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Annual Report of the
Slavic and Central European Division, Fiscal Year 1970

Submitted by
Sergius Yakobson, Chief
July 13, 1970

SUMMARY

Division personnel participated actively during the year in the implementation of pertinent NPAC and PL-480 programs and in preparations for the possible extension of these programs to Poland and Romania. An acquisitions and survey trip to Europe by the Chief resulted in locating Slavic materials for possible future purchase and in exploring the prospects for LC acquisition of substantial duplicate holdings of European libraries and institutions. A unique private library on the Czech renaissance was added to the collections. Approval was secured for a recommended threefold increase in the blanket-order authorization for Greek materials. The Finno-Ugrian holdings were strengthened by the addition of fourteen missing volumes of the retrospective Hungarian national bibliography and a number of Finnish university publications. Non-current Russian acquisitions centered on early Soviet socio-political developments, the history of the Russian theater, and émigré literature. Among the German materials recommended and acquired were early printings of works by Immanuel Kant.

Direct reference services reached a total of 43,673, a high percentage of them related to current events. A large number of requests for information and for foreign-language translations were filled for Congressional, Executive and other governmental offices.

Editorial work was completed on Yugoslavia; a Bibliographic Guide, and the manuscript was submitted to the Publications Office. Proposals are being developed for three additional bibliographic projects.

Additional shelving made it possible to bring the total number of volumes in the Slavic Room reference collection to 8,500. The preparation materials for binding remained on a current basis.

The Chief represented the Library at the Second International Congress on Southeast European Studies in Athens. Staff members attended and participated in a variety of other professional meetings and activities.

CONTENTS:    I. ACQUISITION OF MATERIALS    II. ORGANIZATION OF MATERIALS    III. USE OF MATERIALS    IV. EXTERNAL RELATIONS    V. ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL    VI. PROFESSIONAL BUT UNOFFICIAL ACTIVITIES    APPENDIX I: STATISTICAL REPORT    APPENDIX II: BIBLIOGRAPHIES PREPARED OR SPONSORED BY THE DIVISION    APPENDIX III: MAJOR SPECIAL STUDIES


I. ACQUISITION OF MATERIALS

Among the notable events in the Division's acquisitions programs was the Chief's survey trip to Europe from April 29 to May 23. The purpose of this journey was to represent the Library at the Second International Congress on Southeast European Studies in Athens, Greece, and to visit libraries, book dealers, bibliographic institutions, and research and teaching organizations specializing in Slavic and East European affairs in England, the Netherlands, West Germany, and West Berlin. The Chief explored in depth possibilities for the exchange of duplicates, securing microfilms of some of their unique holdings, the regular supply to LC of their own publications, and the exchange of information on matters of joint professional interest. When inspecting second-hand books at Kubon and Sagner in Munich, one of the most effective supply sources for Slavic and East European materials, he set aside for possible later purchase by LC collections of Soviet publications of the 1920's, sources on the Decembrist movement, and Russian émigré editions. At this writing specific proposals are being submitted to the Processing Department for the implementation of these fact-finding activities.

Only a few years ago a policy of selective recommending of current publications had guided the Division's acquisition operations. Generally, it was thought adequate and desirable to bring to the Library's shelves a representative and balanced cross section of the newly issued publications in the area, and receipt of one-fourth to one-third of the current book output was considered quite satisfactory for attaining this objective. The inauguration of the near-to-comprehensive acquisitions arrangements under the National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging and Public Law 480 necessitated a fundamental rethinking of this philosophy and the formulation of new techniques and procedures. At present these programs are operative in major sectors of our area assignment — Austria, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, the USSR and Yugoslavia — and further extensions are feasible in the near future.

The participation of our staff under these altered circumstances has taken a dual form: First, cooperation with the Processing Department in developing the essential data and identifying specific requirements in preparation for the conclusion of new agreements. Such was the case, for example, in connection with the contemplated NPAC agreement with Romania and with the envisaged establishment of PL-480 operations in Poland, which, though temporarily deferred, hopefully may be resumed in the foreseeable future. Second, we have been concerned with the day-to-day administration of existing programs for which several modes of recommending coexist in our present work: traditional selection activities in regard to countries to which the new programs have not been extended thus far; supplemental recommending of non-received items for those countries which supply printed materials automatically and comprehensively; and individual selection within the framework of NPAC, as is the case with respect to the USSR.

