mcillvaine.p65 Selected Reference Books of 2001 183 183 Selected Reference Books of 2001 Eileen McIlvaine Eileen McIlvaine is Head of Reference in Butler Library at Columbia University: e-mail: mcilvain@columbia.edu. Although it appears under a byline, this list is a project of the reference depart- ments of Columbia University Libraries and notes are signed with the initials of one of the following staff members: Barbara Sykes-Austin, Avery Library; James L. Coen, Business and Economics Library; Mary Cargill, Anice Mills, Robert H. Scott, Junko Stuveras, Sarah Spurgin Witte, Butler Library; Deborah Wassertzug, Journalism Library; Olha della Cava, Lehman Library; Linda Rath, Undergraduate Library. This article follows the pattern set by the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M.Winchell more than sixty years ago and continued by Eugene Sheehy. Because the purpose of the list is to present a se- lection of recent scholarly and general reference works, it does not pre- tend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works is provided at the end of the articles. Code numbers (such as BD111) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books, 11th ed. (Chicago: ALA, 1996). Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Postmodernism. Eds. Victor E. Taylor and Charles E. Winquist. London, N. Y.; Routledge, 2001. 466p. $188 (ISBN 0-415-15294-1). LCCN 00-28239 The Encyclopedia of Postmodernism avoids the murky territory of defining “post- modernism.” The editors state that it “does not adhere to a single definition of postmodernism as much as it documents the use of the term across a variety of aca- demic and cultural pursuits” (Introd.), thus skirting the tricky task. The encyclo- pedia proceeds to survey scholarly fields for usage of the term that the editors con- sider “more than a fad, with much deeper and longer lasting effects on academic and cultural life.” Their aim is to present the reader “clarifications as well as con- tradictions in the field of postmodern studies.” So the reader, cautioned not to expect any clear-cut definition, will find a dy- namic and evolving intellectual history of contemporary North America and Eu- rope. Prepared mostly by scholars affili- ated with American and British universi- ties, the articles are short, signed, and ac- companied by reference sources and/or a list of half-dozen titles for further read- ing. Topics include theoreticians and phi- losophers from Nietzsche to Culler, key concepts in postmodernist discourse, and surveys of postmodernist writing by field, from history and literature to film stud- ies and women’s studies. The quality of the articles varies. In very short articles, the lack of editorial cleanup is disturbing; for example, on page 264, in the article on Nietzsche, the same ten lines are in both columns. More- over, it is not very useful to include bio- graphical information that could be found in any biographical dictionary and is not directly connected with the topic of the article. The editors should have taken more time to improve the clarity and con- 184 College & Research Libraries March 2002 sistency of entries. Some articles are more informative than others, but as a whole, the Encyclopedia is a useful addition to university and college libraries fre- quented by students of disciplines that have been affected by postmodernism.— J.S. Periodical Indexes Balay, Robert. Early Periodical Indexes: Bib- liographies and Indexes of Literature Pub- lished in Periodicals before 1900. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow, 2000. 317p. $55 (ISBN 0-8108-3868-0). LC 00-56265. This useful bibliography from the most recent editor of the Guide to Reference Books lists 400 titles that index periodicals pub- lished before 1900. Included are periodi- cal indexes, serial bibliographies, topical bibliographies, and electronic resources. The entries follow the classed arrange- ment of the Guide, with clear and helpful annotations. It includes titles published in many Western languages, but Balay has “excluded titles in any language of which my knowledge was too rudimentary to permit me to deduce a work’s intention” (Introd.). He specifically excludes indexes in Russian, while including the standard bibliographies of Russian periodical in- dexes. He does not mention whether titles in other languages have been excluded. Early Periodical Indexes is indexed by author, title, subject, and dates of cover- age. It is highly recommended for refer- ence collections supporting research in periodicals published before 1900.— S.S.W. Copyright Crews, Kenneth D. Copyright Essentials for Librarians and Educators. Chicago: ALA, 2000. 143p. (ISBN 0-8389-0797-0). LCCN 00-59421. During the last decade, questions of copy- right have grown more daunting for li- braries and their patrons, thanks not only to the new opportunities for the copying and dissemination of information pro- vided by the Internet, but also to the Digi- tal Millennium Copyright Act and the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act. Hence, this brief guide by Kenneth Crews of the Copyright Management Center (CMC) at Indiana University-Purdue should be a welcome addition to reference collections as a tool for both orienting staff and introducing readers to the key issues. An outgrowth of a series of online workshops sponsored by the CMC, the guide is divided into several chapters that trace, in a logical progression, the primary issues of copyright as they relate to librar- ies and education, from the types of mate- rial covered by copyright to the entry of material into public domain and from the principles of fair use to the implications of the new laws for distance education. Each chapter focuses on a fairly narrow ques- tion, allowing the table of contents to sub- stitute quite comfortably for an index. The chapters themselves are very concise. In fact, one of the great virtues of this guide is its economy of words and effective use of layout: Readers can quickly grasp the key issues in just a couple of hours of read- ing. Marginal notes supplement the main text with discussion of related issues or reports of recent developments, and the end of each chapter lists references to key printed literature and Web sites where fur- ther information can be obtained. A full bibliography and other informational ap- pendices, including a worksheet for evalu- ating the fair use component of a given project are provided as well. Thus, this book not only introduces readers to the issues in a most effective way, but it also provides more than adequate tools for fur- ther exploration. The publication of this work by the ALA suggests its authoritative character. Arguably, this is a guide that virtually every practicing librarian should read, and it certainly belongs in every serious reference collection.