College and Research Libraries


T h e first four criteria express the pro-

gressive ideas now being carried out at 

some of our best colleges. T h e distinc-

tive elements in D r . C o l e ' s program are 

contained in his last t w o criteria:  " A 

religious philosophy of l i f e " and a thor-

ough understanding of the "language 

medium of the educated person." T h e 

former, by providing the student w i t h an 

aim in life gives meaning, direction to his 

work, develops f r u i t f u l civic consciousness. 

T h e latter is a tool to aid the student in 

all his w o r k , to help him appreciate the 

fundamental value of communication in 

modern life. 

T h e semantic approach is valuable, es-

pecially today, w h e n language is such a 

potent force. T h e r e is doubt, however, 

about the acceptance of Cole's highly ideal-

istic religious approach, admirable though 

it be. T h a t religion is waning, is a re-

cessive force in our culture, the author 

w o u l d probably admit. Religion is the 

embodiment of a fundamental philosophy 

of l i f e ; something  w e lack in our day. 

T h i s lack cannot be supplied w i t h good 

intentions a l o n e . — M o r r i s A. G elfand, 

Queens College Library, Flushing, N.Y. 

JVhat Reading Does to People. A Sum-

mary of Evidence on the Social Effects 

of Reading and a Statement of Prob-

lems for Research. D o u g l a s W a p l e s , 

Bernard Berelson, F r a n k l y n  R . Brad-

shaw. University of Chicago Press, 

1940. xi, 222p. $2. 

D R . WAPLES believes that our theories 
of reading influence have been oversimpli-

fied and that  w e need more objective in-

formation about the nature of the reading 

process and about the social effects of 

reading because in times of crisis the vio-

lence w i t h which changes w i l l occur "de-

pends in large part upon how the several 

agencies of mass communication are used 

to c l a r i f y and to interrelate the interests 

of contending factors." 

T h i s book attempts to present a "syn-

thetic review of the literature," and to 

outline the field of research in the social 

psychology of reading. 

T h e authors first cover the nature and 

importance of print as a means of com-

•munication in relation to other means 

of communication, and the state of our 

present knowledge about the social effects 

of reading. T h e y then attempt to isolate 

the factors which explain the existence of 

some publications and the nonexistence of 

others: i.e., the influence of the character 

of society, of the interests of the persons 

w h o w r i t e and w h o publish, of govern-

ment, the church, the school, and of 

special-interest groups. N e x t they at-

tempt to show that the channels of dis-

tribution canalize both readers and publi-

cations and that the reader is seldom a 

free agent w i t h unrestricted choice: this 

section goes on to discuss the roles of 

libraries and of other agencies in the dis-

tribution of publications of various types 

to readers of various types. F u r t h e r , an 

attempt is made to set up criteria for the 

analysis of the content of publications in 

terms of the hypothesized social effects of 

various types on readers of various types. 

T h i s is followed by a discussion of the 

role played by the readers' predispositions 

in determining w h a t they read, how they 

read it, and how they interpret it, as w e l l 

as motives in reading and other individual 

factors that may be involved in the rela-

tion between individuals and books. 

T h e remainder of the book traces the 

changing patterns of reading through time, 

reviews the evidence on effects of reading 

that is available from case studies, gives 

a topical outline of reading as a field of 

MARC hi, 1941 159 



research, discusses content analysis and the 

available literature in this field, and de-

scribes several research projects as next 

steps. 

T h e volume as a w h o l e is stimulating 

and thought-provoking. It is not easy 

reading, and, as the authors point out, 

familiarity w i t h the studies referred to 

is desirable. In v i e w of the tremendous 

amount of w o r k involved in surveying and 

s i f t i n g the literature it is regrettable that 

more definite conclusions could not be 

o f f e r e d ; but this clear indication of our 

ignorance of the influence of reading upon 

people should make us give serious thought 

to the possible methods for learning more 

about this fundamental aspect of our w o r k . 

Hypothesizing of the five effects of 

reading, which is one of the fundamental 

contributions of this study, may or may 

not offer a more objective or more prom-

ising approach to the problem than does 

M i s s P l u m m e r ' s " S e v e n joys of reading," 

or the cliche of librarianship to the effect 

that  w e supply books for "information, 

inspiration, and recreation." F u r t h e r -

more, it should be noted that this volume 

is limited to the direct effects of reading, 

even though the indirect effects of reading 

may in fact be much more important. 

T h e r e is some indication of generalizations 

on the basis of n a r r o w studies that do not 

claim general applicability; and the value 

and validity of some of the studies cited 

to prove points made in the text are open 

to question.  W e might note, also, that 

there do appear to be some inconsistencies: 

in the first chapter, for example, the au-

thors minimize the existent evidence on 

the values of reading by the use of a 

standard propaganda technique (imputing 

ulterior motives) as f o l l o w s : " C e r t a i n 

values have been imputed to reading by 

the scholars and writers w h o have made 

their fortunes and their reputations by 

w r i t i n g . . . . It is not remarkable that 

those for w h o m reading is thus a vested 

interest should declare that reading is a 

good thing. . . ." H o w e v e r , in the last 

chapter of the book, the authors quote 

testimony from the w r i t i n g s of F l o y d D e l l , 

E m i l L u d w i g , Jacques M a r i t a i n , M a r -

garet Sanger, A r t h u r  E . H e r t z l e r , Jack 

L o n d o n , L i n c o l n Steffens, and others to 

" p r o v e " from these so-called case studies 

that the five effects of reading set up in 

this volume do exist. 

In spite of these and other possible 

shortcomings, the authors have done a 

very good job of w h a t they set out to do, 

and this book merits careful study by 

librarians and by all others w h o are inter-

ested in reading and in readers from any 

point of v i e w . — R a l p h R. Shaw, United 

States Department of Agriculture Library, 

Washington, D.C. 

Dictionary of Occupational Titles. U . S . 

Employment Service, Division of Stand-

ards and Research, W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . , 

1939- 3 vols. 

T H E TITLE of this valuable w o r k is too 
modest. It scarcely suggests the w e a l t h 

of information for the librarian or any 

reader interested in modern industry, 

w h i c h is packed into the 1900 pages of its 

three volumes. Intended primarily for 

the use of workers in the federal Employ-

ment Service, the Dictionary summarizes 

the results of a great number of job analy-

ses and industrial field studies, w h i c h 

should find a far w i d e r field of usefulness 

than in public placement offices. 

P a r t I, " D e f i n i t i o n s of T i t l e s , " contains 

the main substance of the w o r k , and is 

complete in itself for library and general 

use. Parts  I I and I I I are more specifically 

for Employment Service offices. P a r t  I I 

160 ' COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES