Reviews

GIQ considers for review reference works (e.g., indexes, abstracts, guides, other finding aids for official publications, bibliographies, and directories), important microform sets, and professional literature pertaining to government information. Reviews do not exceed 250 words, without prior permission from the Reviews Editor. The views expressed are those of the reviewers and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editorial Board or the publisher. Standard directories supply the publishers’ addresses.

Persons wishing to write reviews or to suggest titles are invited to contact me at Tufts University Library, Medford, Massachusetts 02 155. Publishers likewise are requested to forward announcements of new and forthcoming titles that may interest our readers.

David C. Heisser

Corporate Author Authority List: A Dictionary of More Than 40,000 Verified Main Entries for Documents Cataloged by the National Technical Information Service. Edited by Asta V. Kane, Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company, 1987, 2103 pages (2 Vols.), $180/set. ISBN O-8 103-2 106-8. ISSN 0741-3270. LC 83-647075.

Reviewed by Anna Ghan*

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) processes U.S. government-sponsored research and technical reports into its bibliographic database created in 1979. The corporate author authority database contains entries of all corporate authors of the bibliographic database; Corporate Author Authority List is its printed version. This 1987 edition is the second published by Gale Research Company in cooperation with NTIS; previously the list had been updated and published annually by NTIS.

The headings are established according to the Guidelines for Descriptive Cataloging of Reports: A Revision of the Committee on Scientific and Technical Information (COSATI) Standards for Descriptive Cataloging of Government Scientific and Technical Reports (I 985), which vary from the traditional Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, 2d ed. (AACR 2). The entries are well orga- nized with current headings in bold type for easy perusal. To facilitate use this list provides a generous amount of cross-references. The most important is that linking the established form to the AACR 2 form of the heading wherever available because major bibliographic utilities treating government documents such as the Monthly Catulog of United States Government

Government Information Quarterly, Volume 6, Number 1, pages 99-111. Copyright @ 1989 by JAI Press, Inc. 411 rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0740-624X.

100 GOVERNMENT INFORMATION QUARTERLY Vol. b/No. 111989

Publ&ztions and other widely shared bibliographic databases establish their entries with access

points according to AACR 2 rules. Despite cross-references, the ease of use is compromised by a modification introduced in the

application of the COSATI guidelines. It violates the basic rule of hierarchical arrangement of the subordinate elements that ensures the collocation of subordinate divisions under the parent organi- zations. This modification indicates the use of an acronym or abbreviation of the parent organiza- tion for identifying the entry, for example, Division of Classification (AEC), Washington, D.C. is a division of the Atomic Energy Commission. This practice is for a “more precise identification of suborganizations” (p. ix) for organizations with numerous subdivisions. However, regardless of this practice, this objective has not always been achieved, as shown in the following examples:

I. Bureau of Quality Assurance (HEW), Rockville, MD.

see Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore. MD.

Health Standards and Quality Bureau.

2. Bureau of Quality Assurance (HEW), Rockville. MD. Div. of Peer Review

X Health Services Administration, Rockville. MD. Div. of Peer Review.

X Public Health Service, Rockville, MD. Div. of Peer Review.

The treatment of the Bureau’s heading is inconsistent; moreover, this organization has been identified by the heading “Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, MD. Health Stan- dards and Quality Bureau,” yet, neither one of these two elements is associated with the Bureau’s Division of Peer Review in the lead in references.

Related corporate names are further dispersed by the practice of distinguishing the different locations of an organization resulting in multiple headings for one organization; for example, the AACR 2 forms of the name “Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies” has cross-references to three separate headings at Boulder, CO, New York, and Palo Alto, CA. Another example with subdivision “Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. Program on Education for a Changing Society” (AACR 2 form) has a cross-reference to “Aspen Inst. for Humanistic Studies, Cam- bridge, MA. Program in Education for a Changing Society”; yet, the entry for its parent organiza- tion (AACR 2 form) has no reference to the Cambridge, MA, location. Such inconsistencies not only make it difficult for users to identify the corporate names but also impede the harmonization of the use of the NTIS system and the AACR 2 system of authorities.

The use of this authority list is rather limited. It is necessary for users of the NTIS database and for libraries to have access to the NTIS as well as other databases in order to reconcile the varying forms of any given corporate name. For the purpose of identifying corporate names unrelated to the NTIS database, the Librury of Congress Nume Authority would be more encompassing and useful.

*Anna Chan is Head, General Cataloging Section, Information and Technical Services Branch, Ltbrary of

Parliament, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K I A OA9.

Federal Biotechnology Information Resources Directory. (,Biotechnology Information Series). Prepared by OMEC International Inc. Washington, D.C.: OMEC International Inc., 1987, I5 I pages, $95.00. ISBN O-93 1283-03-S. LC 87- 165867.

Federal Biotechnical Programs Directory. (Biotechnical Information Series). Prepared by OMEC International Inc. Washington, D.C.: OMEC International, Inc., 1987 162 pages, $95.00. ISBN O-931283-02-7. LC 87-165870.

Reviewed by Cynthia H. Roberts

The Federui Biotechnical lnfortnutim Directory lists information resources related to biotechnol- ogy in alphabetical order by Federal agency. A brief description of the purpose and activities of each