—R.H.S. Literature Dictionary of Midwestern Literature. Ed. Philip A. Greasley. Bloomington: Indi- ana Univ. Pr., 2001. To be in three vol- umes. (ISBN 0-253-33609-0) LC 00- 040753. Contents: v. 1. The Authors. 616p. $59.95. Selected Reference Books of 2001 185 Sponsored by the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature, this volume “sur- veys the lives and writings of approxi- mately four hundred [living and dead] Midwestern authors as well as some of the most important criticism of their writ- ings” (Introd.). It includes writers of jour- nalism, fiction, poetry, and drama whose roots were in or whose work featured any of the ten Midwestern states. The one- to five-page essays, arranged alphabetically, include information about the writers’ parents, important dates, bio- graphical information, literary signifi- cance, and brief descriptions of their ma- jor works, and significant critical com- mentaries. An introductory essay, “The Origins and Development of the Litera- ture of the Midwest,” is a useful histori- cal survey. In addition, there is an index of works and authors mentioned in the essays. The readable essays are a good intro- duction to the writers and should encour- age users to look for the books. As a de- finitive reference source, however, it is somewhat disappointing because there is no list of complete works for each author. Such a list may be intended for volume 2, but, unfortunately, there is no indication of this in the introduction. Any library supporting American literature should find this a useful introductory guide.— M.C. Art Encyclopedia of Italian Renaissance and Mannerist Art. Ed. Jane Turner. Lon- don: Macmillan; N.Y.: Grove’s Dictio- naries, 2000. 2v. (1,881p.) il. $400/set (ISBN 0-333-76094-8; 1-88446-02-7). LC 99-41597. This is the third title to be issued in the Grove Library of World Art and the first in a projected series of five titles in the Grove Encyclopedias of European Art, all spin-off volumes of the 34-volume Dictionary of Art, published in 1996. The first two titles in the Grove Library on the Arts of the Ameri- cas were reviewed in this column in Sep- tember 2000, and the European volumes follow the same format. The original authors of the Dictionary have reviewed their entries for the spe- cialist volumes; editorial staff have up- dated the bibliographies by searching BHA: Bibliography of the History of Art (BF43) and Art Abstracts (BF41); illustra- tions have been added, including color plates; and selected articles have been edited to focus on the Italian Renaissance and Mannerist periods, defined as c. 1400–c.1600, beginning with the transi- tional Late Gothic and extending stylisti- cally to the eve of the Baroque. The chronological and geographical boundaries imposed on the contents allow users of these volumes to become thor- oughly immersed in the art and culture of the Renaissance. In addition to biographies of artists, patrons, collectors, and writers are articles on the great variety of art forms and building types being developed, on the emerging artistic traditions of increasingly powerful cities and city-states, and on other topics unique to the period and place, such as the development of humanism. A review of the index, however, shows the emphasis to be primarily on names and places. There are lengthy essays on Italy (3 maps), Rome (various plans), and other important cen- ters of artistic and industrial production. As with the other encyclopedias, cov- erage of the print volumes is similar, but not identical, to that found in the Grove Dictionary of Art Online. Although the high-quality print illustrations may be static, they are numerous and plainly there on the page, whereas the online ver- sion will send the user out to external Web sites for images that may make it some- what complicated to get back into the online dictionary after viewing them. This is an ongoing publication program that all students of art will benefit from for decades to come. The forthcoming vol- umes are eagerly awaited.—B.S.-A. Political Science Encyclopedia of Nationalism. Ed. Athena S. Leoussi. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publ., 2001. 314p. $125 (ISBN 0-7658-0002-0). LCCN 00- 048403. 186 College & Research Libraries March 2002 Encyclopedia of Nationalism. Ed. Alexander Motyl. San Diego, Calif.; London: Academic Pr., 2001. 2v. (1300p.) $425 (ISBN 0-12-227230-7). LCCN 00-102545. Two recently published encyclopedias tackle the difficult task of shedding light on the complex and often-contested con- cept of nationalism. Both aim to be a guide to the wide range of issues and debates in the field and to offer, if not a definitive theory, at least an inventory of analytical instruments for an interdisciplinary study of nationalism. Both encyclopedias un- derscore their unbiased and non parti pris approach. Although the two works have similar goals and objectives, they differ in size, scope, and organization. The Encyclope- dia of Nationalism, edited by Athena S. Leoussi, is a modest 300-page “inevitably incomplete” (Introd.) volume of essay- length entries on diverse types and theo- ries of nationalism, its relationship to other disciplines and ideologies, and on key figures of nationalism. The essays are arranged alphabetically, beginning with “anti-Semitism” and ending with “Weber ’s Theory of the Nations.” The es- says—serious, scholarly assessments of the topic under considerations—are signed and conclude with a bibliography, often quite extensive. There is an index of entry titles and subjects. Alexander Motyl’s two-volume Ency- clopedia of Nationalism is a much more ambitious undertaking. Billed as “a com- pete source of information on the phe- nomenon of nationalism” (Guide to the Encyclopedia), it presents both a series of extensive essays on the fundamental themes of nationalism (v.1) and a collec- tion of shorter entries on people, places, movements, and ideas (v.2). The essays fall into three broad subject areas: Disci- plinary Approaches (Anthropology, Po- litical Science, Sociology, etc.), Historical Overviews (Economic History of Nation- alism, etc.), and Thematic Issues (Vio- lence, Gender Relations and the Nation, etc.). All the essays are similarly struc- tured and include, along with the body of the article, the name of the authors, an article outline, a glossary of terms, a de- fining statement, cross-references, and a bibliography. The essays are comprehen- sive and scholarly, yet easy to read and to follow, and thus of value not only to scholars in the field, but also to beginning students and the lay public.