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Acquisitions from the Middle East
Ltbrarl'A~qmsmons Pra~t,eand Theorl, Vol 6 pp 185-194, 1982 Printed in the USA All rights reser',ed
0364-6408 82:020185-10S0300/0 Copyright ~' 1982 Pergamon Press 1.Id
ACQUISITIONS F R O M THE M I D D L E E A S T
ACQUISITIONS F R O M THE M I D D L E EAST GEORGE
N. A T I Y E H
Near East Sectmn, LIbrar~r ol Congress Washington, D C
ABSTRACT
Despite the growth o/ Mtddle Eastern studws m the U.S. and aceompanrmg growth oJ hbrarv collecttons, m general these lag behind other areas o f the world. E//orts to addre~'s thts problem mclude the PL-480 aequtsttlons program and the current e/Jbrt to compile a Near East Umon Lis't Many o/ the problem~ tn developing collections he wtth the countrtes o f the MMdle East. Nattonal btbhographws and other btbhographleal compllattons are, where they are even avatlable, often pubhshed only alter the books are out o! print Some recent re/erence btbhographws and sermls hsts have made a small beginning to correcting thts Part o f the problem hes wtth the pubhshmg mdustr 3' which ts often dt/'luse, subleet to pohtteal pohews, and dweeted toward extstmg hmlted market9 Simtlarly, dealers' are reluctant to o[/'er blanket order servtce as currency and export restrzcttons act as deterrents The two best approaches are acqmsmons trtp~ and exehanges In general the poheal volatthty o f the regton precludes generahzattons about any aspect o/acqmsztlons, pubhshmg, or dlstrtbutmg. A hst o/ dealers m the MMdle East, Europe, and the U.S is appended
L i b r a r y r e s o u r c e s on the M i d d l e East h a v e m u l t l p h e d since the C o m m i t t e e on the N e a r a n d M i d d l e East of the S o c i a l S c i e n c e R e s e a r c h C o u n c i l m the m l d - 1 9 5 0 s called for " t h e rapid a n d effective d e v e l o p m e n t of N e a r a n d MLddle East Studies m the U n i t e d S t a t e s " Since then, several significant events h a v e t a k e n place the p r o l i f e r a t i o n of M i d d l e Eastern study centers in A m e r i c a n u n l v e r s m e s , the e s t a b h s h m e n t o f the L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s ' C a i r o office, the f o u n d a t i o n of the M i d d l e East S t u d i e s A s s o c i a t i o n a n d the M i d d l e East L i b r a r i a n s A s s o c i a t i o n , to n a m e o n l y a few 185
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GEORGEN ATIYEH
A survey of Middle Eastern resources in A m e r i c a n hbraries would certainly show the e n h a n c e m e n t of the collections both in q u a n t i t y a n d quality [1]. However, the coverage of the Middle East in A m e r i c a n libraries as a whole still lags behind other areas. The difficulties a n d c o m p l i c a t i o n s noted by the organizers of the F a r m l n g t o n Plan in 1960 in p r o c u r e m e n t as well as in processing have remained to a great extent unresolved. To date, attempts to c o n t i n u e old cooperative programs or to start new ones have not been successful in spite of m a n y meetings a n d good will on the part of those concerned However, not all cooperative programs have failed to achieve progress The Near East U n i o n List project which is an u n d e r t a k i n g of the Middle East Studies Association, the Middle East Librarians Associations, and the Library of Congress is a good example. When finished, the project will serve as a guide to any n a t i o n a l acquisition p r o g r a m from the Middle East, that is, in a d d m o n to being a research tool In the field of acqmsltlons proper there is no d o u b t that the Public Law-480 p r o g r a m is perhaps the most significant d e v e l o p m e n t in Middle East llbrarlanship in the United States d u r i n g the last three decades. This p r o g r a m which will be described elsewhere has had a truly impressive impact. This article will focus on three aspects of acquisitions from the Middle East' Bibliographic i n f o r m a t i o n , publishing, and p r o c u r e m e n t Wise selection of material depends obviously on comprehensive and well presented blbhographic I n f o r m a t i o n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y this type of r e f o r m a t i o n from the countries of the Middle East is often limited to certain countries. Sometimes it does not exist at all and when it exists and becomes available it could be already obsolete m that the publications described would have become out of print This p h e n o m e n o n , 1 should say, is not exclusive to the Middle East F u r t h e r m o r e , book p r o d u c t i o n and the state of the book trade, libraries, and b i b h o g r a p h l c control varies greatly from one state to a n o t h e r depending on the political system and the state of political a n d social development. A greater awareness of the value of h b r a r i a n s h l p is observable, but it is not yet strong enough to meet the d e m a n d s of American llbrarianshlp The n a t i o n a l blbhographles that are produced, while very useful, are not n a t i o n a l blbhographies in the strict sense of the word They are, more or less, listings of materials that have accessioned and do not comprehensively record what has been published There are m a n y reasons for this state of affairs, n a t m n a l libraries are not yet a high priority in the d e v e l o p m e n t schemes Except for Egypt, a n d to a certain extent, Turkey, the n a t i o n a l libraries that do exist and f u n c t i o n are extremely y o u n g a n d lack the necessary expertise, means, a n d the funds to put out comprehensive bibliographies that would also a p p e a r regularly and in time to serve as effective acquisition tools. One additional reason preventing the issuance of comprehensive national bibliographies is the absence of effective deposit laws Even where these laws exist, they are not evenly applied Of the m a n y n a t i o n a l blbhographies that appear in the Middle East, The Turkish Nauonal btbhography (Turkl.ve Blblyografyasl, 1928- ) has been the oldest and most consistent m c o m i n g out w i t h o u t I n t e r r u p t i o n , a l t h o u g h at times it is published several years late The League of Arab States' Bulletin o! Arabu' Pubhcattons (al-Naghrah al-Arablvah hl-matbu'at, 1971-1978) has never been able to live up to the expectation of becoming a n Arab n a t i o n a l b l b h o g r a p h y covering all the m e m b e r states of the League M a n y reasons some political, some technical militated against this excellent project. The absence of bibhographlc control in m a n y Arab countries, the weaknesses of the book trade, the lack of standardized processing rules are a m o n g the obvious reasons for this p u b h c a t l o n not to reach its goal A unified A r a b n a t i o n a l bxbhography would certainly obviate m a n y of the difficulties that acquisitions from the Arab World meet.
