College and Research Libraries


many titles one expects to find are missing. 
One medium-sized university library checked 
subscribes to almost two hundred periodicals 
in the field of biology (excluding medicine). 
This is not an outstanding collection, by any 
means, but it is a very respectable one and 
includes most of the important titles in the 
field. Of these titles, over thirty do not ap-
pear in Ulrich's, including such important 
journals as Annates botanici, Archives de 
zoologie experimental et generate, Cellule, 
and Zeitschrift fiir Biologie. Proportions of 
other fields checked were better, but such 
standard titles as the Classical Weekly, Jour-
nal of Bible and Religion, and Music Li-
brary Association Notes ought not to be 
omitted when seemingly every periodical re-
lating to flying saucers, including such an 
improbable title as Thy Kingdom Come, is 
carefully listed. T h e problem of selection is 
undoubtedly the toughest faced by an edi-
tor of such a reference work. T h e only logi-
cal attempt at a solution is to concentrate on 
thoroughness of coverage in the type of 
material for which the volume will be most 
consulted (and this comment is only from 
the point of view of the university librarian) 
and to include others only in so far as time 
and expense permit. 

This raises another question. It is difficult 
to draw a strict line of definition between 
periodicals and other serials. But it must 
be drawn this side of the Union List of Se-
rials, Literary Market Place, and Deutsche 
Presse. It should, in my opinion, also be 
drawn this side of monographic series and 
academy transactions, unless they appear 
fairly frequently and with some regularity 
as do not, for example, the Memoirs of the 
American Mathematical Society or the 
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. W i t h 
the constantly increasing number of national 
and subject bibliographies, information on 
monographic series is relatively easy to find. 
Because of this, it is unfortunate that so 
many periodicals are omitted and so many 
other titles not primarily within the scope 
of the book are included. 

There are some changes in form that may 
be suggested. "Price not given" appears too 
frequently. If the periodical can be obtained 
free, this should be stated, even if it must 
appear (as it does under a number of en-
tries) as an uncertain "Free?" If the price 
varies, the approximate annual cost might 

be estimated. T o be sure, this is often a 
ticklish proposition, but Ulrich's is consulted 
for prices as much as any other information. 
(Incidentally, prices should be added to the 
information given in one of the very useful 
new features, the list of newspapers.) Another 
helpful addition would be to give for each 
periodical the most recent volume number 
and date. Finally, I would like to see entries 
consistent with L C in form and capitaliza-
tion. 

After all critcism, I can only say that the 
usefulness of Ulrich's is beyond question. 
This is not intended as a mere palliative, 
and if I have not made a point in repeating 
its virtues, it is only because we have all 
been so dependent on it that we are familiar 
with them, and grateful for them. I hope, 
however, that some of the limitations pointed 
out will help in its use, and possibly serve 
its compilers to make future editions even 
more v a l u a b l e . — E v a n I. Farber, Emory Uni-
versity Library. 

Soviet Libraries 
Libraries and Bibliographic Centers in the 

Soviet Union. By Paul L. Horecky. (Indi-
ana University Publications. Graduate 
School. Slavic and East European Series, 
v. 16.) [Bloomington, Indiana] Indiana 
University Publications [1959], 287p. 

Mr. Horecky's book is timely. T h e in-
creased interest in Soviet contributions to 
science, and the growth in the purchases 
of Russian books and the exchange activities 
between American and Russian libraries 
have created a desire for a thorough knowl-
edge of the Soviet library system and the 
demand for a publication presenting a de-
tailed and systematic description of Soviet 
libraries and bibliographic centers. T h e arti-
cles on various aspects of Soviet libraries 
which have appeared in American library 
periodicals and the UNESCO Bulletin for 
Libraries from time to time, although shed-
ding much light on the topic under review, 
could not entirely satisfy the demand for an 
organized picture of the entire library 
system. 

