College and Research Libraries


tions of the form of entry and of the 
symbols used are to be found only on 
page xii of the 1 9 3 1 list. 

Although the Carnegie Corporation 
made a grant for this task, M r . Shaw 
absolves it from any faults in the volume 
and assumes more responsibility for it than 
in the previous volume. W e find here no 
impressive advisory group. 

In only a few respects has the plan 
varied. ( 1 ) Whereas the 1 9 3 1 list might 
give a title in several locations, in the 
1940 list this is against the rules. ( 2 ) 
T h e 1940 list omits out-of-print books—an 
unfortunate practice. ( 3 ) " A new fea-
ture of this volume is the citation of 
reviews of most of the titles included"— 
a praiseworthy addition. But the rule to 
omit all comments need not have been 
obeyed so slavishly. F o r instance, on page 
95 could he not have indicated that Story 
began in Vienna in 1 9 3 1 and moved to 
N e w Y o r k , instead of leaving us with 
" N . Y . , Story magazine, inc., 1 9 3 - " ? And 
could not a comment have bridged the 
hiatus between the first two volumes of 
the Dictionary of American Biography 
mentioned in 1 9 3 1 (p. 280) and the Index 
now listed (p. 96) ? Volumes 3-20, 
though published, are not accounted for. 

In spite of these minor omissions, this 
supplementary volume has been prepared 
with fine judgment and is highly recom-
mended.—John G. Barrow, Berea Col-
lege, Berea, Ky. 

Manual on the Use of State Publications. 
Jerome K . Wilcox, ed. Sponsored by 
the Committee on Public Documents 
of the American Library Association. 
American Library Association, 1940. 
3 4 2 p . $ 6 . 

T H I S IS A BOOK for which there has 
been a long standing need. Those who 

370 

are concerned with the administration and 
use of collections of state documents have 
awaited its publication with interest ever 
since the inception of the editorial plan of 
the manual in 1 9 3 5 . A s evidence of the 
increasing size and complexity of the field 
of state publications and their bibliogra-
phy, it is interesting to note that, whereas 
these subjects received competent treat-
ment by a single individual in the pioneer 
contribution made by Ernest J . Reece in 
1 9 1 5 , it has been the editorial policy of 
the compiler of the new manual to make 
chapter assignments to specialists, among 
them political scientists as well as librar-
ians. Several of these contributions con-
sist of restatements and amplifications 
regarding the nature and use of material 
which has been in existence over a period 
of time, but others describe and define 
forms of state publications which have 
appeared during recent years. 

T h e manual is divided into five parts, 
representing a total of twenty-one chap-
ters. A n examination of the contents of 
the several chapters indicates that the plan 
and structure of the book have been main-
tained without unnecessary duplication 
and overlapping in its several parts. Part 
I deals with the importance, character and 
use of state publications. Part I I is de-
voted to an enumeration and description 
of bibliographical aids. Part I I I furnishes 
essential bibliographical and critical data 
for basic state publications. Part I V is a 
directory of national associations of state 
officers with an account of their publica-
tions. Part V gives information pertain-
ing to the printing and distribution of 
state documents with citations to the stat-
utes which govern these activities. A list 
of tables and a subject index containing 
many cross references and some catch-
word titles facilitate the use of the book. 

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



T h e descriptive tables which are to be 
found in the chapters dealing with state 
departmental reporting are supplied with 
footnotes that contain information con-
cerning variations in frequency and title 
of the publications treated. T h e refer-
ence value of these lists and their accom-
panying footnotes would have been greatly 
enhanced if delimiting dates had been sup-
plied for each table. 

Valuable information concerning the 
location of copies of unpublished Masters' 
essays which treat of state documents is to 
be found in Part I I . Notices of work in 
progress in this field are included in the 
same section. While some portions of the 
latter are now out of date, information of 
this kind is helpful nevertheless. 

T h e method of presentation of the sub-
ject matter throughout the manual iden-
tifies it primarily as a reference aid. As its 
title indicates, the emphasis is on the use 
of the material of which it treats. From 
this aspect, the book is a complete and 
accurate guide within its stated field.— 
Violet Abbott Cabeen, Columbia Univer-
sity, New York. 

Publications of the Government of British 
Columbia 1871-1937; a checklist. 
[Provincial Library and Archives] 
Sydney M . Weston. Kings Printers, 
Victoria, B . C . , 1939. 167P. $2. 
T H I S C H E C K LIST, promised in D r . 

Lamb's address, " T h e Public Documents 
of British Columbia," at the 1938 A . L . A . 
conference, has more than justified ex-
pectations. According to the prefatory 

note it "includes all known official docu-
ments published by the Government of 
the Province of British Columbia from the 
time it entered into Confederation, in 
1 8 7 1 , to 1 9 3 7 . " 

A simple system of arrangement is 
used—executive publications, departments 
(in alphabetical order), boards, commis-
sions, etc., followed by a brief but ade-
quate index and a chart showing the 
organization of the government. Each 
chapter is introduced by a description of 
the history, organization and function of 
the department under discussion. Under 
the department and branch the serials 
are followed by separates, listed alphabeti-
cally. 

M r . Weston has departed from custom-
ary library procedure in several respects. 
T o anyone familiar with the idiosyncrasies 
of British Columbia government publica-
tions, his method—giving author, title, 
date, paging, and edition for every bulletin 
in a series—will seem the most satisfactory 
solution. 

T h e physical make-up of the volume 
demands special recognition. Variation in 
size and kind of type, generous use of 
running titles, and excellent spacing make 
this one of the easiest of tools to use. 

T o D r . Lamb, librarian, and M r . 
Sydney Weston, document clerk, librarians 
and students interested in British Colum-
bia documents are indebted for a valuable 
reference aid which is kept up to date in 
the Ontario Library Review.—Anne M. 
Smith, University of British Columbia, 
T ancouver, Canada. 

SEPT EMBER, 1940 371