Reference Book of the Day

retired and archived

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 23:28:40 GMT

Well, I won't be continuing this reference book review project... I'm going to let this all sit here until Livejournal deletes it. I will however link to this zip archive of all the reviews from my personal site when that happens.

Cheers!

Taking a break

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:10:46 GMT

I am going to take an extended break from reviewing reference books here. I will probably resume this blog in a few months, but may retire it.

I hope you've enjoyed it so far.

Past entries are organized in tags.

Tiller's Guide to Indian Country

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:12:49 GMT

Tiller's Guide to Indian Country: Economic Profiles of American Indian Reservations

Edited and compiled by Veronica E. Velarde Tiller

Published by BowArrow Publishing Company, 1996 (newer editions are available)

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 698 pages including the bibliography and index, plus a brief preferatory section.

Note: This book is updated regularly. Ours is a pretty old edition. The most recent is a 2006 edition, just published.

What the book does is provide an economic profile for each indian Reservation in the United States, of which there are about 300. Most profiles give some simple stats (including address, area in acres, labor force, education levels, per capita income, unemployment rate, and population of the reservation and tribal enrollment); the location and land status of the reservation; the culture and history of the Tribe; description of the Tribe's government; description of the reservation's economic activity; and a description of the reservation's infrastructure and facilities. Many profiles give a little less information.

The Fond du Lac Reservation is near where I live, so I looked it up to see what I could learn. This entry is about a page and a quarter in length and is very informative. The section on location and land status describes the geography and the history of the reservation. The section on culture and history talks about the history of the tribe and a bit about their contemporary culture and situation. The section on the reservation's economy is the longest part, and has separate sections for types of economic activity (construction, agriculture, forestry, gaming, tourism, etc.). The prose is clear and very informative.

This is an essential reference work for those interested in getting quick information about reservations and the tribes that live on them. It is important to keep in mind that the basic unit of description is the reservation and not the tribe, because there are more than 200 recognized tribes in the United States that do not have reservations, and this resource does not provide information on them.

The Organ: An Encyclopedia

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 21:43:46 GMT

The Organ: An Encyclopedia

Douglas E. Bush, Editor
Richard Kassel, Associate Editor

Published by Routledge, 2006

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 679 pages including the index and the list of contributors, plus a brief preferatory section. This volume is part of a three volume set, the other volumes being encyclopedias on pianos and on harpsichords and clavichords. The three books are sold separately and paginated individually.

For a sense of what is covered, here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "C" sequence, with SEE references included:

CABINET ORGAN SEE CHAMBER ORGAN
CADIRETA SEE RÜCKPOSITIV
CAHMAN
CALCANT
CALLIDO
CALLINET SEE DAUBLAINE-CALLINET
CAMPANA
CANADA
CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF PIPE ORGANS
CARHART, JEREMIAH (1813-1868)
CARIBBEAN SEE CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
CARILLON
CARLIER, CRESPIN (CRÉPIN) (D. 1636)
CASAVANT FRÈRES
CASE

The entries include parts of organs and organ technology through history geographical entries that discuss organ building history in different countries and regions; and important organ builders and organ building firms. Entries for organ-builders actually make up the majority of entries in the book, which is quite interesting.

I happen to know a bit of random knowledge about Italian pipe organ history and about an Italian organ building firm, and was very satisfied to find and entry for Italy, which went into depth where my knowledge consists of very little, as well as an entry for the organ building firm. The entry for the firm even mentioned their organ at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, which I have heard. It is fun to find a bit of unusual knowledge reflected and validated in a reference book. Take that as a sign of the quality of this book or as reason to think that I can't be objective in evaluating it.

The information in the entries is very detailed and clearly written. Not too much knowledge of music theory or history is assumed by the contributors.

This is a useful resource for anyone doing serious research in music history and musicology where it concerns organs. A very serious and well-done reference book.

Encyclopedia of Water

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 18:38:37 GMT

Encyclopedia of Water

By David E. Newton

Published by Greenwood, 2003

This is a 7" by 10" hardbound book running to 401 pages including the index, plus a preface, an introduction, and a classified guide to the articles.

See my entry for October 30, 2005, for the same author's Encyclopedia of Air, also published by Greenwood in 2003, along with another one called Encyclopedia of Fire.

Like Encyclopedia of Air, this encyclopedia looks at its subject in a vastly multi-disciplinary way, with articles covering topics in chemistry, biology, meteorology and other earth sciences, literature, mythology and religion, transportation, technology, visual arts, and history, as well as also providing many biographical entries on people whose work related to water and organizations that have to do with water. Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "H" sequence, "See Also" references included:

Haliae See Nymphs
Hard Water
Heavy Water
Holy Water
Holy Waters See Sacred Waters
Hookah
Hovercraft See Boats and Ships
"Hubbly-Bubbly" See Hookah
Human Water Needs See Biological Functions of Water; Desalination
Humidity
Hydrate
Hydraulic Device
Hydraulic Press See Bramah, Joseph
Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, and Hydrodynamics
Hydroelectric Power

The entries are written in relatively simple prose given the scientific subject matter of many of them. Since it's such a multi-disciplinary encyclopedia it wouldn't be appropriate to assume too much significant background knowledge, and the author doesn't. However, he doesn't shy away from providing mathematical formulae where relevant. So, there is a fairly decent amount of information included given the breadth of scope.

Reference books like this that take a feature of the world like water and air and look at it from such a wide range of disciplines are interesting, fun, and rather odd from a practical standpoint. Usually when someone is studying something like water it is from the perspective of a particular discipline, and they will find deeper information in a resource that is created specifically for that discipline. This stems from the fact that the work that people do is usually of a certain kind. When I try to think of who would find a book like this most useful, I keep coming back to the notion of a literary writer or a visual or conceptual artist who needs to pull together ideas about water for thematic, exploratory reasons. It is difficult to say who else might find a good use for this book, but you never know. It does have a lot of good information relating to water in it.

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 19:37:37 GMT

Encyclopedia of Communication and Information

Edited by Jorge Reina Schement

Published by Macmillan Reference, 2001

This encyclopedia is in three 8.5" by 11" volumes and runs to a total of 1161 pages including the lengthy index, plus a preferatory section. The book is printed in larger type.

Like most other Macmillan reference books, this is a useful and fairly comprehensive but less than heavyweight work intended for a wide audience of students and researchers. Communication Studies, Media Studies, and Information Studies are the domains covered by this interdisciplinary work. Twenty different academic disciplines and professions are mentioned in the preface as being related to the subject of the encyclopedia.

This encyclopedia has 280 entries in an alphabetical arrangement. The preface identifies eight categories into which these entries fall. They are:

Careers (e.g. journalist, librarian, publicist)
Information science (e.g. human-computer interaction, information storage and retrieval)
Information technologies (e.g. broadband, the Internet, radio)
Literacy (e.g. computer literacy, media literacy)
Institutional studies (e.g. elections, information society, law, media history)
Interpersonal communication (e.g. groups, relationships, rhetoric)
Library science (e.g. cataloging, text-based literacy)
Media effects (e.g. advertising, opinion formation)

For a better idea of what's covered, here is the full list of entries in the "M" sequence, which has more entries than most of the alphabetic sequences:

Machlup, Fritz
Magazine Industry
Magazine Industry, Careers in
Magazine Industry, History of
Magazine Industry, Production Process of
Management Information Systems
Marconi, Guglielmo
Marketing Research, Careers in
McLuhan, Herbert Marshall
Mead, George Herbert
Méliès, George
Mills, C. Wright
Minorities and the Media
Models of Communication
Mood Effects and Media Exposure
Moore, Anne Carroll
Morse, Samuel F. B.
Murrow, Edward R.
Museums
Music, Popular

Entries are typically a couple of pages in length. The writing is clear but not as in-depth as one might like.

It is interesting to see a reference book that brings together these disciplines (media and communication studies, information studies) in this way. My feeling is that it is such a broad domain covering so much knowledge that either a much bigger encyclopedia (in the range of ten volumes or more) or a more narrowly focused encyclopedia is really in order. The problem with this one is that it gives noticeably shallow coverage in attempting to serve people in a number of disciplines. In bringing this information together in place, though, it does make an interesting argument for a disciplinary grouping of knowledge.

This is an interesting reference book but not as useful as it ought to be on account of its relative lack of depth.

Just a Note to Say...

Wed, 31 May 2006 18:18:14 GMT

Just a Note to Say... The Perfect Words for Every Occasion

By Florence Isaacs

Published by Clarkson Potter Publishers, 1996

This is a small book, 5" by 7", attractively printed and bound for bookstore sales. It's 159 pages long.

The book is a guide to how to write notes to people for different types of occasions where the well-bred person knows that he or she should write a note, but isn't quite sure what to say. Among the occasions covered are things like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, rites of passage, illness, death and loss, holidays, and thank-you notes. The book includes advice about how to approach the process of writing a note, that is, now to think about what to say, as well as important tips about writing for various types of occasions that may involve some special background knowledge.

This book may seem to some to be kind of superfluous - who doesn't know how to write a note? And isn't it essentially an etiquette book, and aren't those irritating? And anyway, an honest note writer should say what they think and not rely on a reference book. But the book answers a real need. I made use of it when I had a reference question from a genuinely perplexed and troubled person who wanted to write a note to a friend or a relative who had been diagnosed with cancer and didn't know what to say. This book turned out to have three pages of advice about how to write a note for exactly that purpose. So I was glad that we had the book on our shelves.

This is a handy how-to book for real-life situations.

Encyclopedia of Fraud

Tue, 30 May 2006 18:49:23 GMT

Encyclopedia of Fraud: 2005 Edition

By Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA

Published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

This is a 7" by 9.5" hardbound book running to 848 pages including the brief bibliography, plus appendices and a preface.

The preface states that this encyclopedia is intended for an audience of "practitioners and academics," which could easily mislead a literal-minded person. It's not practitioners of fraud who are the intended audience, of course, but academics and accountants and other investigators of fraud.

The book has entries on numerous fraud schemes, organized by both topic and type of scheme, as well as entries about fraud cases and "notable fraudsters." Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the book:

Adelphia
Antar, Eddie
Antitrust
Asset Misappropriation
Asset Valuation, Improper
Atkins, Charles and William hack
Attitudes Toward and Perceptions of Fraud
Auditing for Fraud
Auto Sales Fraud
Automotive Repair Fraud
Avant!
Avocational Crime
Bait and Switch
Banco Ambrosiano
Bankruptcy Fraud

Entries on types of fraud are the longer ones, often going on to easily a dozen pages. Biographical and historical entries are a little shorter but are also often several pages in length. The prose is clear and enjoyable to read, so that it's easy to get a lot of knowledge about different varieties of fraud and fraud cases quickly and easily.

One entry caught my eye in the table of contents - an entry for Marcus Garvey. This two and a half page entry summarizes the story of Marcus Garvey and J. Edgar Hoover's politically-motivated pursuit of him on fraud charges. The entry is very clear in stating that the Garvey case was not a case of fraud but of persecution for political reasons; this makes it interesting that the case is written up in the book at all. I suppose the author felt that the record still needs to be set straight.

The book is good but somewhat weak from a design standpoint, which is not surprising given that its publisher is a professional association with priorities other than publishing. It's a useful reference work for business and history students and scholars.

Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures

Fri, 26 May 2006 14:38:09 GMT

Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, 2nd Edition

Edited by Clive M. Davis, William L. Yarber, Robert Bauserman, George Schreer, and Sandra L. Davis

Published by SAGE, 1998

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardbound book running to 589 pages including the index, plus a brief preferatory section.

