College and Research Libraries Review Articles Bibliographic Controls in the Soviet Union Obshchaia bibliografta. Uchebnoe posobie dlia uchashchikhsia bibliotechnykh tekhni- kumov. V. N. Denis'ev. (At head of title: Ministerstvo kul'tury RSFSR. Upravlenie uchebnykh zavedenii.) Moskva: Gosuderst- vennoe izdatel'stvo kul'turno-prosvetitel'- noi literatury, 1954. 223p. An interesting survey of the historical background and organization of bibliograph- ic controls in the Soviet Union is contained in Chapter 3 of V. N. Denis'ev's Obshchaia bibliografiia (General Bibliography). Registration of printed matter in imperial Russia was begun by the government in 1837, and until 1855 a "Guide to newly published books" was regularly included in Zhurnal Ministerstva narodnogo prosveshcheniia (Journal of the Ministry of Public Educa- tion). After being suspended for a certain time, government listing of books was re- newed in the form of Spisok izdanii vyshed- shikh v Rossii (List of Publications Appear- ing in Russia, which continued until 1903. In July 1907 the Russian government began to publish a special weekly bibliography en- titled Knizhnaia letopis' ( B i b l i o g r a p h i c Chronicle). After the revolution of 1917, the Soviet of People's Commissars in its decree of June 30, 1920, made it incumbent upon the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR to place under bibliographic control all printed matter appearing in the RSFSR. Consequently, on August 3, 1920, this Com- missariat issued an order making it manda- tory to register any printed material, and by the same order set up the Russian Cen- tral Bibliographic Chamber (Rossiiskaia TSentral'naia knizhnaia palata). In 1925 it was renamed the State Central Bibliographic Chamber of the RSFSR (Gosudarstvennaia TSentral'naia knizhnaia palata RSFSR), and in 1935 it was reorganized into the All- Union Bibliographic Chamber (Vsesoiuznaia knizhnaia palata). At present all publications printed within the territory of the U.S.S.R. must be regis- tered with the All-Union B i b l i o g r a p h i c Chamber, which also performs the functions of a bibliographic center for the RSFSR. In addition, all constituent republics (with the exception of the Karelo-Finnish SSR and the Moldavian SSR) and certain autonomous re- publics maintain their own bibliographic chambers, which register and list all publica- tions appearing within the territory of the constituent or autonomous republic. Thus, any book published in a republic having its own bibliographic chamber is listed twice: by the All-Union Bibliographic Chamber in its union-wide Knizhnaia letopis' (Biblio- graphic Chronicle), and by the local biblio- graphic chamber in its own bibliographic chronicle, which appears under varied titles. In the Knizhnaia letopis' the book is de- scribed in Russian, with a notation as to the original language in which the book is writ- ten. In the local chronicle the book is listed in the original language. The basis of bibliographic control in the Soviet Union is the so-called "mandatory copy." According to law, all printing and reproducing houses in the U.S.S.R. must send to the All-Union Bibliographic Chamber free of charge a certain number of copies of every publication issued. This includes books, pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, maps, music, posters, diagrams, charts, reproduc- tions of paintings, etc. One copy of each publication is retained by the Bibliographic Chamber for the Soviet Press Archives (Ark- hiv sovetskoi pechati), but the others are dis- tributed free of charge to major depository libraries. In addition to these free copies, the publisher must also send 150 copies of certain types of publications at the regular price to the Distribution Center for Research Libraries (TSentral'nyi kolektor nauchnykh bibliotek), which supplies university and spe- cialized libraries, as well as the major pro- vincial, regional and constituent republic li- braries. The principal bibliographic tool in the Soviet Union is Knizhnaia letopis' (Biblio- graphic Chronicle), published weekly by the 350 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES All-Union B i b l i o g r a p h i c Chamber. This guide lists all books and pamphlets pub- lished in the Soviet Union, regardless of language or field of interest. All publications are described in Russian, and in the case of publications issued