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Directory of foreign document collections
212
GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
QUARTERLY
Vol. ~/NO. U1986
Directory of Foreign Document Collections Compiled by Carol A. Turner New York: UNIPUB, 1985, 148 pages, $20.00. ISBN 0-89059-045-l. LC 84-52793. Reviewed by Susan L. Faks Susan L. Fales is Head of the Documents Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
and Maps Department,
Lee Library, Brigham
The objective of this directory, sponsored by the International Documents Task Force of the American Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table, is “to provide researchers with information about the character and scope of the [foreign documents] collections that exist in U.S. and Canadian libraries.” Questionnaires to some 200 libraries were distributed in 1979, and, according to the introduction, additional information has since been reviewed and included, resulting in the 148 library collections represented in the directory. The information is organized into four sections:
1.
A listing of libraries by state and by institution
2.
Library National
3.
An alphabetical list of country names. Underneath each country, libraries are organized alphabetically by their NUC code and their collection strengths as defined by the ALA guidelines when that information was provided by the library
4.
The largest section lists libraries by state with a description of collection scope. Also included are the address, phone number, staffing, collection accessibility/ availability, collection jurisdictional limitations, and publications the library has issued which describe its foreign documents collections.
Union Catalog codes
This directory provides the librarian and researcher with a unique tool which has been needed in the literature. It is now possible for the researcher, collection development/ reference librarian to discover quickly which libraries have research collections for a given country and in the same directory find the phone numbers, addresses, and names of individuals to contact for further information. Unfortunately a first-time directory often suffers some weaknesses in format and organization and this directory is no exception. Senders of questionnaires are always at the mercy of receivers of questionnaires; receivers of questionnaires can, within the confines of their offices, arbitrarily decide whether to fill out or file the unending stream of surveys which litter their desks. There is no question that this directory suffers to a degree from this “questionnairitis,” even though the UNIPUB advertisements tout it as “comprehensive.” A quick review of various directories of graduate area studies programs for Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe reveals that George Washington University, Georgetown
213
Reviews
University, University of Miami, Purdue University, New York University and the University of Utah all offer graduate degrees in some or ail of these areas and yet they are missing from the directory. In addition to the missing libraries, there is also a problem in definition of collection strengths. The ALA guidelines categorizing collecting strengths are not particularly useful in describing foreign document collections. A more meaningful approach, for future editions of this directory, would be the inclusion of specially written foreign document collecting levels. Guidelines which define the normal publishing output of a national government, such as annual reports of agencies, statistical publications, development plans, le~sIative/ parliamentary papers, provide beleaguered questionnaire respondents something more concrete to grasp onto as they attempt to define their library’s collection of foreign documents. Lastly, a potpourri of format changes would make the directory even more useful than it already is. The inclusion of a world map-such as found in The World Factbook (PrEx 3.15:)-would provide quick geographic orientation. The typeface needs to be varied, especially in the large section that describes collections. The same section, it was discovered after some fumbling and reference to the Table of Contents, is arranged by state. It would seem easier to simply cite the institutions alphabetically rather than state-by-state. The confusion of finding California State University-Fresno, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution & Peace, Stanford University, University of CaliforniaBerkeley in that order on pages 38-42 would be avoided. Besides, the state-by-state approach is already provided in Section 1. The few problems noted are not overwhelming and are essentially overcome by the uniqueness and need for this directory. Because directories outdate rapidly, it is hoped that the ALA Government Documents Round Table, the compiler, and UNIPUB have plans to provide future editions of this work, for it fills a much needed gap in our knowledge of foreign documents collections in the United States and Canada.
EC Index (European Communities Index): An Abstracting and Indexing Guide to Publications and Documents of the European Communities. Vol. l- 1985 - . Monthly with quarterly and annual cumulations. Maastricht, The Netherlands: Europe Data. Annual subscription, $995.00 (1985). ISSN 0255-9900. Reviewed by Mary Fetzer
Mary Fetzer is Coordinator, Government Publications, University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.
