College and Research Libraries


ing boards have visited the libraries directly 
or indirectly under their jurisdiction. W h a t 
image do trustees have of their l i b r a r i a n s ? 
D o they think of them as the book-fetching 
and date-stamping set one met at a public li-
b r a r y desk in the days of y o r e ? 

I t may be a r g u e d that there is little per-
tinence in these questions because g o v e r n i n g 
boards are but rubber-stamping agencies f o r 
the college president's decisions. D r . B e c k 
points out that this is f a r f r o m true especially 

in m a t t e r s of budget allocation. T r u s t e e 
interference in the m a t t e r of appointments 
must also be taken into account: T h e r e is 
also the question of academic f r e e d o m w h i c h 
has on occasion reared its ugly head in the 
annals of librarianship. F o r those w h o s e 
p r i m a r y interest is in endowed research li-
braries, the problems w h i c h are discussed in 
this book must have even g r e a t e r immediacy. 
—Sidney Ditzion, College of the City of New 
York Library. 

International Exchanges 

American Library Association. Board of Re-
sources of American Libraries and Inter-
national Relations Board: Conference on 
International Cultural, Educational and 
Scientific Exchanges, Princeton University, 
November 25-26, 1947. Preliminary Mem-
oranda. Recommendations Adopted; 
Summary of Discussion. B y E d w i n E . 
W i l l i a m s [ a n d ] R u t h V . N o b l e . C h i c a g o , 
A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y Association, 1947. xxii, 
2 I O p . 

In the autumn of 1839 there a r r i v e d in the 
U n i t e d States a F r e n c h m a n "of rather under 
the medium size, spare, w i t h long hair, 
sparkling eyes, and an energy of gesticulation 
w h i c h , " said a contemporary, " a c c o r d s w e l l 
w i t h his animated countenance." T h i s man 
w a s imbued w i t h an idea, and it w a s admitted 
that " e v e r y b o d y w i t h w h o m he converses be-
comes enlisted in his project, nor is it possi-
ble to w i t h s t a n d his earnest arguments, which 
evidently come direct f r o m the h e a r t . " T h e 
subject of this description w a s A l e x a n d r e 
V a t t e m a r e , and his idea w a s to promote the 
international exchange of publications. " I n -
telligence diffused and e v e r y w h e r e a c c e s s i b l e ! " 
w a s his battle cry. T h e a r t of printing, 
through w h i c h intelligence is diffused and 
made accessible, w a s f o r him nothing less 
than " t h a t mighty engine which has estab-
lished the f u t u r e liberty of the human r a c e . " 
H is o w n j o b w a s to promote the diffusion and 
the accessibility. 

T h e story of the immediate and enduring 
benefits to A m e r i c a n scholarship w h i c h re-
sulted f r o m V a t t e m a r e ' s visit composes a 
w e l l - k n o w n chapter in A m e r i c a n l i b r a r y his-
tory (it is s u m m a r i z e d and adequately docu-

mented in the w o r k under n o t i c e ) , and his 
memorial to C o n g r e s s in 1839 is o f t e n cited. 
T h e present w o r k promises to become a land-
m a r k of at least equal prominence. Super-
ficially, it is the record of a t w o day c o n f e r -
ence at Princeton in the autumn of 1946, at-
tended by t h i r t y - t w o librarians and others, to 
discuss the w h o l e m a t t e r of exchanges. T h e 
idea f o r the conference and the supporting 
studies w a s originally conceived by C a r l H . 
M i l a m . T h e meeting w a s sponsored by the 
B o a r d on R e s o u r c e s and the I n t e r n a t i o n a l R e -
lations B o a r d of the A m e r i c a n L i b r a r y A s s o -
ciation. T h e preliminary w o r k as w e l l as the 
publication of the results w e r e made possible 
by the C a r n e g i e C o r p o r a t i o n . T h a t the con-
ference w a s related to the w o r k of U N E S C O 
is evident f r o m its title. ( A c t u a l l y , since the 
interest of the conference w a s restricted to 
library exchanges, the title is a trifle mislead-
ing.) T h e c h a r t e r of U N E S C O specifically 
mentions international exchanges as one of the 
objects w h i c h it w i l l promote in the interest 
of peace. T h e question put to the Princeton 
conference, t h e r e f o r e , w a s " h o w the highly 
significant aims can be most effectively 
achieved." 