in another language, the name of the language is indicated. Biblio- graphic data given in Knizhnaia letopis' in- clude author's surname and initials, title and subtitle of publication, place and date of publication, publisher, pagination, format (in centimeters), number of copies printed, and price. Annotations describe bibliograph- ic data contained in the publication, and frequently give the contents of a compila- tion. All materials listed in Knizhnaia leto- pis' are divided into t h i r t y - o n e subject classes. Quarterly author indexes and an an- nual index to series are published. Ezhegodnik knigi SSSR (Bibliographic An- nual of the USSR) is published on the basis of the issues of Knizhnaia letopis' for that year. Since 1945 the Ezhegodnik has been is- sued in two volumes, one for each semester. It has been published for the years 1925- 1929, 1935, 1941-1953. All publications listed in Knizhnaia letopis' are included in Ezhe- godnik knigi SSSR, with the exception of materials having limited circulation. The same division into thirty-one subject classes used in Knizhnaia letopis' is used in Ezhe- godnik. The latter also includes an index to authors, compilers, editors and illustrators of the publications listed. A corresponding annual listing of serial publications is to be found in Letopis' peri- odicheskikh izdanii SSSR (Chronicle of Se- rial Publications of the U.S.S.R.), which has been issued by the All-Union Bibliographic Chamber since 1933. In it are listed all maga- zines, newspapers, series, bulletins,1 etc., ap- pearing in the Soviet Union during the year, regardless of language. In 1938 and 1939 this annual was called Ezhegodnik periodicheskikh izdanii SSSR (Annual of Serial Publications of the U.S.S.R.). From 1939 to 1949 the Leto- pis' periodicheskikh izdanii consisted of two parts: (1) periodicals, series and bulletins, and (2) newspapers. A radical change in the contents of the publication took place in 1951. Instead of listing all magazines, news- 1 By the term "bulletins" is meant periodicals of a regulatory nature, primarily consisting of official ma- terials. papers, etc., appearing during the year, the Letopis' periodicheskikh izdanii SSSR lists only new or discontinued serial titles, or changes in title, for the period January 1, 1950, to April 1, 1951. Since 1951 it consists of two parts: the first part lists new and dis- continued serial titles, as well as changes in title; the second part provides information regarding numbered series (transactions, sci- entific notes, etc.) received by the All-Union Bibliographic Chamber during the corre- sponding year. Consequently, at the present time the basic guide to serials is Letopis' periodicheskikh izdanii SSSR for the year 1949, but the Letopis' for 1951 and subse- quent years provide information only about serials that began publication in those years, or had changes in title, or ceased publica- tion. Complete lists of all magazines, news- papers and other forms of serials of the So- viet Union in the future will appear only once every five years. Among the other bibliographic tools issued by the All-Union Bibliographic Chamber, mention should be made of Letopis' zhur- nal'nykh statei (Chronicle of Magazine Ar- ticles), Letopis' gazetnykh statei (Chronicle of Newspaper Articles), and Letopis' retsen- zii (Chronicle of Reviews). Letopis' zhurnal'nykh statei has been pub- lished since 1926, and at present appears weekly. Prior to 1938 it was entitled Zhur- nal'naia letopis' (Magazine Chronicle). It furnishes data about articles, documentary materials and pictorial reproductions con- tained in serials of the U.S.S.R. printed in Russian. It likewise includes materials from transactions, reports, series, bulletins, peri- odical and non-periodical compilations, and literary-artistic almanacs. Letopis' zhurnal'- nykh statei does not index articles contained in popular magazines, such as Rahotnitsa (Working Woman), Molodoi kolkhoznik (Young Collective Farmer), strictly official publications, children's magazines, and a few other types. Some 900 serial issues are in- dexed. Each issue of the Letopis' zhurnal'- nykh statei lists the serial numbers indexed in that issue, and the last issue of the year gives a comprehensive listing of all serials indexed throughout the year. Letopis' gazetnykh statei (Chronicle of Newspaper Articles) began publication in 1936. Until 1938 it