College and Research Libraries


60 I College & Research Libraries • January 1974 

and consists of the oral testimony plus a se-
lection of the written material. 

That there were such hearings is by itself 
of considerable historical interest, since, al-
though the· struggle by women for equal 
rights has extended well over a century, 
these were the first ever held by a Commit-
tee of Congress to consider the subject of 
discrimination on the basis of sex. The em-
phasis of the testimony and documents was 
on the then current situation, though in-
formation on trends · was presented in a 
number of cases. 

The people testifying included represent-
atives of women in education (students, 
counsellors, and educators), national orga-
nizations whose primary concern is equality 
for women, women in the labor market and 
President Nixon's Task Force on Women's 
Rights and Responsibilities. The breadth 
and depth of their testimony and documen-
tation gives undeniable and overwhelming 
evidence of the existence of discrimination 
against women and of its perpetuation by 
attitudes unconsciously accepted by many 
people, by determined actions on the part 
of a wide variety of people and employers, 
and by neglect on the part of some of the 
federal agencies charged with enforcing ex-
isting laws and regulations dealing with sex 
discrimination. 

Also represented were the Departments 
of Labor, Justice, and Health, Education 
and Welfare. The point of view of the en-
forcer of legislation and regulations is, nat-
urally, somewhat different from that of the 
proponent of the establishment of such. In 
each instance, the people speaking for 
these agencies, though they made consid-
erable efforts to do so, were unable to dis-
pel the impression, pointed to by facts, that 
the agencies attached very little importance 
to the problem of discrimination against 
women. 

As one might expect when twenty-six 
people testify on the same subject, there 
was some repetition. However one major 
point that was not hammered home is that 
the present "degrading, dehumanizing, im-
moral, unjust, indefensible, infuriating" sit-
uation exists in spite of over 100 years of 
active campaigning by women to overcome 
it. 

It was Representative Green's intent that 
the record of the hearings be "the most 

complete record that has been assembled 
in terms of the discrimination in both the 
legislative and the executive branches [of the 
Federal government] and in all other forms 
of discrimination against women." (p.85) 
It -is certainly that. Here are gathered all 
the strands that have been woven to make 
the strong fabric of sex discrimination 
which has worn so well for so long. Legis-
lation alone will not correct the situation. 
People must be concerned enough to moni-
tor the enforcement of the laws and regu-
lations if their intent is to be carried out 
and equality under the law gained by wom-
en. This volume should help to heighten 
people's consciousness of the gross inequi-
ties that still exist and thereby assist in the 
eradication of "the last socially acceptable 
form of discrimination." -Margaret Tjaden, 
Head, Physics and Mathematics Research 
Libraries, University of Washington, Seat-
tle. 

Sewell, Winifred, ed. Reader in Medical 
Librarianship. Washington: NCR Micro-
card Editions, 1973. 382 p. 

This eighth volume in the well-received 
series in Library and Information Science 
may be the one most difficult to fit into the 
series editor's overall goal stated as the syn-
thesizing of the most essential contributions 
from elusive and innumerable sources. The 
compiler states forthrightly that the re-
prints in this volume are articles which she 
enjoyed discussing with her students. As 
with any collection of reprints, these pa-
pers vary in quality, perhaps a bit less in 
relevancy; they are neither the most essen-
tial contributions, nor are they from the most 
elusive of sources. More than half of the 
material is reprinted directly from the Bul-
letin of the Medical Library Association. 
With two exceptions, the remainder should 
be readily available on the shelves of ev-
ery medical library of reasonable size. 

Unquestionably the collection has value 
beyond immediate classroom use with li:-
brary school students. The overall impres-
sion conveys that subtle something which 
sets a medical library apart. In her intro-
ductory remarks, the compiler acknowl-
edges a finely drawn distinction between 
types of libraries. She states unequivocally 
that one must conceive of medical libraries 



as part of a medical system and that there 
always have been elements in medicine it-
self which cause medical librarianship to 
differ from other kinds of librarianship. The 
common ground with librarianship is ex-
plored in her first grouping of articles, "The 
Environment of Medical Libraries," which 
treat the problems associated with the rapid 
increase and change in knowledge. 

