College and Research Libraries 454 I College & Research Libraries • September 1980 American reader might feel, with some jus- tification, that treatment of library and re- lated professional associations in two columns of the article on the United States is insuf- ficient, whereas articles of that or greater length are devoted to individual associations of many foreign countries. Balance of cover- age may also be questioned. For instance, law and medical libraries are given lengthy treatment whereas theological libraries do not even appear in the "parallel index." Moreover, the American Theological Li- brary Association is mentioned in only one sentence in the section on library and re- lated professional associations in the United States (p.581). Similar criticism may be ex- pressed on behalf of libraries in several other special subject and professional fields. The authors of historical articles are espe- cially to be commended for full and com- prehensive coverage of their subjects. Their contributions add significantly to the litera- ture of library history. The ALA World Encyclopedia clearly fills a need for a one-volume reference work that provides extensive and up-to-date in- formation related to libraries and informa- tion services. Although the multivolume Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, edited by Kent, Lancour, and Daily, is far more monumental in both length and scope, and although The ALA Yearbook published annually since 1976 provides timely "state-of-the-art" . coverage, neither of these works lessens the value or appropriateness of this new ALA publica- tion. The volume is attractively designed and the clarity of type, composition, and overall format make it easy to use. Printed on Forest Book Natural English Finish- pa- per and bound in maroon buckram with gold embossed lettering, this volume's aesthetic qualities complement its considerable value for reference and research.-Kenneth G. Peterson, Southern Illinois University, Car- bondale. Metcalf, Keyes DeWitt. Random Recollec- tions of an Anachronism; or, Seventy-Five Years of Library Work. New York: Readex Books, 1980. 401p. $14.95. LC 70-67213. ISBN 0-918414-02-4. Librarians have been surprisingly reticent in writing about themselves. William War- ner Bishop, Louis Shores, and, a little ear- lier, Arthur E. Bostwick have written auto- biographies, J. C. M. Hanson's manuscript of his early years has recently been edited for publication, and there are a few more, but we have much less than we should about American librarians in their own words. Metcalf overcame his reluctance only after urging from his publisher and his discovery that younger librarians in his li- brary administration seminar at Rutgers in 1958 were indeed interested in listening· to his informal accounts of libraries and librari- ans. Once convinced, he spent five years reviewing his correspondence and some at Oberlin and New York Public Library and calling up details from a remarkable store of memory. This volume, covering the first forty-eight years of his life as student and librarian, is written in an earnest, straight- forward style that will earn no literary awards but tells with unmistakable clarity what one librarian recalls of an extraordi- nary career. In these days when self- revelatory autobiographies crowd the book- shelves, Metcalfs book may seem remark- ably impersonal. Indeed, there are many points at which one would like to interrupt the narrative to ask what he felt about the events that have just occurred. His engage- ment and marriage to Martha Gerrish, the birth of his children, and other personal de- tails are reported as matter-of-fact occur- rences. Some matters are simply not to be discussed with strangers. Metcalf s childhood and early education, which occupies the first quarter of the volume, see~ harsh by today' s standards, but there is no suggestion that he or his brothers and sisters considered themselves unfortunate in any way. His mother died when he was five and his father three years later; his oldest sister, Marion, gave up her teaching career to return and take care of the younger children. Metcalf's obvious pride in referring to other members of his family throughout the book suggests that she must have been a remarkable woman. His recall of those years, if not total, is re- markable in details: His first motion pic- ture, breakfast in a Cleveland restaurant for ten cents, weeding an onion field for five cents an hour, reading J. S. C. Abbot's Civil War and Theodore Roosevelt's Naval THE EUROPEA BOOK CONNECTION D&N (USA) LIBRARY SERVICES INC. is a divi- and Far Easts. Russia and the Slavic coun- sion of Dekker & Nordemann B.V of Amster- tries. Orders are processed at our facilities in dam, Holland, modern and ....... -------.-- Shannon, lreland- D&N antiquarian booksellers and (IRE) Ltd.- with the support subscription agents to libr- system of an IBM S34 com- aries world-wide for over 50 puter at the home office in years . D&N specializes in - Amsterdam. To reduce de- publications in science and Jivery time and keep han- technology, engineering, dling charges to a mini- medicine. economics and mum, consolidated air business . bnd the human- freight shipments are made ities. Through its offices in to the U.S. on a regular Philadelphia, D&N offers schedule . Invoices are in U.S. customers fast, reliable dollars. payable to our bank and competitively priced in New York. 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THE SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT D&N (USA)'s long experience with and profes- sional knowledge of subscriptions, joined with the efficiency of computer technology, provide li- braries with journals in a wide range of subjects. Journals are sent direct via sea mail or. with an extra charge, by air mail. Consolidated air freight THE ANTIQUARIAN DEPARTMENT Since 1974, D&N's Antiquarian Department has held a respected position in the field, furnishing libraries with out of print, old and rare books and journals, and complete collections in many sub- ject areas.lf publications are not readily available in our inventory, D&N will initiate a search and offer them when found. PRICING POLICY It is D&N (USA)'s pricing policy to sell as close as possible to the European publishers' list prices, de- pending on quantity ordered and discount condi- tions. Whenever possible, prices reflect discount benefits to the customer. For further information please call or write: D&N (USA) LIBRARY SERVICES INC.