College and Research Libraries


62 I College & Research Libraries • January 1977 

Librarians, cultural historians, and for-
eign relations specialists will find the book 
informative and very useful. Librarians who 
call for isolationism should read this book 
with an open mind. It is a good analysis of 
the way we were: compassionate, loving, 
and very helpful.-Mohammed M. Aman, 
Dean, Palmer Graduate Library School, 
C. W. J' ost Center, Long Island U niversi-
ty, New York. 

Halsey, Richard Sweeney. Classical Music 
Recordings for Home and Library. Chi-
cago: American Library Assn., 1976. 
340p. $15.00. (LC 75-40205) (ISBN 0-
8389-0188-3) 
This is a rather peculiar work both in its 

intentions and its realization. The author 
states that "its chief purpose is to ease the 
way for those who want to build, enlarge 
or upgrade their collections .... Although 
nostalgic humanists may deplore the cal-
culated intervention of the recording studio, 
the public and the art of music benefit. This 
guide has been prepared to promote the 
widest possible distribution of that benefit 
to listeners of all ages" (p.vii). 

How Mr. Halsey goes about his stated 
purposes is what constitutes the oddity. 
The book is divided into six main sections 
(excluding the glossary of audio terms and 
the title and subject-proper name-composer 
indices) : ( 1) music, education, and record-
ings; ( 2) the "collection"; ( 3) reviews; ( 4) 
buying sound recordings; ( 5) classification, 
cataloging, and care of sound recordings; 
and ( 6) equipment and environments for 
listening. Except for section two, the work 
is in narrative form and is excellent from 
the standpoint of brjnging together a 
plethora of information into one handbook. 

The title of the work, however, suggests 
that it is section two which is of primary 
importance and it is precisely this section 
which is weak. Basically, it is comprised of 
two large listings: a composer-title list 
(subdivided into ten categories essentially 
by musical genre or form, and arranged 
within each category alphabetically by 
composer and then title) and a manufactur-
er's catalog number-performer list. Mr. Hal-
sey has assigned each item in the first list 
a distinctive "guide number" by means of 
which one may locate all of the titles on a 

disc identified in the second list. 
Further, each entry in the composer-title 

list is given three coded ratings: ( 1) min-
imum age level (broken down to adult, sec-
ondary, and elementary); ( 2) aesthetic sig-
nificance (a five point scale, 1 indicating 
"a masterpiece," 5 "flawed or insubstan-
tial") ; and ( 3) access (another five point 
scale, 1 being a work which "commands at-
tention" while 5 denotes an "austere, eso-
teric" work. These indications tend to be 
quite subjective and, often, capricious, Mr. 
Halsey's assertions notwithstanding (e.g., 
the Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 has an 
aesthetic significance of 1 while the Sibeli-
us Third Symphony rates a 4 and Stravin-
sky's Fire bird is given a 3) . 

This, plus the lack of important informa-
tion (e.g., names of orchestras and, fre-
quently, key performers and record labels 
are omitted), the approximation of playing 
times, the massive number of items cov-
ered (over 4,000 compositions), and the 
sheer cumbersomeness of the. unwieldy ar-
rangement extirpate any usefulness section 
two might have offered. 

In fine, the work can be recommended 
only for the portion excluding section two, 
and recommended only for those who do 
not own works treating the subjects herein 
cared for in greater depth.-Kenyon C. 
Rosenberg, Assistant Director, University 
Libraries, Kent State University, Kent, 
Ohio. · 

Patterson, Maureen L. P.; and Yan.uck, 
Martin, eds. South Asian Library Re-
sources in North America. Papers from 
the Boston Conference, 197 4. Committee 
on South Asian Libraries and Documen-
tation of the Association for Asian Stud-
ies. Bibliotheca Asiatica 11. · Zug, Switzer-
land: Inter Documentation Company, 
1975. 362p. $24.00. (ISBN 0-88386-
797-4 US) 

Patterson, Maureen L. P., ed. South Asian 
Library Resources in North America. A 
Survey Prepared for the Boston Confer-
ence, 1974. Committee on South Asian 
Libraries and Documentation of the As-
sociation for Asian Studies. Bibliotheca 
Asiatica 12. Zug, Switzerland: Inter Doc-
umentation Company, 1975. 223p. 
$20.00 (ISBN 0-88386-798-2) (Distrib-