College and Research Libraries Yerburgh, State University of New York at Albany . Pseudonyms and Nicknames Dictionary. First edition. Edited by Jennifer Moss- man. Detroit: Gale, 1980. 627p. $48. LC 80-13274. ISBN 0-8103-0549-6. The Pseudonyms and Nicknames Dictio- nary (PND) will not replace any works a li- brary already has on pseudonyms and nick- names but it will supplement them. Its scope is revealed in a subtitle worthy of a nineteenth-century novel, " A Guiae to Pseudonyms, Pen Names, Nicknames, Epithets, Stage Names, Cognomens , Alias- es , and Sobriquets of Twentieth-Century Persons, including the Subjects' Real Names, Basic Biographical Information, and Citations for the Sources from Which the Entries Were Compiled. " It is thus limited to "figures who have achieved some degree of prominence or recognition" who were alive during some part of the twentieth cen- tury , with emphasis on North Americans and Western Europeans. It includes more than 17,000 real names and almost 22,000 assumed ones, with authors accounting for only 40 percent of the names . The PND was compiled by consulting more than eighty biographical dictionaries and through contacts with specialists in fields such as auto racing and rodeos . A use- ful feature is an indication by the real name of the source or sources used to obtain the information . In addition to providing a source of verification , this serves as a start- ing point for further investigation. When no source is listed, the information was obtained through independent editorial re- search. Since most libraries hold a number of pseudonym and nickname dictionaries already , it is important to know how the PND compares with them. I selected Harold Sharp's Handbook of Pseudonyms and Personal Nicknames (Scarecrow, 1972) and Supplement (1975), Frank Atkinson ' s Dictionary of Pseudonyms and Pen Names (Linett Books , 1975), Samuel Halkett and John Laing's Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous English Literature (Oliver and Boyd, v.8, 1956, and v.9, 1962), and Laurence Urdang's Twentieth Century American Nicknames (Wilson, 1979) for Recent Publications I 11 comparison. Taking a page of the PND with forty-seven names, I found twenty-eight not listed in Sharp. Of the twenty English or American authors on the page, nineteen were not listed in Halkett and nine were not in Atkinson. Six of the eleven twen- tieth-century personal nicknames were not in U rdang. Covering the same alphabetical range, Sharp had six twentieth-century names not in PND , Halkett seven, Atkinson three , and Urdang five . PND is thus not comprehensive but it does add significantly to any pseudonym and nickname collection. From recent ads it appears that the PND will be supplemented in usual Gale fashion by New Pseudonyms and Nicknames, thus increasing its usefulness especially for cur- rent figures. Given its restriction to twentieth-century figures, one suprising area in which I found some lacks was what might be described as popular culture. PND had no listings for Miss Vicky (Mrs. Herbert "Tiny Tim" Buck- ingham Khaury), Cheech (Richard Marin) , or Evel Knievel (Robert Craig Knievel) . PND is , however, strong in sports . Another problem is that an asterisk is used to indi- cate a pseudonym, but that is not explained anywhere . It would also be useful, in the case of authors , to distinguish between pen names and nicknames.-Carol M . Tobin , Princeton University, Princeton , New jersey. Brown, Clara D . , and Smith, Lynn S. Se- rials: Past, Present and Future. 2d rev. ed. Birmingham , Ala. : EBSCO Indus- tries, Inc., 1980. 390p. $20. LC 80- 81267. ISBN 0-913956-05-8. Despite the somewhat misleading title, Serials: Past, Present and Future is in- tended as a handbook for new serials librar- ians and a reference tool for experienced ones and deals primarily with the specifics of serials management. It is an enlarged and revised edition of Clara Brown's Serials: Ac- quisition and Maintenance , published in paper in 1972 . The first edition contains solid information on such matters as who to order serials from , how to know when to claim, and what to do with duplicate issues and reflects the author's long experience in the field and her familiarity with all types of serials problems. This new edition builds on 78 I C allege & Research Libraries • January 1981 the previous one, leaving the original chap- ters relatively unchanged , with the addition of further chapters on acquisition and main- tenance (selection and deselection and re- prography) as well as serials cataloging and serials processing at the Library of Con- gress. Contributed by Lynn Smith, the lat- ter chapters are especially well written. Smith carefully details the history of the various cataloging codes up to AACR2 and how they relate to serials . She makes sense of the world of serials acronyms (CONSER, ISBD-S , etc.) and acknowledges the role of automation in cataloging. The authors' collective strength lies in their ability to present the work flow of se- rials operations, to analyze possible points of breakdown , and to present, albeit often in rough list form , possible solutions , alternatives, and answers to the myriad questions one encounters in handling se- rials. One occasionally wishes for more ex- planation of general concepts (serials record, for example), coupled with concise defini- tions of the terms that will be used , such as serials department or division. Each chapter has its own bibliography, and the reader is also referred to other pertinent sections of the book for related material. (These refer- ences are sometimes annoying because of their frequency and intrusion into the text .) Other new material sometimes suffers from being presented in a hodgepodge or per- functory fashion; the history section relies heavily on other sources and is superficial. The miscellaneous-topics chapter could have been called something else and should have included the role of automation in serials ordering, check-in, and publication. The abundance of sample forms is overwhelming at times since many of them are not filled in or else are not clearly explained. On balance , Serials: Past , Present and Future is disappointing and not as success- ful as the earlier edition. It attempts too much and, consequently, a wealth of good information gets buried. The lack of a strong focus means the new and old sections are not tied together. One note on editing and production: it looks like a hasty job.- ]ean W. Farrington , University of Pennsyl- vania, Philadelphia. 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