New solutions have a way of generating new problems. A computer keeping records and preparing bills at fabulous speed can easily run amok if unchecked by human supervision. Likewise, a broad-gauged automatic book supply program which has to place far-reaching reliance on the judgment of persons frequently only vaguely familiar with the Library's specific needs is in constant and urgent need of checks and controls by informed specialists. Increased speed in supplying books may be accompanied by bottlenecks in processing them; the price of desired comprehensiveness may have to be paid in terms of a quantitative inflation and qualitative dilution of collections; and seminal items may be bypassed in the flow of incoming marginal materials. To give just one example, a brochure on making ice cream cones was found among new receipts while a published guide to research institutions remained conspicuous by its absence.

It is in these domains that corrective and remedial action becomes a vital concern of our area specialists in making bulk acquisitions programs work. Specifically, our recommending officers have been engaged in seeing to it that essential unselected titles are received; that complete sets of multi-volume and serialized publications reach the collections; that multiple copies are available for reference use; that among the mass of incoming materials those books which deserve priority consideration become first accessible to the reader; and, generally, that procedures are devised which reduce to a minimum dislocations and undesirable side effects in the composition of the collections.

A condensed account of the work done by the USSR specialist may illustrate this point. During the reporting period he examined for procurement decisions not only each card supplied to LC by the Lenin Library for approximately 50,000 titles issued every year commercially in the Soviet Union, but also some 20,000 items from the supplement to the Soviet national bibliography for non-commercial publications. In addition, he reviewed recommendations made by other Divisions of the Library and suggested the best sources of acquisition, i.e., whether a given title should be purchased by the Publications Procurement Officer in Moscow or whether it should be requested from the Lenin State Library, a republic academy, or alternate sources. Other recommending officers have followed analogous though of necessity differing techniques keyed to the particularities of NPAC or PL-480 programs for the countries assigned to them.

Our recommending officers have also been alert to the need for searching out new and strengthening existing purchase and exchange arrangements, and improving the quality and coverage of the intake. Albania is the Achilles heel not only in Balkan politics, but also in Eastern European procurement efforts. As an outgrowth of discussions with Dr. Robert Schwanke of the Österreichisches Ost- und Südosteuropa Institut in Vienna, the Assistant Chief proposed that LC enter into an exchange agreement involving the substantial stock of duplicates held by that Institute, and that similar steps be initiated with the University of Priština in Yugoslavia, which reportedly has relatively easy access to Albanian materials. Similarly, the Chief recommended that LC avail itself of Albanian duplicate materials which he located at the Bodleian Library in Oxford during his recent European acquisitions trip.

The Greek specialist recommended an increase from $1000 to $3000 in the blanket order authorization for Greece in order to effect a stronger coverage for that country. Also, he initiated a changeover to a more effective recommending tool for Greek publications and established contacts with the Greek Library Association of Cyprus, which resulted in the addition to the collections of several important periodicals and newspapers from that critical area. Reviews of serials on subscription conducted annually by all recommending officers also offered a welcome opportunity for strengthening the balance and research value of the Library's serial materials.

Despite shrinking supplies and soaring prices on the secondhand book market the catch of retrospective materials garnered this fiscal year was quite respectable. If there was one problem-free element in our operations it was that of wiping out the balances of our retrospective allotments. Indeed, several months before the close of the fiscal year our funds were completely exhausted, and we are looking forward to an early transition from famine to feast, which will enable us to cast more acquisition nets in promising directions.

It now remains to exemplify some of the publications which have enriched LC's older collections in the year under purview. When browsing through the stacks of Kubon and Sagner during his recent visit to Europe, the Chief came upon a rare set for 1903 top 1917 of Hrvatska straža za kršćansku prosvetu, an important Croatian journal of literary, political, and religious thought hitherto unavailable in the United States. He was quick in staking out LC's prospective claim for this rare set, and an order was subsequently placed. Through personal contacts, the Assistant Chief was able in recent years to prevail on Professor Matthew Spinka, an outstanding authority on the history of the Czech Reformation, to transfer to LC for a largely nominal price substantial parts of his unique private collection, which included pieces of great rarity. Professor Spinka thought it necessary, however, to retain a residue of his library for pending research and writing. Having brought this work to a conclusion, he consented very recently to turning over to LC 228 important books, chiefly focusing on the personalities of Hus and of Comenius, famous 16th century pedagogue, theologian, and philosopher. The Library has thus succeeded in building collections which represent a store of knowledge on 16th and 17th century Czech religious thought, second to none in this hemisphere. Additions to the Hungarian collections included 14 volumes of the retrospective bibliography Magyar Könyvészet. Finnish non-current acquisitions are typified by 48 items — including first or early editions of leading Finnish writers and 11 major periodicals — received from the Jyväskylä University. Russian retrospective acquisitions related primarily to early Soviet socio-political developments, the history of the Russian theater, and émigré literature, whereas notable German items included Immanuel Kant's Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft (Frankfurt, 1793) as well as his Frühere noch nicht gesammelte kleine Schriften (Linz, 1795). Last but not least, a collection of older Lithuanian books from the private library of the late American Lithuanian writer K. [Kleopas] Jurgelionis joined the Library's collections.