This book is a compilation of about 200 questionnaires, scales, invetories, interview schedules and other instruments for measuring sexuality-related traits, attitudes, behaviors, and variations. All of the instruments included have been tested for validity and reliability by extensive use in research.

Here are the titles of a sampling of the measures included:

The Sex Anxiety Inventory
Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness
Permissiveness of a Nurse's Sexual Attitudes (Brief)
Sexual Irrationality Questionnaire (Brief)
Condom Embarrassment Scale
Styles of Conflict Inventory for Personal Relationships
Sexuality After Spinal Cord Injury Questionnaire
Indicators of a Double Standard and Generational Differences in Sexual Attitudes
The Hyperfemininity Scale
Herpes Knowledge Scale
Power Sharing in Lesbian Partnerships
The Anticipated Sexual Jealousy Scale
The Sexual Self-Disclosure Scale
Token Resistence to Sex Scale

Opening the book at random, I'll looking at the entry for The Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI). This two-page entry does not have the instrument itself but simply describes it. The description is very detailed and provides plenty of information for a researcher to decide whether this is the appropriate instrument for his or her study, and gives contact information for the research organization that it can be ordered from. The entry finishes with a list of references to studies where the inventory was used. This entry is a typical one.

This is a very useful book for someone doing research in sexuality and sexual functioning, whether sociological or psychological. It's also interesting reading for someone who's interesting in getting a peek at the way social scientists view sexuality.

Encyclopedia of Volcanoes

Thu, 25 May 2006 15:17:09 GMT

Encyclopedia of Volcanoes

Haraldur Sigurdsson, Editor in Chief

Published by Academic Press, 2000

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 1417 pages including the index and appendices, plus a preferatory section. It's printed on high-quality paper and is very heavy.

Her preface describes the book as follows:

The volume addresses all aspects of volcanism, ranging from the generation of magma, its transport and migration, eruption, and formation of volcanic deposits. It also addresses volcanic hazards, their mitigation, the monitoring of volcanic activity, and economic aspects and, for the first time, analyzes several specific cultural aspects of volcanic activity, including the impact of volcanic activity on archaeology, literature, art, and film. To compose a single volume that is a complete reference for such a far-ranging phenomenon is indeed a daunting task.

The entries are arranged thematically rather than alphabetically, though there is an alphabetical listing of the articles with their page numbers. The articles are in nine parts, with sample article titles for each:

Origin and Transport of Magma ("Migration of Melt," "Physical Properties of Magmas," "Plumbing Systems")
Eruption ("Earth's Volcanoes and Eruptions, an Overview," "Sizes of Volcanic Eruptions")
Effusive Volcanism ("Lava Flows and Flow Fields," "Lava Domes and Coulees," "Seamounts and Island Building")
Explosive Volcanism ("Hawaiian and Strombolian Eruptions," "Pyroclast Transport and Deposition," "Lahars")
Extraterrestrial Volcanism ("Volcanism on the Moon," "Volcanism on Venus," "Cryovolcanism in the Outer Solar System")
Volcanic Interactions ("Geothermal Systems," "Deep Ocean Hydrothermal Vents," "Volcanic Lakes")
Volcanic Hazards ("Lava Flow Hazards," "Volcanic Tsunamis," "Volcanism and Biotic Extinctions")
Eruption Response and Mitigation ("Seismic Monitoring," "Ground Deformation, Gravity, and Magnetics," "Volcanic Crisis Management")
Economic Benefits and Cultural Aspects of Volcanism ("Volcanoes and Tourism," "Archaeology of Volcanism," "Volcanic Soils")

So, that should give a sense of what's covered.

Opening the book at random, I'm looking at the middle of the article on "Plinian and Subplinian Eruptions," which is eighteen pages long. Plinian eruptions are named after the Roman author Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption of mount Vesuvius, and his son, Pliny the Younger, who narrated the eruption in letters to Tacitus. This article is divided into four main sections: "Characteristics," "Direct Observations of Plinian Eruptions," "The Inverse Problem: From Deposits to the Eruption," "Discussion of Eruption Dynamics." Each of these parts has sub-parts. The prose is on the technical side, and assumes some knowldge of earth science and its quantitative methods. It is loaded with illustrations.

This is a very solid reference work on volcanoes that should satisfy serious users.

Laboratory Health and Safety Dictionary

Wed, 24 May 2006 20:21:28 GMT

Laboratory Health and Safety Dictionary

By W. Carl Gottschall and Douglas B. Walters.

Published by Wiley Interscience, 2001.

This is a 6" by 9" paperback running to 458 pages including four appendices, plus a brief preface.

The back of the book says,

Chemical health and safety are impacted by federal, state, and local regulations, notably the OSHA Laboratory Standard, and are of concern to a wide range of personnel. Laboratory Health and Safety Dictionary defines basic and essential terms, making it a core reference for experienced as well as novice health and safety professionals. It will also help people with limited understanding and/or varying backgrounds better understand the vocabulary that is encountered in the field.

This authoritative compendium of chemical and health and safety concepts contains approximately 2,500 entries covering the broad spectrum of health and safety issues including all essential elements of a chemical hygiene plan, safety procedures, chemical exposures, etc. Words, terms, and expressions are included that are found or referenced in documents and regulations such as OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard and the Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in the Laboratory Standard, Material Safety Data Sheets, Right-to-Know Legislation, and numerous other documents and lists of "hazardous" agents...

For a sense of the kind of terms defined, here is a list of the first sixteen entries in the "V" sequence:

V
VA
vaccine
vacuum
valence
validation
vanadium (V)
van der Waals, Johannes Diderik
van der Waals forces
van't Hoff, Jacobus Henricus
vapor
vapor density
vapor pressure (VP)
variable
variance
Vaseline™

Definitions are very minimal, usual just one short sentence. They sometimes require some background knowledge in biology or chemistry to understand. Here are a few typical examples:

kaolinosis A form of pneumoconiosis caused by inhalation of kaolin dust, usually a result of grinding, milling, or other operations.

hot zone The area in a hazardous waste operation where contamination occurs.

gavage Feeding by means of a tube inserted via the mouth and throat into the stomach.

enflourage The extraction of odorous components of flowers in the production of perfumes and essential oils.

rolfing Deep massage.

shall The word used to denote a requirement or regulation as opposed to a recommendation.

