While the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is perhaps the best known bibliographic control system in existence, it is cumbersome and not always user friendly. Faceted Application of Subject Terminology (FAST) is designed to rework LCSH's authority rules so that they are easier to use, understand, and apply. The result is a schema designed to handle a large volume of materials with less effort and cost.

In this guide, two members of the original design team have put together numerous examples of FAST-driven projects including traditional monographs, special collections (archives, business records), electronic resources, and websites. The result is a prototype designed to be used not just by experienced catalogers but also by people with minimal training and experience.

Aiming his work simultaneously at advance undergraduate students and communications engineers, O'Neill (physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute) presents an introduction to classical statistical optics. If they had appeared alone, he suggests, the first six chapters could have been more accurately titled Communication Theory and Image-Formation Optics because of their coverage of the role of Green's function in mathematical physics, the difference between spatial and time filters, the fundamental relations of paraxial optics, and the effects of the various aberration terms on image formation from the standpoint of physical and geometrical optics. The remaining three chapters add statistical descriptions of the scenes that confront optical instruments and the light itself in scalar and vector form. This is a paperbound edition of a work first published in 1992. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)