REFERENCE BOOKS
A Dictionary of Superstitions
Iona Opie and Moira Tatem, editors
Oxford University Press
1989, 2005, 494 pages, $17.95 US, ISBN 0-19-280664-5
This paperback reissue of the 1989 original includes divinations,
spells, cures, charms, signs and omens, rituals, and taboos. And,
of course, it is arranged A - Z by term. Its scope is mainly coverage
of those superstitions from Great Britain and Eire which survived
into the twentieth century. These everyday domestic beliefs are
tagged to some literary reference and some date. And it is cross-referenced
for browsing.
Audience or interest level: writers, general public, reference
book.
Some interesting facts: I am not quite sure why it is copyrighted
2005 since this is just a reissue of the 1989 original, with no
visible signs of updating. It had also been reissued in 1992 and
1996.
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings): cheap
paper and a modest binding, designed to keep the price down.
What I do like about this resource (its positives): it has
an analytical index with no page references - just see and see also
references to the dictionary entries.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 91
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language
Tom McArthur, editor, and Roshan McArthur, assistant editor
Oxford University Press
1998, 2005, 692 pages, $25.95, ISBN 0-19-280637-8
This is a paperback reissue of the 1998 abridgement of The Oxford
Companion to the English Language. As the original companion
presented key aspects of English at the cusp of the 20th - 21st
century, then the abridgement presents even "keyer" aspects
of the event. Here is coverage of the varieties of English around
the world, the cultural impact of the language, the nature and origins
of words, some pronunciation, vocabulary, usage, and word-formation.
There are chronologies and a theme bibliography in the appendices.
It is, like other companions, arranged in dictionary style, A -
Z, with copious cross-references.
Audience or interest level: writers, general public, reference
book.
Some interesting facts: This is just a reissue of the 1998
edition, but in paper covers. The "concise" is a further
cut down version of the 1996 "abridgement" to the full-sized
Companion (published in 1992). Thus, this is a reprint of
a reduction of a reduction of an original. Got that?
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings): cheap
paper and a modest binding, designed to keep the price down.
What I do like about this resource (its positives): a great
buy, even cheaper through the online book stores.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 95
Fanboys and Overdogs; the language report
Susie Dent
Oxford University Press
2005, 163 pages, $25.95, ISBN 0-19-280676-9 hard covers
Susie Dent is a word expert featured on British TV and radio (also
see Barber below). This is the third annual tour of new slang and
buzzwords, principally in the UK; as well, this "language report"
seeks to update the other two. New words are constantly entering
our language, and of late, these have apparently come from the worlds
of politics, fashion and media, business and trademarks. Newly minted
words on the international stage (beyond the UK) include "crackberry".
My own suggestion to this will be "redberry", now being
used to describe the cheaper Chinese knockoffs. In case you are
wondering, "fanboy" is a male fan of geek culture (there
is a fangirl), and "overdog" is a successful person who
is dominant in one's field (although Oxford uses the phrase "in
their field" when defining the singular word). Here's a puzzler:
chapter 15 deals with "dogs" and their use as catchphrases,
but there is no reference here to "overdogs". Chapter
topics embrace headline writers, business speak, the language of
undergarments, a comparison of Johnson's 1755 dictionary with the
OED of 2005, the rise of swear words, and what looks to be a long
commercial for the OED online (not a free service). VIP words of
late have included SARS (2002), podcasting (2004) and sudoku (2005).
These are found in the last chapter which deals with VIP words of
the previous 100 years (one per year).
Audience or interest level: the curious, reporters looking
for a soft story, word freaks, general reference.
Some interesting facts: "Creativity is at the expense
of linguistic correctness, and goes hand in hand with a dumbing
down. Complaints about the state of English tend to focus on two
areas: bad usage, and bad language. Laments continue over a perceived
decline in standards."
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings):
UK orientation. One new word is "third" (1/3 of a UK pint
of beer, less than 7 ounces).
