Congress. 

Find out how you can subscribe and leave 
others in the dust. Call Gigi. Perkinson 
toll-free at l (800) 432-
2250 ~· 279. ~~ 
In Washington, ~~ 
D.c. call c·~q';.ii\~ 
887-6279. JVW#"'' \\~e 

~~9.\. 
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