College and Research Libraries Grosch, University of Minnesota, Min- neapolis. Townley, Helen M. Systems Analysis for Information Retrieval. Institute of Infor- mation Scientists Monograph Series. A Grafton Book Boulder, Colo.: Westview P,ress; London: Andre Deutsch, 1978. 121p. $13.50. ISBN 0-233-96920-9. Exactly how does one go about designing and implementing an information retrieval system for a particular organization? What are the various options that the designers and programmers must choose among? How does it all work? One can get a pretty good feeling for the answers to these questions from this very readable little book of about ninety pages (plus a few appendixes). The author has almost twenty years of ex- perience designing and implementing in- formation retrieval systems. In her book she has interspersed little gems of wisdom only that experience can give. These range from the seemingly trivial "never make a note of anything without dating it" to the key ob- servation that the system is likely to veer off course, or flounder entirely. Hence the statement of project goals "is to be the most important single document . . . for obtain- ing (and keeping!) backing for the project and for keeping control of the evolving sys- tem as it comes into being." It is refreshing to read someone who realizes that systems analysis is very subjec- tive, "partly technique and partly flair." Townley realizes that there are numerous designs that can result from analysis and that we will create and destroy dozens of such seemingly clear-cut things as record specifications before we settle on one to actually implement. In this book we are once again reminded that the job of the analyst is only possible if he or she can get people to talk-and it is important to talk to all levels of workers and to more than one at each level. Townley takes great pains to demonstrate to us exactly how dumb the computer is (without going through the boring details of binary number systems!). By providing clear and concise descriptions of the concepts of files, records, and fields, as well as several major file and field addressing techniques, we can begin to get a picture of how sophis- Recent Publications I 89 ticated systems are built out of simple ele- ments. The illustrations of computer search- ing techniques (such as Boolean logic) bring out the work that computers do in informa- tion retrieval systems in order to perform their amazing feats. The author's final word of warning is something that we are only now beginning to appreciate: "It must not be forgotten that the computer based service will not save labour: it will only permit more work to re- sult from the same effort. Management must never underestimate the manpower and time that will be required to keep the new system working." In short, this is a very down-to-earth and practical book on systems analysis for infor- mation retrieval, filled with good advice to those who are about to embark on projects in this field.-Stephen M. Silberstein, Uni- versity of California, Berkeley. Smith, Lynn S. A Practical Approach to Se- rials Cataloging. Foundations in Library and Information Science, volume 2. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 1978. Heritage on Microfilnt Rare and out-of-print titles and documents on 35mm silver halide microfilm. • French Books before 1601 • Scandinavian Culture • 18th Century English Literature • Victorian Fiction • Literature of Folklore • Hispanic Culture Send for catalog and title information today. GENEW\L MICROFilM COMP~Y 100 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139 Tel. (617) 864-2820 90 I College & Research Libraries • January 1979 424p. $32.50. LC 77-25282. ISBN 0-89232-007-9. A Practical Approach to Serials Catalog- ing ostensibly aims to teach librarians how to catalog a serial, but for a number of rea- sons the text is not geared for instruction. The author has covered everything that might conceivably fall within the scope of serial cataloging and as a result has high- lighted the problems without offering work- able solutions. Through emphasis on cover- age, organization and brevity have suffered. The future cataloger is not guided logically through the stages required to create a catalog entry, and the rambling text makes it difficult to extract the portions on the practical aspects of cataloging. Of the eighteen chapters, only about eleven are concerned with the construction of a serial catalog entry. Basic cataloging tools and reference works essential to the cataloger are not mentioned in the opening portion of the text, nor is searching. Almost at once the reader is plunged into a discus- sion of serial entry, which focuses on rule six of the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (AACR). When the discussion reaches AACR 6B1, the reader is not informed that only certain categories of material are cov- ered by this rule, and that the exception ac- companying the rule relates only to these categories. The chapter on title changes discusses the pros and cons of earliest, latest, and succes- sive entry cataloging without adequately identifying the major differences between the cataloging entries. Large portions of chapter seven of AACR have been reproduced in the chapter on de- scriptive cataloging, but revised chapter six is rarely even cited. Yet rules from both of these chapters are followed when transcrib- ing bibliographic data onto the catalog en- try. Often the author claims the rules in chapter seven are obvious, but history has proved otherwise, for catalogers have been subjected to endless interpretations. Al- though she recommends practices and procedures that violate the AACR in this chapter and elsewhere in the text, she often does not make it clear that they are nonstandard. Selection of the title page, which is cru- cial to accurate bibliographic description, is mentioned briefly on page 97 in the chapter on descriptive cataloging. The author dis- misses the subject because the majority of serials do not have title pages. The majority of periodical issues are published without title pages, but not the majority of serials. And even if her observation were true, the cataloger still has to know how to select a title page or a title page substitute. This er- roneous statement is one of many that are made, particularly when the author embarks upon a discussion of serial cataloging at the Library of Congress. Unfortunately, the impact of automation on serials cataloging in the past couple of years has dated the book prior to publica- tion. For example, cooperative on-line cataloging, a result of the CONSER Project, is not mentioned. An unusual and admirable feature of the book is the emphasis on the relation be- tween technical and public service. Al- though excellent indexes and useful lists ac- company the text, there is no glossary of cataloging and bibliographic terms. In fact, the author gives little attention to defining the library terms she uses. Regretfully, for all of the above reasons, the text fails in its main purpose, to teach the basic principles of serial cataloging.- Judith P. Cannan, Washington, D.C. ABSTRACTS The following abstracts are based on those prepared by the ERIC Clearinghouse on In- formation Resources, School of Education, Syracuse University. Documents with an ED number here may be ordered in either microfiche (MF) or paper copy (HC) from the ERIC Docu- ment Reproduction Servic~, P.O. Box 190, Arlington, VA 22210. Orders should include ED number, specify format desired, and in- clude payment for document and postage. Further information on ordering docu- ments and on current postage charges may be obtained from a recent issue of Re- sources in Education. Planning Information Services in the Lib- eral Arts College Library. By Richard E. Miller and Bruce Morton. 1977. 27p. ED 154 780. MF -$0.83; HC-$2.06.