What I do like about this resource (its positives): the commentaries
on tabooed words, and there is also an index leading to a direct
entry for the new words.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 89
Six Words You Never Knew Had Something To Do With Pigs and Other
Fascinating Facts About the Language From Canada's Word Lady
Katherine Barber
Oxford University Press
2006, 224 pages, $24.95, ISBN 0-19-542440-9 hard covers
Katherine Barber is Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Dictionary
Department at Oxford University Press in Toronto, frequently appearing
on Canadian TV and radio (see also Dent above). Unlike Dent, though,
Barber sticks to the history of older words - about 500 of them.
She has been known on the CBC as the "Word Lady", and
indeed this book is based on that gig. She organizes them by season
and then thematically within (e.g., Winter has words associated
with the flu season, New Year's, Christmas, pension planning; Spring
is all Easter, taxes and cottages). Themes may be Canadian but the
words are all international English. Her popular etymologies hark
back to Mediaeval French, Anglo-Saxon, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Asiatic
and Canadian aboriginal origins. The word "mitten" for
example comes from Provencal, "maven" from Yiddish, "hooch"
from Tlingit, and "chipmunk" from Ojibwa. There is an
index to the specific words.
Audience or interest level: word freaks, general reference.
Some interesting facts: The word "soil" is associated
with pigs. In modern French, the verb "souiller" means
to make dirty, a corruption of the Latin verb "suculare"
which is derived from "suculus", meaning a little pig
(as in suckling pig). Yet she has no mention of the widely-known
phrase "soo-yi-lee" which is used in pig calling and pig-calling
contests.
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings):
there are some typos (a contents reference to RRSPs should be 207).
Also, try looking up "pigs" in the index in order to find
the six words alluded to in the book's title. You won't find it.
You have to see farm stuff under Spring in the contents page and
then go to that chapter and poke around.
What I do like about this resource (its positives): there
are indexes to the words described and to the languages from which
they are derived.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 90
COMPUTER BOOKS FOR JOURNALISTS
Yahoo! To The Max; an extreme searcher guide
Randolph Hock
2005, CyberAge Books (Information Today), 232 pages, $33.95, ISBN
0-910965-69-2
Hock is an award-winning writer and Internet trainer. His previous
book for CyberAge was The Extreme Searcher's Internet Handbook
(2004). Except for a few screen shots, this book looks like it was
put to bed at the end of 2004. While this currently reduces its
up-to-date usefulness, it is still a reader-friendly guide to online
research, communications, investments, and e-commerce through the
Yahoo
portal. Forty or so features are explained, including the invaluable
My Yahoo, the News Alerts, and Instant Messaging. At one time Yahoo
was a leader, but now it comes up with its own competitive versions
of stuff developed by other companies such as AOL (for IM) or Google
(News, Toolbar). Yahoo had E-mail accounts long before Google, but
its storage was a mere 2 MB. When Google began GMail, it upped the
free storage to 1 GB - and Yahoo responded in kind. Previously,
the extra storage was a "premium" which Yahoo subscribers
had to pay for. The Yahoo drill-through directory is its best contribution,
but this is not really mentioned anywhere in the book. My Yahoo
is a solid reason for my using the system, with its built-in RSS
feeds, features, news, weather, sports, etc. But otherwise there
is nothing particularly Canadian about Yahoo except its affiliation
with Rogers (not mentioned in the book) and its "dot ca"
domain, which is ultimately confusing to many in the U.S. My wife
has a Yahoo.Ca account, but many of her American friends get back
bounces if they type in Yahoo.Com instead. Apparently, Yahoo has
no system of forwarding. Personally, I've found loading Google to
be faster than Yahoo on dialup. But they are about the same on broadband.
Why? Maybe it's because Yahoo has more images in its adverts (Google's
ads are largely text-based URLs).
Audience or interest level: Internet users, reporters, those
wishing to utilize Yahoo.
