College and Research Libraries Review Articles Spanish Reference W o r k Manual de fuentes de information. By J o s e f a E m i l i a S a b o r . ( C o n t r i b u c i o n e s b i b l i o t e c o l - ogicas, 2) B u e n o s A i r e s : E d i t o r i a l K a p e l u s z [1957: 335 p . B i b l i o g r a p h i e s of r e f e r e n c e b o o k s h a v e ap- p e a r e d in E n g l i s h , F r e n c h , a n d G e r m a n , b u t , u n t i l the p r e s e n t , n o t in S p a n i s h . S e n o r i t a S a b o r ' s c a r e f u l l y p r e p a r e d a n d well written Manual n o w fills this l a c u n a , a n d as the first p u b l i c a t i o n in that l a n g u a g e it deserves care- f u l e x a m i n a t i o n by e v e r y o n e i n t e r e s t e d in l i b r a r i a n s h i p in S p a n i s h s p e a k i n g c o u n t r i e s . H o w e v e r , o n e c a n n o t f a i r l y c o m p a r e it to Miss W i n c h e l l ' s Guide to Reference Books or to M i l e M a l c l e s ' Sources du travail bib- liographique, b e c a u s e S e n o r i t a S a b o r obvious- ly h a d a d i f f e r e n t — a n d m o r e l i m i t e d — o b j e c - tive in m i n d f o r her Manual. Its a r r a n g e - m e n t (by type of r e f e r e n c e b o o k ) a n d its ap- p r o a c h (history of each t y p e f o l l o w e d by lists) r e m i n d o n e m o r e of S h o r e s ' Basic Ref- erence Sources a n d of M a l c l e s ' Cours de bib- liographic t h a n of either of the a b o v e works. L i k e them it is a i m e d p r i m a r i l y at the stu- d e n t of l i b r a r y science. O n e s h o u l d n o t at- t e m p t to carry this a n a l o g y too f a r , h o w e v e r , b e c a u s e there a r e several i m p o r t a n t differ- ences b e t w e e n the new work a n d the F r e n c h a n d A m e r i c a n p u b l i c a t i o n s . I n the first p l a c e , S e n o r i t a S a b o r ' s c o m p i l a t i o n l i m i t s itself t o s o m e of the chief types of r e f e r e n c e b o o k s ( e n c y c l o p e d i a s , d i c t i o n a r i e s , b i b l i o g r a p h i e s , b i o g r a p h i c a l c o m p i l a t i o n s , y e a r b o o k s , statist- ical sources, a n d " r e f e r e n c e works f o r g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n " ) , w h i l e the o t h e r two p r e s e n t b a s i c s u b j e c t b i b l i o g r a p h y in a d d i t i o n to these types. B o t h M i l e M a l c l e s a n d S e n o r i t a S a b o r offer b r o a d e r c o v e r a g e , l i n g u i s t i c a l l y a n d g e o g r a p h i c a l l y s p e a k i n g , t h a n M r . S h o r e s , who has l i m i t e d h i m s e l f largely to works in E n g l i s h ; the f o r m e r i n c l u d e s sources f o r sev- eral of the s m a l l e r as well as f o r the m a j o r western E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s , w h i l e the l a t t e r covers E n g l i s h , A m e r i c a n , F r e n c h , G e r m a n , I t a l i a n , P o r t u g u e s e , S p a n i s h , a n d L a t i n Amer- ican p u b l i c a t i o n s . O n e m i g h t l o g i c a l l y e x p e c t e a c h of the c o m p i l a t i o n s to e m p h a s i z e the b o o k s m o s t likely to b e u s e d in its c o u n t r y ; it is not, t h e r e f o r e , s u r p r i s i n g to find that S e n o r i t a S a b o r states that she h a s d e v o t e d m o r e a t t e n t i o n to works in S p a n i s h t h a n to those in o t h e r l a n g u a g e s a n d a l s o to discover that she has c o v e r e d A r g e n t i n e p u b l i c a t i o n s r a t h e r intensively. S i n c e the a b o v e o b s e r v a t i o n s a r e g e n e r a l , it s e e m s d e s i r a b l e to p r o v i d e at this p o i n t some- w h a t m o r e specific i n d i c a t i o n s of the Man- ual's a r r a n g e m e n t a n d c o n t e n t s t o g e t h e r w i t h such c o m m e n t s as s e e m c a l l e d f o r . A n intro- d u c t o r y c h a p t e r , e n t i t l e d " G e n e r a l I d e a s a n d T h e o r y of R e f e r e n c e , " discusses s o m e sources f o r the theory, t e c h n i q u e , a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n of r e f e r e n c e work, a l t h o u g h the p r e f a c e dis- c l a i m s a n y i n t e n t i o n of t r e a t i n g t h e m ex- tensively. U n d o u b t e d l y the p r o b l e m of select- i n g m a t e r i a l f o r i n c l u s i o n here p r o v e d dif- ficult, b u t o n