College and Research Libraries on programing, and this book can serve as a model and guide for library uses, even for libraries which will never have to worry about punched cards or tapes.-jay E. Daily, New York City. West German Scholarly Libraries West G erman Library Developments Since 1945. With special emphasis on the re- building of research lfbraries. By Gisela . von Busse. Washington: Library of Con- gress, Slavic and Central European Divi- sion, Reference Department, 1962. 82p. SOc. (From the Superintendent of Docu- ments.) A major disability of library literature, when considered from the international point of view, is the general lack of compre- hensive, up-to-date material on the principal aspects of librarianship in one country writ- ten in the language of another. Important exceptions to this generalization exist, of course. The volume edited by Carl Wehmer, Zur Praxis der Wissenschaftlichen Biblio- theken in den USA (Wiesbaden: Harrasso- witz, 1956), made available to the German librarian an excellent account of scholarly librarianship in the United States. More re- cently, G. v. Busse, W. Grunwald, 0. Mach, and W. Seuberlich have prepared a compar- able, monograph-length account for Russia, "Berichte i.iber eine Studienreise zu Biblio- theken in Moskau und Leningrad," (Zeit- schrift fiir Bibliothekswesen und Bibliogra- phie, IX, 1962, 97-176). Among numerous other contributions that might be cited are Libraries in japan (Tok- yo: Japan Library Association, 1958); Hor- ecky's Libraries and Bibliographic Centers in the Soviet Union (Indiana University Press, 1959); Lancour's Libraries in British West Africa (University of Illinois, Occa- sional Papers, No. 53, 1958); E. J. A. Evan's The Development of Public Library Services in the Gold Coast (London: Library Asso- ciation, 1956); Preben Kirkegaard's The Pub- lic Libraries in Denmark (Copenhagen, 1950; Danish Information Handbooks); G. Otter- vik's Libraries and Archives in Sweden (Stockholm: Swedish Institute, 1954); and The Development of Public Libraries in Latin · America: The Sao Paulo Conference (Paris, UNESCO, 1952). There is, as this list- ing suggests, considerably more material available to the reader of English and Ger- man than of other languages. UNESCO has provided, in its Bulletin for Libraries, a use- ful service by publishing in its several lan- guage editions, good though brief accounts of international librarianship, particularly in the new and developing countries. Some oth- er journals, notable CRL, The Library jour- nal, The Library Quarterly , and Libri, have also contributed significantly, but again in the often-too-brief compass of the periodical article . It is likewise true that the "disability" re- ferred to above is a greater one for the li- brarians of some lands than others. The edu- cated person, and hence the librarian, of the Scandinavian countries and Holland gen- erally reads English, French, and German , and the German librarian English and French, well enough so that publications in those langua,ges are little trouble to him. The German, also, has available much informa- tion in the unique Handbuch der Biblio- thekswissenschaft. English, the language of the largest amount of library literature, is no problem for librarians in such parts of the world as Ghana, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan. Similarly, French is still read by the educated Tunisian or Algerian, and Dutch by the Indonesian. But where is the Latin American librarian to find , in Spanish or Portuguese, a detailed account of library edu- cation in the USSR? Where can the Italian or Russian re-ad in his native language an extensive description of the development and status of the county library or special li- brarianship in the United States? Where will the Frenchman locate comprehensive in- formation in French about the university li- brary in South America or the public library in Norway? The answers to these and many other questions of like import is "Nowhere." Until publication of the study under con- sideration here, the same answer would necessarily have been given to the search for a full account in English of the scholarly li- brary in West Germany. West German Library Developments Since 1945, written by the chief of the Library De- partment of the German Research Associa- tion (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) is 254 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES an excellent study. The material is presented, after a brief historical introduction, in three chapters: "Methods of Rebuilding"-on the individual, regional, national, and interna- tional levels; "Rehabilitation in Certain Spe- cific Fields"-acquisitions, cataloging, serv- ice, budget and personnel, and buildings; and "Organizational Problems." A useful Ap- pendix, consisting of seven tables, provides data on holdings, book budgets, loan and interlibrary loan statistics, and buildings. A good bibliography of eighty-eight titles is also appended. However, as all but two of these are in German, the works cited will probably be of little help to those for whom the study, originally written in that lan- guage, was translated into English. It is cer- tainly true that there is very little on the subject in any language other than German , but it is therefore the more to be regretted that such a paper as Breitenbach's "Letter from Germany," (CRL, XV, 1954, 412-16) was not included. Virtually the whole gamut of scholarly 1i- brarianship is covered in Dr. von Busse's splendid treatise, including library journals and associations, conventions, cooperative ac- quisitions, exchanges, union catalogs, reader space, interlibrary loan, and library educa- tion. Partietilarly good is the description of the status of the scholarly library at the end of World War II-four million volumes, and twelve of tw,enty-nine libraries totally de-- stroyed-and the truly remarkable progress · toward almost complete rebuilding that has been accomplished in less than two decades. Indeed, from one point of view, the work offers more than it promises: a good deal of pre-1945 historical information is given . Yet, if one can fault the study in any serious way it would be to suggest that, as a hostess, Dr. von Busse pours too little into the glass. What there is, is vintage, but more would be very welcome. More, for example, on the nature of the professional education of the two principal classes of employees in the scholarly library; more