T o the P r i n c e t o n conferees the subject of 
exchanges w a s no longer the simple m a t t e r 
that it w a s to V a t t e m a r e . In the one hundred 
nine y e a r s which have elapsed since the pub-
lication of his memorial, the simple concept 
of exchange of publications has become en-
tangled w i t h a multitude of dependent and 
ancillary considerations. I t is a chief merit 
of the present w o r k that it has assembled, 
disentangled, and b r o u g h t order into these 
v a r i o u s considerations. T h e lapse of time has 

JULY, 1948 •275 



caused, too, some s h i f t i n g of emphasis, and 
has s o m e w h a t mixed the motives. " O f all the 
countries in the w o r l d , " V a t t e m a r e main-
tained, " A m e r i c a w i l l have the most to gain 
in entering into this p l a n . " T h e present w o r k 
assumes that the U n i t e d States has at least 
as much to give as to gain, has at the very 
least an obligation to take the initiative in 
developing a r r a n g e m e n t s ; and as a sad com-
m e n t a r y on human " p r o g r e s s , " contains a 
chapter devoted to rehabilitation of w a r -
devastated libraries. 

I t is interesting to find, h o w e v e r , that the 
stakes are the same f o r the l i b r a r i a n s at 
P r i n c e t o n as they w e r e f o r V a t t e m a r e , 
though differently expressed. T o the P r i n c e -
ton c o n f e r e e s the u l t i m a t e objectives w e r e 
"society's p r o g r e s s , " " i n t e r n a t i o n a l under-
standing, f u n d a m e n t a l to international good 
w i l l , " and " i n t e l l i g e n t and informed w o r l d 
opinion." T o V a t t e m a r e the objective w a s 
nothing less than " t h e f u t u r e liberty of the 
human r a c e . " T h e difference is one of tone. 
T h e record of the P r i n c e t o n conference is a 
sober book, f e e l i n g its w a y t h r o u g h a difficult 
set of l i b r a r y problems. I t w a s not appro-
priate that it should use the rhetoric w h i c h 
leaped so facilely to V a t t e m a r e ' s lips. B u t 
w h i l e this book lacks the missionary f e r v o r 
w i t h w h i c h V a t t e m a r e so quickly w o n sup-
port f o r his idea, it does not lack an exciting 
quality of its o w n . I t is the exciting quality 
which is f e l t w h e n a mass of hitherto imper-
fectly related details is found to have been 
brought together so as f o r the first time to 
present a v i e w of this w h o l e . T h i s statement 
r e f e r s not to the record of the discussions 
of the conference, but to the p r e p a r a t o r y 
m a t e r i a l , w h i c h as n o w presented in this v o l -
ume makes a permanent contribution to li-
b r a r y l i t e r a t u r e . 

T h e agenda f o r the c o n f e r e n c e w e r e ar-
ranged under t w e l v e principal subjects. I t 
w i l l probably be agreed that a better choice, 
f r o m the point of v i e w of g e t t i n g discussion 
on f u n d a m e n t a l problems and avoiding the 
side issues and the trivial, could not have 
been made. E a c h of these subjects w a s then 
made the topic of a s u m m a r i z i n g m e m o r a n -
dum prepared by E d w i n E . W i l l i a m s , of the 
staff of the H a r v a r d C o l l e g e L i b r a r y , and 
R u t h V . N o b l e . T h e object of the m e m o r a n -
dum w a s in each case to bring together in a 

rapid survey a record of the previous activity, 
accomplishments, and proposals in the field; 
to point out the principal unresolved prob-
l e m s ; and to raise pertinent questions w h i c h 
might stimulate the discussions of the con-
ference. T h e effect of this' t r e a t m e n t w a s to 
provide an admirable historical perspective, 
in condensed yet adequate and documented 
f o r m , of the subjects under discussion. In 
some cases this perspective reached back f o r 
s e v e r a l centuries. In others, it brought into 
v i e w proposals so recent that papers on the 
subject w e r e still lying unpublished on the 
desks of the conferees at the date of the con-
ference. A d m i r a b l e , too, is the effectiveness 
w i t h which this t r e a t m e n t placed the v a r i o u s 
p a r t s of the s u b j e c t in essential relationship 
to each other. I t is not inappropriate, there-
fore, that of the entire v o l u m e b e f o r e us, less 
than a third is devoted to the conference it-
self, and more than t w o thirds to the W i l -
l i a m s - N o b l e m e m o r a n d a . A l t o g e t h e r , the 
p r e p a r a t o r y w o r k f o r the P r i n c e t o n c o n f e r e n c e 
f o r m s the best p r e p a r a t i o n f o r any l i b r a r y 
meeting, and the most continuingly u s e f u l com-
pilation of the kind that this r e v i e w e r has seen. 

T h e scope of the study, and the extent to 
w h i c h it exposed the conference to a consid-
eration of f u n d a m e n t a l problems, is indicated 
by the t w e l v e topics selected as subjects f o r 
the m e m o r a n d a . T h e s e w e r e : author bibliog-
raphy, s u b j e c t bibliography, i n t e r l i b r a r y loan, 
photographic reproduction, cooperative asqui-
sition and specialization, international ex-
change of documents, exchanges between li-
braries, international c o m m e r c i a l exchanges, 
b a r r i e r s to international exchange, exhibits, 
international exchange of ( l i b r a r y ) personnel, 
r e h a b i l i t a t i o n ; and a final discussion of agen-
cies and priorities. I t is obvious that, f o r such 
an agenda, the t w o days of the conference it-
self a l l o w e d m e a g e r scope f o r discussion. 

