Book Reviews 611 of its collection was, perhaps, the special contribution of the AAS to scholarship in the mid-20th century. But it was not until the last quarter of the 20th century that the society was able to develop and fund an ambitious fellows program that helped make it a truly national center for research and learning on American history. I hasten to note that, while the AAS has remade itself as a “national center,” it has not done so at the expense of its core identity. While it could have changed its name to “Center for …”, as so many other places have, it has chosen not to. We have too many “centers,” frankly. So, the AAS is still the American Antiquarian Society, going strong after 200 years. We should all rejoice.—Michael Ryan, Columbia University. Rajendra Kumbhar. Library Classification Trends in the 21st Century. Oxford, U.K.: Chandos Publishing, 2012. Dis- tributed in the U.S. by Neal-Schuman Publishers. 172p. alk. paper, $80 (ISBN 9781843346609). National Library: 015863081. The author of Library Classification Trends in the 21st Century, Dr. Rajendra Kumbhar, an Associate Professor at the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Pune (India), purports that his work endeavors to “trace the developmental trends in classification as reflected in the library and informa- tion science literature” of the early 21st century. He details a methodology that encompassed a literature review in the Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) that took place on April 3, 2010, and used the keyword “classification” with the applied date limitation of 1999 to 2009. His research is broken into ten chapters entitled: 1. Knowledge Organization and Knowledge Organization Systems 2. Classification and Its Uses 3. Construction of Classification Schemes 4. General Classification Schemes 5. Special Classification Schemes and Classification of Non-Biblio- graphic Entities 6. Automatic Book Classification, Reclassification and Non-Classifi- cactory Approaches to Knowledge Organization 7. Classification Education 8. Modern Knowledge Organization Systems and Interoperability 9. Text Categorization 10. Classification: Theories, Research, Trends and Personalities The resulting work is broad in its cov- erage of various classification systems, schemes, and areas of classification. Topics run the gamut from well-known classification systems such as the Dewey Decimal Classification to more obscure systems that consider for classification such areas as figures of speech, ethnic data, and icons. It covers issues and dis- ciplines that may not be readily apparent to the casual reader, as well as historical treatises of some subject areas. The work, however, fails to highlight or to clearly delineate current trends, development, and modern day influences that are impacting classification in the 21st century. A review of the references found that approximately a third of the sources listed were published in the years 1999–2002, which is an issue because the sources within these publication dates are likely be referencing trends taking place in the 20th century, not the 21st. In gen- eral, when citing sources with more recent publication dates, little of Kumbhar’s text indicates that the authors were writing of trends or developments that are specific to the 21st century. To illustrate the weight given to earlier publications, consider the coverage of Dewey Decimal Classification. A review of the sources cited in the section found that, of the 50+ sources listed, close to half fall into the 1999–2002 publication date range. In comparison, only six sources were published in the last three years of Kumbhar’s date range for his literature review. In this limited selection of re- cent sources, the reader is forced to dig for trends specific to the 21st, most of 612 College & Research Libraries November 2012 which remain ambiguous. For example, Kumbhar references a 2009 comparison of different editions of the Dewey Decimal Classification without indicating what it may have shown regarding any trends involving evolution with Dewey Decimal Classification in the 21st century. Indeed, it fails to indicate if there were any new editions of the Dewey Decimal system published in the 21st century at the time of his literature review, leaving it to the reader to research that information. The section on “Modern Knowledge Organization Systems and Interoper- ability” does include some classification trends that entered the information management literature in the 21st cen- tury, such as folksonomies and tagging patterns. In addition, the section “Clas- sification and Its Uses” touches upon classification issues relating to the Inter- net such as classification of Web pages. Detail on these developments is limited, so one may be better served with a simple Google search or a literature review on the latest trends in these areas. This book would serve as a good in- troductory textbook for a library science student or as a reference work on the types of classification currently in use. The ideal reader would be unfamiliar with classification trends in general and would appreciate that this text serves primarily as an overview on the subject of classification. A more apt title for the work would have been “Library Classification Systems, Schemes, and Issues in the 21st Century,” and the prospective reader may wish to view the book with that title in mind. A professional with some knowledge in the area on the lookout for cutting-edge trends would be better served looking elsewhere.—Lisa Vassady, Radford University. Visit the Legacy Collection page to see title lists and to register your interest: http://info.sciverse.com/sciencedirect/books/legacy Discover the Legacy Collection and tap into a unique and powerful scienti� c legacy Discover the Legacy Collection and tap into a Discover the Legacy Collection and tap into a unique and powerful scienti� c legacy Discover the Legacy Collection and tap into a unique and powerful scienti� c legacy The Legacy Collection of ebooks in the following 7 subject areas combines renowned authorship and great accessibility alongside key journals on ScienceDirect. In addition, MARC Records are complimentary.  Agricultural and Biological Sciences  Biochemistry, Genetics, and Molecular Biology  Chemical Engineering  Chemistry  Engineering  Materials Science  Physics and Astronomy “ It is a wonderful thing doing research, from research comes understanding, from understanding past research comes new applications and uses. It is not a luxury but a great investment in our future.” —George A. Olah, 1994 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Founding Director of the USC Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and co-editor of the Legacy Collection book; Chemistry of Energetic Materials