College and Research Libraries


Book Reviews / 317 

ticularly of those from a military environ-
ment (SAGE, NORAD, Strategic Air Com-
mand, etc.), generally called "command and 
control" systems. Such an emphasis is a 
natural one, since it has represented the 
major concern of the authors in their pro-
fessional work at System Development 
Corporation, but it means that readers with 
different kinds of information systems in 
mind must be prepared to translate and 
interpret what is said in the light of their 
own concerns. 

For example, Chapter 1 presents the basic 
definitions of "information," "system analy-
sis," and the "development process." The 
concept of an "information system" is de-
fined as "the formal or rationally planned 
means whereby managers receive and 
transmit information." The author goes on 
to say, "It may include automatic data 
processing as one aspect of the informa-
tion-handling apparatus assisting manage-
ment, but it may also include oral briefings." 
The emphasis is clear, proper, and very 
descriptive of the book. But the reader 
whose concern is, say, "scientific and tech-
nical information systems" will need to 
translate "managers" into "researchers" and 
"oral briefings" into "journals, printed re-
ports, and Colleagues." 

Chapter 2, in discussing some of the 
problems in over-all management of the 
development process, draws an illuminat-
ing contrast between "hardware systems" 
and "information systems" in order to em-
phasize the extent to which agencies pro-
curing the latter may be using irrelevant 
criteria for decision concerning their utility. 
The reader will want to consider just as 
carefully the extent of differences between 
his information system and that represented 
by military command and control. 

Chapter 3, which discusses "The Sys-
tem Requirements Phase," raises some is-
sues of special importance. It contrasts sev-
eral approaches to the transition from 
present operations—including "totally inte-
grated system design" and "planned evo-
lution." The latter seems to have particular 
relevance to those, such as libraries, whose 
"information system" is not simply a man-
agement tool but their very reason for ex-
istence. 

Chapter 4 discusses the steps in the 

"design process," again with emphasis on 
the military command and control system. 
As a result, "retrieval" is given scant atten-
tion and yet, in a library, it is likely to be 
the most significant technical problem. 

Chapter 5 discusses the design and pro-
duction of computer programs. The ex-
perience on which it is based is particularly 
illuminating and well presented. The esti-
mates of time and manpower should be 
read with care, since the programming of 
any kind of computer-based information 
system is a complex, expensive task. 

Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 10 present the 
issues in development of the operating or-
ganization, in design of procedures, in 
training of personnel, and in system evalua-
tion. These are particularly subject to 
change from one type of system to another 
since they affect the organization itself 
and not simply the computer. The reader 
will need to examine them closely. On the 
other hand, Chapter 9 discusses "installa-
tion" and raises issues of universal concern. 

In summary, this book is a well con-
ceived, well written, and highly readable 
presentation of the issues in the develop-
ment of "military command and control sys-
tems." As examples of information systems, 
they have many features in common with 
libraries and technical information centers, 
but there are also some significant differ-
ences, and the reader will need to keep his 
own situation continually in mind.—Robert 
M. Hayes—UCLA. 

Bibliography, Current State and Future 
Trends. By Robert B. Downs and Frances 
B. Jenkins, eds. Urbana: Illinois Uni-
versity Press, 1967. 61 lp. $8.95. (67-
21851). 

The volume under review is a reissue 
of the January and April 1967 issues 
of Library Trends. The two well known 
and highly respected editors were obviously 
of the opinion, and probably rightly so, that 
a republication in book form would be a 
welcome addition to our professional litera-
ture. I doubt that reference librarians will 
prefer this book to their well established 
tools such as Winchell, Walford, and Totok. 
I am certain that the subject specialist 
will hardly profit by it, but teachers and 



318 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 

students of bibliography will find it a use-
ful textbook and a good general introduc-
tion. 