on the autonomous institute and seminar libraries which are wholly independent from the main univer- sity libraries ; and more on reference work and service (barely mentioned on page 49), lack of discussion of which will strike the Anglo-American reader as strange. Perhaps, however, the lack of the "more" is not to be MAY 1963 laid at the door of the author in light of the statement in the Preface (page v), "The English translation . . . was reviewed and abridged ... " In view of the importance of the subject and the complete lack of any- thing comparable in English, it may be con- sidered unfortunate if this abridgement re- sulted in the elimination of substantive mat- ter. At only one point does this comprehensive and most valuable study appear to be in er- ror. On the topic, "Union Catalogs Within the University," (pages 44-45) and earlier (page 41 ), it is correctly noted that the hold- ings of the seminar and institute libraries are generally not included in the main univer- sity library catalog, but that exceptions exist. The statement then follows (page 45): "Thus, in the Marburg University library, all the holdings of the institutes are included in the alphabetical catalog. In the Tubingen University library only institute books not already in the ... university library are in- cluded in the alphabetical catalog. Finally, in the library of the Free University of Ber- lin and the Munster University library, a special consolidated catalog of the institute libraries has been established." The library at Berlin does have a union catalog; at Munster the holdings of only fifteen of the most important of some seventy-five insti- tute libraries are represented in a "union catalog." But this reviewer was categorically informed by the directors at Marburg and Tubingen, in November 1960 and April 1961 respectively, that their libraries did not have union catalogs and that, in fact, the necessary cooperation from the directors of the institute libraries, though sought, had been impossible to secure. The serious user of the study may also wish to note the following additional small points, most of them, in all likelihood, the result of the many hands through which the study passed. The number of universities in West Germany today, earlier (page l) cor- rectly given as eighteen, is incorrectly noted as nineteen on page 37. (West Germany is now establishing additional universities at Bochum, Bremen, and Regensburg.) The statement (page 57) that admission to pro- fessional education for the "certified librar- ian ... requires ... graduation from high school" is highly misleading. The require- 255 ment, in fact, is the Abitur) that is, com- pletion of the program of the gymnasium ) generally held to be the equivalent of the end of the American college sophomore year. In the listing on page 66 it should be noted for Hamburg that the institution is, as it has been since 1919, the State and University Library. Unlike all other German universi- ties, that at Saarbriicken (pages 33, 67 , 69, 70, 76, 77 , 79) is not named for the city of its location; the official name is University of the Saarland. Finally, "Prussian Cultural Foundation" is hardly an acceptable trans- lation for Preussisch er Kulturbesit z (page 62), the Prussian cultural heritage (libraries, art, museums, etc.), for the welfare of which a foundation has, to be sure , been established. To John Baynes (1758-1787) is attributed the statement tha t "The man who publishes a book without an index ought to be damned ten miles beyond hell, where the Devil him- self cannot get for stinging nettles." It would surely be a grievous discourtesy both to the author and to the Library of Congress to refer to the lack of index in this study in any such terms. Nevertheless, even in such a rela- tively short work as this-longer because of the 7 by 10 :y4 inch format than its eighty-two pages suggest-an index is badly needed. It is needed despite the fairly detailed table of contents. Other readers, like the reviewer, will spend many minutes trying to re-locate statements such as those on library schools (pages 11 and 57), the numerus currens shelving practice (page 43), and the Pater- noster (page 60), to say nothing of the names of institutions and organizations mentioned in the text. W est German L ibrary Developments ... is an important and valuable contribution to our professional literature. It should be of great use to anyone interested in university libraries, German libraries, international li- brary relationships, or, indeed issues involv- ing most major library functions . For the study, we are indebted not only to Dr. von Busse and her probably unsurpassed knowl- edge of the subj ect, but also to the Ober- laender Trust of Philadelphia which made the study possible, to Fritz T. Epstein and Barbara Krader who translated it, to Arnold H. Price who reviewed and abridged the translation, and to Robert H. Land who served as editor. All of these associates in the work are members of the Library of Congress staff; to them, to tha t institution, and to Sergius Yakobson , chief of its Slavic and Central European division , a large vote of thanks is due. Is it too much to hope that the publication of this work, which fills a major gap in the English-language literature of librarianship, may serve as an example and stimulus for other similar studies? This writer devoutly hopes not. It would unquestionably be a great boon if the Library of Congress, per- haps the national libraries of other countries, other foundations, and other authors as in- formed as Dr. von Busse, would cooperate to produce in time a whole series of treatises which would make available to the readers of many countries broad and comprehensive ac- counts of the major aspects of librarianship in other lands.-]. Periam Danton ) Univer- sity of California ) B erk eley. • • Books Briefly Noted A Benedictine Bibliography; An Author- Subject Union List ) 2d ed., compiled by Oliver L. Kapsner for the Library Science Section of the American Benedictine Acad- emy. Collegeville, Minn.: St. John's Abbey Pr., 1962. 2v. $19.50. A Bibliography of Encyclopedias and Dic- tionaries Dealing with Military ) Naval and Maritim e Affairs) 2d ed. , compiled by Har- din Craig. Houston, Tex.: Fondren Li- brary, 1962. 70p. Biblioteksgloser) Dansk-Engelsk-Fransk- Tysk. Danmarks Biblioteksskole. K~ben­ havn: Dansk Bibliografisk Kontor, 1962. 29p. 256 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES