College and Research Libraries


320 I College & Research Libraries • July 1971 

useful for anyone engaged in research in 
librarianship or book publishing. 

R. R. Bowker Co. is advertising this work 
as the International Bibliography of the 
Book Trade and Librarianship, a much bet-
ter English title than "The Literature about 
the Book-and Librarianship," which was 
the title provided by the publisher, Verlag 
Dokumentation. The ads are misleading, 
however, because it is not made clear that 
this tool requires some knowledge of Ger-
man to be useful. Incidentally, this particu-
lar work comprises volume two of a ten-vol-
ume series entitled "Handbuch der Tech-
nischen Dokumentation und Bibliographie." 
-Guenter A. Jansen, Suffolk Cooperative 
Library System. 

The Enduring Desert; a Descriptive Bib-
liography. Elza I van Edwards. Foreword 
by Russ Leadabrand. Los Angeles: The 
Ward Richie Press, 1969. 306p. $27.50. 
E. I. Edwards is not new to the field of 

desert bibliography. His first desert bibliog-
raphy appeared in 1940 under the title, 
The Valley Whos e Nam e Is D eath. Then 
followed Desert Treasure ( 1948), Desert 
Voices ( 1958) , and Desert Harvest 
( 1962). The present volume is an expan-
sion of selected material which appeared 
in the author's previous works with addi-
tional material added, including periodical 
articles, pamphlets, and ephemera. 

For each item presented in this publica-
tion the author has provided an annotation 
which is descriptive of the work and its 
contents. However, there seems to be little 
attempt to critically evaluate each item, 
and often the author's own personal reac-
tions are included. The predominance of 
the items listed are historical or biograph-
ical with few entries in the sciences or na-
tural history. Aside from these minor stric-
tures, the work as a whole is not only de-
lightfully interesting to read, but has a 
wealth of material which can be found in 
no other source on California desert lore. 

The author is unquestionably familiar 
with his material. The annotations may dis-
cuss all or part of the book and in most 
cases are sufficient to let a reader know if 
he wishes to examine the work. 

The Enduring Desert is not wholly lim-
ited to desert subjects, as there is an abun-

dance of material on other western subjects, 
particularly the gold rush, mines and min-
ing, railroads, etc. This nondesert material 
is easily accessible through the extensive in-
dex. In addition, a supplemental reference 
section lists books containing only inciden-
tal desert mention and a record of journals 
and diaries. The volume must also be 
classed as an example of modem fine print-
ing for which The Ward Richie Press is of-
ten noted. 

The Enduring Desert might best be de-
scribed in the words of Russ Leadabrand 
from the foreword: 

Readers . . . will find The Enduring Desert a 
rich and satisfying experience. There is material 
here for a hundred monologs on desert history, 
folklore and traditions .... Go now and enjoy 
The Enduring Desert. Read it at leisure as you 
would savor a fine wine or a rich steak. You'll 
find the rewards are without number. 

-A. Dean Larson, Brigham Young Univer-
sity. 

The Plateglass Universities. Michael Bel-
off. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated Univer-
sity Presses, 1970. 208p. 
Establishing university campuses is a fa-

miliar activity in the United States; it has 
also been an academic preoccupation in 
Britain as discussed in this book. The 
"Plateglass" universities are institutions 
opened in the 1960s to make room for the 
rapid increase of students. Traditionally, 
few university degrees were earned in Brit-
ain, and in recent years efforts have been 
made to increase degrees by establishing 
new campuses and by grants to students. 

The new universities are scattered about 
the English countryside. Most are near the 
coast, and some of the seven are near an-
cient cathedral towns or other historically 
important centers. They are the first univer-
sities to be established with government 
funds rather than private backing. They 
have been able to grant degrees from the 
start and have not been controlled by oth-
er universities. Differing from "Oxbridge" 
with medieval roots or "Redbrick" in the 
centers of the industrial revolution, the new 
universities have developed an architectural 
style and educational elan that the author 
feels is caught by the term "Plateglass." 

The first years of an institution are the