II. ORGANIZATION OF MATERIALS

Late in the reporting year, the Division's long-time efforts to secure complete cataloging for the Yudin and Slavic Unclassified collections were finally rewarded by a commitment from the Descriptive Cataloging Division to begin cataloging these important holdings at a modest but steady pace. Division specialists undertook to select items on a regular basis for priority treatment, and the cataloging began in May 1970.

Some 400 volumes were added to the reference collections in the Slavic Room, while about 200 volumes were removed. The net gain of 200 volumes brings the total number to about 8,500, which is near capacity pending the installation of new permanent shelving and lighting, scheduled for next fiscal year. The Head of the Slavic Room also selected a group of dictionaries formerly assigned to the defunct Cyrillic Bibliographic Project for integration into the Slavic Room collections. A selection of East European reference aids and periodicals in the field of history was displayed in the Slavic Room on the occasion of the annual meeting in Washington of the American Historical Association, December 1969.

The card files of Slavic and Baltic periodicals and newspapers received on Deck 8 were kept up-to-date and were used frequently by Library staff and the public.

The current serial collections on Deck 8 include about 7,500 titles, of which approximately 5,000 are regularly received. Serials are prepared for binding on a continuing basis and, for the most part, there is no backlog in binding preparation. During FY 1970 over 40,000 pieces of Slavic and Baltic serials were prepared for binding.

An effort was made to maintain the collections in the Slavic room and on Deck 8 in the best possible condition. Their satisfactory condition was attested by the Director of the Reference Department, who reported to the Librarian, on May 20, 1970, that "the Slavic Reading Room, and Deck 8 south were neat and in good order with no apparent fire or safety hazards."


III. USE OF MATERIALS

A. Reference

While acquisitions procedures can be adapted to some degree to fit within the broad outlines of general policy, reference service is not amenable to containment within a rigid Procrustean framework. The interests of reference clients are as broad as they are unpredictable. One factor which remains constant, however, is the reflection of current events in a substantial portion of the reference inquiries reaching the Division. Political developments in Greece, for example, continue to give rise to intensive demand both for reference service about Greece and for translations of Greek materials. Included in the large number of Greek texts translated for Congressional offices by the Head of the Slavic Room was a lengthy letter addressed to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Signed by 31 former members of the Greek Parliament, this letter expressing opposition to the present regime there was published in the Congressional Record at the request of Senator Fulbright.

The defection of noted Russian author Anatolii V. Kuznetsov generated a request from the Department of State for biographical information on the writer and his associates on the editorial staff of the Soviet literary magazine Iunost'. Biographical data about Kuznetsov were also provided to the Copley News Service of California.

The spectacular American landing on the moon renewed interest in Jules Verne's De la terre à la lune (1895), the prophecy of which was fulfilled a century later. The U.S. Information Agency was assisted in locating a Polish translation of the novel for use in Ameryka, the Agency's magazine published for distribution in Poland. The search for common patterns in revolutionary manifestations throughout the world led to a Congressional request for an evaluation of the 1919 allegedly Communist "Rules for Revolution."

The 30th anniversary of the 1939 German invasion of Poland and the Polish elections of June 1969 generated considerable interest in Polish historical and biographical data. A rumor about the possible transfer to the Hungarian Government of the Holy Crown of Hungary, in U.S. custody since the end of the Second World War, prompted a number of requests for information on the history of the crown and the royal insignia.

Reference inquiries from scholars, librarians, and students in the growing number of universities specializing in Slavic and East European studies tend to be less topical in nature. A currency sampling of the Division's correspondence files shows the broad range of topics covered, ranging from history to architecture and from religion to genealogy. A professor at Bryn Mawr College who is writing on the ethnography of the Atna Indians in Russian America (present-day Alaska) wrote for the location of Rufus Sereberinkoff's account of his exploration of that area in 1848. An assistant professor at Michigan State University who has a blind student studying Russian inquired about the existence of Russian-language periodicals in Braille to which his library could subscribe. After writing, unsuccessfully, "two letters to Russia, one letter to the Russian Embassy in Washington, one letter to the FBI, and one letter to the CIA," a young student from Virginia turned to the Library of Congress for information on the Soviet secret police. The Division supplied the client with a brief bibliography on the subject.

