With MARC for Library Use, the virtues of a second edition were clear: the book was widely used, format integration made a big difference, there was lots of new material to cover—and a 6″ x 9″ book is generally more readable than a single-column 8.5″ x 11″ book.
With Technical Standards: An Introduction for Librarians, the case wasn’t quite so clear. The first edition did well but was no best-seller. The underlying information hadn’t changed all that much.
On the other hand, the book was a few years old and—as founding editor of Information Standards Quarterly—I was now much more familiar with NISO’s structure and workings. People within NISO argued for revising the book rather than withdrawing it, and G.K. Hall agreed.
The new version omitted the discussions of selected ANSI X3 standards that were in the first edition—but also, unlike the first edition, discussed every NISO (Z39) standard, including draft standards and standards under review for revision or deletion.
The book appeared in 1991 (sleeved hardcover and paperback) and was current through early 1991. I produced the camera-ready pages in Zapf Calligraphic using Ventura Publisher. It did acceptably well, as I remember. My involvement in technical standards started waning about that time; no third edition was plausible.
Crawford, Walt. Technical Standards: An Introduction for Librarians, Second Edition. Professional Librarian Series. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991. ISBN 0-8161-1951-1. ISBN 0-8161-1950-3 (pbk.)
