ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries December 1995/781 New Publications G eo rge M. Eberhαrt A c a d e m ic L ib ra rie s : Their Rationale and Role in American Higher Edu­ cation, edited by Gerard B. McCabe and Ruth J. Person (230 pages, April 1995), re­ ports on the changing infor­ mation environment that li­ brary administrators will be weathering in the coming years. Highlights include contributions from Joanne R. Euster (the institutional roles played by the library), David R. Dowell and Jack A. Scott (community college libraries), Lloyd W. Chapin and Larry Hardesty (liberal arts college deans), Anne Woodsworth and Mary Westermann (pro­ fessional education), and Tom Wilding (staff development). $55.00. Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, P.O. Box 5007, Westport, CT 06881-5007. ISBN 0-313-28597-7. Ancient W orld Lists and Numbers: Nu­ merical Phrases and Rosters in the Greco- Roman Civilizations, by David Matz (254 pages, September 1995), brings together infor­ mation on famous numerical lists associated with the Greeks and Romans. Not only are the Seven Wonders o f the World and the Twelve Labors o f Hercules summarized here, but also the Six Librarians o f Alexandria, the Eleven A q­ ueducts o f Rome, the Twenty-Nine Titles of Zeus, the Thirty-Seven Books o f Pliny’s Natu­ ral History, and the Thirty-Four Participants in the Calydonian Boar Hunt. This book makes it clear that the David Letterman Top Ten List is as old as the Seven Hills o f Rome. $44.50. McFarland & Co., Box 6 l 1, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0-7864-0039-0. The Cam bridge Dictionary o f American Biography, edited by John S. Bowman (904 pages, 1995), includes, unlike other biographi­ cal dictionaries, living Americans as well as de­ ceased. In addition to government and military leaders, scientists and artists, this dictionary also profiles individuals in specialized areas (food scientists, conservationists, writers o f popular fiction), others who are difficult to categorize (Charles Ponzi, Hannah Dustin, Onesimus), and some who are semilegendary (Johnny Apple- seed, Uncle Sam, Casey Jones). A name index lists anyone mentioned in someone else’s biography. $44.95. Cambridge Univer­ sity Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, N Y 10011-4211. ISBN 0-521-40258-1. The Cam bridge Paper­ back Encyclopedia, edited by D avid Crystal (1,080 pages, 2d ed., September 1995), and The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia (973 pages, 3d ed., Septem­ ber 1995) are roughly com­ parable in scope and coverage. The Cambridge has a European orientation and British spell­ ings, while the Columbia has a North Ameri­ can perspective. The Cambridge has more (20,000+) but shorter entries, while the Colum­ bia has less (17,000+) but longer ones. The Cambridge scores better for definitions o f ani­ mals, plants, popular culture, and new words ( “hacker”), while the Columbia is better for bi­ ographies, historical dates, and events for par­ ticular cities, regions, states, and countries. The Cambridge has much better maps; the Colum­ bia is very inconsistent. The Cambridge has been updated through the end o f 1994, while the Columbia seems only to go through the end o f 1993. Population estimates in the Cam­ bridge are for 1995, while the Columbia relies on the most recent official census. The Cam­ bridge has an 108-page ready reference sec­ tion with geographic and political data, mea­ surements, signs and symbols, and sports lists. The wise reference librarian will order both books, which will see heavy use. Cambridge, $18.95, Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th St., N ew York, N Y 10011-4211 (ISBN 0-521- 55968-5). Columbia, $19-95, Houghton Mifflin, 215 Park Ave. South, N ew York, N Y 10003 (ISBN 0-395-62439-8). Computer-Related Technologies in Li­ brary Operations, by Kieth C. Wright (202 pages, August 1995), is aimed at libraries that are just now implementing or replacing com- George Eberhαrt is editor a nd com piler o f The W h o le Lib ra ry H an d b o ok s f o r ALA Editions (1991, 1995). He served as editor o f C & R L N ew s fro m 1980 to 1990. 