College and Research Libraries


484 I College & Research Libraries • November 1971 

brary cooperation have been initiated. 
SHARES must be rated high for effort. This 
reviewer is of the opinion that SHARES 
could accomplish a great deal more if ade-
quate funds for cooperative action were 
made available. This is the rub. 

It is quite clear that large-scale library 
cooperation of any type cannot flourish 
without introducing funds from outside 
sources not heretofore tapped. While the 
current picture seems rather dim insofar as 
additional federal funds are concerned, li-
brarians must push for state aid with great-
er vigor than ever before.-Alex Ladenson, 
The Chicago Public Library. 

Libraries in France. John Ferguson. Ham-
den, Conn.: Archon Books, 1971. 120p. 
'Vith the growing enthusiasm for com-

parative library studies, new surveys of for-
eign libraries should be noted with interest 
by the library profession. In this context 
John Ferguson's Lib1·aries in France is es-
pecially welcome, offering as it does a state-
of-the-art look at the French library scene. 
Considering the paucity of materials on 
French libraries that have been published 
in English, this book is a useful entry into 
a rather embarrassing void. 

Written in a concise, factual style, Fergu-
son's book is a sort of Guide Bleu to the 
world of librarianship in France. The au-
thor, librarian of the British Council in 
Paris, surveys numerous aspects of the 
French library scene, from the structure of 
the national library board to the operation 
of mobile bibliobuses in remote areas. His 
study emphasizes the rather arresting fact 
that, by contrast with the country's rich cul-
tural heritage, development of a nationwide 
system of library service has been, until re-
cently, an unfortunately low-priority item. 

The text consists of thirteen short chap-
ters; details concerning the history, devel-
opment, and purpose of various types of 
French libraries are summarized. Munici-
pal, general, university, and children's and 
school libraries are among the varieties thus 
treated; space is devoted to a compact dis-
cussion of phono record libraries as well. 
The section dealing with professional or-
ganizations and the status of education for 
librarianship in France brings hard-to-find 
information together in useful fashion. 

Of particular interest is a chapter devot-
ed to La Lecture Publique. Issued in 1968 
under the auspices of a governmental com-
mittee, La Lecture Publique was a study 
of the state of French library service, and 
is to French libraries what the Public Li-
brary Inquiry was to the American scene. 
Persons interested in the scope of public li-
brary service available in France circa 
1968 will find Ferguson's resume of the re-
port helpful indeed; a summary of the 
means being employed to expand service 
is included as well. 

Short bibliographies accompany each 
chapter of this book, and there is an index. 
The chapters on university and public li-
braries contain particularly handy tabular 
summaries of statistics regarding library 
building programs. To sum up, Libraries 
in France is a compact statistical survey of 
the subject and should prove most useful 
as a ready reference tool.-Cathleen Flana-
gan, University of Utah Libraries. 

Scientific and Technological Documenta-
tion: Archival Evaluation and Process-
ing of University Records Relating to 
Science and Technology. Maynard J. 
Brichford. Urbana-Champaign, Ill.: Uni-
versity of Illinois, 1969. 35p. 
One result of the unprecedented increase 

in the number of colleges and universities, 
and of the expansion of the older institu-
tions, in the last decade, is the growth of 
interest in the development of institutional 
archives, apparently exceeding the rate of 
growth of archives in the previous decades. 
The concern of most institutions for their 
arohival responsibilities is still inadequate, 
but there is certainly a recognized need 
for help by many academic librarians and 
scholars in gathering and administering 
their institutions' records of permanent his-
torical value. 

Previously, there has been little available 
in print relating to the specific role of the 
college or university archivist, other than 
periodical articles, or a few pages in a gen-
eral manual on archives. The most direct 
assistance has been found in two slim vol-
umes of conference and institute proceed-
ings, also emanating from the University 
of Illinois, and in which Maynard Brich-