Use Of Books Research Articles

Judaism and Hebrew Prayer: New Perspectives on Jewish Liturgical History (review)

Hebrew Studies 36 (1995) 227 Reviews dependent on the types of syllable. While more recent studies by Khan and the present reviewer indicate that the Karaite transcriptions reflect numerous different sub-traditions, the aforementioned phenomena are common to them; thus they demand fresh attention by students of Tiberian Hebrew phonology irrespective of the methods they apply. Tapani Harviainen University ofHelsinki P.O.B. 13, FIN-00014 FINLAND JUDAISM AND HEBREW PRAYER: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON JEWISH LITURGICAL HISTORY. By Stefan C. Reif. Pp. xiii + 437. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Cloth, $64.95. The study of Jewish liturgy was one of the focal points in the early Wissenschaft des ludentums movement. Some of the conclusions of this early work helped shape the discipline of modem Jewish studies as we know it. Many of L. Zunz and A. Geiger's investigations included studies in aspects of the development of Jewish worship and the synagogue as part of their attempts to establish the antiquity of Rabbinic Judaism. In the twentieth century these studies continued with I. Elbogen, J. Mann and J. Petuchowski. J. Heinemann's book, Hatefila Bitekufat Hatana-im Vehaamora -im (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1966) and the revised English version, Prayer in the Talmud (R. Sarason, trans. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1977) has been the standard in the field until now. Four different works on Jewish liturgy have most recently been produced. They include studies on: 1. The Geonic period in which the liturgy achieved some measure of standardization; 2. The earliest development of liturgical formulation from biblical bor rowings to the creative efforts in the Tannaitic and Amoraic periods; 3. Medieval innovations based on mystical insights and interpretations; 4. Modern attempts at liturgical creativity. Stefan C. Reif's work, 1udaism and Hebrew Prayer includes all of these areas in one book and investigates and challenges some of the standing assumptions about these areas of liturgical research. Hebrew Studies 36 (1995) 228 Reviews Judaism and Hebrew Prayer notes many of the historical and most recent assumptions and controversies, systematically analyzes the elements which have been overlooked in other studies (mysticism, pietism, nonAshkenazic variation, etc.) and (most) remarkably posits its own critical theory based on the author's analyses. The book is a welcome corrective to other Jewish liturgy texts written in the past decade which have fixated upon certain reigning theories without ever re-examining these theories in light of the large corpus of information which has emerged from archaeological data, as well as the Genizah and Qumran studies. Reirs book is also a welcome change in a field presently dominated by complex linguistic analyses, form critical studies and reviews of other scholars' research without any fresh synthesis. It is readable and extremely easy to find information of interest to a vast array of disciplines and scholars in Judaic studies. It could be used by university students as well as religious adult education courses. Stefan C. Reif, a noted Genizah and liturgy researcher at the University of Cambridge, has in his book written the new standard text for the study of Jewish liturgy. This book contains so many elements which are lacking in other works that they are too numerous to mention. Two elements stand out: 1. His opening chapter provides a critical review of Jewish liturgical research from the nineteenth and twentieth century. Instead of just mentioning major works in passing, Reif presents their major theses and flaws in a succinct and well-written style. 2. His fmal chapters on "The Challenge of the Modem World" and "A Background to Current Developments" analyze more than just the modern attempts at liturgical reform by the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist movements, but also address spiritual and social needs and issues which lurk. behind these reforms in the modem period. Biblical scholars, Medievalists, scholars of Jewish mysticism and ethics, Jewish-Christian researchers, students of Ashkenazic and Sephardic liturgy developments, historians, and many others will find significant parts of this book of use in their own research. In short, this book is for all serious students ofJewish studies. Perhaps deservedly so, however, parts of the book seem to be a long response to the new ground breaking theory of E. Fleischer's study entitled...