—O.dC. Leadership Library on the Internet. New York: Leadership Directories, 1997—. http://ldi.bvdep.com/ Leadership Directories’ Leadership Library on the Internet is the Web-accessible sur- rogate for the popular directory series, Yellow Books. These useful directories pro- vide contact information for individuals at organizations ranging from the U.S. Congress to federal, state, and local gov- ernments, to news media outlets and non- profit organizations. The online presen- tation of this resource is designed by Bureau von Dijk Electronic Publishing, which produces the database EIU Coun- try Data, among many other titles. The presentation of these directories on the Web is ideal because it permits browsing the directories, arranged hierarchically, and also enables searching across all of the Yellow Books. Upon connecting to the database, the user is presented with the quick search screen: eleven data elements that may be searched, including organization or indi- vidual name, address, and more. An ad- vanced search permits a combination of several database elements at a time. A quick search across the entire database on the organization New York Times yielded thir- teen results. There were two distinct links to the New York Times from the News Media Directory. Once followed, it turned out that one was for an entry for the entire Times staff, and the other entry included just the staff of the New York Times Magazine. Many options are available for search- ing, which makes the database powerful, but perhaps somewhat confusing to the novice user. A list of search results pre- sents boxes next to each entry that can be checked but, after this is completed, there is no instruction on what to do with the Selected Reference Books of 2001 187 selections. It might be useful to offer two different interfaces, one for the novice and one for the expert user. The information presented in the da- tabase is of a very high quality—the di- rectories are updated continually; thus, when organizational changes occur, they are reflected in the directory. Even future changes are noted: A search on Columbia University produced an entry for its new president, Lee Bollinger, with a note that he will not take office until summer 2002. The new interface is currently available only to users of Microsoft’s Internet Ex- plorer browser; Netscape users may con- tinue to use the old interface, which still allows for searching and browsing. It is of some concern that users of the new in- terface are urged to read a five-page Adobe Acrobat document explaining the upgraded interface—too much complex- ity built into a database is not always ben- eficial to users. Despite the clumsy inter- face, libraries that are current subscribers to the Yellow Books in paper should con- sider subscribing to the online version.— D.W. African American Studies The Harvard Guide to African American His- tory. Ed. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Pr., 2001. 923p. $125 (ISBN 0-674-99276-8). LC 00-053861. This major new work is the first general bibliography on African Americans to ap- pear in many years. It is a selective list of books, articles, and dissertations com- piled by noted scholars in the field. There are introductory bibliographic essays on reference works (although there is no mention of America: History and Life), Internet resources, microform collections, newspapers, government documents, oral history, art, music, and film. The bibliography proper begins in chapter 13, with comprehensive histories, followed by chapters arranged by chro- nological period; each chapter is further divided into a number of topics. Part three, “Histories of Special Subjects,” in- cludes bibliographies on women, geo- graphical areas, and autobiography and biography. There is an author index, but, surpris- ingly, no subject index, an unfortunate de- cision that complicates usage, especially in light of the chronological divisions. Someone looking for information about the black press, for example, would have to study the table of contents carefully to find the essay in chapter 6, “Newspapers and Periodicals,” with its extensive bibli- ography; the section of “Secondary Sources on Newspapers and Periodicals” in the chapter on comprehensive studies; and the entries on newspapers and peri- odicals in the chronological chapters for 1831–1865 (South), 1831–1865 (North), 1867–1877, 1877–1915, 1915–1932, 1932– 1945, 1945–1968, and 1968–1999. Without an index, it is almost impossible to find articles discussing a particular publica- tion. At times, the listings seem a bit eso- teric; there are only three works suggested for the black press from 1968 to 1999, two of which deal with coverage of the United Nations. A CD-ROM accompanies the book, but there are no instructions on its use. It con- tains only the bibliographies beginning with chapter 13, not the bibliographic es- says, and just reproduces the text. There does not appear to be searching capabili- ties built in, but I was able to approximate a keyword search by using the computer ’s automatic find command. Works discussing the Great Migration, scattered throughout various chapters, could be found this way, assuming, of course, that that exact phrase was used in the title. The chronological arrangement, though, is very useful for students study- ing a particular time period, and this work has already proved to be very use- ful; if it had an index it would be much more so.—M.C. Organizing Black America: An Encyclo- pedia of African American Organiza- tions. Ed. Nina Mjagkij. New York: Garland, 2001. 768p. $125 (ISBN 0- 8153-2309-3). LCCN 00-061779. 188 College & Research Libraries March 2002 This single-volume encyclopedia compre- hensively describes the many historical and contemporary associations formed by African Americans: interracial organiza- tions and groups working in the interest of African Americans. The 576 signed entries are listed alphabetically by asso- ciation name with cross listings and were created by 184 scholars from Europe and the United States. Entries range in length from a paragraph to a few pages and dis- cuss association leaders, prominent indi- viduals, membership, chapters, publica- tions, goals, activities, achievements, and failures. Almost all the entries contain short bibliographies for reading and a few with photos or illustrations. The encyclopedia’s coverage of black associations is the most complete in breadth and reflects the diverse interests of the organizations, some of them being concerned with civil and human rights, religious, occupational, professional, po- litical, arts, health, youth, and sports. Al- though thorough criteria for inclusion are those associations that are “large or have regional, national or international impor- tance” (Pref.). Excluded are “short-lived organizations, small groups and those of predominantly local significance.” Cities with a significant black population, such as Chicago, New York, and Detroit, have separate entries. The forty-page index is helpful, but inconsistent, and mostly composed of proper names. The few keyword entries attempt to identify associations by cat- egory (labor organizations) or by subject matter (Underground Railroad). A few tries may be needed to find the correct index entry. Association addresses or con- tacts are not included. This valuable source provides a suc- cinct overview of black association histo- ries or a first step in research.