Government Publications Review, Vol. 8A pp. 523-530,198l Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

0196-335X/81/060523-08$02.00/0 Copyright 0 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd

BOOK REVIEWS

DAVID C. HEISSER Documents Librarian, Wessell Library, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, U.S.A.

Access to Federal Government Documents: The Enigma Explained. Papers Presented at the CASLIS Workshop on Federal Government Documents Held at the CLA Annual Coqference, Ottawa, June 16, 1979. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association. 74 pp. $10.00. ISBN O-88802+137-2.

In response to requests made at the time the Canadian Association of Speaial Libraries and Informa- tion Services (CASLIS) has published all but one of the papers presented at a workshop held during the 1979 Canadian Library Association (CLA) annual conference. There are two detailed papers by Michael Graham, Head of the Official Publications Section of the Library of Parliament on the major Parliamentary publications, and Jules LaRiviere, Head of the Canadian Official Publications Section of the National Library of Canada on the acquisition of Canadian Federal official publications. Both are lucid expositions of the intricacies inherent in these areas. Both assumed a certain amount of prior knowledge by their audience and, as their texts have not been polished for publication, this carries over into this compilation.

Four brief (three to five pages each) papers follow. Martha Stone, then with Health and Welfare Can- ada, describes the problems faced by the department in preparing for its histotiical catalogue of publica- tions. Ruthmary Lawless, then with Transport Canada, describes that library’s efforts to obtain biblio- graphical control over its own departmental publications. Janet Curren of Agriculture Canada describes the publishing activities of the department and discusses how best to acquire the publications themselves. Ciuineas Boyle of Environment Canada explains the mandate of this department; DOE is commonly known as the Department of Everything. Identification and acquisition of the publications of this disparate agency are examined.

This collection is not for the neophyte documents librarian, but for this very reason it will be wel- comed by those dealing with Canadian federal documents in some depth.

NORMAN HORROCKS School of Library Service

Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia

B3H 4H8 Canada

Checklist of British Official Serial Publications. 1 lth ed. Edited by Eve Johamnson and Janet Pearson. London: British Library, 1980. ISBN o-904654-53-2. ISSN 00868085.

The 1 lth edition of this useful series follows the format established with themprovisional issue of 1967. The 1967 Checklist was an alphabetical listing of the current titles held by the British Library’s State Paper Room and based on their Kardex records. The listing gave the departdent responsible for the ti- tle, the publisher, frequency, &test issue received by the time of the cover d&e of the Checklist, notes on the publication pattern (e.g., broken sequences, parliamentary paper, updtited by amendments) and information on the availability of the titles. The notes on availability inform, the user of the source of supply for the titles and any restrictions which may apply. HMSO sold matedials are, of course, avail- able from HMSO, but the Checklist notes which series are partially classified, and so not available in their entirety to purchasers. The Checkltit also notes which departmental titles are sold, free, of limited availability, or classified.

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The second issue continued features and two further The first the list “discontinued and titles” which in order the old discontinued title, new ti-

and the number issued. second listing the list “serials newly to the Checklist.” Although the second provisional issue listed at least one newly added title which began as long ago as 1767 (Astronomical Ephemeris), this listing in subsequent issues has proved to be an excellent listing of new titles, enabling acquisitions and government document librarians to keep in touch with new titles.

The third edition (June 1970) added a listing of “new and changed official bodies.” This gives the dates of establishment of new bodies and information on changed titles and responsibilities with the dates of the changes. This is another valuable feature of the Checklist which enables users to be in- formed of changes which will have effects on supply, cataloguing, and reader services.

The 9th edition was expanded to include “all serials published by central government, the para- government bodies, and the nationalised industries and public corporations.” This has made an exclu- sion policy necessary. The Official Publications Library chose to exclude minor series and select committee reports and proceedings which appear in the Parliamentary papers; forms, offprints, ex- amination and question papers; and publications of bodies of local membership or relevance. The Checklist now includes circulars, house journals, newsletters and certain internal departmental material, although frequently these are restricted in some manner. This makes the Checklist extremely valuable as a source for acquisitions and as a reference tool. The Checklist represents a formidable task of compilation accomplished to a high standard of accuracy and has proved to be comprehensive within the limits set.

The latest edition of the Checklist follows the pattern established by the 3rd edition in 1969. The range of materials included has expanded, and there is no longer reliance on the Kardex records for in- clusion of titles in the Checklist, but it is still a simple alphabetical listing of titles. The alphabetical arrangement has proved acceptable at least to the compilers. But it is questionable whether this arrange- ment remains the best one for those libraries and individuals who wish to obtain government materials selectively rather than comprehensively. A subject index to the Checklist would increase the variety of easy usage and help those selecting or searching by subject. Other possible arrangements would be by broad subject categories, or by organisation. Either of these would require an index by title to the loca- tion of the listing in the Checklist. The best arrangement would seem to retain the alphabetical listing, with the addition of a subject index, and with the possible addition of an appendix listing titles by organisations. Changes of this nature would improve the usefulness of this important reference tool for a wider range of purposes. The importance of this current listing of serial titles prompts one to wonder if the Official Publications Library has considered the compilation of a retrospective listing of titles. The basis for such a listing exists in the present series of Checklists, and could be a further important contribution to the bibliography of British official publications.

STEPHEN RICHARD Bodleian Library Oxford OX1 3BG

England

Environmental Impact Assessment: A Bibliography With Abstracts. By Brian D. Clark, Ronald Bisset, and Peter Wathern. New York: Bowker; London: Mansell, 1980. 516 pp. $59.95. ISBN o-7201-0899-3. LC 79-67625.

This select, annotated bibliography, prepared by three researchers affiliated with the Project Ap- praisal for Development Control team at the University of Aberdeen, is designed to bring together in one volume references on all important aspects of environmental impact analysis. It is intended as a “major reference work for planners in government, private consultancy and academic institutions” in- terested in the effects of development on the natural and human environments.

The volume is organized around five major topic areas- assessment techniques, critiques of existing assessment approaches, the relationship of impact assessment to other aspects of planning, experience with impact assessment outside the U.S., and available sources of information on more specialized assessment topics. This is a large book containing nearly 1,100 references, more than half of which are accompanied by a brief abstract.

The principal strong points of the book are its comprehensiveness, its treatment of non-U.S. sources, and its attention to the social impacts of development. The authors cover an extremely broad range of materials, reflecting a wide reading of the available literature. Particularly useful to American practi-