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A m o n g the existing c o u n t r y blbhographles, there are several that may be quahfled as well produced bibliographies One of them is The Eg:vpnan Pubhcatlons Bulletin (al-Nashrah aI-Mtsro'ah hl-matbu'a-t, 1955- ). This superseded The National Ltbrary Bulletin (Nashrat Dar al-Kutub) The Legal Deposlt Monthly Bulletm (Nashrat al-ldd' al-Shahro'ah, 1969- ), and The Grade to the Eg.l'ptlan Book ( Dal~ al-Kitab al-Mlsr~ 1972- ), a kind of Egyptian B o o k s - i n - P r i n t p u b h c a t l o n may be considered as very useful sources A m o n g the well produced bibliographies, The Iraqi National Blbhogral)hy (al-Fthrts al-Walant hl-matbK '~t al-'Iraqutvah, 1971- ) w h i c h continues The Iraqi Pubhcatlon~ Bulletin (Nashrat al-matbu'at al-lr~q~'ah). La Btbhographte de l'Algerw ( 1 9 6 4 - ) should be placed in this category La Blbhographw Nattonale de Tumsw ( 1 9 7 5 - ) is a praiseworthy effort which will be hopefully improved. There are a n u m b e r of n a t i o n a l bibliographies which are supposed to be current but have not appeared for the last several years, a m o n g these, one may m e n t m n The Arab Blbhographl of Libya (al-Blblyugra/o'ah al-'Arabtvah al-Ltblvah, 1971- ) which continues The Llbran National B1bhography (al-Blbhyugra/lyah al-Wa.tan~yah al-Lt-bo'ah) Likewise, The Syrian National Btbhography (al-Blbhvugra/lyah al-Watan-[~ah al-Sur[yah, 1971 ) has not appeared lately As far as I know, there are no other active national bibliographies in the A r a b World There are, however, a n u m b e r of blbhographles pubhshed by individual scholars listing publications that appeared m their own c o u n m e s , such as Palestine-Jordan Blbhography in two ,,olumes covering the permd from 1900-1975 S u p p l e m e n t s to this b l b h o g r a p h y a p p e a r a n n u a l l y in Rts~lat al-Maktabah, the organ of the J o r d a n Library Association Mr Shukrl a l - A n a n l published a list of Saudl publications covering up to 1979 u n d e r the title Mu '/am al-matbu' fit al-Sa'ffd[~ ah in whmh he hsts and indexes 796 titles that appeared between the years 1390 and 1399 A H (1970-79 A D ) In a d d i t i o n to the n a t i o n a l blbhographles, The MMdle East Accessions List published by the Cmro Office of the Library of Congress, remains one of the best sources of i n f o r m a t i o n . Book dealers hsts and publishers catalogs, naturally, are a major source Howe,Jer, not too m a n y of these are h a n d d y available in the United States The dealers and pubhshers hsted m the A p p e n d i x usually send out lists and catalogs u p o n request. Some of them are walling to send catalogs of local pubhshers m their areas. Most of the E u r o p e a n dealers such as Brdl m Leiden, and Harrassowltz in Wiesbaden, German3,, who list Near Eastern publlcatmns, concentrate on out-of-print or classical works Their catalogs c a n n o t provide current awareness A new p u b h c a t m n , A Book World D~rector~ o/ the Arab Countrws, Turkey and Iran, compiled by A n t h o n y R u d k l n and Irene Butcher ( L o n d o n Mansell Detroit: Gale, 1980) which hsts libraries, booksellers, pubhshers, institutional pubhshers, newspapers and periodicals, is a good, a l t h o u g h incomplete, source of i n f o r m a t i o n on p u b h s h m g in general, a n d on publishers and their addresses In p a m c u l a r "~lam al-Kutub (Book World 1979-), p u b h s h e d in al-Ta 'if, Saudl Arabm, Is trying to fill a void created by the disappearance of 'Alam Maktabah (The h b r a r y World) which used to publish an a n n u a l issue that was the closest thing to a book trade directory for the Arab World I n f o r m a t i o n on current publications is also available in scholarly and non-scholarly periodicals Most weeklies a n d most non-specialized j o u r n a l s review recent pubhcatlons. The i n f o r m a t i o n included m the serial sources ts usually current Its shortcoming is that one has to make a special effort to browse a large n u m b e r of issues without assurance of finding significant titles This procedure could be very time c o n s u m i n g and sketchy in its results In 1973, The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific O r g a n i z a t i o n pubhshed alDawtro'at al-'Arabo'ah, a catalog of current periodicals m the Arab World Dr. M u h a m m a d A m a n p u b h s h e d a similar catalog in 1979 titled Arab Pertodteals" and SermA (New York
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GEORGEN ATIYEH
G a r l a n d P u b h c a t m n s , 1979, 252 pp.). The first guide to periodical literature in A r a b i c titled al-Flhrlst (1981- ), lists a p p r o x i m a t e l y 70 current titles I n f o r m a t i o n sources on Iranian publications m p o s t - r e v o l u t i o n a r y Iran are scanty The picture in the publishing, as well as m the political field, as unclear a n d is in c o n t i n u o u s flux The I r a n i a n n a t i o n a l babliography Intlsh6r6t-i Iran has not a p p e a r e d since the beginning of the revolutmn. Iraj A f s h a r ' s Rahnama-l Klt~b, an excellent source on retrospecuve material, has been d l s c o n t m u e d but replaced by Ayandeh, a j o u r n a l of i r a n i a n studies c o n t a i n i n g b i b l i o g r a p h i e s and b o o k reviews of Persmn b o o k s and of foreign b o o k s dealing with Iran A great deal of r e v o l u t i o n a r y and a n t i - r e v o l u t i o n a r y p u b h s h m g has taken place Much of it has been hsted by W o l f g a n Behn m his b i b l i o g r a p h y , The lraman Opposmon tn Exile ( W m s b a d e n Harrassowitz, 1979, 249 pp ) As a result of the g r o w i n g interest in the M i d d l e East, and of the violence there, a n u m b e r of b o o k dealers f r o m that region have estabhshed businesses in E u r o p e and m the United States. They p u b h s h catalogs and lists of publications that provide r e f o r m a t i o n on A r a b m and Persian material in particular The a p p e n d i x an this article lists some of them Book exhibit catalogs are a n o t h e r source of l n f o r m a t m n . The General Egyptmn Book O r g a n i z a t i o n ( G E B O ) ( C o r m c h e al-Ni1, Bulaq, Cairo, Egypt) has been organizing an i n t e r n a t i o n a l b o o k fair m which A r a b as well as n o n - A r a b publishers partmlpate. Because of the A r a b b o y c o t t of Egypt, the last b o o k fair of 1981 witnessed little A r a b p a r t m i p a t l o n The a n n u a l b o o k fair o r g a m z e d by the A r a b Cultural Club (al-N~d]-al-Thhq~f]" a l - ' A r a b l . A b d u l A l l / St. Y a n d Bldg P O Box 11-8446, Bmrut, L e b a n o n ) as one ot the mare cultural exents in that c o u n t r y The Club has begun publishing an annual, al-Kttab al-'Arabt ft Lubnan (The A r a b Book in L e b a n o n ) which is the closest thing to a n a t i o n a l b l b l a o g r a p h y KuwaWs N a t i o n a l Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (P O. Box 23996, Kuwait) organizes an interA r a b b o o k fair in which several A r a b countries, including Algerm, p a m c l p a t e a n d p u b h s h a c a t a l o g of the items exhibited Saudl A r a b i a ' s University of R l y a d h was p l a n n i n g to set up a similar a n n u a l fair (the last time I wsited in 1980). In sum, the sources of l n f o r m a t m n are many, but unfortunately, they are not b r o u g h t together an the A r a b W o r l d in one c o m p r e h e n s w e publication.
HOW MUCH AND WHAT It IS impossible to provide exact n u m b e r s for Arabic, Turkish a n d Persian publishing The UN Stattstwal Yearbook provides figures for some countries, but these figures are not a u t h o r i t a t i v e . The question of n u m b e r s is i m p o r t a n t if one is to plan a cost-effective, careful, and systematic acqmsltlOnS p r o g r a m . However, regardless of the difficulties of a c q u i r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n and e s t i m a t i n g the n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s , and regardless of the p o l m c a l and social instability, a r e a s o n a b l e coverage of m o n o g r a p h s , serials and other materials of research values is possible. Such coverage, which u n d e r s t a n d a b l y differs from one institution to a n o t h e r , is what I will aim to describe. In terms of quantity, basing my j u d g m e n t on a variety of sources, 1 estimate the n u m b e r of m o n o g r a p h s , including p a m p h l e t s , t e x t b o o k s , and t r a n s l a t i o n s published yearly in the A r a b W o r l d , T u r k e y a n d lran, at a b o u t 16,000 This n u m b e r differs s u b s t a n t i a l l y f r o m the U N E S C O Stattstwal Yearbook which is incomplete and which furnishes figures for the third world countries provided by local pubhshers and not by a u t h o r i t a t i v e sources Of the 16,000 titles, 6,000 are of research or p e r m a n e n t value I a m a w a r e of the fact that this is a rough estimate, but gaven the present d i s a r r a y m the b l b h o g r a p h l c c o n t r o l systems of the area, this is the best one can do under the circumstances.
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The same is true as far as periodicals are concerned, although lists of periodicals currently published are not lacking, these lists c a n n o t be of great value for acquisition purposes since sudden changes in g o v e r n m e n t , which often occur in the Middle East, are likely to affect the issuance of a good n u m b e r of serial publications. A case in point ~s lran. T a k i n g existing lists and a file of current serials that 1 keep in my office as a basis, I estimate that there are a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2,000 current Arabic serials including newspapers, g o v e r n m e n t a n d s e m i - g o v e r n m e n t , and specialized serial publications. C u r r e n t n o n - A r a b i c publications a m o u n t to a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1,200 Turkish and 200 Persian titles. M a n y of these serials are prownclal or specialized with little research value for an A m e r i c a n library. C o n s e q u e n t l y , the collectable titles do not exceed one thousand. A growing n u m b e r of Arabic, Persian and, to a certain extent Turkish sermls are being published outside of the Middle East, especially in Paris a n d L o n d o n M a n y of these publications are organs of o p p o s i t i o n groups, but some of them are trade p u b l i c a t i o n s that have moved from L e b a n o n as a result of the violence in that c o u n t r y In a d d i t i o n to the Lebanese, there are Libyan and T u n i s i a n publishers who have moved to Western Europe either because freedom of the press is existent there or for the m a n y techmcal conveniences available. As far as the cost of acquisitions is concerned, ! can only risk m a k i n g a few general remarks since it is extremely difficult to o b t a i n exact i n f o r m a t i o n on prices which vary from one c o u n t r y to a n o t h e r Inflation has skyrocketed the prices of books in m a n y countries of the Middle East, especially xn L e b a n o n . However, the prices in Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, a n d T u r k e y are still reasonable. The favorable value of the dollar at present has minimized the effects of the inflationary trend in such places as L e b a n o n and Turkey, but prices are b e c o m i n g higher and higher everyday Shipping a n d postal costs have greatly increased in m a n y countries A n y effective acquisitions p r o g r a m has to take this Into c o n s i d e r a t i o n as well as the difficulties revolved in clearing packages of books leaving the c o u n t r y with the proper authorities. H a w n g obtained an estimated total of the collectable book p r o d u c t i o n of an area, there remains the difficulty of c o m p u t i n g the p r o p o r t i o n of this p r o d u c t i o n that a research hbrary m~ght wish to acquire The figure v a n e s from c o u n t r y to country, but an average of $10.00 per volume is an educated guess.