—L.R. Business Cardis, Joel. Venture Capital: The Defini- tive Guide for Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Practitioners. New York: Wiley, 2001. 320p. $34.95 (ISBN 0-471-39813- 6). LCCN 20-10260. This book is a guide for anyone seeking start-up capital from seed financing of $500,000 up to later growth stages of around $20 million. The content has pro- prietary or industry insider information built into the text to enable the entrepre- neur to look at his or her business con- cept through the eyes of a venture capi- talist. The first section of eight chapters ad- dresses the area of homework the entre- preneur must do before seeking out a ven- ture capitalist. Predominant in this section is coverage of the various risk environ- ments for the new business (i.e., market, people, technology, and money risk). The second section of the book focuses on get- ting funded. In a further six chapters, the topics treated cover valuation, the business plan, presenting, negotiation, and due dili- gence. Appended materials include checklists, sample agreements, and re- sources for entrepreneurs. Highly recom- mended for collections serving business communities or graduate students.— J.L.C. History Americana in German Archives: A Guide to Primary Sources concerning the History of the United Sates and Canada. Ed. Christof Mauch. Refer- ence Guides of the German Historical Institute, No. 12. Washington, D.C.: German Historical Institute, 2001. 317p. Free from the Institute. LC 2001- 1375973. This is a list, arranged alphabetically by city, of 223 federal and state as well as city, district, church, and private archives that have significant holdings relating to the United States and Canada. Based on ques- tionnaires sent to the archives, supple- mented by other research, the entries pro- vide the address, hours, contact information (including Web addresses, when available), and a brief description of the relevant holdings. Most of the records are related to German emigration to the United States and Canada, and a significant number deal with political re- Selected Reference Books of 2001 189 lations between the United States and Germany. The guide is also available on the Institute’s Web site (www.ghi-dc.org); the editors hope to be able to add informa- tion and update the holdings online. This is a very good introductory guide for his- torians dealing with German–American relations.—M.C. Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History. Eds. Mary Kupiec Cayton and Peter W. Williams. New York: Charles Scribner ’s Sons, 2001. 3v. $325 (ISBN 0-684-80561-8). LCCN 01- 020005. This handsomely designed three-volume set, part of Scribner ’s American Civiliza- tion series, aims to present the ever- changing character and rich variety of American thought and expression” (Introd.) from the 1600s to the present. Using the “reference essay,” a more thor- ough examination of a topic than found in the usual encyclopedia, each signed, article-length entry is accompanied by black-and-white illustrations, sidebars, cross-references, and an extensive bibli- ography. A chronology in volume I puts cultural/intellectual events in their his- torical/political context. The first eight sections are arranged as a chronological survey of early America to the present. The remaining nine sec- tions take a more conceptual approach, covering broad themes such as cultural groups; the pursuit and exchange of knowledge; and arts and cultural expres- sion, to name a few. Each section begins with an overview essay followed by ten to fifteen individual essays per section. Topics covered range from the black church to manhood to realism in art and literature to countercultural visions. Taken as a whole, this work covers an enormous amount of multidisciplinary material. With more than 220 essays in its three volumes, it succeeds admirably in its breadth of coverage. An alphabetical table of contents in addition to the chro- nological one and a well-organized index provide easy access points to the infor- mation. The entries are readable, informa- tive, and scholarly, and the lengthy list of contributors includes an impressive cadre of historians, scholars, and museum cu- rators. A valuable resource for understanding cultural and intellectual issues, ideas, movements, and institutions in their his- torical context, this encyclopedia will be a worthwhile addition to academic refer- ence collections.—A.M. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Ed. André Vauchez, in association with Barrie Dobson and Michael Lapidge. English trans. Adrian Walford. Cam- bridge, Eng.: James Clarke and Co., 2000. 2 v. (1,624p.) il. $285 (ISBN 0-227- 67931-8). Medieval Archaeology: An Encyclopedia. Ed. Pam J. Crabtree. New York, Lon- don: Garland, 2001. 426p. il. $135 (ISBN 0-8153-1286-5). LCCN 00- 056156. Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia. Ed. John M. Jeep. New York, London: Gar- land, 2001. 