College and Research Libraries


442 I College & Research Libraries • September 1977 

The Librarian and Reference Service. Se-
lected by Arthur Ray Rowland. Contribu-
tions to Library Literature. Hamden, 
Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1977. 281p. 
$12.50. LC 76-500~2. ISBN 0-208-
01600-7. 
This is the author's second compilation 

of articles relating to reference. The first, 
Reference Services, contained selections 
from the professional literature from 1930 
to 1960. The present volume carries articles 
from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s. 

There is a tendency to consider such col-
lections the sole property of library school 
students, but this may be unfair; and the 
practicing librarian will do well to consider 
the miscellany of reference librarianship to 
be found between these covers. 

The articles, written by persons familiar 
to readers of major library journals, are 
grouped into three broad parts centering 
generally around ( 1) definitions, ( 2) direc-
tions, and ( 3) desiderata of reference. In 
his introduction, the compiler states his aim 
to collect "the best writings on reference 
service" during the given time period. Cer-
tainly, he has produced a representative 
collection including thirty-three articles on 
a wide range of contemporary concerns 
from the fundamental to the esoteric, the 
the:netical to the practical, the central to 
the peripheral. 

To this reader one of the better selections 
perhaps best reflecting the spirit of the vol-
ume is Elvin E. Strowd's "Reader's Services 
-One and All," in which the author refers 
to all librarians as essentially "reference" 
librarians, since the product of our efforts 
is the enlightened reader. But other articles 
will appeal to the particular interests of 
practicing or prospective librarians. For ex-
ample, there is automation in Jesse Shera' s 
"Automation and the Reference Librarian" 
or interpersonal relationships in Helen M. 
Gothbery' s "Communication Patterns in Li-
brary Reference and Information Service" 
or policy-making in Mary Jo Lynch's "Aca-
demic Library Reference Policy Statement." 

The one omission of this and other col-
lections of this type which would have been 
useful is an introductory abstract with a 
biographical sketch of the author. A simple 
subject index also would have been useful 
since many of the articles touch on subjects 

hidden in their general titles. There is, how-
ever, a list of contributors and an author-
title index as well as an extensive bibliogra-
phy of related articles from the same time 
period. Although lacking subject divisions, 
this reading list should prove valuable.-
James F. Parks,. ]r., Head Librarian, Mill-
saps-Wilson Library, Millsaps College, 
Jackson, Mississippi. 

Gerulaitis, Leonardas Vytautas. Printing 
and Publishing in Fifteenth-Century 
Venice. Chicago: American Library 
Assn.; London: Mansell Information/ 
Publishing Ltd., 1976. 190p. $25.00. LC 
73-21703. ISBN 0~8389-0126-3 ALA; 0-
7201-0628-1 Mansell. 

Behind the humanistic title of this work 
lies a sociological study which explores . the 
degree to which humanism penetrated the 
social fabric of the time. The study goes be-
yond the incunable period in time and be-
yond the confines of the Venetian Republic 
to prove the premise that publishing in 
Venice was fairly free from government in-
terference on one hand and private patron-
age on the other so that the books 
published represent the true taste of the 
audience which is the middle class society. 

Employing Venetian archives as extract-
ed by Rinaldo Fulin and published in the 
Archivio veneto, the author analyzes the 
economic and technological background, 
monopoly, and censorship practices, both 
civil and ecclesiastical. Of special interest 
to him are the various kinds of privileges 
granted by the governme~t of Venice from 
the latter part of the fifteenth century 
through 1517 when all previously granted 
privileges were abrogated and remedial leg-
islation was enacted. The decrees issued are 
examined and systematized, setting forth 
the legal thinking on the subject of privi-
leges at that time. 

A chapter of considerable length is de-
voted to content analysis of the works printed 
in Venice and-for comparison-another 
which sorts the contents of books printed 
in Florence, Bologna, and Nuremberg. 
These two chapters contain tables and sta-
tistics on the basis of which the author re-
flects on the interests of the audience at-
tracted by these early published works and