College and Research Libraries of a system in a model library. Only then would cost figures have any meaning. The comments of customers of these systems are of little value because, as Dranov states, "As things stand today, the only system in oper- ation long enough to be fairly judged is the LIBS 100 from C. L. Systems, Inc. , of Newtonville, Mass." Almost all other sys- tems have only one or two . customers with special vendor relationships. I would recommend the purchase of Paula Dranov' s work to anyone with a mild interest in automating circulation, for it has a great deal of valuable information. Anyone who plans to purchase a system should also purchase the Library Technology Reports i')sue for the small amount of additional in- formation to he gained. If you are going to spend $100,000 on a system for circulation, the additional forty dollars may be a worth- while investment.-Edmond A. Menegaux , Executive Director, South Central Research Library Council, Ithaca, New York. Schlachter, Gail Ann, with Belli, Donna. Minorities and Women: A Guide to Ref- erence Literature in the Social Sciences. Los Angeles: Reference Service Press, 1977. 349p. $19.50. LC 76-53061. ISBN 0-918276-01-2. (Order from Reference Service Press, 9023 Alcott St., Suite 201 , Los Angeles, CA 90035.) McKee, Kathleen Burke. Women's Studies: A Guide to Reference Sources. With a Supplement on Feminist Serials in the University of Connecticut's Alternative Press Collection , by Joanne V. Akeroyd. With the assistance of B. Mcilvaine, Government Publications Department. Bibliography Series, Number 6. Storrs, Conn. : University of Connecticut Library, 1977. 112p. $5.00 (prepaid). (Order from Acquisitions Department, University of Connecticut Library, Storrs, CT 06268.) In recent years there has been growing interest in ethnic affairs and in women's studies. Comprehensive guides to reference sources in these areas, however, have been lacking. Two recently published bibliog- raphies together help fill this gap, each complementing the other. Minorities and Women describes over 800 reference books related to women, Ameri- can Indians, Asian Americans, black Ameri- Recent Publications I 14 7 cans , Spanish Americans, and other minor- ity groups in America. One section of "In- formation Sources" is presented in chapters by form (fact books, biographies, documen- tary sources, directories, and statistical ma- terials), with entries in each chapter ar- ranged by author under women or the minority groups. A second section of "Cita- tion Sources" (bibliographies, abstracts, in- dexes, catalogs, guides to the literature, etc.) is presented in chapters by group and listed alphabetically hy title . For each item, complete bibliographic information plus a descriptive annotation detailing purpose , scope, arrangement, special features, and publication history is given. Author, title, and subject indexes provide easy access to all publications cited. Schlachter and Belli intend their guide to fill a bibliographic gap in reference litera- ture , and they appear to succeed. Other reference works are available for individual minorities but differ in format and scope or need updating. Schlachter and Belli provide in-depth, current reference sources for sev- eral minorities together in one convenient volume. This reviewer was satisfied that their coverage is exhaustive when a spot check for two dozen recent, relevant works uncovered no omissions . While their sections on women also are commendably thorough, these could have been published as a separate and expanded volume. Particularly for women ' s studies, the intentionally restrictive scope of Minorities and Women requires consultation of other guides . Possibly because their sub- ject range is broad, the authors exclude several categories of publications, including those dealing primarily or exclusively with society in general; publications after mid- 1976; reference materials in foreign lan- guages and/or emphasizing areas outside of the United States; plus noncataloged mate- rials , e. g. , pamphlet-like publications of sixty pages or less. A reference tool for women 's materials filling most of these gaps is Women's Studies: A Guide to Reference Sources, by Kathleen Burke McKee . Based on the col- lection of the University of Connecticut Li- brary, Storrs, it will be useful to librarians and researchers at other institutions. Items are presented by type of publication and are 148 I College & Research Libraries • March 1978 indexed by author, title, and subject. Anno- tations give purpose, arrangement, and use of the sources in women's studies research. The inclusion of subject indexing terms in various sources will be welcomed by refer- ence librarians who try to explain to under- graduates that one subject area is analyzed under various headings in various indexes. For women's studies, the Schlachter and Belli volume, within the carefully defined scope of its parameters, is a more compre- hensive guide to sources solely about women and published by "mainstream" publishers. In contrast, McKee's bibliogra- phy also is intended to be an introduction to reference sources from more traditional dis- ciplines that are useful in women' s studies research. Researchers who eonsult general indexes will wish to consult McKee first. Items in the main section of McKee in- clude the University of Connecticut's Alter- native Press Collection's feminist reference books plus books and pamphlets from movement publishers on Third World wo- men, socialist feminism, lesbianism, and other feminist issues. Alternative and/or small press and ephemeral material can be difficult to locate. McKee is worth purchas- ing solely for these listings and for the ex- cellent, annotated supplement on feminist serials in Connecticut's Alternative Press Collection by Joanne V. Akeroyd. The value of this slim volume as an acquisitions and reference aid far exceeds its price. Regret- tably, this paperbound work is poorly bound, and reinforcement of its binding is advised.-Sherrie S. Bergman , College Li- brarian, Wheaton College , Norton, Massa- chusetts. Garfield, Eugene . Essays of an Information Scientist. With a foreword by Joshua Lederberg. Philadelphia: lSI Press. 1977. 2v. (Volume 1, 1962-1973. Volume 2, 1974-1976.) $25.00 (plus postage and handling , $1.00 in U . S., Canada, and Mexico; $5.00 other locations) . LC 77- 602. ISBN 0-89495-000-2. In my little-·desk dictionary, "essay" is defined as "an analytic or interpretative literary composition usually dealing with its subject from a limited or personal point of view." The lexicographer probably had in thought the essays of Lamb or Emerson or Thurber or E. B. White. The current work would be better with the title "Disquisitions by ... " or "Lucubrations of. ... " It is a heavy work, and "essay" is too light a word for the substance herein. The 398 pieces the author has chosen to call essays are, in real- ity, one long essay drawn from Mr. Garfield's thoughts on scientific journals and, more particularly, citation indexing in and for periodical literature. Garfield, forrner president of ADI (now ASIS) and currently active in the Institute for Scientific Information (lSI), is also presi- dent of his own publishing firm, Information International, Inc. (III), in Philadelphia. III is publisher of various editions of Current Contents, and the essays republished in this unfinished set are gathered from Current Contents' first fifteen years. While Garfield is the one man that could (and did) write so extensively on citation indexing in his own periodical, the question of an overabun- dance of publicity must- be raised when he republishes, uncut, the entire set. Perhaps an audience (unknown to this reviewer) has an unsatisfied appetite to read and reread articles on citation indexing. It should not be inferred that the indi- vidual pieces gathered here lack merit. In fact, they are good, impassioned, and terse; they sound like Garfield in person. Garfield promotes his products; Garfield announces his plans for editorial change ; Garfield eval- uates his products for the information com- munity; Garfield introduces his associates and vouches for their character and integ- rity; Garfield acknowledges the adulation his publications have received among users. If one could read them for review as they were meant originally to be read (one at a time) with a fortnight between sessions, they would have a less dramatic effect than the collective impact of the whole lot taken at a single sitting or even within a week's time . Librarians, particularly post-master's stu- dents of library science, information scien- tists, and historians of science, will find in Garfield's two volumes a mine of primary importance. It is not the mother lode, but it is rich and has within it a vein of the pure metal-a vein to be probed and followed to the end. The author work was done as jour- nal publication reached its height.