JULY 1 9 6 0 249 



T h e book consists of two parts: Part I, 
more than 160 pages, is an outline of library 
organization and library activities in the 
Soviet Union. Part II, (pp. 163-287) consists 
of thirty-five translations of primary sources 
pertaining to Soviet libraries—such as ex-
cerpts from organizational manuals, statisti-
cal tables, classification tables, materials on 
training in librarianship, activities of the 
All-Union Book Chamber, and the wages 
of librarians. These translations, in addition 
to serving as elaborations of certain prob-
lems sketched in the book, will be useful to 
anyone approaching primary sources pertain-
ing to Soviet libraries. 

Part I of the book covers a broad field. 
It includes a description of mass libraries, 
with special chapters devoted to the Lenin 
State Library of the USSR in Moscow, the 
Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library in 
Leningrad, trade-union libraries, libraries in 
collective farms, and special libraries such 
as those of science and technology, educa-
tional establishments (including elementary, 
secondary, and higher education), the net-
work of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the 
Republic Academies of Sciences, the hu-
manities, and social sciences. It also describes 
buildings, the storage of library materials, 
and such mechanics as: purchasing, catalog-
ing and classification, international ex-
change, loan services, selection of books, 
weeding of obsolete materials, and training 
of librarians. 

T h e book gives sufficient general informa-
tion of the Soviet library system; that is, of 
the existence of a few library networks cen-
trally controlled, providing materials for de-
fined groups of readers, as well as the dis-
tinctive characteristics of the system, namely: 
(1) a legal deposit copy system which pro-
vides a means of enriching the collections 
of libraries entitled to copies from this de-
posit and enables the All-Union Book 
Chamber to compile the complete bibliog-
raphy of Soviet book production; (2) the 
preference for a classified catalog, and the 
recent development of various types of union 
catalog: retrospective and current, in Rus-
sian and other languages, All-Union and re-
gional; (3) central cataloging and classifica-
tion; (4) the weeding of collections of books 
which are "obsolete" from the political point 
of view; (5) the insignificant progress in li-

brary architecture and the limited introduc-
tion of labor saving devices; and (6) the not 
yet satisfactorily solved problem of subject 
classification. 

It is to Mr. Horecky's credit that he, 
mainly although not exclusively on the basis 
of Russian materials, opens vistas on the 
system of Soviet libraries and their workings. 
In presenting each of the problems, the 
author has supplied the date of its origin 
and sometimes later dates indicative of 
major changes in the system, and then has 
described its structure and methods of oper-
ation. Emphasis is on the descriptive pres-
entation, as the author has stated in his 
preface. Analysis is not carried far beyond 
the descriptive level. T h e presentation is a 
picture seen mostly through official data and, 
to a lesser extent, through the eyes of ob-
servers. T h e clarity of presentation merits 
commendation and is aided extensively by 
schematic diagrams. 

T h e handiness and usefulness of the pub-
lication has been enhanced by the Index, 
the Glossary, and the "Selective Bibliography 
of Sources in English and Russian," which 
supplements the sources cited in the text. 

T h e book will serve admirably the libra-
rian who is interested in the development 
of Russian libraries, the reference librarian 
in a Slavic division, and to an even greater 
extent, the practically oriented librarian 
who is engaged in the purchasing from and 
exchange of books with the Soviet Union. 

T h e reviewer ventures a comment in the 
form of a postscript; namely, in addition to 
considering the organization and officially 
formulated goals of the libraries, an attempt 
might be made to pursue the investigation 
further, in order to determine the degree 
of correlation between declared goals and 
actual achievements, as well as to show the 
social factors operating in libraries. In other 
words, to write an inside story of Soviet 
libraries. Such an investigation may reveal 
a different picture of Soviet libraries; for 
example, that a general statement pertain-
ing to political indoctrination by libraries, 
which we take for granted, should be quali-
fied as to types of library, or that Marxism-
Leninism, despite the pronouncements, does 
not play a decisive role in the Soviet prefer-
ence for the classified c a t a l o g . — J a n Wepsiec, 
Library of Congress. 

250 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S