This is a handy book for anyone working in a chemical or biological laboratory.

Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought

Tue, 23 May 2006 17:09:20 GMT

Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought

Edited by Christopher John Murray

Published by Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardcover book running to 713 pages including the index and the notes on the contributors, plus a preface, alphabetical and thematic lists of entries, and a chronology.

The preface discusses some of the general features and themes of modern French thought. There is a paragraph on French responses to German philosophers and sociologists; there is a paragraph on French thinkers' reappraisal of Western Enlightenment values and ideas; and a paragraph on French intellectuals' responses to modernity and developments in modern history and society. The preface also makes clear that "French thought" includes the writings of Francophone intellectuals outside of France, naming some important ones.

Here are an important couple of sentences toward the end of the preface:

"Because some recent French writers are notorious for the difficulty of their style, which is usually a way of trying to avoid easy assimilation in the dominant forms of understanding, contributors were asked to pay close attention to clarity of exposition. This is not an attempt, however, to reduce complex, challenging, and far-reaching theories to simple, predigested summaries; concerns about the subtle power of dominant ideologies, and also about the limits of the sayable, are important. The aim, rather, as with any such project, is to encourage both student and lay reader to turn to the works in question and engage directly with the authors' ideas and strategies."

It's good that the editor addressed the question of writing style in that way, but I can't help thinking he's not being completely honest in saying that the aim of the book is to encourage readers to go directly to the original works. He must know that when people use reference books about intellectuals who are notoriously difficult to read, they really do want the authors' difficult ideas reduced to simple, predigested summaries, so that they can come away quickly with something they need. I think he is actually trying to apologize for the book.

The vast majority of the entries are for individual thinkers, but there are also entries for scholarly disciplines, historical subjects, time periods, themes, genres, and intellectual movements and theoretical points of view.

Entries are mostly satisfyingly long and detailed, and very interesting. The prose is definitely clear, and in my opinion doesn't do too much violence to the thinkers' ideas. Some close followers of a particular thinkers' work might find something important to quarrel with, but some other followers would most likely disagree.

This is a useful book for finding out some basic information about the ideas of modern French thinkers.

Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry

Mon, 22 May 2006 21:05:04 GMT

Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms

By Paula Baxter with Allison Bird-Romero.

Published by Oryx Press, 2000.

This is a 7" by 10" hardcover book running to 242 pages including the bibliography and subject and author indexes, plus maps, a classified list of entries, a preface, acknowledgments, and a long introduction.

Native American jewelry is among the most narrow subject areas that one might find treated in a dedicated encyclopedia. Spend a little time with the book, though, and it becomes evident that the subject is rich enough to warrant such a treatment. For a sense of what is covered, here is the full list of items in the "A" sequence:

abalone
agate
Aleut See Inuit, Inupiat, and Aleut Jewelry
alloy
Anasazi
animal tracks
annealing
Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA)
Apache mountan spirit dancer (gan)
appliqué
argillite
arrowheads, arrows
Atsidi Chon
Atsidi Sani
avanyu See Water Serpent
awl
azurite

As you can see, there are entries for materials, cultural groups, tools, organizations, specific jewelrymakers, and other topics. Among the entries listed above, the shortest is two inches of text (in one column on a two-column page) and the longest is about a page. There are some black and white illustrations in the book, but not a tremendous number.

This book is well-written and informative. It makes a useful reference resource for anyone studying Native American jewelry, but makes an equally useful and a very interesting introduction to Native American Studies, because of the many peripheral and contextual issues that it discusses.

The Actor's Survival Handbook

Fri, 19 May 2006 14:55:31 GMT

The Actor's Survival Handbook

By Patrick Tucker and Christine Ozanne

Published by Routledge, 2005

This is a 5.5" by 8.5" clothbound book running to 330 pages, with no index, plus 26 pages of preferatory material. It is a well-manufactured book whose pages are printed with smallish margins.

Routledge is primarily an academic publisher. This book is unusual for them in that it is designed for use not by scholars but by actors who want to improve their acting and professionalism and advance their careers.

The book has 134 brief articles arranged alphabetically. Though the book lacks an index, a "family tree" classification of the entries is a help to finding relevant information where the article titles don't do it by themselves. Here is a list of the entries in the F, G, H, and I sequences:

Fellow Actors
Film versus Television
Forgetting Lines
Further Training
Gear Changes
Getting Work
Good and Bad Taste
Hierarchy
Homework
Illness
Improvisation
Instinct versus Intellect
Interviews
It's Not What It Used To Be

Opening the book at random, I'm looking at a single article running just over a page. The right-hand facing page is blank following the end of this article. The article is titled "Opposites" and is subtitled, "Always a useful device." It begins, "Acting opposites is a vital technique for producing the element of surprise for the audience." The article explains the usefulness and some technical issues involved in acting opposite emotions using clearly described hypothetical examples.

The book is fun and easy to read. It's clearly very useful for actors and a book that an actor would love to own. We have it in our reference section because it really works as a reference book, though it is not primarily about scholarship. For non-actors who are curious about acting it is an interesting read that provides a lot of insights.

Encyclopedia of Early Cinema

Thu, 18 May 2006 18:50:16 GMT

Encyclopedia of Early Cinema

Edited by Richard Abel

Published by Routledge, 2005.

This is a 7" by 10" hardcover book running to 791 pages including the bibliography and rich index, plus 30 pages of preferatory material. The book is well-manufactured, as Routledge books usually are. Its pages are printed in two columns using a not-very-big font.

