College and Research Libraries 330 I College & Research Libraries • July 1975 can be employed. What the authors have done is establish a statistical . model and ac- complish one case study. This book is recommended to the reader with the initiative, interest, background, and time to analyze the authors' methodolo- gy carefully. A major value of the . work is that it does provide a description of. a body of experience gained by individuals who have applied sampling-theory and computer technology to in-library book use and who maintain that the same theory and meth- odology can be applied to other library components. Long-term evaluation of the "could be" aspects lies in the future.- Robert 'E. Kemper, Director of Libraries, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ari- zona. Harris .Michael H. A Guide to Research in American Library History. 2d ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1974. 275p. $9.00. (LC 74-1711~) (ISBN 0-8108- 0744-0) Six years after the initial publication of A Guide to Research in American Library History by Michael H. Harris, a second edi- tion has been released. Acknowledging er- rors and omissions in the original volume, the availability of constructive critiques, and substantial new research, the author in- dicates that the purpose of the Guide re- mains the same-namely,. to assess the ex- tent and nature of research in the field, to discuss · the framework and methodology of the library historian, to describe the works dealing with the published literature, and to provide a descriptive bibliography of master's theses and doctoral dissertations on American library history through 1973. The overriding question that comes to mind is whether this work really is ··a guide to research" or, in fact, an annotated bib- liography of theses and dissertations in American library history. Moreover, one wonders whether this book could have been far more valuable if the author had concen- trated on his bibliography by expanding it into a major work including other contribu- tions in the field in addition to theses and dissertations. Following the general outline of-the ear- lier edition, Harris opens with three brief chapters on "The State of the Art," «Philos- ophy and Methodology for Research," and "A Guide to the Sources," all in the span of thirty-seven pages. Despite the inclusion of ninety-eight notes and twenty-two addi- tional references, the -author fails to do jus- tice to · his subject. Regrettably; the' subs tan~ tive issues appear less important than the running arguments concerning whether li- brarians are really interested in library his- tory, the unfortunate decisions of many graduate library schools to drop the thesis requirement, -and whether or not those who have written in the field are "serious library historians" (p.8). · . Although the author frequently .bids for our attention with references or quotes from Pierce Butler, Sidney Ditzion, Jesse Shera, and Haynes McMullen, he also subjects his readers to a number of tiresome and fatu- ous . statements such as, "There are, how- eve~, a number of library schools still pro- ducing . good master's research and Ameri- can library history continues to be a popu- lar topic" ( p.4), and "Now, I do not pre- sume to deny the sometime historian the right to study library history at his whim and fancy, nor do I hold any brief for those who argue that histmical · knowledge is a panacea for all our ills" ( p.8-9) . When the author states that «Jesse . Shera recently issued a call ... " (p.5) referring to a 1966 article (also . contained verba tum in the 1968 edition, p.12), or that "Jesse Shera observed some time ago . . ." ( p.3) ~ refer- ring to a 1973 publication (which one must search to discover is actually partially re- printed from an article originally published in 1945), the reader is left to wonder about the accuracy and integrity of what follows. Under the headil)g of "methodology for re- search" the discussion of Vleeschauwer' s philosophy and methodology is all too brief; Waples, Goldhor, Wynar, and others are mentioned, but the reader is not really told what they said or how they influenced the writing of library history. Part II is by far the more valuable por- tion of this work. It expands the annotated bibliography of graduate research in Ameri- can library history from 496 entries in the first edition to 653 by adding 48 doctoral dissertations and 109 master's theses. More- over, the author has added 18 annotations that wer~ missing for entries in the earlier edition, plus 14 new items (notably rem-· edying the earlier . omission of works by Shores, • Lowell, and others) that fall within the scope of the 1968 volume. In contrast with the ·first edition, sections within the classified arrangement have been more clearly set apart so that subject or geo- graphical headings do not begin near the bottom of the page, and . phrase headings have been included at the top of each page. The introduction to part II indicates that the author, title, school, date; pages, and bibliography (if any) have been included for each entry. Yet, the reader finds that pagination has been omitted for some eighty entries-most notably printed works. The annotations are generally good, al- though length and quality vary greatly. A published doctoral disse1tation on the . New York Public Library, for instance, is de- scribed in eight lines whereas the following entry for a seventy-six-page master's thesis on the Chemung County Library receives fifteen lines. J. ·P. Danton used to · tell his graduate students in preparing works for publication that historical materials should be scruti- nized and proofread at least twice, and bibliographies no fewer than three times. Unfortunately, the number of misspelled names, incorrect dates, and errors involving typography, pagination, reversed order, and incorrect words is high. Thurber's work on libraries in the land-grant colleges (entry number 242 in the first edition) has been dropped. In the annotations for three en- tries concerned with Ainsworth Rand Spof- ford, it is variously reported that Spofford " . ... served as Librarian of Congress for nearly half a century, 1864-1897" (actually 33 years), that Spofford had a "40 year reign at the Library of Congress," and that Spofford " ... served the Library of Con- gress for 4 7 years ( 1861-1908) , 33 of them as Director." Both author and subject indexes have been included. Again, unfortunately, errors of omission, misspelling, incorrect order, etc., may be found in the former. In the subject index one is puzzled why the author has omitted entries for Alabama, Denver, Galveston, Hartford, Houston, ·etc., in the geographical names category; for the Forbes · Library, the University of Minne- Recent Publications I 331 · sota Library, the Newberry Library, ._ and the Redwood Libniry; and for William · L Fletcher and Margaret Mann in the person- al names category. Likewise, subject · head- ings for book catalogs, certification of li- brarians, legislation for libraries, and philos- ophy of librarianship, whiCh appeared in the first edition, have not been retained. This volume will prove helpful for quick references to theses and dissertations ia American library history. It is .disappoint- ing, however, as a guide to research . in the field.-Kenneth · G. Peterson, Associate Li- brarian, Univ.ersity · of Virginia, ·Charlottes- ville. Morehead, Joe. Introduction to United States Public Documents. (Library Sci- ence Text Series) Littleton, Colo.: Li- braries Unlimited, 1975. 289p. $10.00. (LG74-23628) (ISBN 0-87287-106-1) Morehead's introductory text to 'United States government p1,1blications has chap- ters on the Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, depository library system, and the administration of documents collections; brief treatment of some general guides and indexes; and a list and discussion of selected publications of the presidency, Congress, and various de- partments, agencies, and commissions. In- cluded is a name/ subject and title/ series index. The first four chapters provide a good overview of the production, organization, and dissemination of public documents, the role of the depository system, and general guidelines for processing depository and nondepository materials. However, only one short chapter is given to the important general bibliographic tools used in working with documents. For example, Morehead allots a scant eleven lines to the 1909 Checklist whereas Schmeckebier and Eastin (Government Publications and Their Use, 1969) have four pages on this important reference work. The author devotes approx- imately two-thirds of the book to selected publications issued by the executive, legis- lative, and judicial branches of government. Why there is a need to enumerate the seemingly infinite number of issuing offices and their publications is unclear and the in- evitable result is the inclusion of some tela-