College and Research Libraries safe-deposit b u i l d i n g s a n d became i n t e r e s t e d in a t t r a c t i n g readers a n d h a v i n g t h e i r ma- terials easily accessible to all users. L i b r a r - ians in t h e M i d d l e East c o n s e q u e n t l y be- came aware of t h e necessity of a s t a n d a r d cataloging code a n d m o d e r n library practices. M a n y a t t e m p t s at s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n of cata- loging m e t h o d s were m a d e , b u t n o t h i n g ap- p e a r e d i n p r i n t except a n article by L a b i b Zuwiyya e n t i t l e d " A r a b i c C a t a l o g i n g : a Criticism of t h e P r e s e n t R u l e s " which dis- cussed f o r m of e n t r y of A r a b i c p e r s o n a l au- t h o r s (Library Resources and Technical Services, W i n t e r 1957). T h e p u b l i c a t i o n of D r . Sharify's book is t h e first c o m p l e t e work of this n a t u r e . Al- t h o u g h it is l i m i t e d to I r a n i a n works, cata- logers of A r a b i c m a t e r i a l will find it most useful a n d i n f o r m a t i v e . T h e n u m e r o u s p r o b l e m s involved in cata- loging M i d d l e Eastern m a t e r i a l , especially in t h e v e r n a c u l a r , have b e e n a source of m a n y worries to libraries w i t h such collections. As D r . Sharify p o i n t s out, because of t h e lack of rules f o r descriptive cataloging of Persian m a t e r i a l , a n d a s t a n d a r d Persian t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n scheme, t h e r e are in t h e U n i t e d States m a n y libraries whose Persian collections have n o t yet b e e n cataloged at all. Now, w i t h t h e g r o w i n g interest in N e a r a n d M i d d l e Eastern Studies o n the p a r t of universities a n d o t h e r institutions, libraries can n o longer afford to ignore these collec- tions. Dr. Sharify's library e x p e r i e n c e a n d back- g r o u n d have m a d e h i m t h o r o u g h l y knowl- e d g e a b l e of p r o b l e m s c o n f r o n t i n g catalogers of Persian m a t e r i a l in t h e M i d d l e East a n d in t h e W e s t e r n w o r l d . I n I r a n , his h o m e country, he was d e p u t y d i r e c t o r of t h e Li- b r a r y of t h e P a r l i a m e n t . I n t h e U n i t e d States h e s t u d i e d at t h e School of L i b r a r y Service of C o l u m b i a University a n d received his Master of Science degree a n d his doctoral degree f r o m t h a t i n s t i t u t i o n . H e also worked w i t h t h e L i b r a r y of Congress cataloging Per- sian m a t e r i a l . T h e cataloger will find in D r . Sharify's book a d e t a i l e d a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e tool. A f t e r discussing the existing systems of t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n a n d t h e i r shortcomings, he r e c o m m e n d s t h e system which h e h e l p e d to d e v e l o p w h e n he was o n t h e staff at the Li- b r a r y of Congress. T h a t system—a table of t r a n s l i t e r a t i o n w i t h rules f o r a p p l i c a t i o n — is set f o r t h . H e also treats such controversial p r o b l e m s as I r a n i a n p e r s o n a l n a m e s (which p a r t of the n a m e s h o u l d be used as t h e e n t r y word?), giving in a n a p p e n d i x a list of aids to catalogers f o r the establishment of entries. T h e last two c h a p t e r s are devoted to a discussion of the c u r r e n t cataloging practices of a few N o r t h A m e r i c a n libraries — t h e i r sample cards a n d rules f o r descrip- tions. Catalogers will find m a n y excellent p o i n t e r s . — F l o r a R. Jones, United Nations Library. Electronic Computers Electronic Computers: Principles and Appli- cations. By T . E. Ivall. I^ew York: Philo- sophical Library, 1960. 263p. $15.00. I n t h e relatively few years t h a t electronic c o m p u t e r s have b e e n loosed u p o n the l a n d they have h a d a r e v o l u t i o n a r y i m p a c t on m a n y p r o b l e m s of i n f o r m a t i o n processing. T h e i r i m p a c t u p o n libraries, which must be considered a m o n g t h e p r i m a r y i n f o r m a t i o n h a n d l i n g agencies of t h e world, has b e e n only slight, however. I n a few instances this slight d i s t u r b a n c e has b e e n m o r e of an un- n e r v i n g f o r a short p e r i o d of time as a n occasional l i b r a r i a n has a p p r o a c h e d t h e p r o b l e m of l e a r n i n g m o r e a b o u t c o m p u t e r s a n d h o w they m i g h t be a p p l i e d to library o p e r a t i o n s . Most p r o b a b l y these l i b r a r i a n s h a v e b e e n t u r n e d away because of u n i n t e l l i - gible