Reviews.indd 280 College & Research Libraries censorship of such works was minimal; it was only when secular authorities felt it necessary to protect the morality of an increasingly literate citizenry that anti- obscenity laws and decisions appear in significantly greater number.” Bosmajian covers the various aspects involved in cat- egorizing a book as obscene or immoral and demonstrates how language was employed to determine the ultimate fate of the book and sometimes the author. This book is a great resource for anyone interested in studying the act of book burning across the world and throughout the centuries. Bosmajian has done an ex- cellent job of gathering information from external resources and brings the content together in a concise historical account of book-burning rituals. Additionally, the author approaches this subject in a unique fashion by dividing the burned into broad categories of types of books and lead- ing the reader through a chronological history of each category. Furthermore, Bosmajian’s knowledge and research regarding the types of metaphorical language associated with book-burning rituals is superb. Besides having a usable index, this book also contains an extensive bibliography. I would recommend this book for anyone in the book business or higher education, to book lovers, and to the book burners themselves!—Katie Nash, Elon University. Frank, David John, and Jay Gabler. Re- constructing the University: Worldwide Shifts in Academia in the 20th Century. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2006. 248p. alk. paper, $19.95 (paper); $50 (cloth) (ISBN 0804753768; 080475375X). LC 2006-6596. A December 2006 story in the Web- based news outlet Inside Higher Educa- tion describes a “divisive semester ” at the University of Florida with which many of us would be familiar: budget deficits, administrative turnover, and mournful laments about a pervasive lack of commitment to the study of the humanities.1 May 2007 There is a widespread sentiment in institutions of higher education across the United States that the humanities are in decline. In the decade since the publica- tion of What’s Happened to the Humanities? (1997), this sentiment has found expres- sion in cleverly titled works such as Who Killed Shakespeare? (2001) and Bonfi re of the Humanities (2001), which decry the meager funding and institutional support accorded to scholars and students in fields such as English Literature, Philosophy, and Classics. The problem with works such as these, argue Frank and Gabler, is that they are based largely on anecdotal evidence and rhetorical fl ourish. They articulate a broad set of concerns about perceived changes in the academic cur- riculum in recent decades, but they pro- vide little hard evidence regarding the extent of these changes. Other studies of curriculum history, they continue, while more measured in tone, rarely extend beyond the study of the evolution of a single discipline or field. Put simply: How much do we really know about the ways in which the academic curriculum has changed during the 20th century, and how might we go about gathering evidence about curricular change in ways that transcend the limits of the current literature? In a study of impressive scope, Frank and Gabler aim to answer these questions through an analysis of trends in faculty demographics and course composition from institutions around the world. What were the specifi c differences in the degree programs offered at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in 1930 and those offered at the same institution in 2005? Or, what were the changes in the composition of the faculty in British Commonwealth universities between 1915 and 1995 by disciplinary affiliation? From primary source data such as these, the authors construct a complex argument about the history and philosophy of the academic curriculum and about the ways in which changes in prevailing percep- tions of reality affect the distribution of courses offered, the profile of faculty hired, and the ways in which academic institutions are structured. And how has the curriculum changed during the past 100 years? The details of their argument cannot be eff ectively summarized in a review of this length, but there are some very basic conclusions at which the authors arrive that may, in themselves, serve to attract the reader. As most anecdotal evidence would sug- gest, the “relative emphasis allott ed to teaching and research in the humanities sharply declined during [the twentieth century].” The beneficiary of this change in focus, however, was not the natural sciences, but the social sciences, whose growth during the period in question is described as “spectacular.” As significant as the decline of the humanities was the decline in emphasis on “basic” disciplin- ary fields such as philosophy, chemistry, and economics, in favor of “applied” fields, including law, civil engineering, and management. The rise of the social sciences and the rise of applied academic disciplines—these are the preeminent sto- ries of the changing academic landscape in the twentieth century. The authors dedicate one chapter each to changes over time in the broadly de- fined fields of the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences. They also dedicate a chapter to the study of the discipline of history, which, they argue, is the one most likely to be continually shaped (and reshaped) by changing per- ceptions of what is “reality.” The result is a complex work that will be of interest to scholars in many fields, as well as to any critics of higher education who wish to embrace a more thoughtful view of the reasons behind curriculum change than some we have seen in the past.—Scott Walter, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. 1. Elizabeth Redden, “Divisive Semester at Florida” Inside Higher Ed (Dec. 4, 2006). Available online from http://insidehighered. com/news/2006/12/04/uf. Book Reviews 281 Groen, Frances K. Access to Medical Knowledge: Libraries, Digitization, and the Public Good. Lanham, Md.: Scare- crow, 2007. 281p. alk. paper, $55 (ISBN 0810852721). LC 2006-20465. Since the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury, the field of medical librarianship has evolved dramatically, gaining momentum in the midst of political and social influ- ences throughout the world. In this book, Groen successfully presents the history and development of medical librarianship in genuinely interesting and informative detail, spanning from the early 1900s to the present day. In addition, she depicts the struggles and challenges that medical librarians have had to face and how cur- rent values in the profession have been shaped through overcoming adversity. Although not every important event in such a large time frame could be included, this book does discuss the major events that most influenced the development of medical librarianship. As an expert in the field of medical librarianship, Groen has been immersed in research on libraries for several decades. Her main purpose in writing this book, as stated in the first sentence of the preface, is “to understand why librarians … make the choices and develop the services that they do.” Her purpose is clearly achieved, as powerful influences from wars, politics, and society have contributed greatly to the choices and services offered by medical libraries. The result is that medical librarianship has become a stronger profession and, due to improvements in technology, will continue to grow and develop. The book is well organized, and the order of the chapters flows nicely. In the preface, the author explains why medical librarianship is important to her, both personally and professionally. The brief introduction delightfully describes the author’s personal experiences with using libraries and how her interest in research- ing them developed. The main portion of the book is divided into four parts, most of which consist of several chapters. Part I provides a general background on