College and Research Libraries


350 I College & Research Libraries • July 1977 

Handbook of National and International 
Library Associations (Chicago: ALA) . It 
now lists a total of 361 organizations, 44 in­
ternational and 317 national, excluding pro­
vincial or local ones. 

Part 1 covers international organizations 
both worldwide (e.g., IFLA) and regional 
(e.g., The Scandinavian Association of Re­
search Libraries), arranged alphabetically 
by the name of the association. Part 2 lists 
national organizations by country. The 
names of the countries are in English 
whereas the organizations are listed under 
their official name, followed by their acro­
nym, if used, and an English translation of 
the name where necessary. Names in non­
Roman script are transliterated. The infor­
mation for each association, where avail­
able, is comprehensive and presented in a 
consistent format. It includes the address, 
names of officers and their terms of office, 
languages used, brief history, aims, struc­
ture, financial resources, membership data, 
major activities, and the name of its official 
journal with full bibliographical detail. Spe­
cial features and indexes are a list of acro­
nyms, a list of official journals of library 
associations, a subject index, and a list of 
associations under their official name with 
reference to the entry under country. 

As is inevitable in such undertakings of 
global scope, there are errors and omissions. 
For a number of countries, there is no more 
information beyond the name and address 
of the national or major library and perhaps 
indication of an affiliation with IFLA. Ten 
countries (Andorra to Tonga) are listed 
separately as "omitted due to lack of infor­
mation." However, while the People's Re­
public of China is included, nothing is said 
about the omission of Taiwan. Northern 
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales each have 
separate country entries (with a "see also" 
from United Kingdom, to be sure). Yemen 
(Arab Republic of) is there, but there is 
no mention of its neighbor, Democratic 
Yemen (formerly Southern Yemen). Grant­
ed, there is not much library activity in 
either country, but fair is fair! A few mis­
spellings and inaccuracies in the form of 
names and in the use of diacritics are per­
haps inevitable in a work using such a va­
riety of languages. 

There is a short bibliography at the end 

of each entry and a six-and-a-half-page 
"General Bibliography, 1965-75," listing 
monographs and articles of international or 
multinational scope published during that 
period. Most citations should be familiar to 
anyone concerned with international library 
matters. It would have been more useful, 
I think, to separate the titles into categories, 
such as international library journals; direc­
tories, annuals, etc.; and writings about pro­
fessional library associations. 

A short statistical data section presents 
the contents of the Guide statistically. It is 
interesting to note that there are a total of 
256 official journals listed, of which 37 per­
cent are indexed or abstracted; not a bad 
ration, in my opinion, considering that 
many represent not very substantial news­
letters. Nevertheless, there may be room 
for improvement here, especially as the 
Guide now provides information on the 
availability of all the journals listed. 

Some of the information contained in the 
Guide is, of course, also covered in two 
other major sources, the Bowker Annual 
and the IFLA Directory. Both these titles 
are published annually and are thus more 
up to date, especially for names of officers 
or addresses for associations without a per­
manent secretariat. However, the Guide is 
broader in scope and detail, and Professor 
Fang and Ms. Songe must be congratulated 
on a unique and useful · compilation that 
should be brought up to date regularly.­
Elisabeth H. Nebehay, United Nations Li­
brary, New York. 

M~rtin, Susan K. Library Networks, 1976­
77. White Plains, N.Y.: Knowledge In­
dustry Publications, Inc., 1976. 13lp. 
$24.50 plus $1.00 postage and handling. 
LC 76-29187. ISBN 0-914236-06-7. 

Through expanded coverage, stylistic im­
provement, and a far better integration of 
factual statements with considerations of 
those issues confronting networks, Susan 
Martin has substantially i~proved upon the 
first edition of this publication, which, un­
der different authorship, was unsatisfactory 
in its treatment of library networks during 
1974-75 (College & Research Libraries 
37:77 [Jan. 19761). With some reservation, 
this second edition can be recommended 
to those librarians and readers from com­