THE PUBLISHING SITUATION The typology of p u b h s h l n g in the Middle East is as difficult to discern as is the n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s The reasons are m a n y , but a n i m p o r t a n t one is the fact that p u b h s h i n g is owned a n d controlled by g o v e r n m e n t a n d s e m i - g o v e r n m e n t agencies. Except for a few countries, e . g , L e b a n o n , T u r k e y a n d Morocco, most publishing is done t h r o u g h these agencies Where trade publishing ends and g o v e r n m e n t publishing begins is not clearl~y defined. Publishing is done in m a n y languages in a d d i t i o n to Arabic, Persian, and Turkish English and French are c o m m o n vehicles a m o n g scholars and intellectuals Also the m a n y languages of the m i n o r i t i e s - - s u c h as Kurdlsh in lraq, A r m e n i a n in Beirut, Syriac in the Fertile Crescent countries, and Berber in North Africa are still used. A u t h o r publishing is still very c o m m o n in most countries, although the n u m b e r of p u b l i s h i n g c o m p a n i e s is growing M a n y publishers are simply bookstore owners Book d i s t r i b u t i o n services are limited a n d the bureaucratic hurdles within and between countries make any c o u n t r y w i d e or reglonwlde d i s t r i b u t i o n a highly a d v e n t u r o u s operation. However, there are a n u m b e r of j o i n t ventures such as Dar al-Shurfiq which operates in and between L e b a n o n , Egypt and Saudi Arabia; D~r al-Klt~b al-'Arab~ is a T u n i s i a n - L i b y a n c o m p a n y ;
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D a r al-Klt~b a l - L u b n g n l and D~r al-Kxt~b al-Misr7 are really one c o m p a n y o p e r a t i n g both in Beirut a n d C a i r o where the biggest p u b l i s h i n g o p e r a t i o n s are still to be found in spite of the violence in L e b a n o n and the low financial and intellectual m o t i v a t i o n in Egypt displayed at the present time Several press c o m p a n i e s which publish mainly newspapers and weeklies are beginning to publish b o o k s , such as The T l h g m a h Publishing C o m p a n y in S a u d l A r a b i a and D a r alN a h a r in Beirut. A unique form of b o o k pubhshxng takes place in L e b a n o n where the c o m p a n y limits its p u b l i s h i n g to w o r k s of one p o p u l a r a u t h o r such as D~r Nlzgr Qabb~nT which publishes only the poetry of the owner, Niz~r QabbgnY A g r o w i n g p h e n o m e n o n is the p u b l i s h i n g of p o p u l a r type m o n o g r a p h l c series, '/tlam alMa' rtfa (The W o r l d of Knowledge) by the N a t i o n a l Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait, a n d aI-Kuab al-'Arabz aI-Sa' ffdT(The S a u d l A r a b Book) by Dgr T l h g m a h are g o o d e x a m p l e s Both series are modeled u p o n the Egyptian m o n o g r a p h l c series, Iragt' (Read) Since it is not possible to survey publishing of all the centers in the Middle East, I will survey four m a j o r ones. Beirut, Cairo, I s t a n b u l and Teheran Baghdad, Tunis, and Rlyad are i m p o r t a n t centers which deserve to be surveyed separately but we are obhged to skip over them because space is short Beirut brags of having 200 publishers, but 30 t r a d e publishers would he more a c c u r a t e The 200 Include t e x t b o o k publishers a n d the m o r e than one h u n d r e d n e w s p a p e r a n d m a g a z i n e publishers S o m e of these occasionally publish b o o k s Publishing m Beirut is still a r e m a r k a b l e p h e n o m e n o n The absence of censorship has a t t r a c t e d writers from all over the A r a b W o r l d to publish there The existence of m o d e r n printing presses, b o o k d i s t r i b u t i o n c o m p a n i e s a n d a long t r a d i t i o n in printing and m the media helped to propel Beirut Into ~ts leading position as a b o o k p r o d u c t i o n and b o o k trade center The publications of L e b a n o n cover all possible subjects Dictionaries have become a m a j o r item of p r o d u c t i o n R e p r i n t i n g of classics and o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s has b e c o m e increasingly a profitable p r o p o s i t i o n . The increased activity in reprinting, however, has been a c c o m p l i s h e d t h r o u g h b o o k piracy and t h r o u g h the p r o d u c t i o n of "quicky" re-editions of classical works. The b o o k t r a d e is also very p r o s p e r o u s in Beirut Its b o o k s t o r e s are stocked with W e s t e r n l a n g u a g e as well as A r a b i c language w o r k s A r a b i c b o o k s published m Egypt, N o r t h Africa, S a u d l A r a b i a , Kuwait and in other parts of the A r a b W o r l d are hkely to be available in that u n h a p p y city. M a n y of the Lebanese b o o k dealers remain a m o n g the most reliable sources of acquisition In Cairo, the b o o k p r o d u c t i o n s i t u a t i o n differs f r o m Beirut in that the largest publishers belong to the public sector a n d p r o d u c e a p p r o x i m a t e l y 40 percent of all significant publications. The 1980 Daffl aI-Ktt6b al-Mtsr~, the E g y p t i a n b o o k s - i n - p r i n t , lists 51 publishers in C a i r o a n d three in A l e x a n d r i a E g y p t i a n b o o k s and periodicals are not being m a r k e t e d in the A r a b W o r l d at present at the same level as prior to the C a m p David a g r e e m e n t , however, scholarly b o o k s a n d j o u r n a l s still reach most A r a b countries. The reduced f r e e d o m of expression, the m i n i m a l financial benefits of a u t h o r s h i p , the scarcity of paper, and certain instability in the General E g y p t i a n Book O r g a n i z a t i o n ( G E B O ) which controls p a p e r distribution and indirectly all p u b l i s h i n g - - h a v e affected the q u a n t i t y and quality of pubhshing. l s t a n b u l remains the leading center for p u b h s h l n g in Turkey, followed by A n k a r a and Izmlr. Private publishers are as n u m e r o u s in l s t a n b u l as they are m Cairo and m a n y of them are likewise b o o k d e a l e r s Publishing is done by private publishers, g o v e r n m e n t institutions, universities, research Institutions both T u r k i s h and f o r e i g n - - a n d up until 1980 by political parties A n u m b e r of b a n k s run small d e p a r t m e n t s that specialize in p u b h s h l n g artistic and
Acqmsn~ons from the Middle East
• 191
cultural works m a d d i t i o n to e c o n o m i c studaes mainly for purposes of p u b h c l t y by c o n t r i b u t i n g to the general culture The situation of b o o k productaon m Iran as unclear. Since the Islamic R e v o l u t i o n a r y G o v e r n m e n t has t a k e n hold of the affmrs of lran, deep and substantial changes have taken place. The rehgxous tone of the g o v e r n m e n t has i m p o s e d limitations on the c o n t e n t of all publishing. The d i s r u p t i o n in the dlrectaon the c o u n t r y was t a k i n g under the S h a h is reflected an the restrained categories of writing a n d the reduced q u a n t i t y of publishing However, one should not get the impressaon that publishing has s t o p p e d in' Iran. An u n d e t e r m i n e d but high n u m b e r of books, j o u r n a l s a n d magazines are being published It will take some time before we are able to present a clear picture of who is publishing, and what and how much is being published. A few c o m m e n t s should be m a d e on scholarly, g o v e r n m e n t and sermls publishing before we move to discuss the subject of procurement. Scholarly publishing m the Middle East [2] is on the rise. In fact the most sagnlflcant pubhcaUons come from a c o n t i n u o u s l y growing n u m b e r of academac and research institutions. The n u m b e r of universities at the beginning of the 1981/1982 school year reached 84 in the A r a b W o r l d , 18 in T u r k e y and 14 In lran. Much of the scholarly p u b h s h l n g is done in western languages, English and French Unfortunately, there are few umverslty presses as this is u n d e r s t o o d in the West. Scholarly publishing a p p e a r s mainly in j o u r n a l s associated with umversmes, or with l n d w l d u a l faculties. M a n y universities d o publish m o n o g r a p h l c series M o s t university faculties, however, try to put out a j o u r n a l c a r r y i n g its name. Research centers and specmhzed orgamzations--scaentafic, historical and p o h t l c a l - - a r e m u s h r o o m i n g . N a t i o n a l academaes are b e c o m i n g as varied and n u m e r o u s as the divergent political tendencies an the League of A r a b states. They all publish j o u r n a l s a n d m o n o g r a p h s . I n t e r n a t i o n a l a n d regaonal conferences, dascussed in the following article, constitute a very c o n s p i c u o u s aspect of cultural, antellectual, scientific a n d h t e r a r y a c t w m e s of the area Official g o v e r n m e n t p u b h c a t l o n s are g r o w i n g in n u m b e r M o s t g o v e r n m e n t s an the Maddle East are now p u b h s h m g statistacal abstracts, official gazettes, d o c u m e n t a r y collectaons a n d literature on patents, codes a n d tourism. All publish mdatary related publications, some of which m a y be a c q m r e d t h r o u g h subscriptions, but the great m a j o r i t y are only available on magazine stands. G o v e r n m e n t - s p o n s o r e d publishing not directly concerned with official business, namely, t r a d e p u b h c a t i o n s f u n d e d or subsidized by the g o v e r n m e n t , is a c o m m o n p h e n o m e n o n all over the area
PROCUREMENT There are, of course, a variety of means of p r o c u r i n g p u b l i c a t i o n s such as b l a n k e t ordering [3], exchanges, gifts, and personal contacts. B l a n k e t / O r d e r d e a l e r s h i p in the M~ddle East is plagued with m a n y d r a w b a c k s , not always placed there by the dealers. G o v e r n m e n t regulations, m o n e y transfer p r o b l e m s , security clearances, a n d a b s e n c e of incentives are some of the obvious ones. The ups a n d d o w n s of this avenue are n u m e r o u s and well known. However, there are a n u m b e r of conscientious a n d k n o w l e d g e a b l e dealers who d o their u t m o s t to provide the best service available. In a d d i t i o n to the above, n u m e r o u s dealers in Beirut, Cmro, Istanbul, and Teheran frequently offer their services but consistency an their p e r f o r m a n c e is often absent. Dealers m other crees are a v a d a b l e but unhke E u r o p e where one is hkely to find b o o k d e a l e r s who can supply m a t e r i a l s f r o m all over their country, b o o k d e a l e r s in s e c o n d a r y cities of the M i d d l e East are unable to cover n a t i o n a l pubhshing.