Alexander
Library,
Rutgers
Awareness of the European Communities, the world’s largest trading block, and its publishing output appears, fortunately, to be on the increase. John Jeffries in his A Guide to rhe social abdications of the European communities (1978) established a
GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
QUARTERLY
Vol. ~/NO. U1986
Directory of Foreign Document Collections Compiled by Carol A. Turner New York: UNIPUB, 1985, 148 pages, $20.00. ISBN 0-89059-045-l. LC 84-52793. Reviewed by Susan L. Faks Susan L. Fales is Head of the Documents Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
and Maps Department,
Lee Library, Brigham
The objective of this directory, sponsored by the International Documents Task Force of the American Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table, is “to provide researchers with information about the character and scope of the [foreign documents] collections that exist in U.S. and Canadian libraries.” Questionnaires to some 200 libraries were distributed in 1979, and, according to the introduction, additional information has since been reviewed and included, resulting in the 148 library collections represented in the directory. The information is organized into four sections:
1.
A listing of libraries by state and by institution
2.
Library National
3.
An alphabetical list of country names. Underneath each country, libraries are organized alphabetically by their NUC code and their collection strengths as defined by the ALA guidelines when that information was provided by the library
4.
The largest section lists libraries by state with a description of collection scope. Also included are the address, phone number, staffing, collection accessibility/ availability, collection jurisdictional limitations, and publications the library has issued which describe its foreign documents collections.
Union Catalog codes
This directory provides the librarian and researcher with a unique tool which has been needed in the literature. It is now possible for the researcher, collection development/ reference librarian to discover quickly which libraries have research collections for a given country and in the same directory find the phone numbers, addresses, and names of individuals to contact for further information. Unfortunately a first-time directory often suffers some weaknesses in format and organization and this directory is no exception. Senders of questionnaires are always at the mercy of receivers of questionnaires; receivers of questionnaires can, within the confines of their offices, arbitrarily decide whether to fill out or file the unending stream of surveys which litter their desks. There is no question that this directory suffers to a degree from this “questionnairitis,” even though the UNIPUB advertisements tout it as “comprehensive.” A quick review of various directories of graduate area studies programs for Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe reveals that George Washington University, Georgetown
213
Reviews
University, University of Miami, Purdue University, New York University and the University of Utah all offer graduate degrees in some or ail of these areas and yet they are missing from the directory. In addition to the missing libraries, there is also a problem in definition of collection strengths. The ALA guidelines categorizing collecting strengths are not particularly useful in describing foreign document collections. A more meaningful approach, for future editions of this directory, would be the inclusion of specially written foreign document collecting levels. Guidelines which define the normal publishing output of a national government, such as annual reports of agencies, statistical publications, development plans, le~sIative/ parliamentary papers, provide beleaguered questionnaire respondents something more concrete to grasp onto as they attempt to define their library’s collection of foreign documents. Lastly, a potpourri of format changes would make the directory even more useful than it already is. The inclusion of a world map-such as found in The World Factbook (PrEx 3.15:)-would provide quick geographic orientation. The typeface needs to be varied, especially in the large section that describes collections. The same section, it was discovered after some fumbling and reference to the Table of Contents, is arranged by state. It would seem easier to simply cite the institutions alphabetically rather than state-by-state. The confusion of finding California State University-Fresno, the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution & Peace, Stanford University, University of CaliforniaBerkeley in that order on pages 38-42 would be avoided. Besides, the state-by-state approach is already provided in Section 1. The few problems noted are not overwhelming and are essentially overcome by the uniqueness and need for this directory. Because directories outdate rapidly, it is hoped that the ALA Government Documents Round Table, the compiler, and UNIPUB have plans to provide future editions of this work, for it fills a much needed gap in our knowledge of foreign documents collections in the United States and Canada.
EC Index (European Communities Index): An Abstracting and Indexing Guide to Publications and Documents of the European Communities. Vol. l- 1985 - . Monthly with quarterly and annual cumulations. Maastricht, The Netherlands: Europe Data. Annual subscription, $995.00 (1985). ISSN 0255-9900. Reviewed by Mary Fetzer
Mary Fetzer is Coordinator, Government Publications, University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.
Alexander
Library,
Rutgers
Awareness of the European Communities, the world’s largest trading block, and its publishing output appears, fortunately, to be on the increase. John Jeffries in his A Guide to rhe social abdications of the European communities (1978) established a