The general public and researchers without institutional affiliations customarily provide the Division with a high proportion of reference inquiries, sometimes of esoteric or arcane interest. In response to a request from an American of Czech origin in Chicago, the Division assisted in locating material in the collection of manuscripts donated to the Library by the widow of Thomas Čapek, a noted Czech-American businessman and author who had a consuming interest in the history of Czechs in the United States. A photocopy of a manuscript received through the office of Congressman Alexander Pirnie was translated and identified as an official 1848 Polish document ennobling an ancestor of an American family from New York state. The Billy Graham Evangelical Association was provided with a copy of an article on Dr. Graham's activities that was published in the Soviet newspaper Pravda. The resident designer of the Minnesota Theatre Company, which is planning the world première of a play by renowned Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, was furnished references to descriptions and illustrations of Soviet army uniforms. Reference letters came not only from the United States, but also from many countries of Europe, from Latin America, and even from the South Pacific. A scholar in Barcelona, Spain, who does not read English received information in Spanish about Spanish-language works on Rosa Luxemburg. A correspondent in Argentina was supplied with information on the now extinct Illyrian language, which was spoken in Dalmatia prior to the influx of the Slavs in the 7th century A.D. A group of scholars from Cluj who are preparing an anthology of German-language poetry written in Romania were provided with information about U.S. holdings of the hymns of John Kelpius (1667–1708), who immigrated from Transylvania to Pennsylvania, where he continued his literary pursuits. From Finland, an engineer who is writing an article on notable bridges around the world asked the Division for information concerning the concrete arch bridge over the Staryi Dnepr river in Zaporozh'e, Ukrainian SSR. A maker of musical instruments in Czechoslovakia asked about the existence of specialized English-Czech dictionaries in the field of music. An inquiry about the works of Russian novelist V. V. Verasaev came from the library of the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a scholar from South Australia was supplied with a list of periodicals treating Russian belles-lettres in English.

Personal conferences with visitors to the Library enable staff members to provide general orientation in the collections within the area of the Division's responsibility, and to supply researchers with assistance in their search for obscure or elusive sources of information. Thus, a journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch came to the Division for a background briefing on Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia — countries constituting his new overseas assignment. The Cultural Attaché of the Polish Embassy was provided with data on an American physician who volunteered for service with the Poles in their 1830 revolt against the Russians. The biographers of actor Bela Lugosi, who is probably most famous for his screen role as the vampire count "Dracula," were supplied with relevant materials. Members of the French Military Mission were assisted in locating a number of Serbo-Croatian titles.

The diplomatic rapprochement between Romania and the United States gave rise to several inquiries related to the history of these ties. Among the researchers interested in this problem was the present Romanian Ambassador in Washington, Corneliu Bogdan, who visited the Library and conferred with Division staff members in his search for source materials on interwar U.S.-Romanian relations.

Division personnel were also active in providing intramural reference service. The Children's Book Section was assisted in locating and evaluating a number of East European bibliographical sources and critical monographs in the field of children's literature. The Poetry Office received help in locating works by Vasko Popa of Yugoslavia, who read his poetry during the International Poetry Festival held at the Library of Congress in April. The Division's language skills were used for the Deputy Librarian in analyzing a UNESCO document in German dealing with library matters, as well as for the Assistant Director for Preservation in the Administrative Department, who received from the Division an English translation of Hungarian material related to research in book preservation. The Law Library was provided with information on the Greek currency reform of 1953–54.

A number of gratifying expressions of appreciation for Division assistance were received. The Office of the Vice President voiced thanks "for all your information and expertise." The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations extended gratitude for "the rush job on the Greek translation." The editor of Abstracts in Anthropology wrote, "Thank you for your splendid cooperation," while a researcher in Polish history noted, "Without your constant help I would have been unable to accomplish much." A biographer of Karl Marx observed that "it is certainly a testimony of the greatness of this country that many of the facilities of the Library of Congress are made available to the people."

Kudos were also extended to Division personnel in published works. The compiler of Bibliography of Books on Alaska Published Before 1868 (Yale University Press, 1969) acknowledged the help of Dr. Yakobson and his staff. The assistance of Dr. Allen and Dr. Price was noted in Joseph O. Baylen's The Tsar's 'Lecturer-General'; W.T. Stead and the Russian Revolution of 1905 (Atlanta, 1969), and of Dr. Price in Fritz K. Mann's Joseph A. Schumpeter (Göttingen, 1970).

B. Bibliography

One of the Division's earliest bibliographic programs was the initiation of specialized reference files organized by country and by broad subject categories. These research aids have been exploited intensively over the years, and the development and perfection of them continue to form an integral part of the Division's bibliographic operations. During the year under review, some 6,000 new entries were added to this unique collection of references to a large body of critically important but elusive materials.