This book is an example of a highly specialized and deep subject encyclopedia. The period of cinema covered is around 1890 to the mid 1920's, so you can imagine how deep the encyclopedia can get into the subject in its nearly 800 pages.

Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "P" sequence:

Pagano, Bartolomeo or Maciste
PAGU/AKGT
painting and the visual arts
palace cinemas
Palestine
Paley, William ("Daddy")
Parnaland, Ambrose-François
Pasquali & C. (1908-1921)
Pasquali, Ernesto Maria
Pastrone, Giovanni
Patankar Friends & Company
Pathé (Australia)
Pathé, Charles
Pathé Cinematograph
Pathé Film (Sweden)

Most of the entries are for people and companies involved in film in its earliest days, but there are also entries for aspects of film and the film industry of the time. Those latter entries tend to be the longer ones. Entries range in length from a paragraph to a few pages. The entries focus on telling the history of early film. Accordingly, the writing doesn't involve a lot in the way of concepts in film theory; little or no specialized background knowledge is required to use the book.

The editor does not shy away from politically-related topics in the history of early film. For example, there are lengthy entries on the imperialism of the American film industry in its quest for new markets (that article is titled, "imperialism: USA") and on the labor movement in Europe and the United States in its relation to the film industry.

This is a deep, high-quality encyclopedia on a narrow topic. It's potentially of great use to anyone studying early film.

Historical Dictionary of Vietnam

Wed, 17 May 2006 16:40:47 GMT

Historical Dictionary of Vietnam, Third Edition

By Bruce Lockhart and William J. Duiker.

Published by Scarecrow Press, 2006, as No. 57 in their series, "Historical Dictionaries of Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East."

This is a 6" by 9" hardcover book running to 514 pages including the introduction, nine appendices, and the bibliography, plus a 39 page preferatory section that includes a foreword, a preface, notes describing changes in the new edition that are helpfun in using the book, acronyms and abbreviations, maps, and a lengthy chronology.

In short, this book is a compact, well done, substantive and serious historical dictionary of Vietnam. The average entry is about a half a page in length, so there are a lot of them.

For this edition the authors decided to follow Vietnamese conventions in a number of ways. They are using Vietname diacritical marks in all but a few entries; they are referring to names in the Vietnames fashion (family name followed by given name, but also in most cases referring to a person only by given name); and indexing organizations by their actual Vietnamese names instead of by translations. These changes make the book harder for us to use but more accurate and authentic in its representation of Vietnamese history.

I often like to test reference books for bias and point-of-view by looking up a controversial topic, if I can find one, to examine how they deal with it. So, how about the Gulf of Tonkin? The book has entries for Tonkin, Tonkin Free School (actually a see reference to the Vietnamese name), Tonkin Gulf (with the Vietnamese name in parentheses), Tonkin Gulf Incidents, and Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The entry on the Tonkin Gulf Incidents is in two paragraphs; here are both:

TONKIN GULF INCIDENTS

Two alleged clashes between naval craft of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and the United States in August 1964. The administration of Lyndon Johnson contended that Vietnamese ships fired on two U.S. destroyers, the Maddox and the C. Turner Joy, without provocation and in the open sea. According to the United States, a second incident took place a few days later. The Johnson administration retaliated by launching air strikes against North Vietnamese cities and seeking a resolution from Congress authorizing the White House to take appropriate military measures to protect U.S. security interests in the area.

Further investigation revealed that the two U.S. warships operating near the North Vietnamese coast were monitoring Vietnamese radar capabilities in the area. The Hanoi regime might have identified the presence of the U.S. ships with South Vietnamese guerrilla operations on the nearby coast. The second incident probably never occurred, although it is still a matter of debate among scholars whether it was a geniune false alarm or a complete fabrication by the American military.

I'd say that's about what's to be expected from a scholarly source, in that it takes pains to be unbiased in the sense that it accomodates a range of scholarly opinion. It could be a lot worse in terms of point-of-view.

This is a useful book for someone researching Vietnamese history.

National Jail and Adult Detention Directory

Tue, 16 May 2006 16:33:55 GMT

National Jail and Adult Detention Directory, Tenth Edition (2005-2007)

Authored and published by the American Correctional Association, 2005

This is a 6" by 9" paperback running to a total of 503 pages including numerous advertisements and a section at the end about the American Correctional Association. There is no separate preferatory section; the brief introduction and user's guide are in the regular sequence of pages.

Jails are not known as the most "open" institutions in society, so it is not surprising that the information given about jails in this directory is on the sparse side.

Following a general section that talks about organizational characteristics of jails nationwide, the directory portion of the book, which comprises most of it, goes state by state and county by county, providing contact information for the nation's jails, including their addresses and the names of the persons in charge, and sometimes a little more. Prisons are not included, just jails and "adult detention centers," which are like jails in that they are at the county and city level, but different in that they are only for convicts, and not for people awaiting trial. U.S. territories, like Puerto Rico and Guam, are not included, and neither is that most-talked-about detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, nor are other military detention centers. The book is limited to civilian jails and detention centers in the 50 states.

The additional information provided for some facilities includes capcity, dates of opening and renovation, the purpose of the facility (kind of inmate housed), jurisdiction, population, size of staff, and rehabilitation programs offered.

This is a decent and unique directory.

The Hispanic Databook

Mon, 15 May 2006 22:41:11 GMT

The Hispanic Databook, 2nd Edition

Subtitled: Detailed Statistics and Rankings on the Hispanic Population, including 23 Ethnic Backgrounds from Argentinian to Venezuelan, for 1,266 U.S. Counties and Cities.

David Garoogian, Editor; Laura Mars-Prioetti, Editorial Director; Leslie Mackenzie, Publisher.

Published by Grey House Publishing, Inc., 2004.

This is a big paperback book measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to 1920 pages, plus a user's guide and several pages of ads for reference books in the back.