782/C&RL News puter systems. Circulation, cataloging, reference, and management functions are covered in ad­ dition to selecting a vendor and site prepara­ tion. $59.95. Ashgate Pub. Co., Old Post Rd,, Brookfield, VT 05036. ISBN 0-566-07630-6. Encyclopedia o f Utopian Literature, by Mary Ellen Snodgrass (644 pages, June 1995), examines utopian and dystopian literature from the Egyptian Book o f the Dead to Lois Lowry’s The Giver. Entries include not only authors and titles but characters, terms, and concepts as well. This encyclopedia analyzes many o f the themes and literary techniques utilized by utopian writ­ ers, including Lao Tzu’s minimalist philosophy, Rabelais’s Abbey o f Theleme where nobles do what they want, Doris Lessing’s Memoirs o f a Survivor that depicts urban collapse, and An­ thony Burgess’s cynical Clockwork Orange with its aimless teens bent on random mayhem. If that sounds like today’s headlines, then per­ haps dystopia is not merely a literary abstrac­ tion. $65.00. ABC-CLIO, P.O. Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911. ISBN 0-87436-757-3. Facts about Canada, Its Provinces and Territories, by Jean Weihs (246 pages, July 1995), focuses more on the provinces and ter­ ritories than the country as a whole. Besides the familiar data on flags, coats o f arms, geog­ raphy and climate, parks, demography, gov­ ernment, and economy, this book provides separate provincial chronologies (uniformly beginning with the arrival o f P a leo-In d ian s) and— most interesting— lists o f superlatives (first, biggest, and best). Thus the casual browser will discover that New Brunswick boasts the w o r ld ’s lon gest co vered bridge, Quebec houses the w o r ld ’s o n ly continuous series o f birth record s stretching over three centu­ ries, Alberta has the world’s largest car park, and the Northwest Territories con­ tain the world’s oldest sci­ entifically dated rocks. A must fo r C anadianists. $35.00. H.W. Wilson Co., 950 University Ave., Bronx, N Y 10452. ISBN 0-8242- 0864-1. Guidelines fo r Bibliographic Description o f Reproductions, edited by Bruce Johnson (32 pages, 1995), offers practical instructions on cataloging such materials as photocopies, microform copies, reprints, and photomechani­ cal and photographic copies o f graphic materi­ als. These guidelines, developed by the ALA Association for Library Collections and Techni­ cal Services’ Committee on Cataloging: Descrip­ tion and Access, include 22 sample records and follow the AACR2 Revision and LC rule inter­ pretations. Appendices provide examples o f items that should not be treated as reproduc­ tions and discuss the ramifications o f applying these guidelines within the USMARC format. $15.00 (ALA members, $13.50). American Li­ brary Association, Book Order Fulfillment, 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL 60606-1719. ISBN 0-8389-3450-1. The Heretic's Feast: A History o f V e g ­ etarianism, by Colin Spencer (402 pages, June 1995), is a thorough and provocative examina­ tion o f the sociological role that vegetarian philosophies have played in both Eastern and Western culture. It attempts to answer such questions as: Did a vegetarian diet arise when hunter/gatherers settled down and became ag­ riculturalists, or was meat-eating an innovative response by vegetarian hominids to the severe climate o f the Ice Ages? H ow did vegetarian­ ism become linked to heresy in Christian Eu­ rope? H ow did climate promote Hindu and Buddhist vegetarianism and the concept o f the sacred cow? Is there a link between radicalism and a vegetarian philosophy? If so, how could Gandhi and Hitler both be vegetarians? Are vegetarian concerns about health, ani­ mal welfare, and ecology new, or were the same is­ sues debated in 600 B.C.? This book, which may well be the only history o f the subject published since 1883, will make you ques­ tion your relish for animal flesh because the arguments are historical, not rhetorical. $29.95. University Press o f New England, 23 S. Main St., Hanover, NH 03755. ISBN 0- 87451-708-7.