ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries J u n e 1 9 9 2 / 4 0 9 A frican A m e ric an B iog­ r a p h ie s : P r o f il e s o f 5 5 8 C u rren t M en a n d W o m en , by W alter L. H aw kins (490 pages, April 1992), sum m a­ rizes the life achievem ents o f African A m ericans w h o have s e r v e d a s r o l e m o d e l s through th eir roles as com ­ m unity leaders, athletes, m u ­ sicians, o r professionals. In­ dividuals w h o d ied in 1968 (the y ear o f th e assassination of Dr. Martin L uther King Jr.) or before are n o t included. Many o f the n am es are familiar, b u t th ere are others w h o se acco m p lish m en ts are n o t w ell k n ow n b u t n o less deserving o f recognition. O c cu p atio n al a n d g e o g ra p h ic a l in d e x e s are provided. T h e cost is $39-95 from McFarland & Co., B ox 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. ISBN 0- 89950-64-X. B io g ra p h ie s o f Scientists fo r Sci-Tech Libraries, e d ite d by T ony S tankus (228 pages, February 1992), d escribes reference w orks that profile th e lives o f fam ous biologists, m athem a­ ticians, co m p u te r scientists, physicists, ch em ­ ists, geologists, bo tan ists, a n d physiologists. Mysteriously tack e d o n at th e e n d o f th e b o o k are a b ibliographic overview o f w orks o n sp e c ­ tra an d spectroscopy, n e w reference b o o k s in science a n d technology, a n d science d atab ase new s. I s u p p o s e th a t’s b e cau se this b o o k is re­ ally vo lu m e 11, n u m b e r 4, o f H aw o rth ’s Sci­ ence & Technology Libraries. Copies are $29.95 each from Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. ISBN 1-56024-214-0. C a re e r O p p o rtu n itie s fo r B ilinguals a n d M u ltilin gu als, by V ladim ir F. W ertsm an (290 pages, 1991), identifies ed u catio n al resources for learning languages o th e r th a n English an d for identifying p ro sp ectiv e A m erican a n d for­ eign em ployers in terested in hiring A m erican professionals a n d p araprofessionals w ith for­ eign language skills. T he b o o k lists m ore than 3,500 an n o tated items (firms, organizations, etc.) covering o v er 300 languages. At th e e n d there is a n extensive an n o ta te d bibliography, an a p ­ pen d ix o n jo b hunting, a n d three indexes— by language, educational a n d occu p atio n al b ack ­ ground, a n d g eo g rap h ic nam e. A co p y m ay b e N e w Publications G e o rg e M . E berhart o r d e r e d fo r $35.00 fro m Scarecrow Press, P.O. Box 4167, M etuchen, NJ 08840. ISBN 0-8108-2439-6. Congregation o f the Con­ d em n ed : V o ic e s a g a in s t t h e D e a th P en a lty , e d ited by Shirley Dicks (290 pages, N o v em b er 19911, featu res w ritings b y d e a th -ro w in ­ m ates, m em bers o f victim s’ families, legal a n d m edical experts, religious a n d politi­ cal figures, journalists, e n ­ tertainers, a n d representatives from social o r­ ganizations. Contributors include Mario Cuomo, E d w a rd K en n ed y , C oretta Scott King, Mike Farrell, T o m W icker, a n d W att Espy. E ditor Shirley Dicks, w h o se so n Jeff is o n T e n n e sse e ’s d e a th row , co n tin u es to w o rk for the overturn o f his conviction an d th e abolishm ent o f the d e a th p en alty in th e U nited States. C opies m ay b e o b ta in e d from P ro m eth eu s B ooks, 700 E. A m herst St., Buffalo, NY 14215. ISBN 0-87975- 679-9. Encyclopedia o f th e E a rly C hurch, edited b y A ngelo Di B erardino (1,130 pages, 2 vols., F ebruary 1992), is a scholarly en cy clo p ed ia o f Christian antiquity th ro u g h th e 8th century. It covers all the p ersonalities in early Christianity from A ugustine an d O rigen to th e m ost obscure b ishops, m artyrs, a n d heretics. A rchaeological, philosophical, linguistic, iconographical, th e o ­ logical, historical, an d geographical topics are c o v ered in d ep th , as w ell as th e relationship b e tw e e n C hristianity an d th e th o u g h t an d p h i­ lo so p h y o f th e p a g a n w orld. T he encyclopedia is a translation an d ex p an sio n o f th e D izio n a rio P atristico e d i A n tic h ită C ristiane p u b lish ed in th e early 1980s. An extensive index, 44 m aps, 320 illustrations, a n d a synoptic table o f secu ­ lar, ecclesiastical, cultural, an d doctrinal events acco m p an y th e text. T h e en cy clo p ed ia costs $175.00 a n d m ay b e o rd e re d from O xford Uni­ versity Press, 200 M adison Ave., N ew York, NY 10016. ISBN 0-19-520892-7. Insuring Library Collections a n d Buildings, SPEC Kit a n d Flyer #178 (148 pages, O ctober 1991), exam ines basic insurance facts that can p ro v id e com parative inform ation to h e lp re- 4 1 0 / C&RL N e w s search libraries develop risk m anagem