College and Research Libraries


of copyright l a w . In his preface Shaw ac-
curately states that copyright is obtained 
merely by publishing with the proper notice, 
but then he waits until the sixth and ninth 
chapters to offer the caveat that certain other 
requirements are also necessary. 

M e m b e r s of the publishing trade w i l l un-
doubtedly object with angelic indignation to 
Shaw's contention that in having the copy-
right in their name, believing that they "may 
gain more or get better protection," they do 
so " a t the expense of the author." T h i s 
stand, along with substantiated examples of 
confusion in the law, forms the basis for 
Shaw's proposal to redraft the copyright 
statute and make copyright the exclusive 
domain of authors. T h e reviewers concede 
that this position may be sound in theory, 
but from a practical standpoint they query 
whether any substantial change would be 
effected in the light of standardized contracts 
and practices in the trade. 

Unquestionably the most valuable portion 
of the book as f a r as librarians are concerned 
is Chapter X V I I I which deals with literary 
property and scholarly institutions. T h e con-
stantly haunting legal problems of facsimile 
reproduction, such as by photostat and micro-
film, recompiling and the replacement of 
pages is expertly dealt with in a lucid man-
ner. T h i s chapter in effect reveals one more 
facet of the classic problem facing libraries 
with regard to the acceptance o(r rejection 
of manuscripts, theses and other materials, 
namely, exactly w h a t is it that the donor 
has a right to give in the first place? A f t e r 
perusing the chapter with this aspect in mind, 
librarians are well advised to re-examine 
their collections. Some startling discoveries 
and reactions are assured. 

Each of the pithy chapters ends with a 
summary of its contents, which is useful both 
as a preliminary survey of each chapter and 
a final thought provoking reappraisal. T h e 
text is well documented although the refer-
ences are inconveniently placed at the end 
of the book in a separate section and the 
term " C . O . B . " is constantly used without any 
indication that it is an abbreviation for Copy-
right Office Bulletin. Bibliophiles and per-
fectionists may object to the price of six dol-
lars placed on the volume by author-publisher 
Shaw, pointing out the uneven inking, slick 
paper and deficiencies in the binding process. 
Notwithstanding this, the treatise is highly 

recommended for librarians and others w h o 
believe that it is their obligation to have more 
than a smattering of the concepts of literary 
property and copyright l a w . — H a r r y Bitner 
and Mortimer Schwartz, Columbia Univer-
sity Law Library. 

Educational Measurement 
Educational Measurement. Ed. by E. F . 

Lindquist and published by the American 
Council on Education. Washington, D . C . 
1951, 819P. $6.00. 

T h i s is a comprehensive handbook and text-
book on the theory and technique of educa-
tional measurement on the advanced grad-
uate level. T h e volume w a s planned by the 
Committee on Measurement and Guidance of 
the American Council on Education in 1945 
to overcome the lack of reference and in-
structional materials in those universities 
offering graduate training in educational 
measurement. 

Seventy experts in the measurement field, 
under the general editorship of E. F . Lind-
quist, participated in the writing of this 
volume. T h e proceeds from the sale are to 
go into a permanent Measurement Book 
P r o j e c t Fund which will be used for future 
revisions of the w o r k . • 

T h e book contains 18 chapters divided into 
three parts: T h e Functions of Measurement 
in Education; T h e Construction of Achieve-
ment T e s t s ; and Measurement T h e o r y . 
Ample charts, graphs, illustrations and se-
lected references are furnished throughout. 
F o r those teacher-training institutions not 
offering graduate courses in measurement, 
this w o r k may w e l l find a place in the refer-
ence collection to supplement w o r k s such as 
the Encyclopedia of Educational Research.— 
Irving A. Verschoor, Columbia University. 

The H. W . Wilson Company 
The H. W. Wilson Company; Half a Cen-

tury of Bibliographic Publishing. By John 
L a w l e r . Minneapolis, University of M i n -
nesota Press, 1950, $3.00. 
L a w l e r ' s The H. W. Wilson Company is 

presumably an example of the growing tend-
ency of historical scholarship to be concerned 
with the critical analysis of the emergence 
and development of American commercial 
and industrial enterprise. B u t in the pages 

JULY, 1951 299