The editors' statement that Van Hoesen 
and Walter's Bibliography (New York: 
1928) was the last previous attempt to pro-
vide a comprehensive review of all the 
approaches to bibliography has to be tak-
en with a grain of salt. A number of ex-
cellent handbooks have been published 
within the last year such as Collison and 
Enciclopedia de orientacion bibliografica 
(edited by Tomas Zamarriego), and the 
two giants in the field of bibliography of 
bibliographies, Besterman and Malcles, will 
not be easily surpassed in the near future. 
The new Downs-Jenkins Bibliography is, 
however, organized differently from the 
two titles just cited and can legitimately 
claim a distinguished place on our shelves. 

The book consists of thirty-seven inde-
pendent articles which are grouped into 
four sections. (1) G E N E R A L , two papers. 
(Section 3 will seem to some the more log-
ical place for the "Paperback book."); (2) 
N A T I O N A L , two papers. The essay by James 
B. Childs on "Government Publications," 
a truly masterly synthesis, going somewhat 
beyond the title of the section; (3) T Y P E S 
O F M A T E R I A L , four papers; (4) S U R J E C T 
HIRLIOGRAPHY, twenty-nine papers. 

It is regrettable that no author could be 
found to discuss bibliographical control of 
microreproduction, dissertations, and pub-
lications of learned societies, illustrated 
books, European history, etc. Most humani-
ora are pressed together in an omnium gath-
erum called "Continental European Litera-
ture." The essay covers Europe from My-
cenae to the Year's Work in Russian Stud-
ies, taking in en passant the Middle Ages, 
Renaissance, and present-day European lit-
erature in most languages. In spite of the 
skill and the well known knowledge of the 
author, the reader is slightly bewildered 
and confused. 

All authors represented in the volume, 
without exception, are competent special-
ists in their fields, and their contributions 
make worthwhile reading. However, obvi-
ously only a small sample of them can be 
mentioned. Vincent Duckies, author of the 
standard bibliography Music Reference and 
Research Materials (2d ed. New York: Free 

Press, 1967), performs his task with ease 
and skill. William H. Huff gives to the 
reader far more than one could surmise 
from the short title "Periodicals"; his sum-
mary of computer and information retriev-
al is extremely useful. Frederick R. Goff, 
for a score of years chief of the rare book 
division of the Library of Congress and 
editor of the third edition of Incunabula 
in American Libraries (1964), has the bib-
liography of his field at his fingertips. Net-
tie Lee Benson is an internationally known 
authority on Latin American studies, and 
her all-too-short essay is a good introduc-
tion into the complexities of her field. 
Ernst Wolff is able to give an almost com-
plete survey of Far Eastern bibliography, 
whereas Cecil Hobbs chooses to write a 
fascinating general introduction to the his-
tory and culture of Southern Asia (India 
and Southeast Asia). The use the two 
authors make of footnotes is indicative of 
their goals; Wolff has seventy bibliograph-
ical footnotes, Hobbs has none. Joseph C. 
Shipman has performed his most difficult 
task "General Science" with admirable skill. 

A few tiny corrections can be submitted. 
The British National Bibliography had 
stopped listing Irish imprints by 1961 but 
resumes their inclusion in 1968. There are 
a few rather incomplete attempts at pre-
paring national union catalogs of medieval 
manuscripts, for instance the card catalog 
of manuscripts in German up to 1520 at 
the German Academy of Sciences in Ber-
lin. The Soho bibliographies published by 
Rupert Hart-Davis would have been a good 
example to show what excellent work is 
being done today in covering modern Eng-
lish authors bibliographically. Almost all 
authors neglect to mention that the most 
frequently used subject approach to schol-
arly literature is being provided by each 
library's own card catalog. The usefulness 
of this tool, which we all too often take 
for granted, was again brought out in a 
recent conference (Dagmar H. Perman, 
ed. Bibliography and the Historian, the 
Conference at Belmont. Santa Barbara: 
Clio, 1968). Historians expressed general 
dissatisfaction with all available bibliogra-
phies. "Only the Library Catalog escaped 
serious criticism," (page 12). 