Acquisition and use: British architectural books before 1800

Architectural books in use in England – and specifically in the Royal Academy Library – in the second half of the 18th century included translations of the major Italian treatises; Sir William Chambers’ Treatise on civil architecture (the first work of its kind by an English author); volumes recording actual buildings by English architects; archaeological works documenting the remains of ancient buildings; and works by Fréart and Perrault on the classical orders. The latter were complemented by Henry Emlyn’s eccentric Proposition for a new order of architecture published in 1781. The contents of Sir John Soane’s private library included a number of works not available at the Royal Academy, which he criticised for providing only a “very limited collection of Works on Architecture”. Soane’s library can be seen to have anticipated the professional architectural library, including more practical books (intended in many cases for the use of builders and carpenters), which was founded at the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1834 — today’s British Architectural Library.

The habits of intellectuals

Nearly twenty years ago I failed my first reading of Fritz Ringer's The Decline of the German Mandarins. Or, perhaps, it failed me. I wanted, then, something it could not give. What I sought, I sought for a good but insufficient reason. I wanted a book for use by students in a graduate seminar in social theory. I thought they would warm more to the theories of Weber, Mannheim, and the others, if they knew something of the lives of these exceptional persons.

A Markov Model Applied to the Circulation of Social Science and Literature Books in a Public Library

Use studies are often important in making decisions about weeding shelves. Circulation records, combined with measures of inhouse use and with more subjective estimations of the value of books, help determine which books may be discarded or relegated to storage. For example, one can predict—and studies have borne out this prediction—that if a book has not circulated within five years of its acquisition, chances are it will not circulate at all. Such a book may be a good candidate for weeding. The question is whether one can also make predictions about books that are used. Studies have shown that books decline in use as they age. If one can determine the rate of this decline, one may be able to predict when books in use will fall into disuse—and thus become candidates for weeding.

Practical English Structure (review)

Reviews Practical English Structure, Marcia Bordman, Patricia Byrd, and Bernadene Schlein, Vol. 1, 200 pp., Vol. 2, 223 pp., Vol. 3, 219 pp., $9.95 each, Gallaudet College Press, Kendall Green, Washington, D.C. 20002, 1977. Written specifically to address the structural language needs of hearing-impaired high school and college students, this series of textbooks is strongly influenced by English as a Second Language (ESL) approaches to grammar instruction . While the authors emphasize that the texts should not be considered remedial in nature, the content and exercises appear to be designed for use with intermediate English students in need of systematic structural practice and drill work. The authors transform the traditional ESL oral approach into a totally written response format that stresses contextual usage through three basic types of exercises: controlled sentences, guided paragraphs, and vocabulary skill checks. Each chapter begins with a vocabulary check which consists of the presentation of a sentence containing an idiomatic phrase. Students are required to select the meaning of the idiom from four possible options written in a multiple-choice format . This exercise emphasizes the use of contextual clues. The content of these exercises does not appear to be integrated into the content of the remainder of the chapter. Controlled sentence exercises are introduced at this point. Students are instructed to examine sample sentences and then to respond in writing with appropriate similar, transformed, or expanded structures. Finally, guided paragraphs are provided which the students are instructed to read and respond to with content-specific tasks. Each lesson (chapter) has clearly stated objectives for both the student and the teacher. A variety of constructions are presented that range from simple practice with articles in a variety of contexts to complex manipulations of clauses. The organization of the books' content could be a source of confusion to the reader because grammatical construction is dealt with in a number of different chapters and levels. Each of these chapters may present a different syntactic environment or context for the structure and may provide the student with highly specific information and opportunities for practice . Overall, this type of organization could lead to difficulty when trying to adapt these books for use in a total language development program . The books are cumulative in nature; the content is age appropriate; and the illustrations are cleverly drawn and integrated into the books. A cumulative index of the content of all volumes is located at the end of each text. Books such as these can be extremely useful as part of an English language program for adults and young adults who are hearing impaired: a population which has been without appropriate materials for far too long. Margaret H. Finnegan, M.S. Ed. Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19119 Communication Programming for the Severely Handicapped: Vocal and Non-Vocal Strategies, Caroline R. Musselwhite, Ed. D., CCC, and Karen H. St. Louis, M.S., CCC, 325 pp., $29.50, College-Hill Press, 4580-E Alvarado Canyon Road, San Diego, CA 92120, 1982. The authors have compiled a wealth of information in a comprehensive, practical source book which covers vocal and nonvocal strategies for a wide variety of persons with severe communication disorders. The book will be most useful to speech-language pathologists and special educators. Part I discusses the decision process, issues in communication training, preliminary training strategies, and supportive services. An overview of issues and selected vocal language programs comprises Part II. Part III describes in some depth a wide variety of nonvocal communication systems: "gestural" communication such as Blissymbols, rebus, and words. Part IV, the appendices, comprises one third of the book. It is extremely useful even for the more knowledgeable reader. Appendix A is an annotated bibliography of recent literature in programming for the severely handicapped. Appendix B reviews 25 selected communication programs. In Appendix C, publications and services provided by organizations and agencies are described. Appendix D is a descriptive list of assessment tools and procedures. The strength of this book is the wide coverage of a broad topic in a very practical manner. The appendices are invaluable. It is an excellent resource book from which readers can further explore various areas according to their interests. Mata B. Jaffe, Ph...

Clinical Diagnosis in Pediatric Cardiology

The author has vast experience in the field of pediatric cardiology and has written this book for use by students, house officers, and practicing physicians who treat children with heart disease. The author expresses the conviction that clinical examination is indispensable to the evaluation of a case of heart disease in a child, a premise with which few would disagree. Unfortunately, the clinical examination presented in this book seems to be primarily limited to auscultation and phonocardiography. While the detailed description of the physical findings in cardiac lesions discussed is laudable, these findings are overemphasized relative to other clinical tools, such as ECGs, chest films, and echocardiograms. To present the clinical findings in various kinds of congenital heart disease with no description of the ECG and radiologic findings makes the descriptions of considerably less value than if these data had been included. For example, the chapter on endocardial cushion defect

Materials handbook for fusion energy systems

A materials data book for use in the design and analysis of components and systems in near term experimental and commercial reactor concepts has been created by the Office of Fusion Energy. The handbook is known as the Materials Handbook for Fusion Energy Systems (MHFES) and is available to all organizations actively involved in fusion related research or system designs. Distribution of the MHFES and its data pages is handled by the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory (HEDL), while its direction and content is handled by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company — St. Louis (MDAC-STL). The MHFES differs from other handbooks in that its format is geared more to the designer and structural analyst than to the materials scientist or materials engineer. The format that is used organizes the handbook by subsystems or components rather than material. Within each subsystem is information pertaining to material selection, specific material properties, and comments or recommendations on treatment of data. Since its inception a little more than a year ago, over 80 copies have been distributed to over 28 organizations consisting of national laboratories, universities, and private industries.

The Genre of ‘Troilus and Criseyde’ by Mona E. McAlpine

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER It would be unreasonable and unrealistic to ask for a more detailed search than that which Professor Lewis has carried out. One can quibble with the placement of notes at the ends of chapters, a more inconvenient spot than at either the foot of each page or at the end of the volume; one can regret the absence of running heads, especially in the edition itself. But these are matters probably decided by the University of Georgia Press. Much of the material in the volume is authoritative, as Lewis argues: he has consulted (but not collated) all but four of the 672 known manuscripts, he has likely exhausted the question of title variations, and he has provided much information concerning variant readings. Still, a critical edition of De Miseria continues to promise greater usefulness than does his unemended transcription of a "typical" manuscript that dates from within fifty years of Innocent's writing De Miseria. In no way do I mean to question the integrity of Professor Lewis' work in the way I have questioned some of his procedures and conclusions, but I am at a loss to say who could find this book of use. It purports to be neither what Innocent wrote nor what Chaucer read. The elaborate and extensive apparatus does not in any reasonably simple way provide retrievable information. The text itself is based on a manuscript that has no authority of any kind. Thus the first volume of the Chaucer Library demonstrates that it is impossible to establish all ofthe texts ofChaucer's library. At those points at which De Miseria seems to be the source for Chaucer's poetry, the text of Lewis' edition differs in no substantial way from Maccarrone's. It is not simply that Chaucer's manuscript of De Miseria has not been found; more to the point, it appears that there is insufficient evidence on which to base so extensive a search. It is still not clear whether Chaucer used De Miseria or instead got his materials from some other source. This edition calls into question whether it is feasible to expect that we can recover all of Chaucer's library. DANIEL SILVIA University of California, Davis MONA E. MCALPINE, The Genre of 'Troilus and Criseyde.' Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1978. Pp. 252. $12.50. Chaucer's reference to Troilus and Criseyde as "litel myn tragedie" ought to have established the genre of his poem. But, from Sydney's time 172 REVIEWS to our own, no definition of tragedy proposed has satisfied all readers as the correct accounting of Chaucer's generic procedure in the poem itself. Indeed, some critics have ignored this designation and found the poem more like a romance, or a novel, or an epic, or some combination of genres. McAlpine offers a new and consistent reading of Chaucer's generic intentions, one which takes into account the fact that his reference to tragedy appears quite late in the poem as the tentative attribution of a persona who has never been quite sure of his poetic bearings. This persona, she says, has been making rhetorical gestures in the direction of a de casibus tragedy modeled on Boccaccio: a tragedy of Fortune, or a tragedy of the proud man. His poem, however, has concentrated on the spiritual changes in lovers, not on material prosper­ ity and decline, and he has devoted nearly equal attention to Criseyde, who is not the principal victim of Fortune nor the proud man. His attribution, therefore, does not account for his practice. But Chaucer, who created him, had serious reasons for calling the poem a tragedy, and for referring to comedy in the next line. As a searching student and translator of the Consolation ofPhilosophy, he had invented and written the first truly Boethian tragedy and comedy, the structure of which is philosophically justified by the nature of the choices his two central characters make. McAlpine's solution to the generic problem thus defines tragedy in such a way as to solve many other problems of recent Troilus scholarship, those raised by the intrusive and vacillating narrative persona, by the centrality of love as his...

Cases in Marketing Management

A marketing case book for use where Harvard length cases are not appropriate. Each case is designed to fit into a specific section of a course in Marketing Management. A typical case length is 15-30 pages.

The Division of a Library into Books in Use, and Books Not in Use, With Different Storage Methods for the Two Classes of Books

The Division of a Library into Books in Use, and Books Not in Use, With Different Storage Methods for the Two Classes of Books

Technical terms used in school textbooks of human biology

Seven books in use as texts for CSE1 Human Biology were analysed to determine the technical vocabulary to which school pupils were exposed. The frequency of occurrence of every term was listed. Vocabulary sizes were very different because the books differed in length and detail, and some authors translated technical expressions into ordinary language. However, the scheme for classifying terms showed that the publications had similar relative sizes of the categories proposed, suggesting that the writers had the same view of human biology. Technical terms which appeared most often were thought to be among the most important ones for a pupil to know, and the commonest of all were also the shortest and easiest to use. A select vocabulary is provided.

Children's reference books

Reference books for use by children and older youth and their librarians, media specialists, teachers, and sometimes by parents, are often quite different in type, scope and appearance than those works which are consistently used by adults as reference books.

13. Culture, alphabétisation et enseignement au 18e siècle

13. Louis Trenard : Culture, Literacy and teaching in the 18th century. This study does not set out to evaluate results ; given its narrow limits, it cannot constitute a real conceptual frame or methodology for the academic and university questions of the Enlightenment ; it is centred above all on the research of French scholars pursued over the last ten years or so ; it attempts to elucidate some of the dominant traits. For all Universities, research is concerned with the notion of decline, the sociology of students, the role of the Faculties in religious quarrels, the evolution of teaching, in particular the introduction of sciences into syllabuses. The pedagogy of the Colleges, the sociology of teachers and pupils, the text books in use, the cartography of scolarisation give rise to original works elaborated within the frame of a congregation of teachers, a State, a province, a town, an institution... The historian of the " Petites Ecoles " attempts to assemble evidence bearing on the rates at which schools were frequented, on the state of exercise books, on the training of teachers... The results of scolarisation are gauged by studying the signatures on the Catholic Registers. This history of teaching should be set in its socio-cultural context.

Modern Dietary Treatment.

This textbook should be of some help to dietitians, physicians, and nurses. It cannot be used easily by laymen. The material appears to be prepared for use intramurally in teaching and in the planning of special diets. The dietary programs are carefully planned, and the tables and charts represent detailed calculations. The recipes might be of greater use if the amounts of ingredients in each recipe were given by household measures, as well as by weights. A table of the cholesterol content of food is not included, since the authors believe that cholesterol-free diets are of doubtful value. In general, it is a good book for use limited to the teaching of dietetics.

Reviews and anstracts

This book is not simply another treatise on hydrology. It brings to the reader the important researches and findings made and tested during the past fifteen or twenty years.The book is primarily designed as a student's text book for use in engineering schools and agricultural colleges. The practicing engineer, however, will find it a useful guide and correlator in modern hydrologic applications.

Botanical Periodicals at Oxford

A CATALOGUE of interest and value to all research workers and teachers in botany who wish to consult out-of-the-way journals as well as those more easily obtained has just appeared in the "List of Periodicals" issued by the Library of the Botany Department at Oxford. The purpose of the Library is, of course, to serve in the first place the needs of the Department, and this list was naturally prepared to that end; it is, however, now available for limited circulation. It is obvious that the privilege of borrowing books for use outside Oxford can only be granted in exceptional cases and through recognized channels; but the list will undoubtedly be of assistance to those in need of periodicals otherwise obtainable only with great difficulty and to whom these channels are available. The list is clearly annotated, the information being obtained chiefly from the periodicals themselves, and a useful feature is that all journals with current numbers in the Library are printed in bold type.

Sentence Lengths in Reading

IN SUPERVISORY programs in reading, much consideration has been given to levels of difficulty and frequencies as shown in various vocabulary studies of the books in use. Much less attention has been given to the grading of difficulties that might arise from differences in sentence lengths in the readers, whether the readers are used simultaneously or in sequence. If it may be assumed that, because of structure and because of the imagery presented, long sentences are harder to read, orally or silently, than are short sentences, it might be well for the supervising teacher to have a study of sentence lengths, as well as a vocabulary study, when he is selecting textbooks in reading and supplementary books. To prepare these data for her own use, the writer assembled a few of the readers that are commonly used in the east central part of Wisconsin. The following series were studied.

Library Economy Writers: Some Americans

THE spirit of American librarianship is the admiration of the world. To some extent also the wonder, because the pioneers there were of the same substance in general as those who founded Australia and New Zealand. Yet in the United States the “library idea” developed, slowly at first indeed as everywhere else, but in the nineties and the first decade of this century with a verve and liberality which outpaced us all; while, in our Dominions, it grew relatively much more slowly and always braked by the European idea that a lending library ought not to be free. A divided philosophy it seems. In America the axiom has been accepted that reading is culture and in it is included the culture of the imagination through works of all kinds, even fiction; and that this is to be dispensed, as education is, freely and at public cost. In continental Europe, and through it conveyed in some way to the Dominions, our axiom has been that reading may indeed be culture, but its relation to education is vague and unproven, and at the best the desire to create readers should stop short at offering them books for use in their homes entirely out of public funds.

Notes on Nature Study and Agricultural Text-Books Used in Africa

The following notes on text-books on nature study and agriculture used in Africa have been prepared in accordance with the decision of the Executive Council of the Institute to compile surveys of text-books in actual use, with a view to providing material which will help in the preparation of new model books. Reviews of current books for use in Africa appear in various journals, but there seems also to be a need for notes of this kind, which bring together information about books on a particular subject for a number of different areas. The first subject dealt with in this way was Hygiene (Africa, iii. 4, and v. 1). The notes on nature study and agricultural text-books which follow are incomplete and should be regarded as a first step only.

The Selection of Supplementary Books for Use in the Elementary Schools of Los Angeles

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Selection of Supplementary Books for Use in the Elementary Schools of Los AngelesEthel I. SalisburyEthel I. Salisbury Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 30, Number 2Oct., 1929 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/456368 PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.