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IT is fitting that a new series of this magazine should be introduced by some reflections on the whole question of book selection, both for the general public and libraries.

The Transfer of Functions (Food and Drugs) Order, 1955 (S.I. 1955 No. 959), providing for the transfer of certain food hygiene functions from the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to the Minister of Health, was laid before Parliament on July 5th.

The following is an annotated list of materials that discuss the ways in which librarians can provide library users with orientation to facilities and services, and instruct them in library information and computer skills. This is RSR's 11th annual review of this literature, and covers publications from 1984. A few items from 1983 have been included because of their significance, and because they were not available for review last year. Several items were not annotated because the compiler was unable to secure them.

MUCH has already been said and written upon the subject of the indicator: but in view of the general trend of advanced Public Library administration a little space may with advantage be devoted again to the consideration of its value as a modern library appliance. Passing over (a) the decision of that curiously constituted committee formed in 1879 to consider and report on indicators, and (b) the support which it received in 1880 from the Library Association, it may be said that for the next fourteen or fifteen years the indicator system was the popular, almost the universal, system in vogue throughout the country. Of late years professional opinion as to its value has undergone a remarkable change. The reaction which has set in was brought about chiefly by the introduction of Open Access in 1894, with the many reforms that accompanied it, though much, doubtless, was due to the prevalence of a more exact and systematic knowledge of librarianship, and to the natural evolution of ideas. It is not, however, intended in this paper to compare the indicator with the open access system, but with others suitable to the requirements of a closed library.

As our correspondent on another page suggests, the economic crisis may have reactions upon libraries. The most obvious one he mentions is the increased difficulty we shall experience in obtaining American books. Not all libraries, public or private, make any special collection of books published in the United States, although there has been an increasing tendency to buy more as the relations of the two countries have grown closer through their common struggle; in fact, we know libraries which have spent many hundreds of pounds in the course of the past year or two on the select lists of books which have been made for us by American librarians. It is most unfortunate that the manipulation of dollar currency should have brought about a situation in which even the exchange of ideas between the countries becomes more difficult. One suggestion might be made and that is that our American colleagues should continue to sift the literature of this time of famine for us, so that further select lists may be available in better days.

The bibliography of Cook's voyages is both lengthy and complicated, and, in spite of their far‐reaching importance, their historical and geographical significance, and their considerable literary influence, it has never yet been attempted in its entirety. ‘L'immortel Cook’ was honoured almost as much in France as he was in England, but no satisfactory account exists of the French translations of his works. Sir Maurice Holmes's Introduction to the bibliography of Captain James Cook, R.N., London, Edwards, 1936, is excellent for the original editions, but does not attempt to include translations. Of great value, too, is the Bibliography of Captain James Cook, R.N., F.R.S., circumnavigator, published in 1928 by the Public Library of New South Wales. This is the catalogue of what must have been a remarkably fine exhibition to celebrate the bicentenary of Cook's birth, but it does not, of course, pretend to include items which were not available for display. The only other bibliography specifically devoted to Cook is the one by James Jackson prepared for the centenary of Captain Cook's death and published in the Bulletin de la Société de Géographie, 1879. This must be used with great caution. It has the appearance of having been compiled from entries sent in by various owners and put together without sufficient examination. At all events, while it naturally contains a very large number of French editions, many of them appear twice or even three times in slightly different disguises.

The United States government is the world's largest publisher. Its presses churn out thousands of items annually, covering every conceivable subject. Even though most of the items deal with present day concerns, the United States government is responsible for the publication of a large number of histories. Unfortunately, these works, with the possible exception of the Department of Defense's Military History Series, have received little exposure and limited use. In an effort to bring this valuable resource to light, the following bibliography presents annotated citations to nearly 150 histories published from mid‐1977 through mid‐1979.