College and Research Libraries BOOK REVIEWS Auerbach on Microfilm Readers/ Printers. Philadelphia, Pa.: Auerbach Publishers, 1972. 128 p. $19.95. Rapid advances in computer and micro- form technology have encouraged a new class of publication-the technical report issued by commercial firms specializing in the analysis of technical information. This type of technical report sometimes appears as "near print" and is usually available only through a subscription service. Auerbach's Computer Technology Reports constitute a highly successful, respected series of docu- ments upon which the title being reviewed is based. Occasionally a series of such re- ports, if properly rewritten and edited, forms the basis for a significant monograph in a special area. It seems to this reviewer that in this particular instance the publisher lost an opportunity to create an informa- tive, readable monograph from revised technical reports. The result is an incoher- ent mishmash lacking in continuity and whose justification is extremely fragile. . According to the book jacket, Auerbach on Microfilm Readers/Printers is "an ex- pansion of material from Auerbach's Com- puter Technology Reports, prepared and edited by the publisher's staff of EDP ex- perts." The preface goes on to state that the book is intended for "all who use micro- film." Unfortunately, the lay reader who is expecting to find enlightenment on the sub- ject of this book will be disappointed. For authoritative and accurate information, especially for library applications, he should turn to Library Technology Reports. Nine chapters deal with image rotation, variable magnification, wall projection, portability, automated retrieval, and related subjects. Parts of each chapter are also de- voted to the mechanical and optical operat- ing principles of a variety of viewers in- tended for flat film and roll film. Most of the chapters are too brief to contain any Gritical information. The chapter on port- able readers contains exactly two pages of text, that on external projectors only one Recent Publications and a half pages, and that on image ro- tators less than two pages. Despite the title of the book, only one chapter containing thirteen pages actually deals with reader/ printers. And this short chapter deals with only two of them, the discontinued DASA Mark 18 and the 3M 400 series. The book presupposes substantial techni- cal knowledge (or interest) on the part of the reader. For example, pages 40-43 deal with wiper switches, potentiometers, plano- convex and double-convex lenses, and the dove prism. The complexity of the techni- cal writing is illustrated by the following extract on the operation of the dove prism: Now consider an arrow pointing into the paper at right angles to the lower arrow and intersecting it at its midpoint. This ar- row is shown on Figure 6-2 as a dot, which represents its intersection with the plane of the paper. The ray from its mid- point will coincide with the corresponding ray from the other arrow, the ray from the point of the arrow will run parallel to it below the plane of the paper, and the ray from the tail of the arrow will run parallel to it above the plane of the paper. There- fore, this arrow will appear unchanged in direction when viewed through the dove prism. The considerations of the preceding para- graph demonstrate a significant property of dove prisms: Object lines perpendicular to the base surface of the prism will ap- pear to be rotated 180 degrees by the prism, whereas object lines parallel to sur- face will not appear to be rotated. It fol- lows that if a dove prism is rotated above an object, the object will appear to rotate; therefore, the dove prism in the Recordak Motormatic reader causes the image to ro- - tate. One would hope that technical terminol- ogy with which the book abounds would be explained in a glossary. Indeed there is a glossary, but many of the terms in the glossary do not even appear in the text, and those that are needed are often not in the glossary! It is surprising to this reviewer that arrangements were not made to use ap- propriate terms from the National Micro- film Association's Glossary of Micrograph- ics, a 1971 industry standard based upon I 55 56 f College & Research Libraries • January 1974 four earlier editions published over the course of a decade. About one third of the book is made up of charts comparing selected features of ninety-two pieces of equipment. These charts are sometimes incomplete; for in- stance in eighteen cases the type of con- struction employed for the equipment is ei- ther not stated or is "not known." The text erroneously states that Library Resources, Inc. is the manufacturer of a high magnification lap reader. Library Re- sources, Inc., does market such a viewer, but it is manufactured by Technicolor. One wonders how valid can be the pub- lisher's claim that "the material in this vol- ume has been updated prior to publication and is as current as possible." Despite the fact that Library Resources, Inc. has mounted a very substantial and heavily publicized development and marketing pro- gram for its Microbook® ultrafiche (En- cyclopedia Britannica's Library of Civiliza- tion) , nowhere in the book is this contribu- tion to ultrafiche technology even men- tioned. The editors lead the readers to be- lieve that NCR's PCMI system is virtually the sole representative of the ultrafiche technique. Auerbach on Microfilm Readers/Printers contains numerous schematic and photo- graphic illustrations, but, relative to equip- ment, is almost completely lacking in eval- uative comments on ease of use, durability of construction or simplicity of servicing. As for user requirements, little is said about the suitability of equipment for a given ap- plication. There is no bibliography and no mention of the NMA' s Guide to M icroreproduction Equipment. A weak conclusion summarizes the usual "advantages" of microform-com- pactness, lightness, and cheapness-without renewing and reemphasizing microform's stated dependence upon adequate indexing or bibliographic control systems. As for 35mm roll microforms likely to be found in libraries, no viewers suitable for this type of material are described in signifi- cant detail. Conspicuously absent is the dis- continued-but widely installed-Recordak MPE. Information Design's library viewer, the Model 16/35, appears only in the com- parative charts. Auerbach could have performed a real service for readers (human, that is) by put- ting together a chapter summarizing the human and design problems associated with building microform viewers. At least in this way, the lay reader could have come to ap- preciate the optical and mechanical limita- tions which have thus far prevented the de- sign, construction and marketing of greatly improved viewers. Auerbach on Microform Readers/Printers may be readable and un- derstandable by the microform systems en- gineers, the systems analyst, or the man- ager of a data processing installation. The book may be suitable for technical libraries of micrographic equipment manufacturers, but its general utility is doubtful. Not rec- ommended for the college or university li- brary.-Allen B. Veaner, Assistant Director for Bibliographic Operations, Stanford Uni- versity Libraries. Stueart, Robert D. The Area Specialist Bib- liographer: An Inquiry into His Role. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1972. 152p. The development of the area specialist bibliographer since World War II repre- sents a major new direction for academic librarianship in this country, and in this study Mr. Stueart attempts to learn some- thing about this phenomenon. Bibliogra- phers, their backgrounds and their roles, are examined, as they are perceived by themselves and by others. The study is based largely on responses to 362 questionnaires which were sent to area specialist bibliographers, library ad- ministrators, and faculty members who are teaching in area study programs in ARL institutions. The questions relate to the bib- liographers' preparation for their assign- ments and the respondents' notions of pre- cisely what their functions should include. In the matter of preparation, nothing significant is learned, except that the back- grounds and training of the bibliographers who responded vary greatly, and they seem to bear no relationship whatever to what faculty and library administrators feel is necessary in the way of background. Respondents were given a list of tasks which were assumed to be associated with bibliographers' responsibilities and were