A further advance in the Division's publications program was the completion of editorial work on Yugoslavia; a Bibliographic Guide, which was submitted to the Publications Office in May. The fourth in a Division series, this guide prepared by Professor Michael B. Petrovich extends to Yugoslavia the bibliographic coverage available in analogous earlier volumes for Romania, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia.

A survey of internal reference tools was conducted with a view to selecting candidates for the Division's publications program. As the fiscal year came to a close, three bibliographic files had been singled out as worthy of publication and proposals to the Committee on Bibliography and Publications were under preparation. Apart from the formal and continuing projects, bibliographies are frequently compiled on an ad hoc basis in response to reference inquiries. Examples of the many such lists prepared during the year are an 86-entry bibliography on Soviet-German collusion against the Baltic States in 1939–40, and a selection of 106 items describing LC holdings on Hungarian patriot Louis Kossuth.

Finno-Ugrian Area Specialist Elemer Bako was co-compiler of Hungarians in Rumania and Transylvania; a Bibliographic Guide, originally issued under the aegis of the Legislative Reference Service and now released in an updated version as a document of the House of Representatives.

The critical responses extended to our bibliographic efforts have been gratifying. The USSR and Eastern Europe, Periodicals in Western Languages was termed "a commendable and praiseworthy reference work" in the Austrian library journal Biblos, while Het Christelijk Oosten, published in Nijmegen, Netherlands, called Bulgaria, a Bibliographic Guide a "very interesting and useful aid."

A review in the U.S. Slavic and East European Journal described the latter guide as "a serious work of great scope and usefulness. . . an excellent example of the systematization of well-gathered material." Bulletin des bibliothèques de France characterized Czechoslovakia; a Bibliographic Guide as "indispensable for every library with a Czechoslovak collection." Other reviews and notices appeared in Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel and Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas.

C. Reference Related Automatic Data Processing Activities

The growing interest on the part of professional organizations and area-study centers in the possibilities for automated bibliographic activities prompted the Assistant Chief to investigate the current capabilities of the MARC program and its applicability to Division interests. Conferences were arranged with representatives of the Information Systems Office, who designed an experimental program for retrieving entries from the MARC data file on the basis of place and date of publication, language, and appearance of keywords in subject headings. Application of the experimental program to the MARC data base established definitely that scholars and librarians concerned with area approaches to bibliography could benefit significantly from the availability of a large machine-readable file of bibliographic entries and a corresponding program for manipulating the information in meaningful fashion. The Division's Area Specialist (USSR and Eastern Europe) attended a meeting called by the Publications Officer concerning the special LC grids to be acquired for the Linotron equipment at the Government Printing Office. A memorandum outlining the Division position on placement of diacritical marks, symbols, and special characters on the Linotron grids was subsequently submitted to the Publications Office.


IV. PERSONNEL

A. Personnel Administration

In formulating its personnel needs for FY 1972, the Division requested two new positions — a Bibliographer in grade GS-11 or 12 and a Reference and Bibliographical Assistant in grade GS-5. The steadily increasing workload of the Division over the years, without a corresponding increase in staff, provided the justification for these requests, which were carried over from the previous year. An earlier request for allocation of a new position of Technical Assistant, grade GS-9, was renewed. This request was prompted by the substantially expanded demands made on professional staff time by activities and services related to NPAC, which was extended recently to Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia and had been previously operative in German-speaking Europe, Finland, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia.

Gratifying news was received during the year of approval for conversion to permanent status of one indefinite Division position (Processing and Reference Assistant, GS-7). The Division reiterated the compelling need for similar conversion of the three remaining indefinite positions (Finno-Ugrian Area Specialist, and 2 Processing and Reference Assistants). Once again detailed supporting data were submitted, emphasizing the vital, day to day duties performed by the incumbents of these positions and the threats to orderly conduct of Division affairs if such positions were to remain dependent on the uncertainties of outside support.

The position of Slavic Reference Librarian became vacant with the May 1 resignation of Edwin J. Gossett. Mr. Albert Graham of the Federal Research Division was appointed to fill this vacancy and began his new duties on June 15.

Division Secretary Mrs. Edna Mae Crarey was transferred to the former Aerospace Reference Project in October. She was replaced by Miss Janie Riley of the same project.

Senior Searcher Basil Nadraga was nominated for and awarded his second within-grade (quality) increase, on the basis of sustained superior performance.

