Government reference serials /

Schwarzkopf, compiler of recent editions of Government Reference Books (1970- , where these serials were listed through 1984-1985), offers a selection of government publications issued biennially or more frequently. Much in both these sets duplicates Schwarzkopf's Guide to Popular U.S. Government Publications (CH, Jun '86). The present title is limited to depository items, primarily those published by the US Government Printing Office. Arrangement is by subject: General Reference, Social Sciences, Science and Technology, and Humanities. The Humanities section includes only some half dozen Library of Congress titles for children, in Braille, or talking books; there are no serials from either the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Smithsonian Institution. Each annotated entry includes: title; agency; bibliographic data and frequency; SuDocs, LC, and Dewey class numbers; OCLC and ISSN numbers; Monthly Catalog entry number; depository item number; GPO stock number; and price. Indexes are by title, SuDocs class, author, and subject. The present title, unlike Guide to U.S. Government Publications, ed. by John L. Andriot (1973- ), does not include defunct agencies and publications, but does cross-reference older SuDocs numbers and agency names, and has longer annotations. Wiley J. Williams's Subject Guide to Major United States Government Publications (2nd ed., 1987), covers much the same ground as Andriot and the three Schwarzkopf titles. This is a well-covered subject with little need for new reference works. -E. F. Konerding, Wesleyan University