College and Research Libraries


236 I College & Research Libraries • May 1978 

more profitably on something else.-
Cathleen Flanagan, University of Utah , Salt 
Lake City. 

Gebhardt, Walther, comp. Special Collec~ 
tions in German Libraries. Federal Re-
public of Germany incl. Berlin (West). By 
Commission of Deutsche Forschungsge-
meinschaft. Berlin and New York: Walter 
de Gruyter, 1977. 739p. $67.30. LC 77-
22288. ISBN 3-11-005839-1. (Title page 
also in German: Spezialst{mde in 
deutschen Bibliotheken. Bundesrepublik 
Deutschland einschl. Berlin (West). Im 
Auftrag der Deutschen Forschungs-
gemeinschaft.) 
Following the destruction and dislocation 

of libraries during World War II, the need 
for a catalog to the special collections in 
East and West Germany has become im-
perative. Hans Praesent' s Die Bibliotheken 
(Deutsches Reich) published in the Minerva 
Handbiicher series in 1929 is, of course, out 
of date. Richard C. Lewanski' s Subject Col-
lections in European Libraries (1965) covers 
6,000 libraries and does not adequately 
describe any one collection. Walther 
Gebhardt's work now fills the gap for the 
Federal Republic. 

The 877 collections are arranged alpha-
betically by city. In addition to informing 
the reader about loan privileges and copying 
facilities, the compiler usually lists the ap-
proximate size of the collections and their 
significant features. Gebhardt cites articles 
and bibliographies when they are available. 
More than 200 pages are devoted to a con-
cordance and an· index. The concordance 
enables the researcher to scan subject head-
ings, names, and , concepts and thus easily 
find a particular field. For example, ninety 
subject headings and names appear under 
"military science." Generous listings are 
available in other subject areas. 

In spite of the losses resulting from the 
war, German libraries still contain vast re-
sources. To cite only a sampling: The 
municipal library of Baden-Baden has 400 
volumes on hot springs and baths. In Berlin 
the researcher may consult more than 5, 000 
concert programs from the Gewandhaus in 
Leipzig. One library lists an uncataloged 
collection dealing with the poet Wieland as 
weighing "3 Zentner" (i.e., 330.75 pounds). 

In Munich, a former Gestapo library con-
tains 10,000 volumes on Judaism, and an 
archive in Koblenz has 2, 000 tape record-
ings from the Nazi period. There are still a 
dozen Judaica collections in West Germany. 
Several libraries have more than 10,000 fu-
neral sermons each. One museum has 4,000 
volumes devoted to the history of bread; 
another specializes in Till Eulenspiegel 
books and memorabilia. And even German 
libraries are now beginning to collect comic 
books. 

One need hardly detail the superb collec-
tions in philology, philosophy, and the natu-
ral sciences, which made Germany the 
leader in Wissenschaft until 1933. Seminary 
and cloister libraries still contain numerous 
manuscripts and incunabula. 

Gebhardt has not slighted the German 
researcher looking for foreign collections. 
Listed are depository collections of the 
RAND Corporation, U.S. government pub-
lications, and UN reports. Similarly, the 
compiler identifies libraries having mi-
crofilms of early American imprints and 
those listed in the catalogs of Pollard and 
Redgrave and Wing. 

A few minor criticisms: the list of ab-
breviations is inadequate. The price of the 
volume puts it beyond t~e reach of re-
searchers on a grant. One wonders about 
the publisher's motive in issuing the volume 
with a German and an English title, when 
only the introduction is in EngJish. Never-
theless, this volume is vital in any reference 
collection.-Kurt S. Maier, Leo Baeck Insti-
tute, New York. 

Davis, Cullom; Back, Kathryn; and Mac-
Lean, Kay. Oral History from Tape to 
Type. Chicago: American Library Assn., 
1977. 141p. $8.95. LC 77-4403. ISBN 
0-8389-0330-8. 

Baum, Willa K. Transcribing and Editing 
Oral History. Nashville, Tenn.: American 
Association for State and Local History, 
1977. 127p. ( + 33 1/3. RPM record). $6.75 
($4.50 to AASLH members). LC 77-3340. 
ISBN 0-910050-26-0. 
Two recent additions to the literature of 

manuals on how to do oral history are tes-
timonials to the growing professionalism of 
this relatively new technique, which pre-
serves for the future the memories of 

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