FAQ material (was: Professor's address)

Cameron Laird (claird@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM)
10 May 1994 10:47:44 -0500

In article <2qa04v$sd9@apakabar.cc.columbia.edu>,
Spencer Austin Lehv <sal7@konichiwa.cc.columbia.edu> wrote:
>Hello. I am an undergraduate at Columbia University, and I am wondering
>if someone can help me find the address of Professor Stanley Marion
>Garn. Last semester I wrote a paper on racial and sexual variation in hair
>distribution and his dissertation (on the structure/distribution of
>hair) was cited several times. It looked really interesting and I would
>really like to get my hands on it.
>
>The only problem is that the only place I have been able to find it is at
>Harvard. Can anyone either: a) tell me how I can get a copy from
>Harvard, or b) give me Professor Garn's address so I can ask him personally.
>
>I have been trying to do this for about 6 months so I am getting pretty
>desperate.
.
.
.
I'm going to answer this question; express perplexity,
in what might sound like a scold; and issue a few action
items.

An Answer
_________
I am not an expert in these academic matters; surely
other readers know far more than I. However, this
information seems severely maldistributed, and I believe
it will serve some purpose to post it.

Essentially all doctoral dissertations submitted to uni-
versities in the United States are always available at a
modest cost ($15-50, approximately) from

University Microfilms
Ann Arbor, Michigan
+1 313 761 4700
+1 800 521 0600
Ordering Department: extension 3781
Da??? Search Department: extension 3732
searchable through DIALOG as ???

The folks at UMI are co-operative and helpful. I call
'em a few times a year, and always get good answers.

Above I wrote "[E]ssentially ..." The most notable ex-
ception to this rule is that all Harvard University
dissertations stay there, and are available for order
at +1 617 495 3995. In particular, that's the way to
find Dr. Garn's 1948 *Human Hair: Composition ...*

Perplexity
__________
Why don't more USA-resident academics know this? 'Beats
me; it strikes me as fundamental knowledge. Mr. Lehv,
there's something wrong if you're paying Ivy League
tuition, and you're not in contact with a reference
librarian, professor, or even teaching assistant there
at Columbia who can advise you on these matters. Also,
I suspect your ILL librarian can secure a copy of the
dissertation for loan to you at an even lower cost
($0-5, depending on the potency of your sponsor).

I suggest you research what has been done in this field
since 1948.

Action items
____________
This basic information about UMI needs to appear in
some FAQ. It doesn't appear in any of the ones I've
browsed. I've cross-posted this rather haphazardly,
in the hope that we can make some sort of useful con-
nection. In the meantime, Danny, can you please make
room for this in the sci.anthropology.paleo FAQ?

I suggest follow-ups go to sci.anthropology.paleo and
soc.libraries.talk, although I'm certainly open to
suggestion.

-- 



Cameron Laird

claird@Neosoft.com (claird%Neosoft.com@uunet.uu.net)	+1 713 267 7966

claird@litwin.com (claird%litwin.com@uunet.uu.net)  	+1 713 996 8546