College and Research Libraries 950 books, the result of an exchange pro- gram between the United States and China. Since then the collection has grown steadily; as of 1977 it held a total of approximately 430,000 volumes. S. C. Hu, who is on the faculty at St. Francis College of Pennsylvania, has care- fully examined the social , cultural, and political forces of Sino-American relations that led to the building and development of the collection , as well as the acquisitions policies that have evolved and been im- plemented and the personnel and financial sources involved . Of special interest to bib- liophiles and scholars is the detailed account of the collection's holdings of Chinese local histories, collectanea, and rare books . Based largely upon annual reports and official documents , supplemented with secondary sources and personal interviews, the work provides , in historical perspective, a com- prehensive , well-documented, and interest- ing description of a vernacular-language col- lection at the Library of Congress. The primarily expository, rather than comparative , approach that the author has taken leaves the work open to the criticism of a general lack of critical evaluation of its subject. As mentioned above , the collec- tions of Chinese local histories , collectanea, and rare books are noted as being strong; but it would have been more useful to indi- cate how these holdings compare with those in other libraries . What , for example, are the Library of Congress ' strengths and weaknesses in terms of the holdings of simi- lar material at the Harvard- Yenching Li- brary of Harvard University and the Gest Oriental Library of Princeton University? Hu stresses that " the Chinese collection in the Library of Congress contained 1,622 rare items as of 1942" (page 108). By item he means "title ," not "volume. " Given that the Gest Oriental Library has 24,024 vol- umes of Ming (1368-1644) editions, not in- cluding the pre-Ming publications, what is the significance of this figure for the number of the Chinese rare books the Li- brary of Congress owns? Elsewhere, Hu writes: "Speaking of the Ming imprints, mention should be made of the _great Yung-lo ta-tien, of which the Li- brary has 41 volumes, constituting more than 10% of its extant volumes" (page 111) . Recent Publications I 257 Although the Yung-lo Encyclopedia indeed belongs to the Ming period, it seems inac- curate to refer to this handwritten manu- script as an imprint. In general, this volume should probably be recommended as supplemental reading material for students of world library history and Chinese studies. It surpasses the amount of information formerly found only in scattered articles and is definitely superior in quality and quantity compared with the Japanese counterpart, "A History of the Japanese Collection in the Library of Congress, 1874-1941, " which was published in 1970 (Senda Masso kyoju koki kinen toshokan shiryo ron shu [Tenri, Japan], pages 281-327).-William S. Wong , Univer- sity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. International Federation of Film Archives . Cataloging Commission. Film Cataloging. New York: Burt Franklin, 1979. 174p. $17.95. LC 78-2769. ISBN 0-89102-076-4. Both experienced and novice film ar- chivists , as well as film librarians , will wel- come the International Federation of Film Archives' (FIAF) 1979 publication of their valuable manuscript on film cataloging. FIAF' s Cataloging Commission views cataloging as a complex task involving the gathering and arranging of data and the cre- ation of a system or systems around which the entire film archive revolves (page 3) . The guide's seven chapters and extensive appendixes offer a wide variety of methods that have been used successfully by film ar- chives throughout the world to catalog their films . Topics covered span a broad range of subjects including film cataloging problems and their effects on the entire cataloging process, the strengths and weaknesses of cataloging systems and their application to archival operating conditions, the processes of actual cataloging, and determining which records are important enough to keep. Prac- tical recommendations are given for each area. The advisory , rather than prescriptive, method used by the guide enables readers to form their own opinions and adapt ap- propriate methods to their own institutions . In addition, procedures discussed are fol- lowed by examples from at least three FIAF libraries, suggesting the usefulness of each 258 I College and Research Libraries • May 1980 method. Factors readers should consider be- fore implementation of any particular ap- proach are thoroughly explored. Concur- rently, warnings to avoid excessive detail and to investigate all variables before adopt- ing a procedure are emphasized. While valuable for avoiding expensive, time-consuming errors and for generating new ideas, the book does have drawbacks. This is especially obvious in the chapter on cataloging systems, in which automation is referred to with innumerable warnings. Au- tomation in film libraries has increased con- siderably since 1975. However, while logi- cal, judicious reasons are given for the per- petuation of archaic manual systems, refer- rals to successful automated systems do not receive ample notice. Another problem relates to the audience level for which the book is written. Al- though detailed examples and frequent re- ferrals to original sources are made, a moderate to high degree of reader knowl- edge about film archives and cataloging is often assumed. One perplexing paragraph opens with the following sentence: "Most organizations wish to index subject contents, catalogs, and documents." Examples then given are "those operating stockshot ser- vices or those with substantial holdings of actuality film" (page 47). Closer attention to sentence clarity and inclusion of a glossary of terms would have minimized problems such as these and would have increased the guide's appeal to a wider audience. A final problem relates to the guide's bib- liography. While it is extensive, only one addition to the selected bibliography has been made since the manuscript was origi- nally copyrighted in 1975. More up-to-date citations in such rapidly changing areas as automation would be welcome. Although extremely important for film li- brarians, guidelines dealing with the ·unique problems of film cataloging standardization have been rare. As Michael Gorman points out (in Nancy Allen's Film Study Collections [Ungar, 1979], page 118), cataloging rules such as those in the second edition of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules attempt to provide a detailed set of guidelines for standardized cataloging for a wide range of materials. However, these rules have gen- erally been inadequate for many aspects of film cataloging. The FIAF Cataloging Commission's guidelines are intended exclu- sively for the cataloging of film stock itself, thus filling an important gap in the catalog- ing literature. This authoritative book by a reputable source should be highly welcomed by both film archivists and non-archival film librar- ians alike, all of whom will benefit from fol- lowing and embellishing upon its suggestions.-Jill Provan, State University of New York, College at Buffalo. McWilliams, Jerry. The Preservation and Restoration of Sound Recordings. Nashville, Tenn.: American Assn. for State and Local History, 1979. 138p. $8 .95 paper; $7 to AASLH members. LC 79-17173. ISBN 0-910050-41-4 . Those familiar with the development of the preservation of materials as a distinct specialization within librarianship are aware that, in the not so distant past, a negative attitude surrounded sound recordings. In fact, recordings were often not taken very seriously by librarians, nor were they given the respect accorded to print sources. Most certainly this earlier, almost cavalier, regard for the recorded media has now changed. Presently a considerable body of material has developed related to the restoration and preservation of sound recordings . McWilliams' work will be welcomed by librarians and archivists at all levels of the library world as the piece that successfully draws together many of the conclusions·, admonitions, and advice set forth in much of the relatively recent, and at times obscure, sources of literature on the sub- ject. Not only does the work have applica- tion all the way from the rural public library to the national archives, but it also covers the entire field of sound preservation and restoration in a manner not found in any other single volume. The author has based his book on exten- sive research at major sound archives in the United States and has been a frequent con- tributor to professional recording journals and magazines. The book will be seen as a useful and practical handbook of immediate value to those contemplating setting up, maintaining, or improving their library sound recording preservation programs.