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location of copies of unpublished Masters' 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latter are now out of date, information of 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