352 I College -& Research Libraries • September, 1967 for Community and Junior Colleges estab­ out in the foreword that many of the major lished March 4, 1960, at the Teachers Col­ works in higher education have been ex­ lege, Columbia University, with the aid of cluded since the references chosen deal di­ a grant from theW. K. Kellogg Foundation. rectly with the community junior college. Three aims of the project were: ( 1) to Spot checks indicate that the annotations prepare an increasing number of young ad­ are well done. ministrators for the community and junior The organization of the entries into sub­ colleges; ( 2) to provide coordinated profes­ ject areas, although limited, is a contribu­ sional development (in-service and refresh­ tion to bibliographic literature.-Harriett er) opportunities for persons already in Genung, Mt. San Antonio College. administrative positions; and ( 3) to provide a program of research and service. The Brasenose Conference on the Auto­ One of the first problems identified was mation of Libraries. Ed. by John Harri­ the absence of an up-to-date selective bibli­ son, and Peter Laslett. London: Mansell, ography in the community junior college 1967. 173 pp. $6.50 (66-30544). field. In order to solve the problem, students As explained in the preface, this volume of two advanced seminars during the spring contains the papers presented at the Anglo­ and autumn semesters of 1965 prepared an American Conference on the Mechanization annotated bibliography. The editor, Emory of Libraries held in Oxford, England, June W. Rarig, Jr., administrative assistant in the 30 to July 3, 1966. More commonly referred Center for Community Colleges, Teachers to as the Brasenose Conference, it brought College, refined the compilation which ap­ together some sixty-five British and Amer­ pears in this volume. In the foreword the ican librarians and others concerned with director of the Center for Community Col­ the application of computers to libraries leges, Walter E. Sindlinger, cautions that and library work. The three days at Erase­ "this effort represents merely a beginning," nose College marked a historic venture in and that it is hoped that future seminars trans-Atlantic cooperation. The British also will continue to update and expand the emphasized that the event was equally his­ work into the "selective, annotated directory toric in the resulting cooperation between to the important community junior college the British Museum and the librarians at literature and research works" originally Oxford and Cambridge. An excellent sum­ planned. mary of the conference from the American Bibliographies are presented for eight point of view appears in the Library of subjects: ( 1) history of the community jun­ Congress Information Bulletin, July 14, ior college; ( 2) functions and purposes of 1966, Appendix I. the community junior college; ( 3) organiza­ Ten papers, none previously published, tion and administration of community junior are presented along with the four speeches colleges; ( 4) community junior college stu­ at the opening dinner. The actual discussion dents; ( 5) community junior college pro­ following each paper has been partly repro­ grams; ( 6) community junior college per­ duced, and the volume concludes with a sonnel; (7) community junior college facil­ discussion of future activities by the con­ ities; ( 8) research in the community junior ference participants. The editors plead that college. they have taken " ... drastic action with For these topics there are 391 entries, the verbatim transcript. Speeches have been some of which are duplicated within the compressed, sentences rearranged, grammar eight sections. Two hundred eighty-seven amended, and whole areas of discussion authors (including associations) are listed completely left out." in the author index. An annotated bibliog­ It is true that often far more is spoken raphy of research tools precedes the main than goes well into print, and what is said bibliography. often records badly. It is for these reasons Criteria for the selectivity within each of and in order to publish as quickly as possi­ the eight subjects is not cited. This would ble that the editors claim this approach. have been helpful to the user in determin­ Unfortunately, under these circumstances ing the time scope of selection. Journal arti­ there was no question of reproducing the cles and books are included. It is pointed slides which accompanied some of the pres- Book Reviews I 353 entations of the papers. In at least one in­ paper in the series, presented jointly by stance, this lack is sorely felt by the reader. Henriette Auram and Barbara Markuson of It also seems that the discussions, if pre­ the Library of Congress, is a lengthy review sented at all, would have been better repre­ of L. C.'s Project MARC, an experiment in sented by including enough material to pre­ the distribution of machine-readable cata­ serve both the continuity and the spirit of loging data. At the date of this paper Proj­ the remarks for the reader. ect MARC was not yet an operational real­ The first paper is a statement of the situa­ ity, but the basic approach and design phi­ tion at the British Museum, The Bodleian losophy presented are those carried through library, Oxford, and Cambridge University to the operating environment. library, presented jointly by A. H. Chaplin, Ritvars Bregzis of the University of To­ R. Shacklenton, and J. C. T. Oates of the ronto discusses levels of bibliographic con­ above libraries respectively. This introduc­ trol and presents the concept of a reactive tory paper presents a picture of the progress catalog. Automated bibliographic control is and the past relationship of the three British proposed as a necessary part of an Inter­ libraries as regards computers and comput­ national Bibliographic Information System ing. of the future. In the next paper Charles The second paper, by A. J. Wells of the Austin, Office of Management Policy, De­ British Museum, describes a few of the partment of Health, Education, and Wel­ problems which seem special in producing fare, presents factors related to sharing of the British National Bibliography by com­ bibliographic information. Particular refer­ puter, if such a thing is to be considered. ence is made to the operating distribution The author indicates a hope that a detailed system of the National Library of Medicine, study of the problems will be undertaken using cataloging data produced by a com­ shortly. puter. The author lists ten postulates relat­ The sixth paper, also presented by two ing to the sharing of bibliographic informa­ Britishers (A. M. Cain and J. W. Jolliffe of tion. In the final paper Irwin Pizer of the the British Museum) , is a general discussion SUNY Upstate Medical Center library re­ of the problems associated with input, out­ views a proposed computerized biomedical put, and processing by computer where a network for the State University of New variety of languages and corresponding York. The proposed system would include character sets exist. The general reference is both a computerized network and Long Dis­ to a large library with a large existing rec­ tance Xerography Facsimile Transmission ord file such as the British Museum. equipment. It is interesting to note that The remaining seven papers are author­ more recent versions of the proposal are itative presentations by the Americans par­ available. ticipating in the conference. Ralph Parker This collection of papers will provide a of the University of Missouri library reviews brief look at mechanization in large libraries a total system approach to the internal use for the reader who is not familiar with the of computers in a library. In the next paper, subject. The fact remains, however, that this Fred Kilgour of the Yale University library, volume will not be .easy reading if the read­ discusses comprehensive modern library sys­ er is not versed in at least elementary com­ tems. His paper contends that libraries will puter concepts. For the reader already fa­ necessarily evolve into information-based miliar with the American library automation networks if the efficiences of the computer scene, the look at British efforts provided are to be best utilized. by the first three papers mentioned is per­ Foster Palmer of Harvard University li­ haps of greatest interest. brary discusses conversion of existing rec­ This collection as a whole can be classed ords in large libraries, with detailed refer­ as neither tutorial nor state-of-the-art. The ences to the experience of converting parts tone of the conference as expressed by the of the Widener library shelf list. While a editors seems to have been preserved intact great deal of technical detail is included, -for the most part it was a matter of the the author makes it clear that it was includ­ American delegation expounding and the ed to provide an idea of some of the ques­ British (and the reader) listening.-Bruce tions that have to be faced. The following W . Stewart, Texas A&M University.