B. Training

The Assistant Chief devised and implemented a training course in Slavic bibliography in which two reference librarians of the Slavic Room participated. The course, which had a duration of 3 months, consisted basically of bibliographic and reference case studies on specific subjects to be completed and submitted on a weekly basis. Among the topics covered were listing and evaluating Russian monolingual and Russian-English dictionaries, general-purpose index and abstracting journals, and general reference works containing material of relevance for Slavic studies but not included in the Slavic Room reference collections. The completed assignments were reviewed by the Assistant Chief and other senior staff members and then discussed with the students. Participants and supervisors were unanimous in their praise of the course and in their opinion that such assignments should form part of the training of new staff members in the future.

The Chief on two occasions and the Assistant Chief on another one spoke on the Division's programs, activities, and responsibilities in the Library-wide series of professional orientation lectures. The Assistant Chief also briefed groups of new employees and special recruits along similar lines. One of the special recruits, Mr. Imre T. Jarmy, elected to spend a one-week optional assignment period with the Division.

Mr. Gossett completed the Library's course in Computing Systems Fundamentals, and Dr. Balys completed the similar overview course. Miss Riley attended courses on Official Travel Documents and Time and Attendance Reports.


V. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The Division's status as a specialized area-oriented unit renders it indispensable for the professional staff to keep with research trends and contemporary developments both in the field of area studies and in professional library activities closely associated with the pursuit of scholarly research. Staff members were unusually active during the year in initiating and maintaining these professional and personal ties with organizations and individuals, as demonstrated by the following examples.

The Chief represented the Library in May at the Second International Congress on Southeast European Studies in Athens. He combined this trip with visits to the British Museum, Oxford University, the International Institute for Social History at Amsterdam, and other leading centers and repositories for Slavic studies in Western Europe. That phase of his trip is described above in the chapter on acquisitions.

The Assistant Chief chaired, and the Chief participated as a panel member in, the session on "Library and Bibliographic Developments" at the Third National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), held in Columbus, Ohio, in March 1970. The favorable reception accorded the session appeared to augur well for regular inclusion of such a panel discussion at future meetings.

The Chief and Assistant Chief maintained close liaison with the director and staff of the Slavic Bibliographic and Documentation Center, established last year in Washington by the Association of Research Libraries. The Chief serves on the Center's Advisory Committee and in this capacity attended several committee meetings.

The Assistant Chief was appointed Chairman of a new Library and Research Resources Advisory Committee in East Central and Southeast European Studies, appointed by the American Council of Learned Societies, Mr. Carlton was also appointed to this group, and both he and Dr. Horecky attended committee meetings held in Chicago and Columbus. A report summarizing committee recommendations for projects which should be undertaken in this field was submitted and is now under consideration by ACLS.

As a member of the Subcommittee on East Central and Southeast European Studies, ACLS, the Assistant Chief attended two of its meetings. He continues to devote extensive portions of his free time to evaluating applications by individual scholars for ACLS grants in this field.

The Assistant Chief was also appointed to the new Library and Bibliography Committee of AAASS, attending two meetings of the group which will attempt to cope on behalf of the profession with the burgeoning problem of bibliographic control.

Dr. Allen, Dr. Hoskins, Dr. Price and the Chief attended the annual meeting of the American Historical Association. Dr. Price also was a participant in a New York meeting of the Conference Group on German Politics, while Dr. Allen read a paper on intellectual ferment in the Soviet Union at the Southern Slavic Conference in Knoxville.

Mr. Perry was appointed to the membership of a committee on Modern Greek books in American libraries of the Center for Neo-Hellenic Studies, University of Texas, and also served as a member of the nominating committee of the Slavic and East European Subsection, ALA.

Dr. Hoskins has been elected Vice Chairman (Chairman-Elect) for the 1970/71 term of the Slavic and East European Subsection, Association of College and Research Libraries.


VI. PROFESSIONAL BUT UNOFFICIAL ACTIVITIES

In their professional pursuits staff members maintained again this year the customarily active and variegated record of contributions to research and publishing in their area and subject specializations. A few examples of the more notable activities of this kind follow.

Dr. Allen is the translator of Russian Studies of American Literature; a Bibliography, published in 1969 by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, and the subject of a favorable review in Library Journal. Dr. Allen also contributed lists of articles on Russian history to the American Historical Review, wrote an article on Russian refugee movements in the First World War for a history of the war to be published in Great Britain, and acted as assistant editor of East Central Europe; a Guide to Basic Publications (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1969).

Dr. Bako compiled a "Selected Bibliography of Ady Literature" for the edition of the poet's works published in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his death, in addition to contributing the chapter on "Hungary: General Reference Works and Bibliographies" to East Central Europe; a Guide to Basic Publications (Chicago, 1969). He delivered an address at the opening of an exhibit on Hungarian-American viticulturist Agoston Haraszthy, and served as chairman of committees of the Hungarian Library Association of America and the American Hungarian Federation.