-Specialists For Specialists · 48 East Chestnut Hill Ave. • Philo., Pa.191t8 • Tel: 215-242-4484 • TWX: 710-670-1327 A Division of Dekker & Nordemann B.V- An Elsevier Company 456 I College & Research Libraries • September 1980 History of the War of 1812 from the Sunday school library are typical examples . He spent three weeks working for his brother- in-law Azariah Smith Root in the Oberlin College Library during a year of enforced vacation to recuperate from the variety of ailments of a frail boy, and the experience was a turning point of sorts. When he re- turned to high school, the family moved to Oberlin and he became the page and errand boy at Oberlin; in his words, "I have been doing library work ever since except for four summers." The summers were spent in vigorous outdoor work on farms and one summer with a surveying team in Montana. A frail boy no longer, he became an enthu- siast of football and track, an interest that continued through his New York Public Library years, when he spent many weekends officiating at football games and track meets. Metcalfs Oberlin years were useful ones for a budding librarian. The collections brought together by Azariah Root were un- usual for a small college. A new Carnegie building was completed in 1908, the year Metcalf entered college. The job of super- vising the move from the older Spear Li- brary and merging the college library books with those of the students' Union Library Association was his . The assignment in- cluded placing an art collection in the new building and sleeping on guard until locks were fitted to the doors . Preparing red rope paper binders for unbound newspapers and periodicals was a recurring Christmas proj- ect. During his college career Metcalf had a hand in virtually all the activities of a col- lege library. College courses, viewed in ret- rospect, seem less important elements of his education than experience gained in li- brary tasks and athletic contests. In September 1911 he entered the newly established library school of the New York Public Library, the only man in a class of forty. The course work was easy enough to leave time for exploring the city and for a temporary job cataloging the library at the National Guard Armory . In January, when Azariah Root was unable to find a staff member willing to take ·charge during his sabbatical, Metcalf was appointed executive WHY DO MAJOR ACADEMIC LIBRARIES ORDER BOOKS fROM JONESVILLE, MICHIGAN? BECAUSE JONESVILLE (population 2021) is the home of the BOOK HOUSE where SERVICE IS THE ANSWER ..... GOOD SERVICE you can count on! DELIVERY IS FASTER AND MOST ACCURATE because of competent people, happy in the work they consider professional with exciting challenge. Let them show you why your order should go to Jonesville. the BOOK D USE SINCE 1962 SERVING INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARIES WITH ANY BOOK IN PRINT Call 517-849-2117 Collect 208 WEST CHICAGO STREET JONESVILLE. MICHIGAN 49250 assistant for a year, an experience that was well worth a year's delay in the library school. The following January he returned to complete the first year with a new class and was appointed chief of book stacks while completing the second year. Except for another year at Oberlin in 191~17 as acting librarian while Root sub- stituted as director of the library school for the ailing Mary Wright Plummer, the re- maining years covered in this volume were spent in the New York Public Library as ex- ecutive assistant to the director and later, chief of the Reference Department. These years were important ones in Metcalf's career; the problems the library faced were sometimes overwhelming, occasionally bizarre, always told with detachment and candor and in unexpected detail. Staff selec- tion, inventory, microphotography, trouble- some readers, selection of books in special- ized subjects, dealing with prospective donors, limiting the clientele of the library, book thefts, and streamlining the technical processes are among the many problems that Metcalf comments on. But his recollec- tions of the people he worked with are the most interesting part of the New York Pub- lic Library years. The brief career of Whit- taker Chambers in the library has not, to my knowledge, been told before. Metcalf s account of the brilliant but sometimes abra- sive -Adelaide Hasse differs from the sketch in the Dictionary of American Library Biography. The work of G. William Ber- quist as library detective is reported in greater detail than in previous accounts. Metcalf s admiration of H. M. Lyden berger adds considerably to the information avail- able on a man who should have written his own autobiography. Surprisingly, Metcalfs important work in the American Library Associatic,m begins late in these years. For an account of these activities and the years at Harvard we will have to wait for the second volume. It will be well worth the wait.-]oe W. Kraus, Illi- nois State University, Normal. Fussier, Herman H., and Bryan, Harrison. Reflections on the Future of Research Libraries: Two Essays. Clayton, Victoria: Graduate School of Librarianship, Monash University, 1978. 36p. A$6. Recent Publications I 451 ISBN 0-86862-002-5. (Distributed by: James Bennett Group, 4 Collaroy St., Collaroy, N. S. W. 2097, Australia.) This first monographic publication of the Graduate School of Librarianship at Monash University contains two essays on the . future of research libraries. One, "Current Re- search Library Issues," was written by Her- man H. Fussier, Martin A. Rrerson Dis- tinguished Service Professor at the Gradu- ate Library School of the University of Chi- cago. Professor Fussier was a visiting pro- fessor at Monash during the 1977 fall term. The second essay, "The Future of the Re- search Library," was written by Harrison Bryan, librarian of the University of Syd- ney, who is considered Australia's foremost writer on academic and research librar- ianship. Fussier's essay is a revised text of a pub- lic lecture given at Monash University on 19 October 1977. In this lecture Fussier points out that the problems facing research libraries are largely due to the growth in the literature and rising costs brought about by severe inflation, coupled with the ever- expanding informational needs of library patrons. Among possible general responses, he suggests the development of a national system for sharing currently published and future research resources on a rather large scale from a national center, as well as the development of a national capability for storing and providing access to bibliographi- cal data in machine-readable form. Citing specific proposals for change, Fussier ex- pands the following topical headings: re- source sharing, sharing monographs, sharing retrospective resources, preservation, photocopying and copyright, bibliographical control, and technology. Bryan's paper was written for a seminar he shared with Professor Fussier at Monash in October 1977. In his paper, Bryan begins by defending the book and stating that it "will survive on its own merits or not at all." He reviews the changes in the research library in Australia in recent years: upgrad- ing of physical plants, astonishing growth in resources, minimal concern for nonbook materials except for recent emphasis on microform, improvement in both sophistica- tion and effectiveness in library administra- tion, important but cautious degree of tech-