Most contributors, some in almost iden-



Book Reviews / 319 

tical terminology, express their grave con-
cern about the quantity of modern publi-
cations and look forward to a computerized 
panacea which will solve all difficulties. 
The real scholarly problem, however, is 
not the issue of bibliographical recording 
but the question of one's ability to read 
all these books. 

A work like the one under review which 
consists of thirty-seven independent papers 
shows a great variety of style, approach, 
working habits, and presentation. Because 
of this variety of treatment the need for 
coalescing the content in an all embracing 
and comprehensive index appears impera-
tive. The last forty pages of this book, 
however, which are devoted to this task 
do not meet these requirements. It is most 
regrettable that the publisher placed the 
two editors under such a time pressure 
that they could not compile adequate ac-
cess to the vast and important material 
contained in their book. We all know that 
the exhaustive index is the most important 
approach to the intellectual content of a 
book and that neither time nor money 
should be spared in giving fullest accessi-
bility. 

It would be unfair to close this review on 
such a critical note. The editors and con-
tributors have provided a notable publi-
cation; for many years to come all librarians 
will depend heavily upon the Downs-Jen-
kins Bibliography.—Felix Reichmann, Cor-
nell University. 

70 Years of Best Sellers, 1895-1965. By 
Alice Payne Hackett. New York: R. R. 
Bowker Company, 1967. xi, 280p. $7.90. 
(67-25025). 
Prompt recognition was accorded to 

Alice Hackett's records and comments on 
best sellers when her first compilation, 
Fifty Years of Best Sellers, appeared in 
1946. A third edition now brings records of 
seventy years up to date, covering the years 
1895-1965. This is a welcome continuation 
of the two preceding editions, the second 
one having been published in 1956. 

Miss Hackett attempts to present infor-
mation about American best sellers; she 
comments on and interprets, to some ex-
tent, statistics and trends but does not 
evaluate the titles from a literary point of 

view. The book is divided into sections 
which deal with best sellers in hard bound 
and paperback form; best-seller subjects; 
best sellers by years; early best sellers; and 
books and articles about best sellers. 

The reason for beginning the story about 
best sellers in the year 1895 is that it was 
in that year that the first best-seller lists 
were printed in the United States. Harry 
Thurston Peck, editor of the literary maga-
zine, The Bookman, began to run each 
month the lists of best-selling books in a 
large number of cities. From the Bookman 
lists, annual best-seller lists were compiled, 
and in 1912 the Publishers' Weekly began 
a best-seller listing. 

This year in which the first American 
best-seller lists were published was in the 
era of bicycles and the Gibson girl. Rural 
free delivery was begun in that year and 
this event was to have a notable effect upon 
merchandising of every kind, including the 
selling of books. 

Best sellers are of interest to publishers 
for obvious reasons. When books have large 
sales, people who do not ordinarily buy 
books become aware of them and even pur-
chase them. Sales stimulate sales. After book 
sales there are sales of subsidiary rights, 
especially movie and television rights. Other 
subsidiary returns to authors and publishers 
are condensation, magazine serialization, 
play production, book-club distribution, 
paperback reprint, and publication in for-
eign countries. 

The over-all list of best sellers in this 
seventy-year compilation comprises titles 
which have sold one million copies or more. 
Highly publicized fiction, topical nonfiction, 
and children's books have usually had large 
sales. Best sellers of all times have included 
the Bible and books on religious themes, 
cookbooks, crime and suspense stories, nov-
elty and game books, poetry and drama 
(the smallest group), reference books, and 
westerns. 

The lists in this book are interesting and 
could well be the subject of many research 
studies. They provide insight into the think-
ing and emotions of a people and have more 
significance than a casual glance indicates. 
Social, political, economic, and philosophi-
cal undertones are implied and intermingled 
herein. Students of literary history could