ent poli­ cies. B ased o n a 1991 survey of ARL libraries, this kit reviews the types o f insurance cover­ age libraries have, valuation providers, insur­ ance valuation, sprinkler systems, an d losses an d problem s experienced by the respondents in the past five years. The kit w as com piled by Marcia J. Myers at the University of T ennessee, Knoxville. Copies are available for $33 00 (ARL m em bers, $22.00) from ARL/OMS, 1527 New H am pshire Ave., N.W., W ashington, DC 20036. ISSN 0160-3582. L ib ra ria n s h ip in W o r ld P ersp ective: S elected W ritings, 1 9 6 3 -1 9 8 9 , by Hwa-Wei Lee (332 pages, D ecem ber 1991), contains 28 papers by Lee describing developm ents in area studies collections, bibliographic control, inter­ national cooperation, international exchanges and internships, library and information services, library autom ation, library developm ent, and library netw orking. Most of the articles feature library issues in East Asia an d Southeast Asia. The papers w ere selected at the urging o f the Library Association o f China (Taiwan), w hich sponsored the b o o k ’s publication. Copies are available for $16.00 from th e Student Book Company, 198 H o-ping East Road, First Sec­ tion, Taipei 10610, Taiwan, Republic of China. ISBN 957-15-0255-3. Nature's Gambit: Child Prodigies and the D e v e lo p m e n t o f H u m an P oten tial, by David H enry Feldm an and Lynn T. Goldsmith (266 pages, 1991), focuses on how the study o f ex­ ceptionally gifted children can illuminate the developm ent o f learning in all children. The a u th o r s s e e c h ild p r o d ig ie s a s a h u m a n evolutional resp o n se to the com plexities of m odern society. The b o o k provides case histo­ ries and w riting sam ples of som e very rem ark­ able young children. It may b e o rd ered for $15.95 from T each ers C ollege P ress, 1234 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027. ISBN 0-8077-3143-9. The People's C hronology, edited by Jam es Träger (1,237 pages, 1992), a revised and u p ­ dated version of the 1979 edition, extends the chronicle o f hum an events through 1991 • The earlier edition has b een the m ost frequently u sed reference b ook in m y hom e library, and this new volum e will soon feel the ravages of heavy thum bing. Random spot-checking re­ vealed very few deletions from th e 1979 vol­ um e (som e m inor business and architectural entries), m any corrections o f previous errors, and m uch tighter editing and condensed ty­ pography to allow for the new material, w hich has not b een confined to the past 12 years. The index has b een vastly im proved and ex­ panded. O f course, an overw helm ing num ber o f facts is n o substitute for a true understand­ ing of history, but if you w ant to get a feeling for the year 1848, for exam ple, there is no bet­ ter place to start. A conventional history b ook covering events in 1848 w ould never give you a clue that in that year gutta percha golf balls came into use, the nam es o f apple varieties began to be standardized, Jam es Russell Lowell w rote “The Vision of Sir Launfal” (“And w hat is so rare as a day in June?”), and the Astor Li­ brary w as founded in New York. O rder at least one copy for $45.00 from Henry Holt and Com­ pany, 115 W. 18th St., New York, NY 10011. ISBN 0-8050-1786-0. P ub lish in g a n d D e v e lo p m e n t in th e T hird W orld, edited by Philip G. Altbach (441 pages, January 1992), stems from papers that w ere com m issioned for an international sem i­ nar o n publishing in the Third World, held at the Rockefeller Centre in Bellagio, Italy, in Feb­ ruary 1991. It features perspectives from 25 Asian an d African publishers and leaders in the field. Selected topics include: “Africa: The Ne­ glected C ontinent,” by H ans M. Zell; “Chal­ lenges and Reality in W est African Publishing,” by Jan Kees van de Werk; “Book D evelopm ent in Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos,” by Sulak Sivaraksa; and “American Book Aid: A Critical Assessment of Two Major Programs of the 1950s-1970s," by Stanley A. Barnett. The cost is $100.00, from K. G. Saur, P.O. Box 31, N ew P ro v id e n c e , NJ 07974-9903- ISBN 1- 873836-40-6. Space Utilization in Music Libraries, com ­ piled by Jam es P. Cassaro (152 pages, March 1992), has b een published as Technical Report num ber 20 by the Music Library Association. The authors o f the papers in this report, w hich is based on MLA’s 1990 Preconference on Space Utilization, address the challenges an d consid­ erations involved in the renovation, reorgani­ zation, and creation o f music library facilities. Copies are available for $30.00 ($24.00 to MLA m em bers) from the Music Library Association, P.O. B ox 487, C anton, MA 02121. ISBN 0- 914954-44-X. ■