Subsequent groupings are: "Medical Li-
brarianship as a Profession"; "The Organi-
zation of a Medical Library for Service"; 
"Types of Medical Libraries"; and "Med-
ical Library Networks." Progressively the 
papers reveal the sense of urgency and the 
compelling service dynamic which pervades 
a setting where the librarian is more inti-
mately a part of the team effort. Scott 
Adams, in one of his papers not included 
in this collection, summed up the whole dif-
ference most succinctly in stating that the 
true measure of value of a scientific library 
lies not in what it has, however rich its 
holdings may be, but in what it does. The 
medical library since World War II, with 
support from the National Library of Medi-
cine and direction as well as demands from 
the professional medical associations, has 
been a doer. There have been failures as 
well as successes as this branch of librarian-
ship has forged ahead and, in many re-
spects, pointed the course for librarianship 
in general. 

Administrators in hospitals not yet sup-
porting adequate library service can learn 
from this book, as can library committees 
and the part-time person frequently given 
the challenging job of organizing the library 
in smaller hospitals. Administrators in aca-
demic and general library settings, wheth-
er or not a medical library unit is included 
in their system, should benefit from perus-
ing the articles collected in this volume. Li-
brary school collections should include the 
volume, provided the students are encour-
aged to check the Bulletin of the Medical 
Library Association for the rich year 1972 
and after.-]ames W. Barry, University of 
Arizona Medical Center, Tucson. 

OTHER BOOKS OF INTEREST 
TO ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS 

Abramson, Harold J. and Sofios, Nicholas. 

Recent Publications I 61 

Index to Sociology Readers, 1960-1965. 
Vol. 1 Author Index, Vol. 2 Subject In-
dex. 1125 p. $25.00. 

Alabama Junior College Library Associa-
tion. Conference Proceedings: New 
Guidelines for Two-Year College and 
Learning Resources !Programs. Alabama: 
Alabama Junior College Library Associa-
tion, 1973. 78 p. $3.00. 

Bonn, GeorgeS., ed. Information Resources 
in the Environmental Sciences. Illinois: 
University of Illinois, 1973. 238 p. $6.00. 

Brown, James W. Educational Media Year-
book 1973. New York: R. R. Bowker 
Company, 1973. 453 p. $19.50. 

Canadian Library Association. Directory of 
Interlibrary Loan Policies and Photo-
copying Services in Canadian Libraries. 
Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 
1973. 88 p. $5.50. 

The Carnegie Commission on Higher Edu-
cation. Higher Education: Who Pays? 
Who Benefits? Who Should Pay? New 
York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1973. 
196 p. $3.95. 

Fang, Josephine Riss and Songe, Alice H. 
Handbook of National and International 
Library Associations. Chicago: American 
Library Association, 1973. 326 p. $8.50. 

Ford, Nick Aaron. Black Studies: Threat or 
Challenge? New York: Kennikat Press, 
Inc., 1973. 217 p. $8.95. 

Groves, Diane and Williams, Wiley J., eds. 
Directory Special Libraries of Tennessee. 
Tennessee: Tennessee Library Associa-
tion, 1973. 103 p. 

Hamdy, Mohamed Nabil. The Concept of 
Main Entry as Represented in the An-
glo-American Catalo-ging Rules. Colo-
rado: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 1973. 
160 p. $10.00. 

Harold, Victor. A Checklist Guide to Suc-
cessful Acquisitions. New York: Pilot 
Books, 1973. 47 p. $2.50. 

Ireland, Norma 0. Index to Fairy Tales 
1949- 1972, Including Folklore, Legends 

· and Myths in Collections. Massachusetts: 
F. W. Faxon Co., Inc., 1973. 7 41 p. 
$18.00. 

Jaques Cattell Press, ed. American Men and 
Women of Science, 12th ed., Physical 
and Biological Sciences Discipline Index. 
New York: Jaques Cattell Press/R. R. 
Bowker Co., 1973. 536 p. $25.00. 

Klatz, Bill and Klaessig, Janet, eds. Library