College and Research Libraries


lections of the institutions studied. As exam-
ples of quantitative measurement, concisely 
reported, they provide models and lines of 
inquiry for further investigation. Finally, the 
conclusions set down, scrupulously drawn 
from the evidence presented, are matter for 
reflection by all librarians concerned with 
acquisitions policy and its implications.— 
Harry W. Hart, Columbia University Librar-
ies. 

International L a w 

Classification 

Classification for International Law and 
Relations. 2d ed., rev. and enl. By Kurt 
Schwerin. New York: Oceana Publica-
tions [1958]. 

This work is based on the classification 
scheme developed for the University of Vir-
ginia Law Library, originally published in 
1947; it is currently used at the Northwestern 
University Law School Library. 

T h e schedule is divided into three parts: 
treatises on international law, treatises on 
international relations, and official publica-
tions, reports, and documents. Private inter-
national law, included in the first edition, 
has now been dropped; it is suggested that 
it be classed with domestic law. This ar-
rangement follows the practice of the ma-
jority of law libraries which generally sepa-
rate documentary materials from commen-
taries and treatises. I n international law, its 
wisdom is open to serious question since it 
separates items published by the League of 
Nations, United Nations, and other agencies 
from works about these organizations. T h e 
Library of Congress J X scheme keeps such 
materials together and appears superior in 
that respect. Furthermore, the distinction be-
tween international law and relations is of-
ten arbitrary. Books on international dis-
putes, for example, are classed with inter-
national law; boundary disputes, however, 
with international relations; treaties and al-
liances appear in both sections. 

T h e scheme uses a two-digit decimal nota-

tion with expansions up to five digits, with-
out a decimal point. Letter codes for interna-
tional agencies and their organs are provided 
whenever applicable; a general list of coun-
try symbols is appended to the schedule. 
Mnemonic features are few; i n fact, the 
decimal principle appears to have been used 
primarily because of the flexibility it offers 
in interpolating new numbers and expand-
ing the schedule as new topics arise; its other 
outstanding features have not been fully 
utilized. 

A comparison with the first edition shows 
that the expansion has been considerable: 
the index about doubled in size, the number 
of assigned symbols (without country or 
agency subdivisions) has grown from over 
one hundred and fifty in the first edition to 
over two hundred and fifty in the second; 
more than one hundred and ten numbers 
have been added, ten dropped, about five 
changed (relocated). T h e revision was neces-
sitated not only by the rapid growth of inter-
national agencies after W o r l d W a r I I , but 
also by the oversimplified approach of the 
original edition to the arrangement of the 
League of Nations documents which have 
now been completely reorganized. 

T h e schedule has many outstanding fea-
tures: a comprehensive index, a complete list 
of country symbols, helpful examples of call 
numbers, and an extremely useful scheme 
for publications of the various international 
organizations. Its author recommends it for 
small libraries which might find the Library 
of Congress J X classification too detailed and 
too cumbersome to handle. One cannot help 
wondering about the wisdom of labeling an 
international law collection as "small" for, if 
it has research uses, it is bound to grow in-
definitely and to reach the complexity of a 
"large" library. T h e 100-per cent expansion 
of the scheme under review, apparently indi-
cated after ten years, strongly suggests that it 
would be safer, for any research library, to 
adopt the detailed classification of the Li-
brary of Congress which has the additional 
advantage of a continuous revision. T o an 
undergraduate library, however, the Schwerin 
classification should provide a comfortable 
framework, in many ways superior to the 
current edition of the Dewey Decimal scheme. 
—Vaclav Mostecky, Harvard Law School. 

MAY 1959 259