928p. il. $175 (ISBN 0-8240- 7644-3). LCCN 00-045471. The advance of networked electronic in- formation must inevitably have an impact on the publishing of reference sources. The ubiquity, speed, power, and flexibil- ity of online information tools are, in many areas, a serious challenge to older print formats. For strictly bibliographic tools, the effects of that challenge are al- ready evident. A search of the OCLC da- tabase for books containing the words bib- liography or bibliographic in their titles suggests a steady decline in numbers during the past two decades, with 3,607 such works listed with a publication date of 1980, 2,526 for 1990, and just 740 for the year 2000. One might expect to see a similar pattern with such “look-up” tools as dictionaries and encyclopedias. How- ever, the OCLC record shows print dic- tionaries more or less holding their own, with 1,403 book titles containing the word dictionary in 1980, 1,836 in 1990, and 1,610 in 2000. The advantages of an online for- mat notwithstanding, it would appear 190 College & Research Libraries March 2002 that the more frequent and regular usage to which dictionaries (as opposed to bib- liographic tools) are put, and the conse- quent need to have them close at hand at all times, is what makes the difference: Clearly, individual readers’ workspaces are still far from being fully integrated into the networked environment, and reading from screens is still much far less comfortable than from a printed page. In the case of encyclopedias, surpris- ingly, quite the opposite trend can be ob- served, with a marked rise in the number of books containing the words encyclope- dia or encyclopaedia in their titles, from 541 in 1980 to 867 in 1990 and 1,305 in 2000. Those figures do square with a more im- pressionistic sense that the number of “encyclopedias” available for selection by reference departments has surged consid- erably in recent years. Although a num- ber of explanations might be offered to account for this continued vigor of the print format here—frequent personal use, a larger, more specialized academic com- munity, or the appearance of new fields of, and approaches to, scholarly re- search—it would also appear that the cri- teria and standards for what constitutes an “encyclopedia” are growing somewhat looser. Traditionally, the term encyclopedia has suggested some degree of comprehen- siveness and systematization in the treat- ment of knowledge or a particular disci- pline. The user of such a work, seeking to acquaint him- or herself with an unfa- miliar topic, would expect to be able to find a basic introduction to that question here, ideally pointing the way to further research and information. Not surpris- ingly, the creation of a new publication of this classic type has often been a slow, even frustratingly slow, process. On the other hand, the rapid production of a large number of such tools increases the likelihood that the product will be less a comprehensive treatment than a large selection of informational articles relating to a given field, an interesting and instruc- tive introduction to the topic, perhaps, but less useful as a reference tool. The three works discussed here can serve to illustrate this broader trend. The first of these, Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, does, in fact, represent an important new contribution to the English-language reference literature on this subject. It is the English version of a work produced first in French, as Dictionnaire encyclopédique du moyen âge (Paris: Cerf, 1997) and then in Italian, as Dizionario enciclopedico del medioevo (Rome: Citta Nuova, 1998–1999). Each step in that process has seen the addition of new articles to provide fuller coverage, first of the Italian and then of the British medieval experience. The En- glish version has added bibliographic in- formation as well. The scope of coverage here is genu- inely encyclopedic, with more than 3,000 brief articles on persons, countries, cities, regions, social groups, events, institu- tions, dynasties and families, languages, literatures and literary genres, sacraments and rituals, artifacts and regalia, artistic styles and movements, theological and in- tellectual issues, iconographic and sym- bolic themes, and so on and so forth, writ- ten by nearly 600 specialists from a wide range of specialists, primarily from Eu- ropean institutions, but with some repre- sentatives of American academia as well. Each article ends with a brief list of key bibliographic references. There is good coverage of Eastern as well as Western Europe, and articles on general topics tend to include a comparative survey of Western and Byzantine practice. The pri- mary emphasis is on Christian society (in- cluding the churches of the non-Byzan- tine East), but there is basic coverage of Jewish and Muslim issues as well. The breadth of topical coverage is reminiscent of such larger works as the thirteen-vol- ume Dictionary of the Middle Ages (DA148) or ten-volume Lexikon des Mittelalters (DA150), and indeed it was one of the aims of the editors to produce a more con- cise work of similar character that could be acquired by individual scholars as well as libraries. Simple, but useful, maps are available on the inside covers of both vol- umes; and tables of rulers, a list of con- Selected Reference Books of 2001 191 tributors, and an index round out the work at the end. Unquestionably, this is a work that many medievalists will want to acquire for their own collections, as will any reference library supporting research in history. The other two works under review here focus on narrower fields, medieval Germany and medieval archaeology, both certainly worthy of encyclopedic treat- ment. The complexities of Germany in the Middle Ages, with its fast and fragmented array of political, social, and cultural in- stitutions and formations, almost defy synthetic treatment or even definition. A reference tool capable of orienting English language to the bewildering range of poli- tics, characters, events, and institutions she or he is likely to encounter in the study of this area would be a most wel- come addition to the literature. Likewise, as the editor and contributors to Medieval Archaeology suggest, medieval archaeol- ogy has not heretofore received the atten- tion it deserves. Moreover, the data of this field differ sufficiently in character from those of the traditional historical studies to warrant a systematic presentation of its own. Certainly, both Medieval Germany and Medieval Archaeology contain a great deal of interesting and helpful material about their respective areas of coverage, writ- ten by established specialists in the field. However, I would argue that, in certain respects, they do not fully live up either to the promise of their titles, at least not as reference tools. With well over 700 articles by academic specialists, most of them from American institutions, Medieval Germany does con- tain a wealth of information, along with citations to current scholarly literature. Moreover, most of it is material that a user of, say, the Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages would not find covered in a broader-rang- ing work. The problem really is that the work delivers both more and less than what the title might initially suggest to the average reader. More, because there is a great deal here not only on Germany, but also on the Netherlands, an area that was certainly part of the medieval Ger- man empire (although a contemporary English-language reader might not