This second edition updates a 1994 book from Toucan Valley Publications.

Using raw data from the 2000 Census, this book presents statistical tables providing demographic information on Hispanics in the U.S. by place, with information on country of ethnic origin; and rankings by state, county and city on a large number of demographic attributes.

Among the attributes covered are population figures by place; age; household size; language spoken at home; educational attainment; income and poverty; and information on housing.

Typical statistical tables are based on an attribute (like "Educational Attainment: Four-Year College Graduates") and give the data by place, state-by-state and county-by-county within each state, showing the figure for the total population there, the Hispanic population there, and the figures for each of 23 countries of ethnic origin for each county.

Following these statistical tables is a section ranking U.S. places by the same attributes.

The book is simply a collection of hard data. The User Guide also describes the CD-ROM version, which has the same data for a dramatically larger number of places.

This is a useful collection of data on the U.S. Hispanic population, but all compiled from census data which is accessible using tools, albeit complex ones, that are available on the US Census website.

Encyclopedia of Diet Fads

Fri, 12 May 2006 21:40:46 GMT

Encyclopedia of Diet Fads

By Marjolijn Bijlefeld and Sharon K. Zoumbaris

Published by Greenwood Press, 2003.

This is a 7" by 10" hardbound book running to 242 pages including seven appendices and an index, plus an introduction. The book is laid out two columns to a page, in larger type.

The introduction says:

This volume introduces a wide variety of weight loss means and methods. Some entries describe a particular diet; some describe a support group or service; and some entries focus on the people who have changed the way Americans eat. It combines advice from nutritionists and physicians, weight loss gurus, and government and private agencies whose role it is to oversee the weight loss industry.

No doubt, there will be disagreements about the effectiveness of a certain diet plan. One person may swear by the high-protein diet while another may swear by a plan that restricts or permits only certain foods. Entries may contain a description of the diet plan and arguments from those who say it is unsafe.

The introduction goes on to discuss the history of our culture's obsession with thinness in a critical way, which is oddly in contrast with the body of the work itself.

Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the book:

aerobic activity
amphetamines
anaerobic activity
anemia
antioxidants
anorexia nervosa
appetite suppressants by prescription
artificial sweetners
Atkins Nutritional Approach
Atkins, Robert C.
Barnard, Neal
Beverly Hills Diet
Body for Life
body mass index
bulimia nervosa

A typical entry for a diet plan is a few pages long, summarizes it, talks about its origin and the theory behind it, talks about the person behind it and his or her background and qualifications (usually providing a black and white photograph as well), and gives some citations for further reading. In the entries for diet plans and people, there is very little in the way of critical viewpoints; those are reserved for chemicals and practices about which there is a scientific consensus as to their danger.

This is a fairly interesting book but not as scholarly as it might be. It seems most useful to people wanting to decide on a diet program. It could also be used by people researching the whole weight-loss industry and culture. For both potential types of uses it is somewhat lacking in critical information.

The Language of World War II

Fri, 12 May 2006 02:52:16 GMT

The Language of World War II: Abbreviations, Captions, Quotations, Slogans, Titles and Other Terms and Phrases

Compiled by A. Marjorie Taylor
Head, Literature Division
Rochester (N.Y.) Public Library

Published by H.W. Wilson Company, 1944

This is a 5.5" by 8.5" paperback running to 94 pages including two pages of references, an index, and a list of song titles, plus a one-page foreword by the author.

I love finding these odd gems in our reference collection, items that generations of librarians here have held onto either by neglect or by recognition of their unique contributions from a reference point of view. This is one that's more than entertaining, but has a definite use to students of WWII history.

I am copying the entire preface here, because it describes how the process of putting the book together was something that arose out of the day to day work of being a reference librarian:

This collection really began with "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition." When conflicting stories were circulating as to who actually used the phrase at Pearl Harbor, I felt, from the background of my library experience, that the stories should be noted for future reference. So a folder was made for the vertical file under the heading, World War II--Slogans, and soon many other stories joined the "Praise the Lord." As the file grew, other members of the Rochester Public Library staff became interested and having once become slogan-conscious, we found apt phrases, headlines and poster captions in increasing numbers, as we read magazine articles, glanced through the daily newspapers, read books and listened to the radio.

Our material soon seemed to approach book proportion. It was difficult to know just what to include but the final decision was : quotations, slogans, poster captions and song titles (since so many of both of those resembled slogans), initialed government agencies created in connection with the war effort, and initialed women's organizations which were either started in this war or developed during the course of it.

Poster captions came not only from observation but also from the collection of posters in the Rochester Public Library. For song titles we consulted the large collection of songs of this war in the Sibley Music Library of the University of Rochester, which they generously placed at our disposal. For government war agencies we used the United States Government Manual published by the Division of Public Inquiries of the Office of War Information.

Many activities which seemed very directly connected with the war effort, such as Blood Bank, Rationing, Victory Gardens etc. were included in an attempt to make this a useful handbook on subjects connected with World War II.

Throughout the book we have listed the sources of information in the hope that librarians everywhere may be saved hours of research.

We realize that since the material relates to the present war, of necessity it cannot be complete at this time, but there seems to be enough included to answer a real need. And we hope that readers and users of the book will send us new entries as they find them so that a revised edition if any, may be as complete as possible.

To the staff members of the Rochester Public Library and to others who have aided in collecting items, our sincere thanks.