Dr. Balys compiled the "Bibliography of Baltic Bibliographies" published in Lituanistikos Darbai, v. 2 (Chicago, 1969), which he also edited. He is the author of "Folklore Research in the Baltic Countries, especially Lithuania, in the Soviet Period," published in the Summary of Proceedings of the First Conference on Baltic Studies, and of contributions to the first volume of the Encyclopedia Lituanica (Boston, 1970).

Mr. Carlton contributed to the chapter on "Romania: General Reference Works and Bibliographies" to Southeastern Europe; a Guide to Basic Publications (Chicago, 1969). He also served as assistant editor of this bibliographic guide and its companion volume on East Central Europe.

Mr. Fessenko is the author of an article on the problems of Ukrainian bibliography abroad published in v. 185 of the Memoirs of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. At a meeting of the Washington Chapter of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Arts and Sciences, he delivered a paper on the Ukrainian renaissance of the 1920s in bibliography and its reverberations.

Dr. Horecky witnessed the conclusion of two extensive bibliographic projects in which he had been engaged for several years, with the publication by the University of Chicago Press in 1969 of two volumes on East Central Europe and Southeastern Europe, respectively, each bearing the subtitle "A Guide to Basic Publications." He acted as project director, chief editor, and contributor in these undertakings, which were sponsored by the Subcommittee on East Central and Southeastern European Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Dr. Hoskins reviewed a manuscript on Polish medieval history for a university press, contributed the chapter on "Poland; General Reference Works and Bibliographies" to East Central Europe (Chicago, 1969), and published book reviews in U.S. and German scholarly journals.

Mr. Perry prepared a statement on the Modern Greek collection in LC, published in the Winter 1969/70 issue of the Bulletin of the Center for Neo-Hellenic Studies, University of Texas, and contributed the chapter "Greece: General Reference Works and Bibliographies" to Southeastern Europe (Chicago 1969).

Miss Popovitch taught a senior high school class in Russian history and culture at the Maret School.

Dr. Price continued to serve as a section editor for the American Historical Review . In December 1969 he led a discussion on East Germany at American University.

Dr. Yakobson submitted an article entitled "Kropotkin's Russian Literature: An Unknown Letter" to the editors of a Festschrift for retired Professor Elizabeth Hill of Cambridge University and prepared various book reviews. He also served as a consultant to the National Endowment for the Humanities, and together with Dr. Allen as advisor to the editor of the Slavic Review.


APPENDIX I: STATISTICS

I. REFERENCE ACTIVITIES FY1969 FY1970 % Diff.
A. Reference Services 1. In Person: Estimated number of readers 40,560 39,749 –2.0
No. of readers given reference assistance 17.072 19,284* +12.9
2. By Telephone: a. Congressional calls 262 165 –37.1 1
b. Government calls 2,614 2,258 –13.7
c. Library of Congress calls 13,142 13,496 +2.6
d. Other calls 6,581 6,934 +5.3
e. Total 22,599 22,853* +1.1
3. By Correspondence a. Letters and memos prepared 645 1.044 +61.8 2
b. Form letters, prepared material, etc. 2,582 492 –81.1 3
c. Total 3,227 1,536* –52.5 4
4. Total Direct Reference Services
(add figures marked with asterisk)
42,898 43,673 +1.8
B. Circulation and Service 1. Volumes and Other Units in LC 59,311 62,625 +5.5
2. Volumes and Other Units on Loan 1,491 1,570 +5.2
3. Items or Containers Shelved 363,413 447,218 +23.0
C. Bibliographic and Other Publishing Operations: 1. Number of Bibliographies Completed 24 20 –16.7
2. Number of Bibliographies in Progress 31 31
3. Number of Bibliographic Entries Completed a. Annotated entries
b. Unannotated entries 14,832 18,640 +25.6
c. Total 14,832 18,640 +25.6
4. Number of Other Reference Aids Completed a. Pages of reference aids prepared
b. Number of cards and entries prepared
D. Number of Special Studies or Projects Completed 14 13 –7.2
1. Number of Pages 236 3 –81.8 5
E. Total Number of Hours Devoted to Reference Activities 19,389 21,255 +9.6


II. ACQUISITION ACTIVITIES FY1969 FY1970 % +/–
A. Lists and Offers Scanned 9,085 14,442 +58.9 6
B. Items Searched 29,982 35,167 +17.6
C. Items Recommended for Acquisition 36,764 38,318 +4.2
D. Letters of Solicitation Prepared
E. Items Accessioned
F. Items Disposed of: 1. From Collections
2. Other Items 312,270 238,666 –23.6 7
G. Total Hours Devoted to Acquisitions 3,573 3,972 +11.1


III. PROCESSING ACTIVITIES FY1969 FY1970 % +/–
A. Items Sorted or Arranged 661,041 727,023 +9.9
B. Items Cataloged or Recataloged
C. Entries Prepared for Other Finding Aids9 2,663 3,628 +36.2 8
D. Authorities Established
E. Items or Containers Labeled, Titled, Captioned, or Lettered
F. Volumes, Items, or Issues Prepared for: 1. Binding 43,514 45,659 +4.9
2. Microfilming
G. Volumes, Items, or Issues Selected for: 1. Rebinding
2. Lamination
3. Microfilming
4. Repair
H. Cards Arranged and Filed11 9,503 29,615 +211.6 9
I. Total Hours Devoted to Processing Activities 5,867 5,804 –1.1


IV. RELATED ACTIVITIES FY1969 FY1970 % +/–
A. Total Hours Devoted to External Relations 115 163 +41.7 10
B. Total Hours Devoted to Cultural and Exhibit Activities 20
C. Total Hours Devoted to Other Activities 2,321 1,279 –44.9 11

Footnotes for FY 1970 statistical report

1 The number of Congressional telephone calls returned this year to a more normal level following last year's unusually high activity due to Congressional interest in events in Czechoslovakia and Division involvement in preparing Congressional studies.

2 The general upward trend in reference correspondence of the past several years was more pronounced in FY 1970 than previously.

3 The sharp drop in form letters dispatched, reflected also in the total correspondence figure, resulted from an unusually high number of such letters sent out the previous year in the form of a list of Division publications.

4 The rise in the amount of material shelved reflects the increased numbers of periodicals and newspapers being published in and received from the countries within the Division's area.

5 While the number of special studies prepared dipped only slightly from last year, the average length of the FY 1970 studies was much less than that of the FY 1969 studies.

6 The rise in the number of lists and offers scanned reflects an increasing trend by bookdealers and suppliers toward individual offers.

7 The drop in the number of items disposed of is attributable to the fact that duplicate material from the defunct Aerospace Technology Division is no longer being received.

8 The increase in the number of entries prepared for other finding aids is due to the continued rising accretions to the various files maintained in the Slavic Room and on Deck 8.

9 A large part of the increase in this category stemmed from successful efforts to deal with a backlog in screening LC proofsheets for selection and inclusion in Division files.

10 The higher level of activities in external relations reflects a larger amount of time spent by staff members on attendance at professional meetings.

11 As during FY 1969, once again this year the overwhelming bulk of staff time was spend on activities which could be categorized as purely reference, acquisitions, or processing in nature.


APPENDIX II: BIBLIOGRAPHIES PREPARED OR SPONSORED BY THE DIVISION

Submitted for Publication

Yugoslavia; a Bibliographic Guide (Professor Michael B. Petrovich).

In Process

Index to Festschriften in the Field of Slavic Studies (Mr. Robert G. Carlton)

Continuing

24 Bibliographic Card Files Organized by Area (for reference purposes).

Card File of Slavic and Baltic Serials.

Master List of Soviet Serials.

Statistical Handbooks Published in the USSR.

Western-Language Periodicals on the USSR and Eastern Europe.

Inactive

Guide to Hungarian Collections in the Library of Congress.

Guide to Russian Collections in the library of Congress.


APPENDIX III: MAJOR SPECIAL STUDIES

For Congress

Review of manuscript (Dr. Sergius Yakobson)

Translation of extensive letter in Finnish (Dr. Elemer Bako)

Translation of two extensive letters in Greek (Mr. George E. Perry)

Translation of extensive article in Greek (Mr. George E. Perry)

Translation of extensive letter in Ukrainian (Mr. Mykola Kormeluk)

Collection of photographs and captions from Soviet newspapers (Dr. Robert V. Allen)

Miscellaneous

Review of work completed on final segment of index, Alaska Russian Church Archives (Mr. Robert G. Carlton)

Historical data on Fiume and its relationship with Hungary (Dr. Elemer Bako)

Translation of extensive letter and article in Finnish (Dr. Elemer Bako)

Description of special collections in custody of Slavic and Central European Division (Dr. Robert V. Allen and Mr. George E. Perry)

Translation of UNESCO document in German (Dr. Arnold H. Price)

Remarks for use by Mr. Mohrhardt in Moscow (Dr. Robert V. Allen)


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