Some interesting facts: "This book is aimed at helping
you easily identify and use the parts of Yahoo! that are relevant
to you. It is arranged so that you can readily spot and skip over
the sections that are obviously of no interest."
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings): there
are disclaimer notices - why are these necessary?
What I do like about this resource (its positives): a solid
introduction to Yahoo. There are weblinks and updates at www.extremesearcher.com.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 87
MEDIA BOOKS
The Invention of Journalism Ethics; the path to objectivity
and beyond
Stephen J.A. Ward
McGill-Queen's University Press
2004, 360 pages, $65, ISBN 0-7735-2810-5 hard covers ($29 paper
covers)
Ward is an associate professor of journalism ethics at the School
of Journalism, University of British Columbia; he was formerly with
CP. This book is #38 in the McGill-Queen's Studies in the History
of Ideas. It deals with the twin subjects of journalism ethics and
objectivity. Ward says that journalists and the public need a new
theory to enable them to recognize and avoid biased and unbalanced
reporting. At the same time, he recognizes that objectivity is not
based on absolute standards. Rather, the situation, context, and
the relationship with the elements of society come into play. He
traces origins, and hence his work is also a history of journalism
ethics (partisan English newsbooks of the 1600s, the objectivity
in the late 1800s, modern day constructs of weaseling). Nevertheless,
there is a difference between "journalist", "editor"
and "publisher" which needs to be explored. While the
first is covered in this book (along with society), it is actually
the other two who make the major decisions. Could this book also
herald the return of media literacy? There is a bibliography for
further reading, plus a scholarly index.
Audience or interest level: academics, journalism ethicists,
journalism students.
Some interesting facts: "I have not written a practical
manual for implementing pragmatic objectivity. I have not analyzed
news articles or news organizations. Instead, I have constructed
a philosophical framework for understanding the evolution of journalism
ethics and the concept of objectivity."
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings):
I thought Ward needed to delve more into the publisher's profit
motive. Freedom of the press belongs to the owner of the press,
as A.J. Liebling said.
What I do like about this resource (its positives): an interesting
read.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 88 (paperback)
News, Truth and Crime: the Westray disaster and its aftermath
John L. McMullan
Fernwood Publishing
2005, 112 pages, $14.95, ISBN 1-55266-173-3 paper covers
McMullan is a professor of sociology and criminology at Saint Mary's
University on Halifax. He has written many books and articles on
business crime and the media and crime. Here he examines the media
coverage devoted to the ten year (1992-2002) aftermath of the May
9, 1992 explosion where 26 miners died at the Westray mine. This
is media content analysis; some of the book's material has been
drawn from lectures, conferences, and seminars at universities.
It follows on Fernwood Publishing's collection (edited by C. McCormick)
The Westray Chronicles; a case study in corporate crime (1999).
The focus of the current project was to study the connections between
power, knowledge, and truth in three related institutional areas:
the media, the criminal justice system, and the public inquiry.
McMullan recounts the tragedy and the subsequent media coverage
in about 100 pages, including 23 convincing tables. His book is
to be the first in a series to be a systematic study of the disaster
and aftermath; it lays the groundwork and the theses. His bibliography
includes a good listing of other books which cover, among other
topics, news coverage of disasters and corporate crimes from other
places, such as Catholic priests and sexual abuse, the Goteburg
dancehall fire, Ford Pintos, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Yellowstone
forest fires. Unfortunately, the book has no index.
Audience or interest level: media observers, journalism students.
Some interesting facts: "McMullan concludes that the
press imagined crime out in their collective representation of Westray
and after. The press did not demarcate the corporation as capable
of killing, and the news coverage, while registering alternative
truths, did not reconstitute the truth of Westray as corporate criminality."
In other words, the press missed the story.
What I don't like about this resource (its shortcomings): NO
INDEX!
What I do like about this resource (its positives): interesting
analysis of news as a truth-telling exercise.
Quality-to-Price Ratio: 88 (shame about that index, or lack
of same)
Published in Sources
58, Summer 2006.
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