expect to find such information here), less, be- cause the range of topics covered is far more narrowly focused than the label “Medieval Germany” suggests. The intro- duction does hint at this narrower scope by indicating that this is “an introduction to the society and culture of German- and Dutch-speaking Europe from approxi- mately 500 C.E. to 1500.” In fact, however, this is really a survey of cultural topics, with only selected material on social and political issues. There is a host of articles on art and artists, literature and writers, education, and language. Entries for in- dividual German cities devote ample space to the architectural monuments of the Middle Ages they contain. There is really very little on social issues per se— the nobility and peasantry are disposed of collectively in a one-and-a-half-page article, and there does not appear to be any synthetic survey of the towns and their social classes. Moreover, political and historical topics seem chosen almost at random, with virtually no articles on the principalities of the empire, for ex- ample, and only selected surveys of rul- ing dynasties (nothing on the Wittelsbachs, for example, or even on the Habsburgs). Likewise, although biogra- phies of some important rulers are in- cluded, others, such as Ludwig the Ba- varian or Sigismund Luxemburg, are mysteriously omitted. Likewise, although articles are devoted to some historical events and developments, such as the Battle of Lechfeld or the Investiture Con- troversy, others of equal significance, such as the Councils of Constance or Basel or the Hussite movement, are passed over. As a result, a reader looking to this vol- ume for general reference help with the complexities of medieval Germany is likely to come away disappointed. At the same time, one looking for information about German culture in that era will find a substantial treatment of those questions. With those caveats in mind, this work can be a useful addition to reference collec- 192 College & Research Libraries March 2002 tions dealing with medieval history, art history, or German studies in general. Medieval Archaeology aims, among other things, to “bring together in one volume the research of a diverse range of scholars who work on a wide variety of archaeological problems” and to “provide the interested reader with a guide to con- temporary research in medieval archae- ology” (Preface). It certainly accomplishes the former goal and probably the latter as well. The 150 or so articles it contains, written by specialists in the field, are in- teresting and informative discussions of work in various countries, individual ar- chaeological sites, and a variety of other issues and topics of relevance. A reader browsing in a leisurely fashion through the text can learn a great deal. Individual articles provide a frequently generous list of current bibliographic references as well. At the same, it appears that this work has not really attained the critical mass of information required for a genu- ine encyclopedia or handbook. Except for the country surveys (which are provided for major West European countries) and some other obvious topics, such as “Den- drochronology,” “Radiocarbon Age De- termination” (with a cross-reference from “Carbon-14 Dating”), “Castles,” “Cem- eteries,” or “Coinage,” it is hard to imag- ine what a reader might expect to be able to find here. For example, there are ar- ticles on some archaeological sites, but the number represents only a small share of the total and the criteria for selection are far from clear—many key sites mentioned in the national surveys, for example, are not given such treatment. In other areas, too, the coverage seems almost arbitrary. Thus, one finds an article on ceramics in the Netherlands, but not in other coun- tries, or an article on ceramic tiles, but not an article on bricks. The lack of a simple alphabetical listing of articles at the be- ginning of the work compounds the look- up problem (although there is a listing of archaeological sites by country, another listing of articles by subject, and an index at the back of the book). Nor is the con- tent consistent in character. Some articles simply discuss the role or manufacture of a particular commodity in the Middle Ages. Others are really discussions of his- torical topics with a couple of passing ref- erences to archaeology. Sadly, too, the work appears to have been incompletely edited. In the course of random brows- ing, this reviewer quickly stumbled upon a misspelling of “Forteviot” as “Fonteviot,” both in a cross-reference heading and in the list of sites by country at the beginning of the book, a curious, repeated misspelling of the Polish word grody as grody (employing a diacritic not used in Polish) in the article on Poland, and a mixing up of identifications on the key to a chart of archaeological remains in the city of Bratislava. And the presence of two articles entitled, respectively, “Ar- chaeology and History” and “History and Archaeology,” while perhaps a charming conceit, does not really lend itself to a ref- erence tool. These difficulties notwithstanding, li- braries collecting in the field of medieval studies will probably want to acquire this work because so little is really available in the way of English-language guide- books on the subject. However, its value as a look-up tool, rather than as a kind of discursive introduction to the topic, is lim- ited. One looks forward to a later, more comprehensive edition that can do full justice to this important field. And one would hope, that in their seeming rush to produce encyclopedic reference tools, publishers, particularly ones of Garland’s stature, will take greater pains in the fu- ture to produce works of genuine refer- ence value, particularly at a time when the advance of online formats has arguably raised the standard of what readers ought to be able to expect from an encyclope- dia.—R.H.S. Kipfer, Barbara Ann. Encyclopedic Dictio- nary of Archaeology. New York: Kluwer/Academic-Plenum, 2000. 