September 7, 1944
A. M. Taylor

Here's a list of all the entries on facing pages 34 and 35:

"Hell, We Haven't Started to Fight. Our Artillery Hasn't Been Overrun Yet."
"Hello, You Limey"
Help Him . . . Help Yourself . . . For Victory at Least 10% of Your Pay Every Payday
H for V
H-Hour
Hit Hard and Often with the Marines
"Hit Hard, Hit Fast, Hit Often"
He's a 'Fighting Fool'--Give Him the Best You've Got!
"Hit the Enemy Twice: First to Find Out What He's Got; Then, to Take It Away from Him"
Hit the Silk
"Hitler Can't Lick These People"
"Hitler Has Missed the Bus"
"Hitler Has No Theme, Naught but Mania, Appetite and Exploitation"
Hitlerite
H.M.S. Pepperpot; H.M.S. Porcupine
"Hold the Line"
"Homma May Have the Bottle--But I've Got the Cork"
Honest Bob

Here are a couple of excerpts:

"Tomorrows that Sing": Last words of a French hostage about to be shot by the Nazis. Before he was shot (July, 1942) in the Cherche Midi prison in Paris, Communist Deputy Gabriel Peri wrote : "I should like my friends to know that I have been faithful to my life-long ideal. I should like my fellow-countrymen to know that I am dying that France may live. . . In a few minutes I am going out to prepare the tomorrows that sing. (Je vais préparer tout à l'heure les lendemains qui chantent.)" --New York Times Magazine. April 11, 1943. p. 15

"We Are the Ultimate Hope and Sanctuary of Human Liberty": By Herbert Hoover. Address to Pennsylvania Society of New York, December 21, 1940. --Vital Speeches. January 1, 1941 p.183

"We Do Not Covet Anything from Any Nation Except Their Respect": By Winston Churchill. To the French people, an address broadcast in French and in English, October 21, 1940.--Vital Speeches. November 1, 1940. p. 48; Churchill. Blood, Sweat and Tears. p.403

Encyclopedia of Public Relations

Wed, 10 May 2006 18:54:42 GMT

Encyclopedia of Public Relations

Robert L. Heath, Editor

Published by SAGE, 2005.

This is a two-volume work measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to 1067 pages including the index and nine appendices, plus a preferatory section of 31 pages. The books are printed in larger type, two columns per page.

The preface makes clear from the outset that this work is not so much a reference source for public relations practitioners and those preparing for a public relations career as it is a reference for those interested in critical questions surrounding public relations and its role in society. In fact, the first eleven paragraphs of the preface are concerned with questions about public relations' role and its value, with much attention paid to critics who feel that we would be better off without public relations altogether. The editor takes pains to place himself at the balanced center of the debate, but this "objective" stance is intriguing given that it is in terms of a "debate" that doesn't actually happen; that is, critics of public relations are rarely allowed into discussions with those who practice it or take it for granted. So, essentially, this is a reference work intended for a social science academic context where critics of public relations stand to benefit from factual and detailed information, in one way or another.

For an idea of what is covered, here are the first fifteen article titles in the "S" sequence:

Sampling
Sandbagging
Scales
Schoonover, Jean
Search engine
Securities and Exchange Commission
Segmentation
Semiotics theory
Situation analysis
Situation ethics
Situational theory of publics
Smith, Rea
Social construction of reality theory
Social exchange theory
Social movement theory

Entries range from one to a few pages in length. The writing is academic but not unnecessarily dense. Some knowledge of the social sciences would be a benefit to the reader in understanding the entries on some of the more theoretical topics. The entry on "Impression management theory" goes into a good deal of depth and discusses aspects of dramaturgical theory that many social science students might not encounter elsewhere, and public relations practitioners might never encounter, though they might make use of it in everyday practice.

This is a surprisingly interesting, deep, and critical book about public relations, most useful to social critics and social science researchers, but also of potential interest to public relations practitioners and those entering the field.

Encyclopedia of Bioethics

Tue, 09 May 2006 16:03:45 GMT

Encyclopedia of Bioethics, Revised Edition

Warren Thomas Rich, Editor in Chief

Published by Simon & Schuster Macmillan, 1995

This is a five volume work measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to a total of 2950 pages including an appendix that provides some codes, oaths, and directives related to bioethics; a list of additional resources, and an index; plus 65 pages of preferatory material that include a preface, an introduction, lists of contributors and members of the advisory board, and an alphabetical list of the article titles.

Some reference books are so important that they play a substantial role in the development of a scholarly field. This is one of those, at least if you believe the editor in his introduction, discussing the first edition, which was published in 1978. Bioethics has expanded greatly in importance since then, and since the publication of this one as well, over ten years ago. Probably a new reference work of this scope and depth is warranted. For the moment this one is probably an acceptable standard. In its nearly 3000 pages there are 464 articles on bioethics, understood as having a scope that includes the following topics:

medical professional/patient relationships
public health
other sociopolitical issues (racism, torture, prostitution, interpersonal abuse, the death penalty)
health care
fertility and reproduction
biomedical and behavioral research
mental health and behavioral issues
sexuality and gender
death and dying
genetics
population ethics
organ and tissue transplantation and artificial organs
animal welfare
environmental issues relating to health

The full list of articles in the "C" sequence, not including sub-parts, which are listed in the table of contents:

Care
Casuistry
Children
Chronic Care
Circumcision
Civil Disobedience and Health Care
Climatic Change
Clinical Ethics
Commercialism in Scientific Research
Commitment to Mental Institutions
Communication, Biomedical
Compassion
Competence
Confidentiality
Conflict of Interest
Confucianism
Conscience
Cryonics

Opening volume five at random, I'm looking at the article on "Value and Valuation," which is a highly philosophical topic, not limited to bioethics but definitely underpinning much discussion within it. This article is just over five pages including the lengthy bibliography and paragraph of See Also references. Like all the articles in the book, this one is signed by the specialist responsible, in this case Thomas Ogletree. Ogletree, in this article, uses a writing style that is clear without sacficing intellectual depth, and covers the subject admirably given the limitations of length.

Opening volume one at random, I'm looking at the entry on "Adoption," another five-pager. This article has the section headings, "Historical background," "Contemporary adoption practice in the United States," "Special needs and biracial adoption," "Intercountry adoption," "The sealed-record controversy," "Search and reunion," "Open versus closed adoption," "Court battles between birth parents and adoptive parents," "Conclusion," "Bibliography." The bibliography is about three quarters of one of these 8.5" by 11" pages in length.

