College and Research Libraries 72 I College & Research Libraries • January 1977 On balance, this is a useful addition to the literature of classification, which has been heavily weighted toward the hard sci- ences, and provides the long needed com- plement to the works on classification in the sciences of B. C. Vickery and social sciences of D. J. Foskett by the same publisher . . We still need, however, an approach to the hu- manities storage and retrieval which recog- nizes the advances in technology of the postwar period.-]ames H. Sweetland, Li- brary Services Division, The Boys Town Center for the Study of Youth Develop- ment, Omaha, Nebraska. Kilgour, Frederick G. The Library and In- formation Science Cumlndex. The Infor- mation Access Series, V.7. Los Altos, Calif.: The R&D Press, 1976. 722p. $55.00. (LC 72-86076) (ISBN 0-88274- 006-7) Immediate access through an interfiled cumulation of the back-of-book indexes of the basic sources in one's discipline would seem to be a boon for research among the ideas of the masters while also providing the quick reference for an immediate ques- tion. In using such a tool, one would as- sume that historical background as well as fairly current information could be located for important subjects although the newest information, understandably, would still be the purview of journal literature. In this case the theory has merit but, un- fortunately, some basic assumptions about accuracy, editorial work, and data base se- lection are questionable. The basis for this volume is a group of ninety-six library and information science works of which one (the newest) is a 1972 imprint. The sources have an average publication date of 1966. As might be expected, recent ideas are absent from the work. The one entry found .indexed under "Ohio College Library Center," for example, is located in a 1964 library trustee's handbook. On the other hand, several descriptions are available for the older Union Library Catalogue of Penn- sylvania. One can find the "Congressional Set" or the "Sheep Set" but not the "Serial Set." Without a doubt the editorial work and computer programs required to- merge nine- ty-six different lists of index · terms repre- sent a tremendous effort. The final product, however, is less than adequate. Entries on data processing are found under that term and under at least seven other terms but with cross references to only five of the seven. Under "ALA" the user is told to "see" and to "see also" the American Li- brary Association (page 17) but under the "American Library Association" (page 24) there is no reference to "ALA" as a possible subject heading. In some cases the work is misleading. The Cumlndex entry "Smith, E.," for ex- ample, yields upon inspection of the cited books, a Mrs. Eleanor Smith, a Eugene R. Smith, and a reference to S. E. Smith. Clearly these do not represent the same person and should not have been grouped together. There are some interesting list- ings such as the "abandonment of place- ment service" by ALA but no entry under "placement service" for the association. Are we to believe that ALA does not aid unem- ployed librarians? There is the intriguing "pitty pat" and even the "Zmpact factor" (actually the impact factor). There are use- less headings such as "Do's and don'ts of book repairing" (look under "Do") that have been inherited from less than ade- quate original indexes. Such questionable entries appear in sufficient quantity to be- come bothersome. The idea has potential. Because it groups together, in one easy-to-read listing, the topics of several basic texts, the Cumlndex might be considered for purchase by library school libraries. For other collections, how- ever, it is not recommended.-Scott Brunt- jen, Associate Professor · and Head, Refer- ence-Circulation Departments, Library, Shippensburg State College, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. · Schell, Hal B., ed. Reader on the Library Building. Reader Series in Library and Information Science. Englewood, Colo- rado: Microcard Editions Books, 1975. 359p. $18.95. (LC 73-93967) (ISBN 0-910972-43-5) The library building boom in the United States has all but ended with only a trickle of projects still being planned or construct- ed, albeit some of these are big ones-the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress and the New York State Library in the lavish South Mall in Albany. One might, therefore, characterize the practical value of this volume of very selective read- ings as, "too little, too late." Most of the articles collected were written at least ten years ago. What is really needed now is not a repe- tition of ideas that have already been used as a basis for planning the buildings of the boom, but a thorough assessment to discov- er successes and failures of the hundreds of buildings conceived and constructed dur- ing the past two decades. Such an effort will be most helpful to those still fortunate enough to indulge in new construction, and to those usually somewhat less fortunate, who will work on addition and rehabilita- tion projects, and even to the majority who will have to simply live with what they have, making minor modifications in the form of rearrangements of interiors. In re- gard to the latter, a major gap in this vol- ume is that nothing of Robert Sommer's work on interior environments is included. Particularly, his Ecology of Privacy article would have strengthened the treatment of interior design and arrangements. The investment of the $18.95 in this vol- ume may pay for itself in time that other- wise would be spent in digging out some of the fine articles contained under one cov- er here and all analyzed by a single index including personal and institutional names, subjects, and journal titles. The general ar- rangement of these reprint articles groups them under broad headings, such as The Use of Consultants, The Building Program, Site Considerations, Staff Spaces, Mechani- cal Spaces, Furnishings and Equipment, and Some Considerations for Newer Media and Automation Services. As with any book of readings, it is almost impossible for the editor to avoid some redundancy and un- evenness. Most of the articles are short; some are superficial. Besides the editor's initial and heavily il- lustrated overview encyclopedia article re- print, the longest and very informative con- tribution is by Alvin Toffier (Future Shock). He traces the functions of U.S. academic library buildings in relation to their form: from the monumental to the modular, from high ceilings to low ceilings, Recent Publications I 13 from closed stacks to open stacks, from uni- formity and rigidity of space to variety and flexibility, and from card catalogs to com- puter terminals. His contribution along with one or two others actually makes for fasci- nating reading. The other significant arti- cles by such authorities as Ellsworth, Wheeler, McDonald, Poole, and Van Buren are more informative than exciting. The editor gives Ernest J. Reese's twen- ty-five year old article on building pro- grams "classic" status, but the one following on the same subject by Ellsworth Mason is more up-to-date and helpful to the librarian confronted with writing a program. Mason's three contributions are all well written and to the point. Metcalf's five entries may be found in slightly different form in his mas- sive volume, Planning Academic and Re- search Library Buildings, an appendix of which is reprinted as the appendix of this volume (on formulas and tables). A few articles are very brief and of small value to the library planner. The three page article on Layout Planning for Plant Offices does not carry over to library offices. The emphasis in this volume seems to be on academic library buildings. Public li- brary building considerations are given some treatment; school and special library considerations are almost totally missing, perhaps because they do not usually in- volve separate buildings. It would have been more satisfactory in a volume of older reprints if a new contri- bution (including an updated bibliogra- phy) had been prepared by the editor or someone else to summarize the current state of the art of library facilities planning. That does not seem to be a characteristic, or perhaps purpose, of the Reader Series in Library and Information Science of which this volume is one of the latest.- Selby U. Gration, Director of Libraries, State University of New York, College at Cortland. Lubans, John, Jr., and Chapman, Ed- ward A., eds. Reader in Library Systems Analysis. Reader Series in Library and Information Science. Englewood, Colo- rado: Microcard Editions Books, 1975. 471p. $18.95. (LC 75-6253) (ISBN 0-910972-45-1)