College and Research Libraries 474 I College & Research Libraries • September 1979 progress going on in the areas of informa- tion transfer, communications impact (uses and effects), and governmental regulations in the communications and information sec- tors. Finally, significant developments in the areas of planning and policy by national and international organizations are to be re- ported upon. Such a program for any series on the present and future state of communications, within the context of understanding com- munication processes and technology vis-a- vis improved access to information for "all of the world's citizens," is no small bite, and it becomes particularly hard to swallow when the first taste from a menu "intended for scholars, students, and others" becomes somewhat indigestible. It becomes obvious to this reviewer that volume one, at least, offers little middle ground for comprehend- ing. On the one hand, there is the "ho-hum" "primacy/recency" -type argument over form-versus-content attributes in the deci- sion to view or not to view 'IV when that could have been handled more eco- nomically; and, at the opposite extreme, the Heritage on Microffilll Rare and out-of-print titles and documents on 3Smm silver halide microfilm. • French Books before 1601 • Scandinavian Culture • 18th Century English Literature • Victorian Fiction • Literature of Folklore • Hispanic Culture Send for catalog and title information today. GENEW\L MICROFilM COMP~Y 100 Inman St. , Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel. (617) 864-2820 complex formulas used in measuring re- trieval effectiveness (in the context of document or information retrieval) appear overly specialized even for "scholars," not to mention, certainly, "students and others." That both discussions should appear in the same book (and sequentially!) seems to be stretching credulity. But this may be a con- sequence of the planned breadth of the se- ries and a function of the scheduling of writers and essays; perhaps future volumes may well even things out. The very first chapter of the book, which deals with the search for basic principles in the behavioral and communication sciences, serves a useful purpose, particularly if con- sidered from the vantage point of being an interactive and dynamic process through which one discipline's theory and research may benefit another. This chapter discusses the fundamental concepts of human infor- mation processing, problem solving, knowl- edge utilization, and information input over- load. Equally provocative is the chapter on de- velopment theory and communications pol- icy, which in itself is so new as to elude definition,. scope, and methodology. But the search for an integrated approach to com- munication planning should entail an analysis of the work that has already been carried out by the leading thinkers in the field if a developing nation is to make the most reasonable choice in communications technology and policy for its own situation. One of the strengths this volume com- municates is the consistency of organiza- tional format, chapter to chapter. Each be- gins with a complete contents/outline on its title page; is generously illustrated with charts, graphs, or formulas; has clear and precise subject headings; and concludes with adequate, if not extensive, reference sources. Finally, the author and subject index for the volume appears to be usefully constructed.-Mary B. Cassata, State University of New York at Buffalo. Requiem for the Card Catalog: Management Issues in Automated Cataloging. Edited by Daniel Gore, Joseph Kimbrough, and Peter Spyers-Duran. New Directions in Librarianship, no.2. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979. 200p. $17.50. LC 78-7129. ISBN 0-313-20608-2. Although these papers were prepared for a conference held in 1977, they are still up to date. In fact, librarians appear to have done very little in the time since to prepare themselves for the non-card catalog or AACR 2. One of the best things they could do now is to read this book. It does not provide a do-it-yourself kit for producing a new catalog, nor does it address nuts-and-bolts issues. Librarians have, how- ever, always been inclined to neglect under- lying principles, and the various authors do remind us forcibly that in this p.ew age no- thing less is required than a complete re- view of the rationale of the catalog. Foremost among these concerns are: the definition of the data base, reconsideration of its contents, reevaluation of its public shape, and rethinking of the ways in which it is produced and maintained. Together these concepts could mean , if properly un- derstood and applied, a revolution in librar- ianship, since they imply a totally new way of looking at bibliographic data. The distinction drawn by Brett Butler be- tween resource and collection data bases is basic and needs to be understood by anyone proposing to set up an alternative catalog. It also enables the functions of utilities and li- braries to be separated clearly in library thinking, a severe lack in most current net- work planning. Coupled to this is the vital fact pointed out by Michael Malinconico that for the first time we have gained con- trol over the shape of the catalog. If on-line or COM catalogs can be manipulated and erased or disposed of, the rigidities created by the 3-by-5-inch card should no longer be seen as the controlling factors. The standard message may be MARC, but its public for- mat can be as variable as is necessary be- cause change no longer means changing thousands of cards. Sanford Berman adds to this a plea to use the flexibilities of automation to produce lo- cally what is needed locally, and the argu- ment is hard to counter, though its applica- tion is possible only if the premise of data flexibility is accepted. Peter Spyers-Duran and William Axford discuss the issue of management, one from the perspective of personnel, the other from the perspective of planning. Both insist that the changes librar- Recent Publications I 415 ies face require superior management of a kind not readily found to date. It is indeed questionable whether muddling through will suffice. Henriette Avram provides her usual inci- sive statement of national needs. Glyn Evans provides a useful analysis of network-library-utility problems by critiqu- ing the role and accomplishments of OCLC. Neither, however, addresses the problems of local data needs, whether for an indi- vidual library or for a regional group of li- braries, and this may well be the crucial issue in the future of bibliographic utilities . Nor do they more than touch on the ques- tion of internetwork access . If these prob- lems cannot be surmounted , neither the flexibilities of COM nor the commonalities of MARC will save us. Among the more practical papers, the an- alytical study of the Los Angeles County Public Library catalogs makes outstanding reading. Mary Fischer's presentation should encourage other libraries to undertake simi- ' lar analyses. Robert Blackburn presents again in convenient form a summary of the Toronto experience. Since the decision on whether and how to convert a shelflist is a critical one, it would have been of greater assistance if John Kountz had not couched his contribution in such an arch tone. He had some good things to say but has dis- guised them well. In somewhat the same vein it is regretta- bly necessary to say that most of the figures are practically meaningless . The graphs are too sketchy and the legends do not explain their purpose adequately, which is a pity in an otherwise attractive book. All catalogers and administrators should read and ponder this book, using the con- cepts to avoid getting mired in the largely irrevelant "practicalities" of how to convert to AACR 2 and COM.-Murray S. Martin , The Pennsylvania State University, Univer- sity Park. Columbia University. Oral History Research Office. The Oral History Collection of Columbia University. Edited by Elizabeth B. Mason and Louis M. Starr. New York: Oral History Research Office, 1979. 306p. $22.50. LC 79-11527. ISBN 0-9602492- 0-6. (Available from: Oral History, Butler