Page:Technical Book Review Index, Volumes 2 and 3.djvu/7



This index, printed from part of a card-index maintained by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, is a record of certain book reviews appearing in the scientific, technical and trade journals currently received in the Technology Department. It is concerned mainly with books on pure and applied science, but includes a few on allied subjects. Its purpose is primarily to index reviews rather than to compete with any existing booklist by suggesting books on any subject, or by furnishing bibliographic information. In accordance with this plan, the arrangement is by authors, though the form of entry, being determined from the review and not from the book itself, is in some cases doubtless incorrect.

Except for the correction of obvious errors, the bibliographic information is as given in the review, or as combined from two or more reviews when several are indexed. Since many of the reviews are carelessly done, the information given is, in many cases, both inaccurate and incomplete. In general the names of publishers are abbreviated in accordance with the practice in the more important book-trade bibliographies. Titles of journals are as a rule given in full.

Each quotation immediately follows the name of the journal from which it is taken. Obviously these brief extracts, thus detached from the context, must not be accepted as conclusive. Very often a review is so equivocal that there can be no unanimity of opinion as to whether it is favorable or unfavorable. For this reason no estimate is given here. Except for this one omission, this index is an exact copy of cards filed in the book review index of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

The first volume (1917) of the Technical Book Review Index appeared in six numbers. The first three of these were included in the Monthly Bulletin appearing in the numbers for March, April and May respectively and quarterly numbers were published in July, October and December.

The price of the Index is fifty cents a year.

The "Technical Book Review Index," published in April and July 1915 by the Index Office, Inc., Chicago, consisted of a record of technical book reviews furnished by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.