College and Research Libraries it is logical to assume that many A & I ser- vices must cover the same journals." The authors question the degree of journal over- lap between services but more importantly seek to establish the extent of journal ar- ticle overlap. Thus their definition of over- lap as a two-level concept: journal and journal article. This report is exactly what its title pur- ports it to be. The journal and journal article overlap among the chosen fourteen abstracting and indexing services are studied and reported in minute detail. The fourteen services are: Nuclear Sci- ence Abstracts, GeoRef, Internatioruil Aero- space Abstracts, Mathematical Reviews, Psychological Abstracts, Meterological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts, Searchable Physics Information Notices, BIOSIS, Chemical Abstracts Service, Engineering Index, INSPEC, Bibliography of Agricul- ture, Index Medicus, and Selected Water Resources Abstracts. Journal literature published in 1973 cov- ered by at least one of the fourteen services constitutes the population for the study. A painstaking and ponderous description of the progression of the study leads the reader through the mathematics and statis- tical methods employed. The tables are excellent and profuse with, in most cases, commendable explanations. The study re- veals that of the approximately 26,000 jour- nals scanned by the services, 5,466 of them had articles included in at least two ser- vices. This figure reflects journal overlap; the individual articles are not necessarily covered by more than one service. Statis- tical treatment of the massive study data allowed the authors to estimate a 23.4 per- cent maximum article overlap fo'f the 5,466 journals. This project, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, Division of Information Contract C875, was completed within the short period of eighteen months. Therein may lie the reason for some of the errors which mar the report. More careful editing perhaps would have eliminated the profusion of typefaces encountered and straightened out the mix-up in page num- bers early in the report. An exception to the commendable explanations of tables is that given for Table 8, "Article Overlap-Ser- vices Perspective." The description, far Recent Publications I 533 from explaining the table, renders it unin- telligible. The appendix contains some of the most interesting information found in the report, namely the comparison of the fourteen ser- vices by the methods of factor analysis and multidimensional scaling ( MDS). Clusters of services in the graphical form, resulting from multidimensional scaling, clearly re- veal similarities of coverage. The study makes no qualitative judgment of overlap. The data are provided, figures for maximum possible article overlap and estimates of actual overlap are given, and the conclusion "overlap is considerably less extensive than was estimated by the re- searchers before the study" is drawn. This information will probably be most useful to the services included in the study. The practical application for academic librari- ans is not readily apparent-Dolores B. Owen, Documents Librarian, University of Southwestern Louisiana Libraries, Lafay- ette. Clinic on Library Applications of Data Pro- cessing, 13th, Champaign, Ill., 1976. The Economics of Library Automation: Pa- pers Presented at the 1976 Clinic on Li- brary Applications of Data Processing, April 25-28, 1976. Edited by J. L. Divil- biss. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, 1977. 164p. $8.00. LC 77-075153. ISBN 0-87845-046-7. ISSN 0069-4789. This volume contains the papers present- ed at the thirteenth annual clinic in a series which has managed to attract recognized authorities on specific topics in the field each year. Contents of this volume are "The Economics of Library Computerization," by Frederick G. Kilgour; "Cost Analysis of Au- tomation in Technical Services," by Ryburn M. Ross; "The Economics of Automated Circulation," by A. Robert Thorson; "Per- formance Measures in Automated Systems Management," by Martha West and Brett Butler; "The "lmpact of Computers on Bogk and Journal Publication," by Hugh Folk; "Cost Analysis and Reporting as a Basis for Decisions," by Douglas S. Price; "The Eco- nomics of Book Catalog Production," by Maurice J. Freedman; "The Economics of Catalog Conversion," by Michael Gorman; "Cost Advantages of Total System Develop- 534 I College & Research Libraries • November 1977 ment," by Velma Veneziano and James S. Aagaard; and "The Economics of Computer Output Media," by S. Michael Malinconico. All of the papers are well written and supported with details, both technical and cost related to the topics that the authors are addressing, with the exception of Kil- gour's, which is really an introductory or keynote paper meant to set the scene for the following presentations. In this re- viewer's opinion Ross' paper, based on the experiences at Cornell University, is one of the best specific case examples to be found in the literature addressing this topic. His statement that "bigger and better com- puters do not mean lower production costs" not only is presently true but increasingly will be the case as improved-performance, lower cost hardware/ software systems be- come more prevalent. Thorson's paper on costs and experiences at Ohio State Univer- sity shows that circulation automation, while an expensive undertaking in development, conversion, and operation, has considerable service benefits which offset these costs. People Serving People! Our greatest assets are the skilled and trained people giving you "Con- cerned Service" - the penonalized service that makes your problems ours. No computer gives you continu- ing errors; our people make sure that you get quick, accurate an- swers. You will find that we give fast service, designed to meet your needs every time. Try the Book House now and see what we mean! Call ·517-849-9361 Collect A The House of Superior JIM, Library Service BOOK HOUSE 208 West Chicago Jonesville, Mich. 49250 The papers by Freedman, Gorman, and Malinconico, all of whom address aspects of catalog production, give an excellent overview of the complexities of the decision process involved in this highly technical as- pect of library operation. With the current trend toward develop- ment of network services and their integra- tion into library operations in a cost effective manner, it is refreshing to have Veneziano and Aagaard chronicle their ex- periences developing the in-house online system at Northwestern University. Their work shows that with a properly managed effort and rather modest in-house funding sophisticated online systems can be oper- ated as well as developed by a large library. Editorial quality of the volume is excel- lent. If one deficiency could be noted, it is purely on the point of the appropriateness to the topic of the paper by Folk. Certain- ly, a paper on the impact of computers on the publishing enterprise is of interest to librarians and can serve as an example from a sister field but is not purely within the context of the economics of library automa- tion which deals with library internal op- erations largely. However, · Folk's paper is an excellent overview from the publisher's viewpoint, and as such it is a valuable addi- tion to the volume, aesthetic judgments being laid aside in favor of technical sub- stance. Those who have acquired past volumes in this series also should acquire this one. Libraries and individuals building collec- tions in the library automation or the cost/ benefits of information systems will derive more benefit from this slim, well-designed collection of papers than the modest price expended in its acquisition.-Audrey N. Grosch, University of Minnesota Libraries. Painter, George D. William Caxton: A Bi- ography. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. 227p. $14.95. LC 76-41134. ISBN 0-399-11888-8. As the assistant keeper of fifteenth-cen- tury printed books at the British Library for twenty years, the author of this book is well prepared to "assess and correct our existing knowledge of Caxton's life and work." In fact, Painter presents the most thorough published reassessment of the historical rec- ord since Blades' biography of exactly one