This is an excellent and thorough reference work, but a little dated at 11 years old.

Encyclopedia of Life Writing

Mon, 08 May 2006 19:04:37 GMT

Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms

Margaretta Jolly, Editor

Published by Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001

This is a work in two volumes, measuring 8.5" by 11" and running to a total of 1090 pages, plus a preferatory section that includes an editor's note, information on the contributors, and an alphabetical and a categorized list of entries.

Here is the first paragraph of the "Editor's Note:"

The writing of lives is an ancient and ubiquitous practice. Biographies have been important as genealogical, religious, and didactic forms since the start of recorded literature. Autobiography, diaries, and personal letters have been widespread since the 18th century. But in the postmodern era the story of a life has seemed to demand explanation in a new way. As the individualism unleashed by capitalism cracks and reshapes in the fire of globalization and the communications revolution, a literature that foregrounds the shape of a single life and its span seems to focus the anxieties of the age. Life writing is now being explored in literary criticism, anthropology, sociology, psychology, history, theology, cultural studies, and even the biological sciences in order to explain an apparent dissolution of life into story. Just as busy is the investigation into our continuing need for stories that confirm or reinvent a reference to lived experience. The academic imagination has been galvanized by the challenges this has offered to its own epistemological traditions and by the democratizing of knowledge that life writing so charismatically represents.

The book aims to give an overview of biographical genres and themes; to give international and historic perspective on life writing; to discuss important writers and works; and to provide a little relevant background from the various academic disciplines where life writing is being looked at.

Here is a list of the full list of entries in the "E" section:

Eckermann, Johann
Edel, Leon
Edmond, Lauris
Edwards, Jonathan
Elegies
Ellmann, Richard
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Epistolary Fiction
Epistolary Poetry
Epitaphs
Equiano, Olaudah
Erasmus, Desiderius
Ethics
Ethnicity, Race, and Life Writing
Ethnography
Evelyn, John
Ewald, Johannes
Exemplary and Model Lives
Exploration Writings

Opening the first volume at random, I am looking at the entry for Jill Ker Conway and the first part of the entry for Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur, as well as the last part an article on "Conversion and Turning Points," which is about a page and a half long. Jill Ker Conway's entry is just over a page in length, including the longish, smaller-print biobraphy and bibliography. Conway is a major living academic and autobiographer, and an Australian expatriat living in the U.S. Her entry mostly discusses her autobiographical works and sketches out their place in the literary scene. Michel-Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur was an 18th and 19th century writer who is known primarily for Letters from an American Farmer, which was an important work in the formation of the American identity. Though the focus of that work was not the writer's own life as much as it was his newly adopted nation, in it he dealt with a number of questions that are central in the study of life writing and even to thinking about identity.

This is a very useful work for students of literature who are interested in autobiographical and biographical forms.

Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits

Fri, 05 May 2006 18:28:48 GMT

Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits, Fourth Edition

By Alexis Lichine, in collaboration with William Fifield.

Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1985

This is an 8.5" by 11" clothbound encyclopedia running to 733 pages including the index and 150 pages of appendices, plus a preface, introduction, and ten initial chapters on broad and practical topics.

Here's the first paragraph of the preface:

"This book is written for the consumer and those in the trade whose function it is to relate the taste, traditions, and knowledge of wine, the subtle changes between one vineyard and another, and the inescapable limitations of fine wines produced from limited acreage. Such knowledge adds immeasurably to the real enjoyment of a good bottle. Also, it helps to blow away the cobwebs from a subject which, for too long, has been shrouded in mystery. Some of the people who approach wine with awe are not even sure that it is made from grapes: that is why so much importance has been given in this book to the sciences of viticulture and wine-making. Detailed information on these matters - as well as on the history, value, and serving of wine - will be found in the chapters which precede the alphabetical encyclopedic section."

Here is a list of the first fifteen entries in the "P" sequence:

Paarl
Pacherenc du Vic Bilh
Pais
Palatinate (Pfalz, Rheinpfalz)
Palette
Palm wine
Palma
Château Palmer
Palo Cortado
Palomino
Palus
Pamid
Château Pape-Clément
Parfait Amour
Paris

Most of the entries in the book are really dictionary-length, just a few sentences, but here and there are sprinkled articles that go on for several pages. These are often for winemaking regions. The writing in these entries is rather beautiful, as one would expect in a nice book about wine. The entries impart essential facts, but also a good deal of richly descriptive and anecdotal information about wine, its history, and its geography.

The next edition after this one, the fifth, was published in 1987 and was the last one done. This is a fine reference book, but even considering the historical information contained and the slowness of change in the wine industry, you may want to go for something more up-to-date, if you can find something as thorough.

Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

Thu, 04 May 2006 17:03:01 GMT

Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt

Compiled and Edited by Kathryn A. Bard

Published by Routledge, 1999

This is a chunky, 7" by 10" black clothbound book running to 938 pages including a glossary, an index, and an 80-page section of introductory essays, plus a long preferatory section.

This book has a little over 300 entries on the archaeology of ancient Egypt that discuss important sites, aspects of their society and culture, archaeology, famous Egyptologists, buildings, and geographical features.

The entries are really encyclopedic in length and are efficiently written - densely packed with facts. Each entry finishes with a few see also references and a few references to further readings. Here is the full list of entries in the "N" sequence:

Naga ed-Deir
Nagada (Naqada)
Napoleon Bonaparte and the Napoleonic expedition
natural resources
Naukratis
Neolithic and Predynastic stone tools
Nile, flood history
Nile, modern hydrology
Nile Valley, geologic evolution
nome structure
Nubian forts
Nubian towns and temples
Nuri

Typical of a Routledge reference book, this one is authoritative and very thorough. An essential resource to support the study of ancient Egypt and Egyptology.