LIBRARY NEW BOOKS LIST

by Jeff Broude
jbroude@csudh.edu 

The CSUDH Library is now producing on a regular schedule a listing of newly received books. The list may be viewed at the following web site:
          http://library.csudh.edu/NewBooks.htm

The Library New Books List is generated on a quarterly schedule and is arranged in call number order according to the Library of Congress Classification Scheme. During the past year, the Library acquired approximately 6,000 new books.

A few noteworthy items which the Library has recently acquired
are described below:

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life. v. 1 Africa; v. 2 Americas; v. 3 ; Asia and Oceania; v. 4 Europe. Ed. By Timothy L. Gall.  Gale, 1998. 4 v.
(Call No. G333 W67)

This four-volume set summarizes over 500 cultural groups. Most articles follow the same topical outline including: introduction, location and homeland, language, folklore, religion, major holidays, rites of passage, interpersonal relations, living conditions, family life, clothing, food, education, cultural heritage, work, sports, entertainment and recreation, folk art, crafts, and hobbies, social problems, and a bibliography.  Entries are included for both large and small groups.  While the emphasis is on current living conditions, some historical information is included in the introductory remarks.  Maps and black and white photographs are contained for many articles.  At the front of each volume is an alphabetical index by country.  At the end of each volume is a comprehensive index of groups, languages, geographic landmarks, and personal names. 

Contributors appear highly qualified and most articles are signed. Entries include ethnic groups living in other countries.  For example,
there are articles on the following sub cultures in America listed under  Americans: African, Arab, Armenian, Asian Indian, Cambodians, Chinese, etc.  Maps for these groups indicate where the population centers are within the United States.  There are also entries for various tribes of American Indians e.g. Hopi and Inuit.  Religious groups such as the Amish and the Mormons are included as well   This multi-volume work  should answer many of the reference questions asked about the cultural lives of a wide range of diverse ethnic groups. [Gail Cook]

Libraries in the Ancient World  by Lionel Casson
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.
(Call No. Z722  C37 2001)

Textbooks in librarianship unfailingly include a brief survey of the roots of the profession in antiquity. Lionel Casson, Professor Emeritus of Classics at New York University, will delight both scholars and general readers with this concise and highly readable work. The author illustrates the layout and appearance of numerous ancient libraries, as well as tracing how the development of these libraries correlated closely with the growth of education and literacy. Citing recent archaeological discoveries in Syria as well as historical documents from the third millennium B.C. through the Middle Ages, Casson shows us that even the earliest libraries faced many of the same issues as their contemporary counterparts, including the safe storage of diverse formats such as clay tablets, papyrus rolls and codices, the prevention of vandalism and theft and the optimum arrangement of library holdings for efficient retrieval. This engaging work deserves the attention of everyone interested in the creation and dissemination of knowledge. [Carol Dales]