the w h o l e it has b e e n well d o n e . T h e first t y p e of r e f e r e n c e b o o k to b e dis- cussed is the e n c y c l o p e d i a . A c h a p t e r t r a c i n g the history of e n c y c l o p e d i a s p r e c e d e s o n e p r e s e n t i n g a n a n n o t a t e d list of m o d e r n ency- c l o p e d i a s in the six l a n g u a g e s r e c e i v i n g Sen- o r i t a S a b o r ' s a t t e n t i o n . F o l l o w i n g c h a p t e r s r e p e a t this p a t t e r n of the history of the given type of r e f e r e n c e b o o k , f o l l o w e d by the a n n o t a t e d list of c u r r e n t r e f e r e n c e tools. A l t h o u g h the s t a t e m e n t (p. 50) that the Encyclopaedia Britannica " i s b e i n g constant- ly r e p r i n t e d , r e j u v e n a t e d , a n d k e p t up-to- d a t e " carries p e r h a p s a h i n t of the contin- u o u s r e v i s i o n policy, c e r t a i n l y a f u l l e r ex- p l a n a t i o n seems d e s i r a b l e , especially since the Britannica itself is cited as the 14th ed- i t i o n , 1929. T h i s reviewer w o u l d also l i k e to see Collier's a d d e d to the three e n c y c l o p e d i a s in E n g l i s h (Britannica, Americana, Cham- bers') which a r e listed. N e x t c o m e d i c t i o n a r i e s . T h o s e c i t e d in- c l u d e the i m p o r t a n t c o m p i l a t i o n s f o r the five m a j o r western E u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e s a n d f o r P o r t u g u e s e , b u t b i l i n g u a l d i c t i o n a r i e s a r e re- stricted to those h a v i n g S p a n i s h as o n e of the l a n g u a g e s . B i b l i o g r a p h y o c c u p i e s the largest p o r t i o n of the b o o k ( C h a p t e r s V I - X I ) , a l t h o u g h the a u t h o r h a s d e c l a r e d r e t r o s p e c t i v e a n d sub- ject b i b l i o g r a p h y to b e o u t of scope. Follow- i n g her u s u a l a p p r o a c h , S e n o r i t a S a b o r pre- 338 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES sents first the historical b a c k g r o u n d , then in the f o l l o w i n g c h a p t e r e n u m e r a t e s bibliog- r a p h i e s of b i b l i o g r a p h i e s a n d u n i v e r s a l bib- l i o g r a p h i e s . T h r e e c h a p t e r s a r e d e v o t e d to n a t i o n a l b i b l i o g r a p h y — t h e first to S p a i n a n d L a t i n A m e r i c a ( e x c e p t A r g e n t i n a ) , the sec- o n d to A r g e n t i n a , a n d the third to the west- ern E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s a n d the U n i t e d States. T h i s section c o n c l u d e s with a c h a p t e r d e v o t e d to b i b l i o g r a p h i e s of serials a n d of g o v e r n m e n t p u b l i c a t i o n s . All of these chap- ters, t a k e n together, c o n s t i t u t e o n e of the b o o k ' s best f e a t u r e s . T h e final two c h a p t e r s discuss o t h e r gen- erally u s e f u l r e f e r e n c e w o r k s — y e a r b o o k s a n d statistical sources in the first; sources for geog- r a p h y , history, l i t e r a t u r e , a n d u n u s u a l infor- m a t i o n in the s e c o n d . I n this c o n n e c t i o n it is i n t e r e s t i n g to n o t e the i n c l u s i o n of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, b u t n o t of B a r t l e t t ' s Familiar Quotations, p r e s u m a b l y b e c a u s e the l a t t e r is c o m p l e t e l y in E n g l i s h . B y this reviewer's c o u n t there a r e 429 ref- e r e n c e b o o k s discussed ( e x c l u d i n g those men- t i o n e d only i n c i d e n t a l l y ) , d i s t r i b u t e d as fol- lows: S o u r c e s for the study of r e f e r e n c e , 31; E n c y c l o p e d i a s , 41; D i c t i o n a r i e s , 4 9 ; B i b l i o g - r a p h i e s , 151; B i o g r a p h i c a l c o m p i l a t i o n s , 59; Y e a r b o o k s a n d statistical sources, 4 0 ; a n d , W o r k s f o r g e n e r a l i n f o r m a t i o n , 58. T h i s total r e p r e s e n t s o v e r 50 p e r cent m o r e titles t h a n the 270 g e n e r a l r e f e r e n c e works in S h o r e s ' Basic Reference Sources. G o i n g o n e s t e p fur- ther, o n e m i g h t c o m p a r e s o m e of the a b o v e figures with their c o u n t e r p a r t s in S h o r e s — e.g., 49 vs. 60 d i c t i o n a r i e s , 41 vs. 21 encyclo- p e d i a s , a n d 59 vs. 18 b i o g r a p h i c a l c o m p i l a - tions. H o w e v e