708p. $150 (ISBN 0-306-46158-7). LCCN 99-053995. The proliferation of new encyclopedias and dictionaries in the field of archaeol- Selected Reference Books of 2001 193 ogy continues with this short-entry com- pilation of more than 7,000 site, object, and proper name definitions (see also C&RL, Mar. 2001, pp. 189–92). The empha- sis here is directed to the student, layper- son, or professional archaeologist as reader or author. Although the primary work of locating, collecting, sorting, iden- tifying, and classifying artifacts found in the physical environment is acknowl- edged, it is “ the writing up and present- ing [of] the data and the reconstruction based on that data” (Pref.) that form the main purposes for the choice of entries. Definitions cover terms specific to the discipline, such as dating, excavation, ma- terial culture, and landscape evaluation but also make use of related terms from an- thropology, computer science, botany, de- mography, economics, geography, geol- ogy, mathematics, pathology, statistics, sur- veying, physics, biology, and chemistry. Place names are by far the most numer- ous and worldwide in scope, “with an entry for every site that has contributed uniquely to the essential body of infor- mation on which the current major clas- sifications and interpretations of prehis- tory are based—and for major artifact types and major cultures and their phases and subdivisions.” Personal names are included but are relatively few and lim- ited mostly to the usual well-known West- ern archaeologists of the last 200 years and to ancient rulers. A special feature of this work is a time line of writing and archaeological deci- pherment from 60,000 B.C. till the twenty- first century, what the compilers term “the most glamorous achievements of schol- arship” in this field. More standard fea- tures include a bibliography, a list of ab- breviations, and a supplementary list of sites an terms. Although there are no il- lustrations, this is a useful reference for both the browser and the serious re- searcher, well bound and clearly pre- sented.—B.S-A. La grande enciclopedia di Roma: personaggi, curiosità, monumenti, storia, arte e folclore della Città Eterna dalle origini al Duemila. Ed. Claudio Rendina. Roma: Newton & Compton, 2000. 1,377p. il. L140.000 (ISBN 88-8289-316-2). LCCN 20- 01363528. This one-volume encyclopedia covers his- tory, people, monuments, sites, art, and folklore of the city of Rome from its ori- gin to 2,000. Articles are accompanied by monochrome illustrations, mostly archi- tecture and portraits, and color reproduc- tions of landscape paintings. In the people category, included are not only longtime residents of the city such as historical fig- ures of ancient Rome, popes, and artists based in Rome, but also famous visitors such as Goethe, Wagner, Cervantes, and Stendhal. Even a brief stay and negative reaction to the place by Leopardi is noted. Appendixes offer lists of Roman proverbs arranged by subject and Roman idiom- atic expressions. One of the useful features of the book is its grouping of sites under a theme. For example, “mosaici” describes a number of sites with mosaics giving dates and brief explanation. “Madonnelle” will take you to roadside shrines dedicated to the Madonna in various areas of the city and includes an extensive list of shrines with addresses, dates of creation, and types of image. The encyclopedia is pleasant to browse and useful to consult. This would be a good addition to a library that serves Ital- ian-speaking patrons who are interested in Italian history, art, and architecture as well as folklore.—J.S. Oxford Companion to Military History. Ed. Richard Holmes. Oxford , N.Y.: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2001. 1,048p. il. $60 (ISBN 0-19-866209-2). LCCN 20- 01273896. The new addition to the long line of Ox- ford Companions is a handy encyclope- dia on military history. In recent years, military history in its new version is evi- dent in scholarly congresses, journals, and Web sites. It would not be surprising to see a resurgence of interest in military his- tory from new perspectives among the 194 College & Research Libraries March 2002 general readership, especially when we are in the midst of waging a very uncon- ventional war with mostly conventional weapons. This encyclopedia of military history covers wide and far in terms of both geography and time period. It in- cludes the Peloponnesian wars down to the Gulf war and offers good coverage of the world beyond Europe and North America. The Mongol art of war and the Maneuver of Genghis Khan are discussed along with Clausewitz and the siege of Jerusalem (1099). The team of eight edi- tors includes not only the specialists of war studies, but also historians of ancient Greece, medieval Europe, Japan, and the Islamic East. The book aims to offer “a source of de- pendable information, thoughtful assess- ment for intelligent general readers of many kinds,” but also “a reliable and quick reference for scholars in this par- ticular field and its related disciplines” (Introd.). Articles are readable and well cross-referenced to give some unity and perspective to the topic. A good index refers the reader to topics not among head topics, but discussed in other articles. Articles are initialized, and many are ac- companied with a brief bibliography, map, or illustration. It includes many so- cial history topics such as women and homosexuals in the military, religion and war, pacifism, etc. Friends of animals would be delighted by the entry for “Ani- mals and the Military” that recounts, among other things, the adventure of Simon the cat, “the only British cat to be awarded a posthumous decoration for gallantry” (p. 59). It is also interesting to see that the editors allowed some indi- viduality to articles, and everything is not bland and neutral like some encyclope- dias; try entries on some controversial characters. The main emphasis of this encyclope- dia is on land warfare; naval warfare and aerial combats are less extensively treated. For example, Alfred Thayer Mahan is mentioned in Naval Power but does not have a head article, whereas Mackinderk, a proponent of the “heartland” geopoli- tics, is assigned a head article. Anglo–Af- ghan Wars (1838–1919) are discussed in a medium-length article, but the Soviet in- volvement in Afghanistan (1979–1989) is only referred to fleetingly in an article on the Russian Army. Kalashnikovs appear under the creator ’s name, but the stinger missile is very discreetly embedded in the article on missiles under the category of surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and it is not even in the index. Another limitation of this otherwise excellent encyclopedia is that it discusses nuclear weapons, but not biological warfare. Recommended for all types of libraries.—J.S. Schulz, Rima, and Adele Hast. Women Building Chicago 1790–1900: A Bio- graphical Dictionary. Bloomington: In- diana Univ. Pr., 2001. 