technical p r e s e n t a t i o n s , or all-too-in- telligible r e p o r t s of lack of economic justifi- c a t i o n f o r the use of c o m p u t e r s in libraries. Most librarians, however, have p r o b a b l y ig- n o r e d c o m p u t e r s as library e q u i p m e n t . C o m p u t e r s are finding some use in infor- m a t i o n systems, as is shown in t h e recently p u b l i s h e d N a t i o n a l Science F o u n d a t i o n sur- veys o n n o n c o n v e n t i o n a l technical i n f o r m a - t i o n systems in c u r r e n t use. A glance at t h e array of i m p o s i n g n a m e s of scientific a n d in- d u s t r i a l firms w h e r e i n most of these n o n c o n - v e n t i o n a l systems have b e e n installed, a n d at t h e d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e c o n t e n t s of infor- m a t i o n h a n d l e d by t h e system, has p r o b a b l y c o n f i r m e d m a n y l i b r a r i a n s ' beliefs t h a t , a f t e r all, c o m p u t e r s in i n f o r m a t i o n systems are limited to a few high-powered, n a t i o n a l l y ur- gent, narrowly defined scientific a n d techni- S E P T E M B E R 1 9 6 0 425 cal subject areas s u p p o r t e d by vast amounts of research funds. Also, the lack of publicity for any use of electronic computers in other library operations (e.g. circulation proce- dures, which in c o m p u t e r terms can be de- fined as inventory control systems a n d hence within the province of computer capabili- ties) may lead one to believe that electronic computers are useful only in i n f o r m a t i o n storage a n d retrieval work. T h e r e are probably some librarians, how- ever, whose consciences may tweak them oc- casionally with the feeling that p e r h a p s they are doing their library systems an injustice by not exploring more earnestly the field of computers a n d computer application to h i t h e r t o tradition-bound library operations. (These pangs of conscience usually come im- mediately after a p a t r o n , a professor, a col- lege president, or a research director tosses off a casual " W h a t you need here instead of a card catalog is a computer.") A glance at the title, the statement of potential reader- ship (people about to become involved in some specialized aspect of c o m p u t i n g either as users or as electronic designers), the photographs, a n d the largely nonmathemati- cal approach of Ivall's book will u n d o u b t - edly catch the eyes of some of these li- brarians. Here, they might hope, will be a clear expose which will allow them to under- stand computers a n d will open the door to a reasonable a p p r o a c h to the decisions in- volved in d e t e r m i n i n g the applicability of electronic computers to library operations. T h i s is not the book for them though. First of all, Ivall assumes the reader will have a g r o u n d i n g in electronic or radio tech- niques. T h i s will exclude most librarians. Secondly, the book is devoted largely to a presentation of why an electronic c o m p u t e r computes, a n d this is not the k i n d of infor- mation which the potential library user of computers needs. Ivall gets a start on some of the vital questions for librarians in his chapters on the applications of analogue a n d digital computers, b u t his accounts are de- scriptive a n d not analytical. It takes great ingenuity a n d considerable inference to carry over i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m the descriptions in the book to the field of librarianship, and this is what many librarian readers may t u r n to books like this to avoid. W h a t we still need in librarianship is a statement of the f u n d a m e n t a l factors that go into the deci- sion as to when a n d where to introduce a computer i n t o an operation, a n d guidance in the reasoning a b o u t these f u n d a m e n t a l factors in library terms. W h a t the book does, it does very well. Ivall has revised the first edition of the book, which was originally a g r o u p of chapters by various authors, to produce a more uni- formly p r e p a r e d text. H e has added very i m p o r t a n t chapters on analogue c o m p u t i n g circuits, digital computer programming, a n d recent technical developments. T h e presen- tation is built u p piece by piece in a most logical fashion, moving f r o m the general characteristics of electronic circuits to the specific relationship of circuits in a system which will compute, store, a n d actuate in- formation read-out components. T h e book handles the nonelectronic parts of electronic computer systems well also. T h e book can be read rapidly, but must be read carefully. After all, computers are complicated mecha- nisms. T h e careful reader will find himself asking questions a b o u t various statements in the book only to find that these very ques- tions are almost immediately answered in the next p a r a g r a p h or the next chapter. T h e a u t h o r states that nontechnical peo- ple will probably be able to manage certain chapters, particularly those relating to the evolution a n d general principles of comput- ing, the applications of analogue a n d digital computers, a n d the chapter on computers of the f u t u r e . While they may be able to read the words in these chapters, many of the terms used or concepts referred to will be completely without m e a n i n g unless the reader knows a n d u n d e r s t a n d s what has been said in the u n r e a d chapters. For example, in the discussion of the use of electronic com- puters in the translation of languages, Ivall states that the words to be translated would all have to be coded into the form of binary numbers a n d all the foreign-language words likely to be required stored in one set of ad- dresses while their English equivalents are stored in a n o t h e r set of addresses. Coding into binary n u m b e r s a n d "addressing" words for storage in a computer are all q u i t e well explained in odier chapters of the book, b u t what visions will terms such as these c o n j u r u p on the minds of even the most knowl- edgable person who has not seen them dealt with in computer terms. Even in the second chapter, "General 426 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S Principles of C o m p u t i n g , " which Ivall claims in his i n t r o d u c t i o n is w r i t t e n in such excel- lent expository style t h a t it w o u l d be pre- s u m p t u o u s to change it f r o m the presenta- tion of the first edition, there are some so- phisticated technical elements. I n o n e p a r t of this c h a p t e r it is stated t h a t an electron t u b e is initially biased beyond cut-off. T h e a u t h o r also refers to the characteristic curve of a v a c u u m t u b e a n d the fact that the curve is curved a n d n o t straight. T h e style is ex- pository, b u t the l a n g u a g e is h a r d l y intelli- gible to a person n o t f a m i l i a r with the tech- nical o p e r a t i o n s of a v a c u u m t u b e . I n fact, this language will probably be q u i t e puzzling to some readers. Seamstresses c u t o n the bias all the time, a n d of course, if a curve is a curve, it isn't straight! IMPORTANT! ENGLISH-CHINESE DICTIONARY: Romanized, by J A M E S C. QUO. Nearly 1 0 , 0 0 0 useful words and expressions m a k e this book an invaluable guide for all students of m o d e r n Chinese. 232 pps., 3 " x 5 1 / / ' $2.00 THE NOH DRAMA: Ten Plays from the J a p a - nese, selected and translated by the S P E C I A L J A P A N E S E CLASSICS T R A N S L A T I O N C O M M I T T E E , f r o m the great cultural period of medieval Japan. 192 pps., 10 plates, 7l/2" x 10" $4.75 NETSUKE: J a p a n e s e Miniature Sculptures, by F . M. JONAS. O u t of print for some years, this book is again being issued for students, collec- tors, m u s e u m s and admirers of the artistry of N e t s u k e . 314 pps., 6 " x 8!/2", 55 plates $5.00 DON J U A N OF CHINA: A n Amour from the Chinese "Chin P'ing M e i , " translated by SAM- U E L B U C K . A M i n g Period Classic. 99 pps., 9" x 6", printed in two colors $3.75 CHARLES E. TUTTLE COMPANY Publishers RUTLAND, VERMONT • T O K Y O , J A P A N T h e first edition of this book was very well received in G r e a t Britain in 1956, and was r e p r i n t e d in 1957. T h i s second edition will u n d o u b t e d l y be well received, at least by b e g i n n i n g s t u d e n t s of electronic com- p u t e r design. It is a s u p e r b first assignment for these people. P r o b a b l y the most distress- ing factor to p o t e n t i a l American readers will be the price of the American edition. I n view of the British price f o r the first a n d second editions of $3.50, a n d of the British Book Center's price f o r the first edition of $4.25, the American publisher's price of the c u r r e n t edition of $15 is outrageous. T h e book is g o o d — b u t the i n f o r m a t i o n in it just isn't w o r t h that m u c h to a n y o n e . — R u s s e l l Shank, University of California Library, Berkeley. O T T O H A R R A S S O W I T Z L I B R A R Y A G E N C Y W I E S B A D E N • G E R M A N Y Direct service on all German language books and periodicals * Orders and inquiries are invited on both new and out-of-print material * Tarmington plan agent for West and East Germany * For economy, speed, and accuracy, you may rely upon your German agent O T T O H A R R A S S O W I T Z