was entitled Gazetnaia JULY, 1956 351 letopis' (Newspaper Chronicle). At present it is published weekly, and describes articles and documentary materials carried in news- papers of the U.S.S.R. printed in the Rus- sian language. These articles are indexed on a very selective basis, and emphasis is placed on the central newspapers, such as Pravda, Izvestiia, Komsomol'skaia pravda. Each issue of the Letopis' contains a list of the news- papers indexed in that issue. Letopis' retsenzii (Chronicle of Reviews) has been published since 1934, and appears quarterly. From 1939 to 1941 it was entitled Bibliografiia retsenzii (Bibliography of Re- views). It lists reviews and critical analyses from magazines and newspapers pertaining to new or newly reprinted publications, music, maps, theatrical presentations and motion pictures of artistic value. At the end of each issue of the Letopis' there is an al- phabetic list of authors and titles of the pub- lications reviewed. The index to the fourth issue of each year also summarizes the con- tents of the preceding three issues, thereby serving as an index for the whole year.— Rudolph Smits, Library of Congress. Libraries in the Southwest Libraries in the Southwest: Their Growth— Strengths—Needs. Ed. by Lawrence Clark Powell. (Occasional Papers, No. 3) Los Angeles: University of California Library, 1955. 70 p. Paper, apply. On April 16, 1955, the Rockefeller Foun- dation, Occidental College, and the Califor- nia Library Association co-sponsored a con- ference at Occidental College to consider the growth, strengths, and needs of librar- ianship and libraries in the Southwest. With the publication of Libraries in the South- west: Their Growth—Strengths—Needs, the papers presented at this conference are now available in an attractive format. Six papers were given at the conference which some five hundred librarians, trustees, and other friends of southwestern libraries attended. In the first paper, Glenn S. Dumke, dean of the Occidental College faculty, seeks a "Definition of the Southwest." Erna Fer- guson presents "A Writer's View of South- west Libraries" and tells in a graceful man- ner of the growth of the library in Albu- querque, New Mexico, "from the time when a group of ladies put themselves out and worked hard to get a few books together until we have a highly professional service which is serving beautifully well, and with a very great appreciation of the depth and validity, and the value of all those cultures that have gone to make us what we are." In the third paper, Edwin Castagna, city librarian at Long Beach, California, surveys "Public Libraries in the Southwest" and finds that "public library service throughout the Southwest, except for most of Southern Cali- fornia, is spotty and unevenly developed." He believes that progress can and will be made if southwestern librarians are willing to pool their knowledge, their resources, their hope, and their courage. In discussing Mr. Castagna's paper, San Diego's city librar- ian, Clara E. Breed, emphasizes three com- mon problems which face southwestern li- brarians: a tremendous growth in population without a corresponding increase in library services, inadequate financial support of li- braries, and shortage of librarians. The fourth paper, by Fernando Pesqueira, director of the University of Sonora Library, is in Spanish, but an English summary of his description of the "Libraries of Northwestern Mexico and Their Needs" has been pro- vided. Donald M. Powell, University of Ari- zona reference librarian, in his discussion of Senor Pesqueira's paper makes some interest- ing comparisons with development of li- braries in northwestern Mexico and in his own state. Patricia Paylore, University of Arizona as- sistant librarian, deals in a most interesting manner with " T h e Effect of Climate and Distance on Libraries in the Arid Regions," with special emphasis on libraries in Ari- zona. Julia Brown Asplund, who, until her retirement after fifty years of service, was with the New Mexico State Library Exten- sion Agency, describes briefly the way in which New Mexico has developed its State Library Service with "a budget of $2,000 in 1929 to one of $100,000 in the appropria- tions of the legislature of 1955." The final paper in this volume is Law- rence Clark Powell's discussion of " T h e Re- 352 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES