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Serially published bibliographies raise a number of issues across all areas of library operations and generate a bewildering array of policies, procedures, and problems. Initially there is the question of collection development and acquisition: Are these titles to be identified and purchased individually for their specific subject coverage, or are they to be placed on standing order? The answer to this question may depend on whether the individual titles are to be classified together as a series or separately by subject. A library may choose to purchase such series selectively or comprehensively. Sometimes the format of the series is a factor. Are the individual volumes numbered or otherwise prominently identified as part of an ongoing series, or are they a little more separate in their identity? Their physical location within a given library's collections may also be a consideration: Will they be located in the reference collection, in the general book stacks, or in a special collection or branch? Ultimately, there is the question of their access and use. Will patrons be able to find these bibliographies through public catalogs and/or indexes and abstracts (in whatever their formats), or will reference librarians have to direct users to them? The answer to this question will very likely influence how the other questions are answered.

According to the introduction, this five volume set is intended to update Eric H. Boehm and Lalit Adolphus's Historical Periodicals: An Annotated World List of Historical and Related Serial Publications (Santa Barbara, CA: Clio Press, 1961). That goal is met admirably. The editors have combed the standard periodical sources, as well as the periodical lists of relevant European indexing services, and produced a list of 8,900 periodicals in history and related fields. The coverage is worldwide. While the United States has the most entries, these entries represent only about fifteen percent of the total.

When I began as column editor for “Reference Serials” I experienced an immediate need for a cumulative index to titles reviewed in this column over the years. An expeditious solution to the question of whether a particular title had been reviewed previously in RSR was a search of Book Review Index on DIALOG. In the process of this searching, I discovered that BRI's indexing of RSR was more complete than RSR's self indexing and, of course, BRI's indexing online is cumulative while RSR has no cumulative indexes. Both index options had an additional problem: each included references to all the titles mentioned in the various columns of RSR regardless of whether the reference was actually to an extensive review or simply to an unannotated listing of the title.

This index accompanies the index that appeared in Reference Services Review 16:4 (1988). As noted in the introduction to that index, the articles in RSR that deal with specific reference titles can be grouped into two categories: those that review specific titles (to a maximum of three) and those that review titles pertinent to a specific subject or discipline. The index in RSR 16:4 covered the first category; it indexed, by title, all titles that had been reviewed in the “Reference Serials” and the “Landmarks of Reference” columns, as well as selected titles from the “Indexes and Indexers,” “Government Publications,” and “Special Feature” columns of the journal.

Since its introduction as a library resource in 1984, the use of CD‐ROM technology has proliferated. With ongoing enhancements and a multitude of vendors offering their products on CD‐ROM, this technology is making an impact on the provision of many types of library services. Two major suppliers of serials information have now jumped on the CD‐ROM bandwagon. Beginning in 1987, the entire databases of Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory and Ulrich's Irregular Serials and Annuals have been available on CD‐ROM as Ulrich's PLUS. In 1988, EBSCO introduced the CD‐ROM version of its printed source of serials information, The Serials Directory. This study examines implications for the use of these periodical directories as reference tools and presents a comparison of the two systems.

Need information on programs for homeless persons? On policies and costs for treating persons with AIDS? On groundwater contamination? Waterfront development? Rent control? How about requests for extensive narrative and statistical information on a distant community or metropolitan region? The Index to Current Urban Documents and its accompanying Urban Documents Microfiche Collection are excellent resources for these types of questions. Unfortunately, many libraries that subscribe to the index and microfiche collection fail to use them. In fact, underuse of these resources is probably the norm in most libraries. In a 1986 study of northern Illinois public libraries identified as receiving requests for local government information at least biweekly, none of the librarians interviewed reported having used the Index to Current Urban Documents.

With this issue of Reference Services Review we launch a series of articles in which we will describe and discuss the various publication programs currently being carried out at Pierian Press, as well as others that we will introduce in the future. Our purpose, however, goes beyond simple dissemination of information. RSR readers with strong intellectual interests in and substantial knowledge about particular subjects are invited to consider becoming Pierian Press authors.

South America, Central America and the Caribbean. 1st ed. 1986. $90. London: Europa Publications, Ltd., 1985. Available in North America from Gale Research Co. ISSN 0258‐0661. ISBN 0‐946653‐11‐9. OCLC 12956657. This work is a welcome and overdue companion to the Europa volumes on other regions. It combines statistics, analysis, history, maps, directories, and bibliography in one reference tool.

In the fall of 1989, SilverPlatter and Human Relations Area Files, Inc. began releasing their new series Cross‐Cultural CD, based on a subset of the Human Relations Area Files. The first disk in the anticipated five‐disk series covers the subjects Human Sexuality and Marriage, and represents two of ten proposed topical databases that are scheduled to be released over the next five years. The other eight databases in the series, to be produced on a total of four additional disks, are to be on the following topics: Family, Crime and Social Problems, Old Age, Death and Dying, Childhood and Adolescence, Socialization and Education, Religious Beliefs, and Religious Practices. An annual “volume” of two databases is currently $1,495, and each volume may be purchased separately. The databases will be issued one time only, one every six months, and are not updated. The second disk in each volume replaces the first disk of that volume, and becomes the property of the purchaser.

Career planning quickly becomes a search for information. This information is likely to be found in different locations throughout a community, school system, or college campus, and the library is one of these. While the library may not be the focus of career planning services, it plays a strong complementary role to established services. In particular, libraries can provide information that helps high school or college students or recent graduates explore their career options. This article will present a method for building library collections in career planning and suggest sources that help meet diverse student needs.