192
GEORGEN ATIYEH
Reliance on bookdealers solely is not r e c o m m e n d e d for a n y c o u n t r y in the world, but even more so for the Middle East. Exchange programs with g o v e r n m e n t agencies and research institutions are a very i m p o r t a n t source of acqulsxtlon. However, exchange has m a n y problems. First of all, one has to have something to offer in exchange such as duplicates or publications of the institution. Some A m e r i c a n academic libraries do not have a sufficient n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s to exchange to make this avenue effective. F u r t h e r m o r e , there is a t e m p e r a m e n t a l aspect to exchange in the Middle East and 1 do not refer to the t e m p e r a m e n t disposition of the people, but to the fact that people dealing with exchange do not stay long e n o u g h in their j o b s to n u r t u r e the needed c o n t i n u i t y in exchange programs. The bureaucratic constraints, quite often, and this I should say is umversal, make c o n t i n u o u s exchange p r o g r a m s difficult to m a i n t a i n . In a d d i t i o n to this, some g o v e r n m e n t a l a n d academic institutions do not have the necessary allotments to mail the materials assigned for exchange. Qmte often there are not e n o u g h copies of one item to send to all exchange partners a n d "first-come-first-serve" is the rule in these instances. There are also problems of identifying g o v e r n m e n t publications a n d learned institutions This bleak picture is not totally valid. There are bright spots in each country. M a n y academic institutions a n d g o v e r n m e n t agencies are more t h a n willing to send you their publications for the asking w~thout d e m a n d i n g a n y t h i n g in return. Travel is the best means of acquisitions Given the scarcity of national blbhographles and g o o d b o o k d e a l e r s , a n d the n a t u r e of the e x c h a n g e p r o c e d u r e s , travel is e s s e n t i a l However, travel, to be effective, needs a great deal of p l a n n i n g and preparation A clear desiderata list, good t~mmg so as not to travel d u r i n g periods of festivities a n d holidays, knowledge a b o u t w o r k i n g hours and the place of weekends within the week, correspondence a n d a p p o i n t m e n t s beforehand, knowledge a b o u t the book trade situation, and g o v e r n m e n t regulations c o n c e r n i n g shipment of pubhcatlons outside the country, a m o n g other things, are required. In sum, there is no perfect means to acquire books from the Middle East A c o m b i n a t i o n of the three methods will remain the best method for some time to come. Finally, one should m e n t i o n cooperative acquisition programs which remain a most effective way of p r o c u r e m e n t . The Library of Congress p r o c u r e m e n t offices are a fine example, cooperation, as stated above, has been discussed often a m o n g Middle East librarians, but so far not m u c h has been accomplished. Some bookdealers in this c o u n t r y are trying to set up cooperative programs of acquisitions They should be encouraged and wished well.
NOTES AND REFERENCES 1 See David H Partmgton, "Arabic Library Collections A Study of the P L 480 Program," Middle East Studws Association Bulletin, vol 9, no 1 (February 1975), 12-30 2 See Datus C SmithJr, "Scholarly Pubhshmg in the Third World," Scholarly Pubhshmg, (Aprd 1981), 195-217 3 The hst of book dealers appended should not be construed as an endorsement of these dealers to the exclusion of others APPENDIX Selected Book Dealers from the Middle East A LGERIA
EG Y P T
Societ6 Nationale d'Edmon et Diffusion (SNED) 3, Blvd Zlrout Youcef Algiers, Algeria
al- Arab Bookshop Faggalah Street Cairo, Egypt
Acquisitions from the Middle East
193
APPENDIX (continued) E ~ pt (~ ontmued)
LIB YA
l efla Bookshop 17 Gawad Husm Street (P O Box 2353) Cmro, Egypt
The General Pubhshmg, Dlstnbutmn and Advemsement Company (al-Shankah al- Ammah hl-Nashr) Box 959 Tnpoh, Libya
Les L:¢res de France 36, Qasr M-NIl Street Cairo, Egypt
IRA ,V
Sa:eman-e Kltab P O Box 95-1642 Nwavaran, Teheran lran Danesh l.td 21 Rostam Road, A:adl Avenue 1eheran lran
MOROCCO
Dgr al-Kltgb Place de la Mosqube P O Box 4018 Casablanca. Morocco D~.r al-Ma'arff Rue Bab Challah P O Box 239 Rabat, Morocco Dgr al-Thaq~fah Place de la Mosqu6e Rue V~ctor Hugo P O Box 4038 Casablanca, Morocco
I RA Q
SYRIA
al-Muthanna Bookstore Mutanabbl Street Baghdad, Iraq
Dar al-Yaqdhah al-ArabTyah al-Mutanabbl Street Damascus, Syrm
\ a n o n a l House tor Pubhshmg D~stnbutlon and Ad~emsmg a l - J u m h u r l y a S t r e e t ( P O Box 624) Baghdad, Iraq
TU ¥1S
k U WA I T
Estabhssements Bousalama (DS_r Abu S~.lamah) 15, Rue de [a France Turns, Tumsla
The Press Agency (WlkS.lat al-Matb~'g.t) 1019 Fahd al-Sahm Street Kuwait City Kuwmt
La Malson Tumslennc d'Edmon (MTE) 54, Ave de la Ltberte Turns, T u n N a
The Kuwait Bookshops Co Ltd P O Box 2942 Safat Ku~mt City, Kuwmt
TURKEY
LEBA 'VOZV
] hc New Book Pubhshmg House P O Box 11-5264 Beirut, Lebanon Ras-Bclrut Bookshop P O Box 113-3635 Betrut, I.ebanon Sulelman Bookshop P O Box 8258 Bexrut Lebanon
lnal Kltabe,;i Sahaflar (~arslsl 14 Beyazlt lstanbul, Turk% Ehf Kltabc',l Sahaflar (~arslsl 16 Be}a:lt Istanbul. Turkey Enderun Kitabevl Beya:saray, Zemm Kat No 46 Ba~a:lt lstanbul, Turkey
194
GEORGF N ATIYEH
A P P E N D I X (contmucd) U N I T E D S1-A FES Bibhothcca l,,lamlca Box 14174, Unp~crslty S t a t m n M m n e a p o h s M m n 55414 Book World, lnc Iraman Pubhcatlons P O Box 34521 Bethesda, M D 20034 Dar M a h j a r P O Box 56 C a m b r i d g e , M A 02238 Delarsh 2262 Hall Place N W State 104 W a s h m g t o n , D C 20007
U m t e d 5tares (~ o n t m u e d ) R a s h t d Sales ~ o m p a n v 191 Atlantt~ A v e n u e B r o o ~ h n , N Y 11201 lrtternallo;ta] Boo]~ (_ entre Bo r 295 Tro I, ,'vlu htgan 48099
k_3,' G l A ,~/1) al-Saqt Books 26 W e s t b o u r n e G r m e 1 ondon W25RH l o n d o n England
0364-6408 82:020185-10S0300/0 Copyright ~' 1982 Pergamon Press 1.Id
ACQUISITIONS F R O M THE M I D D L E E A S T
ACQUISITIONS F R O M THE M I D D L E EAST GEORGE
N. A T I Y E H
Near East Sectmn, LIbrar~r ol Congress Washington, D C
ABSTRACT
Despite the growth o/ Mtddle Eastern studws m the U.S. and aceompanrmg growth oJ hbrarv collecttons, m general these lag behind other areas o f the world. E//orts to addre~'s thts problem mclude the PL-480 aequtsttlons program and the current e/Jbrt to compile a Near East Umon Lis't Many o/ the problem~ tn developing collections he wtth the countrtes o f the MMdle East. Nattonal btbhographws and other btbhographleal compllattons are, where they are even avatlable, often pubhshed only alter the books are out o! print Some recent re/erence btbhographws and sermls hsts have made a small beginning to correcting thts Part o f the problem hes wtth the pubhshmg mdustr 3' which ts often dt/'luse, subleet to pohtteal pohews, and dweeted toward extstmg hmlted market9 Simtlarly, dealers' are reluctant to o[/'er blanket order servtce as currency and export restrzcttons act as deterrents The two best approaches are acqmsmons trtp~ and exehanges In general the poheal volatthty o f the regton precludes generahzattons about any aspect o/acqmsztlons, pubhshmg, or dlstrtbutmg. A hst o/ dealers m the MMdle East, Europe, and the U.S is appended
L i b r a r y r e s o u r c e s on the M i d d l e East h a v e m u l t l p h e d since the C o m m i t t e e on the N e a r a n d M i d d l e East of the S o c i a l S c i e n c e R e s e a r c h C o u n c i l m the m l d - 1 9 5 0 s called for " t h e rapid a n d effective d e v e l o p m e n t of N e a r a n d MLddle East Studies m the U n i t e d S t a t e s " Since then, several significant events h a v e t a k e n place the p r o l i f e r a t i o n of M i d d l e Eastern study centers in A m e r i c a n u n l v e r s m e s , the e s t a b h s h m e n t o f the L i b r a r y o f C o n g r e s s ' C a i r o office, the f o u n d a t i o n of the M i d d l e East S t u d i e s A s s o c i a t i o n a n d the M i d d l e East L i b r a r i a n s A s s o c i a t i o n , to n a m e o n l y a few 185
186
GEORGEN ATIYEH
