College and Research Libraries 186 I College & Research Libraries • March 1976 the category commentaries are relevant and to the point. Because the selection of titles is very limited, many basic reference tools which sci-tech librarians use constantly are not in- cluded. Two titles for conference literature and five for technical reports seem rather skimpy. A much more comprehensive treat- ment of the literature with extensive lists is Dennis Grogan's Science and Technolo- gy: . An Introduction to the Literature (2d ed., Shoe String Press, 1973). The author deserves the thanks of uni- versity science and engineering librarians for having covered many fine points of the subject. The index could have been expand- ed somewhat. The print is rather small and margins narrow, making reading for any length of time difficult.-Johanna E. Tall- man, Director of Libraries, California In- stitute of Technology, Pasadena. Norton, Margaret Cross. Norton on Ar- chives: The Writings of Margaret Cross Norton on Archival & Records Manage- ment. Edited with an introduction by Thornton W. Mitchell. Foreword by Ernst Posner. Carbondale and Edwards- ville: Southern Illinois Univ. Pr., 1975. 288p. $10.00 (LC 75-20410) (ISBN 0- 8093-0738-3) Margaret Cross Norton served as Illinois State Archivist from 1922 to 1957. During those thirty-five years she contributed to the formulation of archival procedures, policy, and philosophy at the state as well as na- tional level due to her active participation in many of the professional associations. She is especially known for her position against allowing the historians to preempt the field of archival care and preservation and asserted, rather, that archives manage- ment was entitled to full public support and thus complete public-oriented service. However, her writings consisted mainly of journal articles that appeared between 1930 and 1956 in American Archivist, Illinois Li- braries, and a number of lesser-known pub- lications. The purpose of this volume is to bring together those articles into one com- prehensive work representative of Norton's thought on archives. ,...,. The articles have not been reprinted by chronological or subject order. Rather, thir- teen chapters were created, each based on at least two or more related articles. The editorial work is outstanding. Despite some repetition (pages 214-15 and 237-38 on micrographics, for example), T. W. Mitch- " ell has organized and made coherent a pre- sentation of some thirty articles written over a twenty-six-year period. This formida- ble task is successful largely because of his severe criteria for inclusion, format, and style which he imposed on the various ar- ticles. Bibliographic notes and index extend ~ the usefulness of the volume. The contents of this work emphasize "the timelessness of her understanding of the philosophical as well as the technical as- pects of the archivist's work." The chapters on the scope and function of archives; the purpose and nature of archives; and the services and resources of archives contain stimulating thought and are as relevant to- day as when she wrote them-especially in light of the current controversy surround- ing the status of presidential tapes. But other chapters which are of a technical or procedural nature, such as photographic and micrographic reproduction of records, records disposal, and the handling and re- pair of fragile documents, present a treat- ment that is obviously dated, less useful, and sometimes misleading. The lesson be- ing that there is a limit as to how relevant an editor can make writings that are ten to twenty-five years old. <- There is nothing new in this volume for the harried archives manager looking for better or more efficient operating proce- dures. Standard works by Theodore Schel- lenberg or the recent issue of Drexel Li- brary Quarterly (Jan. 1975) will retain their spaces on the archivist's bookshelves. ~,o~ Yet, there is much food for thought in this volume, and the archivist or records man- ager who still takes an interest in and has a concern for understanding the nature and use of archives and their value to society will surely benefit from reading the crisp and clear thoughts of Margaret Cross Nor- ton.-Charles R. McClure, Graduate School of Library Service, Rutgers University.