1,088p. il. $75 (ISBN 0-253-33852-2). LCCN 00- 058162. This is my candidate for the best refer- ence book of the year, and not only be- cause I hail from Chicago. It is an excel- lent dictionary and, courtesy of two NEH grants, also a great bargain. The 423 signed entries, which profile women who died before December 31, 1990, are very well researched and writ- ten. Each entry lists sources, including manuscripts, published writings, inter- views, and secondary works. There are black-and-white photographs through- out, as well as a section of color plates, mostly reproducing paintings by Chicago artists. A substantial introductory essay provides a historical survey and discus- sion of the roles women played in the his- tory of Chicago. There is a comprehen- sive subject index as well as lists of en- tries by year of birth. With more than a thousand pages, this is a major reference work and is recommended for all librar- ies with strong collections in American history.—S.S.W. New Editions The Dictionary of German Biography (DGB), edited by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (Munich: Saur, 2001. To be in ten volumes. $2,100), is a direct translation of Selected Reference Books of 2001 195 the Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopadie (DBE. 1995–2000), with a few additions (e.g., a glossary). When complete, its 59,000 entries will cover “historical fig- ures whose influences were considerable and far-reaching” (Editor’s foreword). Each entry consists of a name with variants, personal data, and biographical and bib- liographical references. The Neue deutsche Biographie (AH210), still in progress, does overlap with the DGB, but when both cover a person, the NDB has a longer en- try. Both are useful. Elaine T. Partnow’s Quotable Women: The First 5,000 Years (N.Y.: Facts on File, 2001. 974p. $113) is the revised and updated edition of the 4th edition, 1992 (BE111). Now in alphabetical order, the 3,667 women treated include 952 non-English speakers (with the quotations given in English). The volume ends with four in- dexes: biographical (name with dates and identifying phrase); ethnicity and nation- ality; subject; and careers and occupation. A second edition of Artists & Writers Colonies: Retreats, Residencies, and Respites for the Creative Mind (Portland, Ore.: Blue Heron Publ., 2000. 330p. $19.95) offers descriptions and detailed information about more than 260 programs currently available in the U.S. and abroad. Sensi- bly arranged, well researched, and inter- spersed with personal narratives from participants, this useful book includes residency, retreat, fellowship, and grant opportunities for architects, writers, art- ists, performers, composers, journalists, and scholars. Listings are grouped by geographic region with an appendix ar- ranged by genre.—A.M. The Concise Oxford Companion to Cana- dian Literature, edited by William Toye (Don Mills: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2001. 529p. $49.95) is not a true abridgment of the second edition of the Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, also edited by Toye (1997. 1st ed. BE833). Yes, there is a reduc- tion in the number of entries and gone are most survey articles (except Aborigi- nal literature, Exploration literature, and Writing in New France), critical bibliog- raphies (though biographies are noted), and Francophone authors who do not have at least one title in English transla- tion, but added are sixty-one new entries for writers and subjects with the cut-off date of 2000. The work still lacks an in- dex, and there are few cross-references. The entries for the second edition of the Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, Joel Krieger, ed-in-chief (N.Y.: Ox- ford Univ. Pr., 2001. xxxi, 1018p. $79.95) have been rethought. “The first edition took shape in 1989…as democratic ideals swept away authoritarian regimes in most of the world” (1993. CJ29). “As the new century unfolds, conflict and squa- lor … vie with equally democratic ac- counts of the widening circle of opportu- nities associated with a liberal political order and the global” (Pref.). The Oxford Companion hopes “to provide a compre- hensive guide to international relations and national democratic politics” through 672 articles from 500 contributors from 40 countries. The articles include twenty- three interpretive essays (ethnicity, glo- balization, country articles, and biogra- phies) and six paired views on affirma- tive action, the UN, future of entitlements, censorship, limits of liberal democracy, sustainable development). This edition ends with a good index and cross-refer- ences. The Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Na- tions to the 10th edition has grown to six volumes (Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. For- merly published by Worldmark Pr. CJ35): The UN, Africa, The Americas, Asia and Oceanic, Europe, World leaders. Now in- cluding 200 articles, the publisher states that every government was asked for their assistance. The world leaders vol- ume treats 193 “heads of nation’s govern- ment and bears primary responsibility for the country’s policy” (note to the 10 the ed.). National Party Conventions (Washing- ton, D.C.: CQ, 2001. 297p. 5th ed. 1831– 1988. CJ265) updates to 1831–2000 taking in the Bush–Gore election. There is a new chapter on the origins and development of presidential primaries. The bibliogra- phy is a good starting point for under- 196 College & Research Libraries March 2002 standing the nominating process and the conventions. The volume ends with a comprehensive index. Volume I of Everett Jenkins’s Pan-Afri- can Chronology: A Comprehensive Reference to the Black Quest for Freedom in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia 1400–1863 (1996), with the second volume covering 1865–1915 (1998). This third volume, Pan African III, treats 1914–1929 (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2000. 628p. $75), World War I, the “great awakening… the corol- lary development of baseball and cricket in the Caribbean, … literary and cultural contribution of the artists of the era, … in depth exploration of the careers of W.E.B. Dubois and Marcus Garvey” (Introd.). Most of the information in the chronol- ogy is from secondary sources, but much attention has been given to corrections and updates. The sixth edition of British Electoral Facts, compiled by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000. 313p. $60), now covers 1832—1999, with most of the statistics taken from the 5th edition (1989. CJ364, which covers 1832–1987, edited by F.W.S. Craig who compiled all the previous editions). This volume gives such tables as regional vot- ing patterns since 1955, election and by- election results since the Great Reform Act, including the European Parliamen- tary elections. Public opinion data are considerably expanded. There is a listing of tables omitted from the 6th edition (e.g., candidate expenses 1837–1880 and analy- sis of constituencies 1832–1917).