290 College & Research Libraries May 2010 new codes of ethics and more interested in encouraging archivists to continually reflect, examine, and question. In his concluding pages, Jimerson considers further the ethical implications of being socially responsible archivists and examines the weaknesses of current codes of ethics, which he believes do not provide much guidance to practitioners. Jimerson thinks most codes fail because they attempt to articulate universal principles of action that are difficult to apply to specific situations. Instead, he recommends archivists should describe and highlight the desirable outcomes they wish to achieve on behalf of societal interests. While such an approach may be just as complicated to apply when re- solving moral dilemmas, it has the virtue of helping make the resulting decisions more understandable to the layman. There are extensive notes, but a sepa- rate bibliography of the works cited would have been a useful and efficient adjunct for the reader. Jimerson writes well, especially in light of his heavy reliance on quoting other authors. But he eschews jargon and writes clearly and enthusiastically. He has produced a clear and articulate position regarding important ethical challenges to the archival profession and has solidly defended his admirable theses.—W. Bede Mitchell, Georgia Southern University. William H. Brandt. Interpretive Wood-En- graving: The Story of the Society of Ameri- can Wood-Engravers. New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, 2009. 204p. alk. paper, $85 hardback (ISBN 9781584562672). LC2009-031744. William H. Brandt, an emeritus botany professor at Oregon State University, has been a collector of wood engravings for thirty years. Enthusiasts who write about a subject often lack the critical engage- ment of professional scholars, and their views on its relative importance tend to be myopic. Brandt largely escapes this pitfall, fortunately; and, although his enthusiasm is clear, his assertions and claims do not suffer for it. Interpretive Wood Engraving focuses on the known members of the Society of American Wood-Engravers (SAWE), even though the records of the Society have not survived, and places them within the larg- er context of the golden age of wood en- graving in publishing (1850–1900). Brandt has identified the names of twenty-nine members who belonged to the Society at its height (ca. 1890–95), and in section nine gives biographical sketches of each member along with an example of his or her work (plates 21–49). The total number of wood engravers in America peaked at over 500 in 1890; by 1905, wood engraving had lost its place as the premier form of illustration in publishing to the halftone process, which allowed photographs to be satisfactorily printed on paper along with type. The first four sections detail the history of wood-engraving, the split between the Old and New Schools of engravers, the formation of the Society, and the competition between Scribner’s (later The Century) and Harper’s, and how it drove the engravers to innovation. Sections five through eight focus on specifics—the role of the Grolier Club in SAWE’s history, the portfolio the Society produced, a select bibliography of American wood- engraving, and an annotated list of ex- hibitions in which the Society members’ engravings have appeared (1881–2001). Brandt includes a section on collecting wood-engravings, offers a defense of the practice as an art and not merely a craft, and outlines four classes of material to collect (proofs on Japan or Indian paper, proofs on plain paper, and magazine and Index to advertisers Amer. Philosophical Society 199 Amer. Scientific Publishers cover 4 Annual Reviews 196 Cambridge University Press 195 CHOICE Reviews 294 ISTE cover 2 Lexis-Nexis cover 3 Philosophy Documentation Ctr. 202 Wilfrid Laurier University Press 201 Book Reviews 291 newspaper pages). The bibliography is awkward in its form—alphabetical by the abbreviated source citations in the text— and is confusing to read as a stand-alone section, but the index is excellent. Brandt’s descriptions of engraving and printing processes (especially elec- trotyping) are good, but could have been fuller—there was certainly space to do so. He is more successful at conveying the scope of this powerful, and almost com- pletely forgotten, movement in the history of American printmaking. Artists and printmakers who are currently working or experimenting with wood engravings will find a great deal of pertinent informa- tion and inspiration here. It is a lavish, unwieldy book, with more than eighty illustrations (fifty of which are plates), and measuring just over one square foot (13 x 12 inches). The format does justice to the images, but the text sometimes falls behind, and often one feels that so much white space is rather extravagant. Only 600 numbered copies were printed (the first fifty were signed by the author). Obviously intended as a beautiful homage, this book has a place in any large collection of book history, the book arts, or illustration.— Richard J. Ring, Providence Public Library. Ana D. Cleveland and Donald B. Cleve- land. Health Informatics for Medical Librar- ians. New York: Neal-Schuman Publish- ers, 2009. 288p. alk. paper, $90; Medical Library Association Members: $81 (ISBN 9781555706272). LC2009-017656. According to the American Medical In- formatics Association, biomedical and health informatics has to do with “all aspects of understanding and promot- ing the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care. While the field of biomedical and health informatics shares the general scope of these interests with some other health care specialties and disciplines, biomedical and health informatics has developed its own areas of emphasis and approaches that have set it apart from other disciplines and specialties.” Health informatics is a field of practice that is concerned with the resources, methods, and technology used in the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information within all health science dis- ciplines. It is the application of informa- tion to specific situations and requires an understanding of the user’s information needs, designing information models, deploying various systems, and assess- ing impacts to meet the growing need for on-demand health information. Those entering medical librarianship require a theoretical framework and an under- standing of the practical applications of health informatics. Ana D. Cleveland and Donald B. Cleveland provide such an in- troductory overview in Health Informatics for Medical Librarians. Ana D. Cleveland is the Regents Profes- sor and Director of the Health Informatics Program at the Department of Library and Information Sciences at the University of North Texas. This is one of the top health informatics programs in the country and has research partnerships with The Texas Center for Digital Knowledge and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Donald B. Cleveland is Professor Emeritus at the University of North Texas. His research has focused on the application of information technolo- gies and medical indexing and retrieval. Co-published by the Medical Library Association, this first edition is ideal for use as an introductory text in health informatics programs and is also appro- priate for undergraduate or graduate- level courses in biomedical information management. The seasoned librarian and health care practitioner would find the book helpful since it pulls together vari- ous activities that they may be engaged in and applies them to the theory of medical informatics. Divided into two parts, the book covers various health informatics and its role in modern health care as well as the principal aspects, procedures, and practices in the field. Each chapter