Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics

CHOICE Review

A slender volume that faces stiff competition from Robert Slocum's Biographical Dictionaries and Related Works (2nd ed., 1986) and ARBA Guide to Biographical Dictionaries, ed. by Bohdan Wynar (CH, Sep '86). Slocum, by far the most comprehensive guide available, is international in scope and in addition to obvious sources draws from many unique ones (e.g., collections of epitaphs, selected genealogical works, selected portrait catalogs). Wynar offers a signed critique for each entry and cites other reviews for comparison. The 689 entries included by Cimbala are briefly annotated, filling 122 pages; in Wynar the number is 718 reviewed, filling 394 pages. An annotation cannot match a review. Although inclusions vary somewhat, Cimbala lists the American Architects Directory (1956; 3rd ed., CH, Apr '71), Wynar does not; Wynar lists the American Bar Association's Directory (1978), Cimbala does not. The two cover much the same ground, with Slocum listing more titles than either. Most of the biographical sources in Cimbala were published in the last 20 years, a large part of that number in the last ten. As trade and scholarly publishers issue new biographical sources, a guide to them becomes necessary. This guide is recommended as competent but not as good as the competing titles. Students and general readers.-B. Bailey, Sam Houston State University

Booklist Review

Intended ``to assist researchers in identifying which sources are most likely to contain personal data about the persons they are interested in studying,'' Biographical Sources provides descriptions of almost 700 biographical dictionaries, directories, indexes, and collective biographies. The compilers limited themselves to English-language publications, published or distributed in the U.S. and Canada; out-of-print titles are included, and the cut-off date for the inclusion of new books was December 1984. Most genealogical works were excluded although a selection of titles that show ancestral relationships (primarily for the U.S.) has been listed. Entries are arranged in 25 topical chapters and then alphabetically by author within chapters. Chapters include ``General Sources,'' ``Historical Sources,'' ``The Military,'' ``The World of Government and Politics,'' ``Religion,'' ``Occupational Sources,'' ``Sports,'' ``The Arts,'' ``Special Groups,'' and so forth. Standard bibliographical data (except for pagination) are supplied, and annotations are brief and to the point. Some of the decisions on arrangement are possibly not the most felicitous. For example, why is a separate chapter, ``Education-Related Sources,'' which lists biographical sources for college professors, etc., needed when the titles therein could just as well be placed in the chapter ``Occupational Sources''? The Board suggests that a more straightforward subject arrangement might be more convenient for users or that the compilers need to consider the use of cross-references. On the other hand, the author/title/subject index compensates to some extent for the problematic topical arrangement. The work emphasizes sources with personal data and as such is far more selective than works such as Slocum's Biographical Dictionaries and Related Works. Although many standard and important works appear, there are some noticeable gaps. There is but one title devoted to dance, and the regional sources are very few in number. One trusts that these gaps will be filled in future editions. It also might be more helpful if the children's titles were highlighted in some manner as a convenience to the user. There are many guides to this genre of reference books, some of which are similar to this one. For instance, the ARBA Guide to Biographical Dictionaries (see RBB, September 15, 1986) identifies about the same number of titles but is limited to works published in the past several years and has broader selection criteria. Librarians managing comprehensive collections of biographical source material will probably find Biographical Sources to be too selective. However, its emphasis on works with personal data and the inclusion of juvenile titles will make it attractive to school and public libraries.