r , in view of the d i f f e r e n t pur- p o s e s of the two v o l u m e s it a p p e a r s that such c o m p a r i s o n s h a v e n o p a r t i c u l a r signif- icance. I n the a p p e n d i x o n e finds lists of r e f e r e n c e works f o r ten of the L a t i n A m e r i c a n r e p u b - l i c s — B o l i v i a , B r a z i l , C h i l e , C o s t a R i c a , C u b a , the D o m i n i c a n R e p u b l i c , E c u a d o r , P a n a m a , U r u g u a y , V e n e z u e l a — a n d P u e r t o R i c o , e a c h p r e p a r e d by a l i b r a r i a n f r o m the c o u n t r y in q u e s t i o n . T h i s f e a t u r e a d d s to the b o o k ' s u s e f u l n e s s , in s p i t e of the i n e v i t a b l e varia- tion in the n u m b e r a n d type of p u b l i c a t i o n s i n c l u d e d in the lists themselves, a n d o n e re- grets the lack of s i m i l a r b i b l i o g r a p h i e s f o r the r e m a i n i n g c o u n t r i e s . T h e work is well p r i n t e d ; in s p i t e of cita- t i o n s in five l a n g u a g e s the t y p o g r a p h i c a l er- rors a r e r e m a r k a b l y few in n u m b e r . T i t l e s , a c c o m p a n i e d by f u l l b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l i n f o r m a - tion, a r e c o n v e n i e n t l y set off o n the p a g e , a l t h o u g h there is n o c o d e n u m b e r i n g a la W i n c h e l l . T h e a n n o t a t i o n s g i v e the special f e a t u r e s as well as the s t r o n g a n d w e a k p o i n t s of the works, while n u m e r o u s ( a n d a c c u r a t e ) cross r e f e r e n c e s in the t e x t en- c o u r a g e c o m p a r i s o n with o t h e r b o o k s men- t i o n e d . A n o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g f e a t u r e — s u r e to p r o v e u s e f u l in A r g e n t i n a , which lacks a na- t i o n a l u n i o n c a t a l o g — l o c a t e s c o p i e s of near- ly all titles in o n e of n i n e t e e n l i b r a r i e s in B u e n o s A i r e s . T h e t e r m i n a l d a t e f o r inclu- sion is, with a few e x c e p t i o n s , D e c e m b e r 31, 1955. B o o k s a r e cited in the latest e d i t i o n ; this reviewer n o t e d only two i n s t a n c e s (save f o r e n c y c l o p e d i a s ) where the a u t h o r f a i l e d to d o so: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (6th e d i t i o n , 1951, r a t h e r t h a n 7th e d i t i o n , 1953 — t h e 8th e d i t i o n h a v i n g a p p e a r e d a f t e r the c l o s i n g d a t e ) a n d the d e s c r i p t i o n of the orig- i n a l Century Cyclopedia of Names r a t h e r t h a n the New Century Cyclopedia of Names, p u b l i s h e d in the s p r i n g of 1954. S i n c e the l a t e r e d i t i o n s in b o t h cases c o n t a i n consider- a b l y m o r e m a t e r i a l t h a n their predecessors, it is t o b e h o p e d that f u t u r e p r i n t i n g s will r e f e r to them. F r e q u e n t b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l f o o t n o t e s — e s p e - cially in the historical s e c t i o n — g i v e addi- t i o n a l sources (usually in S p a n i s h ) , while a g e n e r a l b i b l i o g r a p h y at the e n d of the vol- u m e s h o u l d b e u s e f u l to r e a d e r s w i s h i n g ad- d i t i o n a l o r i e n t a t i o n in the field of r e f e r e n c e service. A n i n d e x f a c i l i t a t e s r e f e r e n c e n o t o n l y to the i n d i v i d u a l b o o k s discussed b u t a l s o to the historical m a t e r i a l . T h i s b o o k d e s e r v e s — a n d will u n d o u b t e d l y r e c e i v e — w i d e s p r e a d use in L a t i n A m e r i c a n l i b r a r i e s a n d l i b r a r y schools. I n this way it can c o n t r i b u t e greatly to the d e v e l o p m e n t of r e f e r e n c e service a m o n g o u r n e i g h b o r s to the s o u t h . M o r e o v e r , A m e r i c a n research li- b r a r i e s a t t e m p t i n g to s t r e n g t h e n their re- sources f o r L a t i n A m e r i c a n s t u d i e s will find it a v a l u a b l e c o m p e n d i u m of the b a s i c refer- e n c e b o o k s of the c o u n t r i e s in which they a r e i n t e r e s t e d . I n short, J o s e f a E m i l i a S a b o r has m a d e a significant c o n t r i b u t i o n to the l i t e r a t u r e of l i b r a r i a n s h i p in S p a n i s h . — W i l - liam Vernon Jackson, University of Illinois. JULY 1958 339