A survey of Middle Eastern resources in A m e r i c a n hbraries would certainly show the e n h a n c e m e n t of the collections both in q u a n t i t y a n d quality [1]. However, the coverage of the Middle East in A m e r i c a n libraries as a whole still lags behind other areas. The difficulties a n d c o m p l i c a t i o n s noted by the organizers of the F a r m l n g t o n Plan in 1960 in p r o c u r e m e n t as well as in processing have remained to a great extent unresolved. To date, attempts to c o n t i n u e old cooperative programs or to start new ones have not been successful in spite of m a n y meetings a n d good will on the part of those concerned However, not all cooperative programs have failed to achieve progress The Near East U n i o n List project which is an u n d e r t a k i n g of the Middle East Studies Association, the Middle East Librarians Associations, and the Library of Congress is a good example. When finished, the project will serve as a guide to any n a t i o n a l acquisition p r o g r a m from the Middle East, that is, in a d d m o n to being a research tool In the field of acqmsltlons proper there is no d o u b t that the Public Law-480 p r o g r a m is perhaps the most significant d e v e l o p m e n t in Middle East llbrarlanship in the United States d u r i n g the last three decades. This p r o g r a m which will be described elsewhere has had a truly impressive impact. This article will focus on three aspects of acquisitions from the Middle East' Bibliographic i n f o r m a t i o n , publishing, and p r o c u r e m e n t Wise selection of material depends obviously on comprehensive and well presented blbhographic I n f o r m a t i o n . U n f o r t u n a t e l y this type of r e f o r m a t i o n from the countries of the Middle East is often limited to certain countries. Sometimes it does not exist at all and when it exists and becomes available it could be already obsolete m that the publications described would have become out of print This p h e n o m e n o n , 1 should say, is not exclusive to the Middle East F u r t h e r m o r e , book p r o d u c t i o n and the state of the book trade, libraries, and b i b h o g r a p h l c control varies greatly from one state to a n o t h e r depending on the political system and the state of political a n d social development. A greater awareness of the value of h b r a r i a n s h l p is observable, but it is not yet strong enough to meet the d e m a n d s of American llbrarianshlp The n a t i o n a l blbhographles that are produced, while very useful, are not n a t i o n a l blbhographies in the strict sense of the word They are, more or less, listings of materials that have accessioned and do not comprehensively record what has been published There are m a n y reasons for this state of affairs, n a t m n a l libraries are not yet a high priority in the d e v e l o p m e n t schemes Except for Egypt, a n d to a certain extent, Turkey, the n a t i o n a l libraries that do exist and f u n c t i o n are extremely y o u n g a n d lack the necessary expertise, means, a n d the funds to put out comprehensive bibliographies that would also a p p e a r regularly and in time to serve as effective acquisition tools. One additional reason preventing the issuance of comprehensive national bibliographies is the absence of effective deposit laws Even where these laws exist, they are not evenly applied Of the m a n y n a t i o n a l blbhographies that appear in the Middle East, The Turkish Nauonal btbhography (Turkl.ve Blblyografyasl, 1928- ) has been the oldest and most consistent m c o m i n g out w i t h o u t I n t e r r u p t i o n , a l t h o u g h at times it is published several years late The League of Arab States' Bulletin o! Arabu' Pubhcattons (al-Naghrah al-Arablvah hl-matbu'at, 1971-1978) has never been able to live up to the expectation of becoming a n Arab n a t i o n a l b l b h o g r a p h y covering all the m e m b e r states of the League M a n y reasons some political, some technical militated against this excellent project. The absence of bibhographlc control in m a n y Arab countries, the weaknesses of the book trade, the lack of standardized processing rules are a m o n g the obvious reasons for this p u b h c a t l o n not to reach its goal A unified A r a b n a t i o n a l bxbhography would certainly obviate m a n y of the difficulties that acquisitions from the Arab World meet.
Acqulsltmns from the Middle East
187
A m o n g the existing c o u n t r y blbhographles, there are several that may be quahfled as well produced bibliographies One of them is The Eg:vpnan Pubhcatlons Bulletin (al-Nashrah aI-Mtsro'ah hl-matbu'a-t, 1955- ). This superseded The National Ltbrary Bulletin (Nashrat Dar al-Kutub) The Legal Deposlt Monthly Bulletm (Nashrat al-ldd' al-Shahro'ah, 1969- ), and The Grade to the Eg.l'ptlan Book ( Dal~ al-Kitab al-Mlsr~ 1972- ), a kind of Egyptian B o o k s - i n - P r i n t p u b h c a t l o n may be considered as very useful sources A m o n g the well produced bibliographies, The Iraqi National Blbhogral)hy (al-Fthrts al-Walant hl-matbK '~t al-'Iraqutvah, 1971- ) w h i c h continues The Iraqi Pubhcatlon~ Bulletin (Nashrat al-matbu'at al-lr~q~'ah). La Btbhographte de l'Algerw ( 1 9 6 4 - ) should be placed in this category La Blbhographw Nattonale de Tumsw ( 1 9 7 5 - ) is a praiseworthy effort which will be hopefully improved. There are a n u m b e r of n a t i o n a l bibliographies which are supposed to be current but have not appeared for the last several years, a m o n g these, one may m e n t m n The Arab Blbhographl of Libya (al-Blblyugra/o'ah al-'Arabtvah al-Ltblvah, 1971- ) which continues The Llbran National B1bhography (al-Blbhyugra/lyah al-Wa.tan~yah al-Lt-bo'ah) Likewise, The Syrian National Btbhography (al-Blbhvugra/lyah al-Watan-[~ah al-Sur[yah, 1971 ) has not appeared lately As far as I know, there are no other active national bibliographies in the A r a b World There are, however, a n u m b e r of blbhographles pubhshed by individual scholars listing publications that appeared m their own c o u n m e s , such as Palestine-Jordan Blbhography in two ,,olumes covering the permd from 1900-1975 S u p p l e m e n t s to this b l b h o g r a p h y a p p e a r a n n u a l l y in Rts~lat al-Maktabah, the organ of the J o r d a n Library Association Mr Shukrl a l - A n a n l published a list of Saudl publications covering up to 1979 u n d e r the title Mu '/am al-matbu' fit al-Sa'ffd[~ ah in whmh he hsts and indexes 796 titles that appeared between the years 1390 and 1399 A H (1970-79 A D ) In a d d i t i o n to the n a t i o n a l blbhographles, The MMdle East Accessions List published by the Cmro Office of the Library of Congress, remains one of the best sources of i n f o r m a t i o n . Book dealers hsts and publishers catalogs, naturally, are a major source Howe,Jer, not too m a n y of these are h a n d d y available in the United States The dealers and pubhshers hsted m the A p p e n d i x usually send out lists and catalogs u p o n request. Some of them are walling to send catalogs of local pubhshers m their areas. Most of the E u r o p e a n dealers such as Brdl m Leiden, and Harrassowltz in Wiesbaden, German3,, who list Near Eastern publlcatmns, concentrate on out-of-print or classical works Their catalogs c a n n o t provide current awareness A new p u b h c a t m n , A Book World D~rector~ o/ the Arab Countrws, Turkey and Iran, compiled by A n t h o n y R u d k l n and Irene Butcher ( L o n d o n Mansell Detroit: Gale, 1980) which hsts libraries, booksellers, pubhshers, institutional pubhshers, newspapers and periodicals, is a good, a l t h o u g h incomplete, source of i n f o r m a t i o n on p u b h s h m g in general, a n d on publishers and their addresses In p a m c u l a r "~lam al-Kutub (Book World 1979-), p u b h s h e d in al-Ta 'if, Saudl Arabm, Is trying to fill a void created by the disappearance of 'Alam Maktabah (The h b r a r y World) which used to publish an a n n u a l issue that was the closest thing to a book trade directory for the Arab World I n f o r m a t i o n on current publications is also available in scholarly and non-scholarly periodicals Most weeklies a n d most non-specialized j o u r n a l s review recent pubhcatlons. The i n f o r m a t i o n included m the serial sources ts usually current Its shortcoming is that one has to make a special effort to browse a large n u m b e r of issues without assurance of finding significant titles This procedure could be very time c o n s u m i n g and sketchy in its results In 1973, The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific O r g a n i z a t i o n pubhshed alDawtro'at al-'Arabo'ah, a catalog of current periodicals m the Arab World Dr. M u h a m m a d A m a n p u b h s h e d a similar catalog in 1979 titled Arab Pertodteals" and SermA (New York
188
GEORGEN ATIYEH
G a r l a n d P u b h c a t m n s , 1979, 252 pp.). The first guide to periodical literature in A r a b i c titled al-Flhrlst (1981- ), lists a p p r o x i m a t e l y 70 current titles I n f o r m a t i o n sources on Iranian publications m p o s t - r e v o l u t i o n a r y Iran are scanty The picture in the publishing, as well as m the political field, as unclear a n d is in c o n t i n u o u s flux The I r a n i a n n a t i o n a l babliography Intlsh6r6t-i Iran has not a p p e a r e d since the beginning of the revolutmn. Iraj A f s h a r ' s Rahnama-l Klt~b, an excellent source on retrospecuve material, has been d l s c o n t m u e d but replaced by Ayandeh, a j o u r n a l of i r a n i a n studies c o n t a i n i n g b i b l i o g r a p h i e s and b o o k reviews of Persmn b o o k s and of foreign b o o k s dealing with Iran A great deal of r e v o l u t i o n a r y and a n t i - r e v o l u t i o n a r y p u b h s h m g has taken place Much of it has been hsted by W o l f g a n Behn m his b i b l i o g r a p h y , The lraman Opposmon tn Exile ( W m s b a d e n Harrassowitz, 1979, 249 pp ) As a result of the g r o w i n g interest in the M i d d l e East, and of the violence there, a n u m b e r of b o o k dealers f r o m that region have estabhshed businesses in E u r o p e and m the United States. They p u b h s h catalogs and lists of publications that provide r e f o r m a t i o n on A r a b m and Persian material in particular The a p p e n d i x an this article lists some of them Book exhibit catalogs are a n o t h e r source of l n f o r m a t m n . The General Egyptmn Book O r g a n i z a t i o n ( G E B O ) ( C o r m c h e al-Ni1, Bulaq, Cairo, Egypt) has been organizing an i n t e r n a t i o n a l b o o k fair m which A r a b as well as n o n - A r a b publishers partmlpate. Because of the A r a b b o y c o t t of Egypt, the last b o o k fair of 1981 witnessed little A r a b p a r t m i p a t l o n The a n n u a l b o o k fair o r g a m z e d by the A r a b Cultural Club (al-N~d]-al-Thhq~f]" a l - ' A r a b l . A b d u l A l l / St. Y a n d Bldg P O Box 11-8446, Bmrut, L e b a n o n ) as one ot the mare cultural exents in that c o u n t r y The Club has begun publishing an annual, al-Kttab al-'Arabt ft Lubnan (The A r a b Book in L e b a n o n ) which is the closest thing to a n a t i o n a l b l b l a o g r a p h y KuwaWs N a t i o n a l Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (P O. Box 23996, Kuwait) organizes an interA r a b b o o k fair in which several A r a b countries, including Algerm, p a m c l p a t e a n d p u b h s h a c a t a l o g of the items exhibited Saudl A r a b i a ' s University of R l y a d h was p l a n n i n g to set up a similar a n n u a l fair (the last time I wsited in 1980). In sum, the sources of l n f o r m a t m n are many, but unfortunately, they are not b r o u g h t together an the A r a b W o r l d in one c o m p r e h e n s w e publication.
HOW MUCH AND WHAT It IS impossible to provide exact n u m b e r s for Arabic, Turkish a n d Persian publishing The UN Stattstwal Yearbook provides figures for some countries, but these figures are not a u t h o r i t a t i v e . The question of n u m b e r s is i m p o r t a n t if one is to plan a cost-effective, careful, and systematic acqmsltlOnS p r o g r a m . However, regardless of the difficulties of a c q u i r i n g i n f o r m a t i o n and e s t i m a t i n g the n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s , and regardless of the p o l m c a l and social instability, a r e a s o n a b l e coverage of m o n o g r a p h s , serials and other materials of research values is possible. Such coverage, which u n d e r s t a n d a b l y differs from one institution to a n o t h e r , is what I will aim to describe. In terms of quantity, basing my j u d g m e n t on a variety of sources, 1 estimate the n u m b e r of m o n o g r a p h s , including p a m p h l e t s , t e x t b o o k s , and t r a n s l a t i o n s published yearly in the A r a b W o r l d , T u r k e y a n d lran, at a b o u t 16,000 This n u m b e r differs s u b s t a n t i a l l y f r o m the U N E S C O Stattstwal Yearbook which is incomplete and which furnishes figures for the third world countries provided by local pubhshers and not by a u t h o r i t a t i v e sources Of the 16,000 titles, 6,000 are of research or p e r m a n e n t value I a m a w a r e of the fact that this is a rough estimate, but gaven the present d i s a r r a y m the b l b h o g r a p h l c c o n t r o l systems of the area, this is the best one can do under the circumstances.
Acqmsltlonsfrom the Mtddle East
189
The same is true as far as periodicals are concerned, although lists of periodicals currently published are not lacking, these lists c a n n o t be of great value for acquisition purposes since sudden changes in g o v e r n m e n t , which often occur in the Middle East, are likely to affect the issuance of a good n u m b e r of serial publications. A case in point ~s lran. T a k i n g existing lists and a file of current serials that 1 keep in my office as a basis, I estimate that there are a p p r o x i m a t e l y 2,000 current Arabic serials including newspapers, g o v e r n m e n t a n d s e m i - g o v e r n m e n t , and specialized serial publications. C u r r e n t n o n - A r a b i c publications a m o u n t to a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1,200 Turkish and 200 Persian titles. M a n y of these serials are prownclal or specialized with little research value for an A m e r i c a n library. C o n s e q u e n t l y , the collectable titles do not exceed one thousand. A growing n u m b e r of Arabic, Persian and, to a certain extent Turkish sermls are being published outside of the Middle East, especially in Paris a n d L o n d o n M a n y of these publications are organs of o p p o s i t i o n groups, but some of them are trade p u b l i c a t i o n s that have moved from L e b a n o n as a result of the violence in that c o u n t r y In a d d i t i o n to the Lebanese, there are Libyan and T u n i s i a n publishers who have moved to Western Europe either because freedom of the press is existent there or for the m a n y techmcal conveniences available. As far as the cost of acquisitions is concerned, ! can only risk m a k i n g a few general remarks since it is extremely difficult to o b t a i n exact i n f o r m a t i o n on prices which vary from one c o u n t r y to a n o t h e r Inflation has skyrocketed the prices of books in m a n y countries of the Middle East, especially xn L e b a n o n . However, the prices in Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Morocco, a n d T u r k e y are still reasonable. The favorable value of the dollar at present has minimized the effects of the inflationary trend in such places as L e b a n o n and Turkey, but prices are b e c o m i n g higher and higher everyday Shipping a n d postal costs have greatly increased in m a n y countries A n y effective acquisitions p r o g r a m has to take this Into c o n s i d e r a t i o n as well as the difficulties revolved in clearing packages of books leaving the c o u n t r y with the proper authorities. H a w n g obtained an estimated total of the collectable book p r o d u c t i o n of an area, there remains the difficulty of c o m p u t i n g the p r o p o r t i o n of this p r o d u c t i o n that a research hbrary m~ght wish to acquire The figure v a n e s from c o u n t r y to country, but an average of $10.00 per volume is an educated guess.
THE PUBLISHING SITUATION The typology of p u b h s h l n g in the Middle East is as difficult to discern as is the n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s The reasons are m a n y , but a n i m p o r t a n t one is the fact that p u b h s h i n g is owned a n d controlled by g o v e r n m e n t a n d s e m i - g o v e r n m e n t agencies. Except for a few countries, e . g , L e b a n o n , T u r k e y a n d Morocco, most publishing is done t h r o u g h these agencies Where trade publishing ends and g o v e r n m e n t publishing begins is not clearl~y defined. Publishing is done in m a n y languages in a d d i t i o n to Arabic, Persian, and Turkish English and French are c o m m o n vehicles a m o n g scholars and intellectuals Also the m a n y languages of the m i n o r i t i e s - - s u c h as Kurdlsh in lraq, A r m e n i a n in Beirut, Syriac in the Fertile Crescent countries, and Berber in North Africa are still used. A u t h o r publishing is still very c o m m o n in most countries, although the n u m b e r of p u b l i s h i n g c o m p a n i e s is growing M a n y publishers are simply bookstore owners Book d i s t r i b u t i o n services are limited a n d the bureaucratic hurdles within and between countries make any c o u n t r y w i d e or reglonwlde d i s t r i b u t i o n a highly a d v e n t u r o u s operation. However, there are a n u m b e r of j o i n t ventures such as Dar al-Shurfiq which operates in and between L e b a n o n , Egypt and Saudi Arabia; D~r al-Klt~b al-'Arab~ is a T u n i s i a n - L i b y a n c o m p a n y ;
190
GEORGE N ATIYEH
D a r al-Klt~b a l - L u b n g n l and D~r al-Kxt~b al-Misr7 are really one c o m p a n y o p e r a t i n g both in Beirut a n d C a i r o where the biggest p u b l i s h i n g o p e r a t i o n s are still to be found in spite of the violence in L e b a n o n and the low financial and intellectual m o t i v a t i o n in Egypt displayed at the present time Several press c o m p a n i e s which publish mainly newspapers and weeklies are beginning to publish b o o k s , such as The T l h g m a h Publishing C o m p a n y in S a u d l A r a b i a and D a r alN a h a r in Beirut. A unique form of b o o k pubhshxng takes place in L e b a n o n where the c o m p a n y limits its p u b l i s h i n g to w o r k s of one p o p u l a r a u t h o r such as D~r Nlzgr Qabb~nT which publishes only the poetry of the owner, Niz~r QabbgnY A g r o w i n g p h e n o m e n o n is the p u b l i s h i n g of p o p u l a r type m o n o g r a p h l c series, '/tlam alMa' rtfa (The W o r l d of Knowledge) by the N a t i o n a l Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait, a n d aI-Kuab al-'Arabz aI-Sa' ffdT(The S a u d l A r a b Book) by Dgr T l h g m a h are g o o d e x a m p l e s Both series are modeled u p o n the Egyptian m o n o g r a p h l c series, Iragt' (Read) Since it is not possible to survey publishing of all the centers in the Middle East, I will survey four m a j o r ones. Beirut, Cairo, I s t a n b u l and Teheran Baghdad, Tunis, and Rlyad are i m p o r t a n t centers which deserve to be surveyed separately but we are obhged to skip over them because space is short Beirut brags of having 200 publishers, but 30 t r a d e publishers would he more a c c u r a t e The 200 Include t e x t b o o k publishers a n d the m o r e than one h u n d r e d n e w s p a p e r a n d m a g a z i n e publishers S o m e of these occasionally publish b o o k s Publishing m Beirut is still a r e m a r k a b l e p h e n o m e n o n The absence of censorship has a t t r a c t e d writers from all over the A r a b W o r l d to publish there The existence of m o d e r n printing presses, b o o k d i s t r i b u t i o n c o m p a n i e s a n d a long t r a d i t i o n in printing and m the media helped to propel Beirut Into ~ts leading position as a b o o k p r o d u c t i o n and b o o k trade center The publications of L e b a n o n cover all possible subjects Dictionaries have become a m a j o r item of p r o d u c t i o n R e p r i n t i n g of classics and o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s has b e c o m e increasingly a profitable p r o p o s i t i o n . The increased activity in reprinting, however, has been a c c o m p l i s h e d t h r o u g h b o o k piracy and t h r o u g h the p r o d u c t i o n of "quicky" re-editions of classical works. The b o o k t r a d e is also very p r o s p e r o u s in Beirut Its b o o k s t o r e s are stocked with W e s t e r n l a n g u a g e as well as A r a b i c language w o r k s A r a b i c b o o k s published m Egypt, N o r t h Africa, S a u d l A r a b i a , Kuwait and in other parts of the A r a b W o r l d are hkely to be available in that u n h a p p y city. M a n y of the Lebanese b o o k dealers remain a m o n g the most reliable sources of acquisition In Cairo, the b o o k p r o d u c t i o n s i t u a t i o n differs f r o m Beirut in that the largest publishers belong to the public sector a n d p r o d u c e a p p r o x i m a t e l y 40 percent of all significant publications. The 1980 Daffl aI-Ktt6b al-Mtsr~, the E g y p t i a n b o o k s - i n - p r i n t , lists 51 publishers in C a i r o a n d three in A l e x a n d r i a E g y p t i a n b o o k s and periodicals are not being m a r k e t e d in the A r a b W o r l d at present at the same level as prior to the C a m p David a g r e e m e n t , however, scholarly b o o k s a n d j o u r n a l s still reach most A r a b countries. The reduced f r e e d o m of expression, the m i n i m a l financial benefits of a u t h o r s h i p , the scarcity of paper, and certain instability in the General E g y p t i a n Book O r g a n i z a t i o n ( G E B O ) which controls p a p e r distribution and indirectly all p u b l i s h i n g - - h a v e affected the q u a n t i t y and quality of pubhshing. l s t a n b u l remains the leading center for p u b h s h l n g in Turkey, followed by A n k a r a and Izmlr. Private publishers are as n u m e r o u s in l s t a n b u l as they are m Cairo and m a n y of them are likewise b o o k d e a l e r s Publishing is done by private publishers, g o v e r n m e n t institutions, universities, research Institutions both T u r k i s h and f o r e i g n - - a n d up until 1980 by political parties A n u m b e r of b a n k s run small d e p a r t m e n t s that specialize in p u b h s h l n g artistic and
Acqmsn~ons from the Middle East
• 191
cultural works m a d d i t i o n to e c o n o m i c studaes mainly for purposes of p u b h c l t y by c o n t r i b u t i n g to the general culture The situation of b o o k productaon m Iran as unclear. Since the Islamic R e v o l u t i o n a r y G o v e r n m e n t has t a k e n hold of the affmrs of lran, deep and substantial changes have taken place. The rehgxous tone of the g o v e r n m e n t has i m p o s e d limitations on the c o n t e n t of all publishing. The d i s r u p t i o n in the dlrectaon the c o u n t r y was t a k i n g under the S h a h is reflected an the restrained categories of writing a n d the reduced q u a n t i t y of publishing However, one should not get the impressaon that publishing has s t o p p e d in' Iran. An u n d e t e r m i n e d but high n u m b e r of books, j o u r n a l s a n d magazines are being published It will take some time before we are able to present a clear picture of who is publishing, and what and how much is being published. A few c o m m e n t s should be m a d e on scholarly, g o v e r n m e n t and sermls publishing before we move to discuss the subject of procurement. Scholarly publishing m the Middle East [2] is on the rise. In fact the most sagnlflcant pubhcaUons come from a c o n t i n u o u s l y growing n u m b e r of academac and research institutions. The n u m b e r of universities at the beginning of the 1981/1982 school year reached 84 in the A r a b W o r l d , 18 in T u r k e y and 14 In lran. Much of the scholarly p u b h s h l n g is done in western languages, English and French Unfortunately, there are few umverslty presses as this is u n d e r s t o o d in the West. Scholarly publishing a p p e a r s mainly in j o u r n a l s associated with umversmes, or with l n d w l d u a l faculties. M a n y universities d o publish m o n o g r a p h l c series M o s t university faculties, however, try to put out a j o u r n a l c a r r y i n g its name. Research centers and specmhzed orgamzations--scaentafic, historical and p o h t l c a l - - a r e m u s h r o o m i n g . N a t i o n a l academaes are b e c o m i n g as varied and n u m e r o u s as the divergent political tendencies an the League of A r a b states. They all publish j o u r n a l s a n d m o n o g r a p h s . I n t e r n a t i o n a l a n d regaonal conferences, dascussed in the following article, constitute a very c o n s p i c u o u s aspect of cultural, antellectual, scientific a n d h t e r a r y a c t w m e s of the area Official g o v e r n m e n t p u b h c a t l o n s are g r o w i n g in n u m b e r M o s t g o v e r n m e n t s an the Maddle East are now p u b h s h m g statistacal abstracts, official gazettes, d o c u m e n t a r y collectaons a n d literature on patents, codes a n d tourism. All publish mdatary related publications, some of which m a y be a c q m r e d t h r o u g h subscriptions, but the great m a j o r i t y are only available on magazine stands. G o v e r n m e n t - s p o n s o r e d publishing not directly concerned with official business, namely, t r a d e p u b h c a t i o n s f u n d e d or subsidized by the g o v e r n m e n t , is a c o m m o n p h e n o m e n o n all over the area
PROCUREMENT There are, of course, a variety of means of p r o c u r i n g p u b l i c a t i o n s such as b l a n k e t ordering [3], exchanges, gifts, and personal contacts. B l a n k e t / O r d e r d e a l e r s h i p in the M~ddle East is plagued with m a n y d r a w b a c k s , not always placed there by the dealers. G o v e r n m e n t regulations, m o n e y transfer p r o b l e m s , security clearances, a n d a b s e n c e of incentives are some of the obvious ones. The ups a n d d o w n s of this avenue are n u m e r o u s and well known. However, there are a n u m b e r of conscientious a n d k n o w l e d g e a b l e dealers who d o their u t m o s t to provide the best service available. In a d d i t i o n to the above, n u m e r o u s dealers in Beirut, Cmro, Istanbul, and Teheran frequently offer their services but consistency an their p e r f o r m a n c e is often absent. Dealers m other crees are a v a d a b l e but unhke E u r o p e where one is hkely to find b o o k d e a l e r s who can supply m a t e r i a l s f r o m all over their country, b o o k d e a l e r s in s e c o n d a r y cities of the M i d d l e East are unable to cover n a t i o n a l pubhshing.
192
GEORGEN ATIYEH
Reliance on bookdealers solely is not r e c o m m e n d e d for a n y c o u n t r y in the world, but even more so for the Middle East. Exchange programs with g o v e r n m e n t agencies and research institutions are a very i m p o r t a n t source of acqulsxtlon. However, exchange has m a n y problems. First of all, one has to have something to offer in exchange such as duplicates or publications of the institution. Some A m e r i c a n academic libraries do not have a sufficient n u m b e r of p u b l i c a t i o n s to exchange to make this avenue effective. F u r t h e r m o r e , there is a t e m p e r a m e n t a l aspect to exchange in the Middle East and 1 do not refer to the t e m p e r a m e n t disposition of the people, but to the fact that people dealing with exchange do not stay long e n o u g h in their j o b s to n u r t u r e the needed c o n t i n u i t y in exchange programs. The bureaucratic constraints, quite often, and this I should say is umversal, make c o n t i n u o u s exchange p r o g r a m s difficult to m a i n t a i n . In a d d i t i o n to this, some g o v e r n m e n t a l a n d academic institutions do not have the necessary allotments to mail the materials assigned for exchange. Qmte often there are not e n o u g h copies of one item to send to all exchange partners a n d "first-come-first-serve" is the rule in these instances. There are also problems of identifying g o v e r n m e n t publications a n d learned institutions This bleak picture is not totally valid. There are bright spots in each country. M a n y academic institutions a n d g o v e r n m e n t agencies are more t h a n willing to send you their publications for the asking w~thout d e m a n d i n g a n y t h i n g in return. Travel is the best means of acquisitions Given the scarcity of national blbhographles and g o o d b o o k d e a l e r s , a n d the n a t u r e of the e x c h a n g e p r o c e d u r e s , travel is e s s e n t i a l However, travel, to be effective, needs a great deal of p l a n n i n g and preparation A clear desiderata list, good t~mmg so as not to travel d u r i n g periods of festivities a n d holidays, knowledge a b o u t w o r k i n g hours and the place of weekends within the week, correspondence a n d a p p o i n t m e n t s beforehand, knowledge a b o u t the book trade situation, and g o v e r n m e n t regulations c o n c e r n i n g shipment of pubhcatlons outside the country, a m o n g other things, are required. In sum, there is no perfect means to acquire books from the Middle East A c o m b i n a t i o n of the three methods will remain the best method for some time to come. Finally, one should m e n t i o n cooperative acquisition programs which remain a most effective way of p r o c u r e m e n t . The Library of Congress p r o c u r e m e n t offices are a fine example, cooperation, as stated above, has been discussed often a m o n g Middle East librarians, but so far not m u c h has been accomplished. Some bookdealers in this c o u n t r y are trying to set up cooperative programs of acquisitions They should be encouraged and wished well.
NOTES AND REFERENCES 1 See David H Partmgton, "Arabic Library Collections A Study of the P L 480 Program," Middle East Studws Association Bulletin, vol 9, no 1 (February 1975), 12-30 2 See Datus C SmithJr, "Scholarly Pubhshmg in the Third World," Scholarly Pubhshmg, (Aprd 1981), 195-217 3 The hst of book dealers appended should not be construed as an endorsement of these dealers to the exclusion of others APPENDIX Selected Book Dealers from the Middle East A LGERIA
EG Y P T
Societ6 Nationale d'Edmon et Diffusion (SNED) 3, Blvd Zlrout Youcef Algiers, Algeria
al- Arab Bookshop Faggalah Street Cairo, Egypt
Acquisitions from the Middle East
193
APPENDIX (continued) E ~ pt (~ ontmued)
LIB YA
l efla Bookshop 17 Gawad Husm Street (P O Box 2353) Cmro, Egypt
The General Pubhshmg, Dlstnbutmn and Advemsement Company (al-Shankah al- Ammah hl-Nashr) Box 959 Tnpoh, Libya
Les L:¢res de France 36, Qasr M-NIl Street Cairo, Egypt
IRA ,V
Sa:eman-e Kltab P O Box 95-1642 Nwavaran, Teheran lran Danesh l.td 21 Rostam Road, A:adl Avenue 1eheran lran
MOROCCO
Dgr al-Kltgb Place de la Mosqube P O Box 4018 Casablanca. Morocco D~.r al-Ma'arff Rue Bab Challah P O Box 239 Rabat, Morocco Dgr al-Thaq~fah Place de la Mosqu6e Rue V~ctor Hugo P O Box 4038 Casablanca, Morocco
I RA Q
SYRIA
al-Muthanna Bookstore Mutanabbl Street Baghdad, Iraq
Dar al-Yaqdhah al-ArabTyah al-Mutanabbl Street Damascus, Syrm
\ a n o n a l House tor Pubhshmg D~stnbutlon and Ad~emsmg a l - J u m h u r l y a S t r e e t ( P O Box 624) Baghdad, Iraq
TU ¥1S
k U WA I T
Estabhssements Bousalama (DS_r Abu S~.lamah) 15, Rue de [a France Turns, Tumsla
The Press Agency (WlkS.lat al-Matb~'g.t) 1019 Fahd al-Sahm Street Kuwait City Kuwmt
La Malson Tumslennc d'Edmon (MTE) 54, Ave de la Ltberte Turns, T u n N a
The Kuwait Bookshops Co Ltd P O Box 2942 Safat Ku~mt City, Kuwmt
TURKEY
LEBA 'VOZV
] hc New Book Pubhshmg House P O Box 11-5264 Beirut, Lebanon Ras-Bclrut Bookshop P O Box 113-3635 Betrut, I.ebanon Sulelman Bookshop P O Box 8258 Bexrut Lebanon
lnal Kltabe,;i Sahaflar (~arslsl 14 Beyazlt lstanbul, Turk% Ehf Kltabc',l Sahaflar (~arslsl 16 Be}a:lt Istanbul. Turkey Enderun Kitabevl Beya:saray, Zemm Kat No 46 Ba~a:lt lstanbul, Turkey
194
GEORGF N ATIYEH
A P P E N D I X (contmucd) U N I T E D S1-A FES Bibhothcca l,,lamlca Box 14174, Unp~crslty S t a t m n M m n e a p o h s M m n 55414 Book World, lnc Iraman Pubhcatlons P O Box 34521 Bethesda, M D 20034 Dar M a h j a r P O Box 56 C a m b r i d g e , M A 02238 Delarsh 2262 Hall Place N W State 104 W a s h m g t o n , D C 20007
U m t e d 5tares (~ o n t m u e d ) R a s h t d Sales ~ o m p a n v 191 Atlantt~ A v e n u e B r o o ~ h n , N Y 11201 lrtternallo;ta] Boo]~ (_ entre Bo r 295 Tro I, ,'vlu htgan 48099
k_3,' G l A ,~/1) al-Saqt Books 26 W e s t b o u r n e G r m e 1 ondon W25RH l o n d o n England