College and Research Libraries


Adkinson's. prognostications for the future, 
and Warren Haas' statement of common 
needs deserve reading. One new note was 
added to this conference by the insertion 
of one whole section on Negro Research 
Libraries. The picture of resources present-
ly found in black research libraries was 
cogently developed by Jean-Anne South 
and others. 

Although no earth-shaking effects have 
been achieved by this or its predecessor 
conference, a third is in planning and the 
cumulative effect may be important. These 
meetings do assure continued communica-
tion, and in our harried world this is an 
achievement not to be discounted.-]er-
rold Orne, University of North Carolina. 

Robert H. Muller, Theodore Jurgen Spahn, 
and Janet M. Spahn. From Radical Left 
to Extreme Right. 2d. v.l. Ann Arbor, 
Mich.: Campus Publishers, 1970. 

The present book is a revised and ex-
panded edition of Robert Muller's 1967 
book of the same title. It is a bibliographic 
guide to current periodicals of .. protest, 
controversy, advocacy, or dissent. . . ." 
(Title page) 

The authors classified about 400 fringe 
publications into nineteen groupings each 
of which constitutes a separate chapter. 
Some of the groupings fell along the usual 
two-dimensional continuum as being .. Rad-
ical Left," "Marxist-Socialist Left," "Conser-
vative," and "Anti-Communist." However 
minimal use was made of this device which, 
as the authors note, often does more to 
cloud issues than to clarify them. Other 
groupings were more precise and topic-
?.riente~; "E.g.=. "Ci~il Right~;" .. "Sex," 
Peace, ServiCemen s Papers, Under-

ground," "Race Supremacist," .. UFO's," 
and "Miscellaneous." Each chapter has a 
brief signed preface, usually written by 
Muller. 

For each periodical title included, in-
formation is given as to address, cost, pub-
lishing history, circulation, format, and an 
indication of which issues were examined 
by the reviewer. Following this information 
appears a one-half to several page signed 
review of the publication's content. 

Each review includes the reviewer's ob-
servations about the periodical's particular 

Recent Publications I 245 

area ( s) of concern, its basic editorial pol-
icies toward those issues, special features, 
typical advertising accepted, regular con-
tributors, columnists, cartoonists, etc. The 
name of the publisher is usually stated. A 
t;ypical review also includes a variety of 
quotations which are intended to be repre-
sentative of the editorial attitudes, quality 
of writing, types of issues covered, and the 
general flavor of the issues. The reviewers 
avoided making value judgments about 
the publications-no recommendations were 
made pro or con. The intention was to let 
the reviewers' observations and the selected 
quotations speak for themselves. 

Proofs of each review were sent to the 
editor of the respective periodical for com-
ment. The editor's comments are included 
in the "Feedback" section of each review. 
In the cases where changes were made in 
the original review at the request of an 
editor, the reviewer noted the change in 
the "Feedback." 

Most of the feedback was positive, al-
though a few editors availed themselves 
of this opportunity to further espouse their 
position while condemning the reviewer as 
being the victim of one or another con-
spiracies or indoctrinations. 

Two indexes are provided. The first is 
geographical by state and then by locality. 
The only information given in this index 
is the title of each periodical published in 
that location; no page numbers are given. 
The second index is by title, both present 
and former. An effort is made also to in-
dex the names of editors and publishers. 
The latter could be particularly helpful in 
answering reference questions about the 
publication activities of groups not listed 
in the standard directories. The authors also 
index each title by basic editorial attitudes 
such as male chauvinism, firearms control, 
minority rights, etc., thus providing a spe-
cific topical approach to what are basically 
topical publications. 

Most librarians considering this book for 
their collection will be asking themselves 
how subscribing to such publications would 
enrich their library collection, if at all. 
These librarians are referred to Muller's 
introductory essay in which he discusses 
the pro's and con's of investing part of a 
library's resources for polemic publications. 
Most of Muller's thoughts are pro as might 



246 I College & Research Libraries • May 1972 

be expected in a book designed to help 
facilitate the use of such publications. He 
raises some very worthy, albeit not star-
tlingly new, questions regarding standards 
for acquisition. Can traditional standards 
of book selection be applied in these cases? 
He asks: "How important, after all, is the 
style in which an opinion is expressed? 
What if a viewpoint be printed on poor 
paper, with bad typography, many errors 
in spelling, inelegant language, and much 
profanity?" (P. xxii, xxiii). But bad style is 
not so much the concern as are seemingly 
libelous statements, intentional deceit, faulty 
reasoning, and a desire to appeal to man's 
hatreds. What place does this material 
have, in libraries, and under what circum-
stances? Should libraries collect only "qual-
ity" publications, or should they also 
strive to represent all gamuts of thought 
even if it means lowering their standards 
of selection? 

Any library desirous of building any sort 
of collection of fringe publications will un-
doubtedly need to carefully scrutinize its 
selection policies. As to locating these ma-
terials, selecting the "better" ones, and 
maintaining a balance within this collec-
tion, this bibliographic guide should be of 
the utmost help. Alternative Press Index 
(Radical Research Center, Carleton Col-
lege, Northfield, MN 55057) should help 
the librarian make at least some of these 
publications more readily usable. The re-
viewers note if a given title appears in 
this index. The question of whether one 
feels a need for such a collection or has 
the available resources is, of course, an in-
dividual one. But even for those libraries 
which do not wish to actively subscribe to 
these polemic publications, the guide can 
be a useful tool in handling gift subscrip-
tions, patrons' requests for new subscrip-
tions, and in general reference service. It 
also makes fascinating browsing. 

The book appears to have been care-
fully researched and even though, accord-
ing to Muller, " ... few [reviewers]-if 
any-were conservatives," the reviews and 
the selection of material reviewed seemed 
objective. Unfortunately, the book is al-
ready somewhat dated since the most re-
cent issues examined are from 1969 ,and 
in many cases from a year or two earlier. 
Due to the transient nature of many of 

these publications, the time factor is of spe-
cial importance.-Willis M. Hubbard, Eu-
reka College, Eureka, Illinois. 

Lowell, Mildred Hawksworth. The Man-
agement of Libraries and Information 
Centers, v.4: Role Playing and Other 
Management Cases. Metuchen, N.J., 
Scarecrow Press, 1971. 420p. 

Volume four of Dr. Lowell's series is in-
tended to provide a simulated library ex-
perience through the use of role playing 
case studies. She defines role playing as 
~he "flexible acting out of various types of 
mterpersonal problems in a permissive 
group atmosphere; it involves action, doing 
and practice." It is part of the decision-
~aking process .. The case study technique 
IS not new and IS the special orientation of 
volumes one through three, but role play-
ing~ while it has been used in library edu-
cation, has not been afforded equal time 
in the literature. Lowell has contributed a 
?reat dea! merely by defining role playing, 
mventorymg the many uses of role playing 
and its nonlibrary origins, comparing a role 
case study and a standard case study, and 
finally providing an extensive bibliography. 

Another objective of the volume is to 
provide role playing cases. While cases in 
the previous volumes could perhaps be 
adapted to role playing, they are not spe-
cifically designed as such and hence are 
not as effectively contrived. As a result 
the cases in volume four are heavily per-
sonne!-or~ented, although some planning, 
orgaruzatwn, and controlling cases are in-
cluded as well. The latter are designed to 
supplement the earlier volumes. 

To the reviewer who has approached 
the case study technique with some scep-
ticism as a teaching device, and who has 
used the earlier volumes as a text base for 
management courses with only fair suc-
cess, this fourth volume appears as a val-
uable addition to the set and a "star" in its 
own right. The work is carefully researched, 
well documented, and organized, and does 
not belabor the obvious. The cases and 
roles are well designed, interesting to read, 
and exciting to consider. The cases appear 
smoother technically than the earlier ones 
which is perhaps the result of being tai-
lored for role playing. The preponderance 

J