A t the termination of its necessarily con-
centrated consideration, the conference 
adopted t w e n t y - f o u r resolutions. O f these, 
five dealt w i t h f u n d a m e n t a l problems in bib-
liographic c o n t r o l ; three, m a t t e r s r e l a t i n g to 
union c a t a l o g s and the recording or concen-
tration of l i b r a r y r e s o u r c e s ; three w i t h v a r -
ious problems and applications of photo-
graphic reproduction, including copyright and 
i n t e r l i b r a r y l o a n ; three w i t h cooperative ac-
quisitions; three w i t h the exchange of l i b r a r y 

276 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



materials, exhibits and personnel; t w o with 
the state department information libraries; 
three with the elimination of barriers to ex-
c h a n g e ; and t w o with the w o r k of coordinat-
ing agencies in the field of exchanges and 
documentation. O f the latter, one w a s con-
cerned w i t h the w o r k of the American D o c u -
mentation Institute and the International 
Federation of Documentation, and one dealt 
w i t h a proposal of D r . Julian P. Boyd that 
there be established, in conjunction with the 
U . S. N a t i o n a l Commission for U N E S C O , a 
national educational, scientific, and cultural 
authority. T h e various recommendations 
w e r e directed to a number of agencies: to 
the A . L . A . ( 5 ) , A . R . L . ( 4 ) , U N E S C O or 
the U . S. N a t i o n a l Commission for U N E S C O 
( 5 ) , the D e p a r t m e n t of State and the L i -
brary of Congress (4 each), the Congress, 
the armed services, the T r e a s u r y D e p a r t -
ment, the A m e r i c a n Book C e n t e r , and the 
L i b r a r y of Congress Planning Committee (1 
each), besides three expressions of opinion 
without definite recommendations to a par-

ticular body. 
T h e readers of the proceedings of the 

Princeton conference deserve to be informed 
w h a t progress has been made, during the 
year and a half which it has required to print 
its transactions, in executing its recommen-
dations. It is g r a t i f y i n g to know that if a 
report of progress wrere to be made at the 
present time, it would show that f e w of the 
recommendations have not had or are now 
failing to receive serious attention, and that 
some are actually in process of accomplish-
ment. Nevertheless, it is to be hoped that a 
systematic report w i l l soon be made available, 
showing not only just w h a t has been done, 
but where, and the extent to which responsi-
bility has been accepted f o r accomplishing 
w h a t still remains to be done. T h e Prince-
ton conference, if it already has some claim 
to be regarded as a landmark, will only prove 
usefully so if it is actively employed as a 
point f r o m which to measure distance and 
direction.—Verner W. Clapp, Library of 
Congress. 

British Sources of Reference 

British Sources of Reference and Informa-
tion, a Guide to Societies, Works of Ref-
erence and Libraries. Compiled under the 
direction of a Committee of A s l i b and edited 
by T h e o d o r e Besterman. London, published 
f o r the British Council by Aslib, 1947. 58p. 
T h i s selective guide to the resources of 

British libraries supplements and by no means 
supersedes the ASLIB Directory of 1928. 
Even allowing for the latter's inclusion of in-
formation agencies other than libraries and 
its different organization resulting in some 
repetitive information, the older 425 page 
quarto volume contains information on more 
libraries and more special collections than the 
new slim octavo of 56 pages. 

H o w e v e r , the new guide brings informa-
tion to date, with its news of some f o r m e r 
collections that w e r e bombed and burned out 
of existence and, on the other hand, of col-
lections which have increased in size, like the 
M a n c h e s t e r University L i b r a r y , which ap-
pears to have doubled itself in the last twenty 
years. N o t e s on the facilities for photographic 
reproduction, and other services which li-

braries are now prepared to offer, are also a 
welcome addition. 

T h e general description of the British li-
brary system as a whole, with its efficient or-
ganization f o r a national lending service, and 
the accounts of the British library and book 
organizations, constitute a new and valuable 
introduction for the scholar, student, or li-
brarian beginning or renewing acquaintance 
w i t h the great bibliographical resources of 
G r e a t Britain. It should be noted that certain 
Irish libraries wThich w e r e included in the 
ASLIB Directory, published before the es-
tablishment of the independent sovereignty 
of Eire, are missing here. O n e w i l l have to 
turn back to the old directory or the still older 
University and College Libraries, by New-
combe, for information about T r i n i t y C o l l e g e 
L i b r a r y , which is mentioned in the new guide 
only as one of the copyright libraries which 
does not lend books. 

T h e arrangement of material differs from 
that of the old guide. Instead of an ex-
tensive list by subject of special collections, 
w i t h a list of libraries arranged by city and 

JULY, 1948 •277