ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


332

News from the Field
A CQ UISITIO NS

• The History of Veterinary M edicine collec­
tion at W a s h i n g t o n  S t a t e  U n i v e r s i t y  Libraries 
has been enhanced considerably by a gift of major 
importance.

J. F . Smithcors, o f Santa Barbara, California, 
has donated to the university his outstanding per­
sonal library of more than 1,000 volumes. A rec­
ognized authority, especially in American veteri­
nary history, Smithcors has written and published 
extensively in the field.

T h e  lib ra r y , w hich in clu d e s m a n u scrip ts, 
b ro a d sid es, and e p h e m e r a , ranges from six­
t e e n th -c e n tu r y  works to tw e n tie th -c e n tu r y  
textbooks o f significance. Continental European 
publications are present, but English language ti­
tles predominate and, for the more recent past, 
th e  e m p h asis is on A m e rica n  w orks. Two 
nineteenth-century editions (1821, 1822) are pre­
sent of what, in fact, might be the first truly na­
tive work in the field— Paul Je w e tt’s T h e N ew  
E n g la n d  F a r r i e r ‚ originally published in 1795. 
Contrasting with the ubiquitous “pocket farriers, 
a re th re e  landm arks in the field o f anatomy: 
R u in i’s A n a t o m ia  d e l  C a v a l l o  ( 1 7 0 6 , 1 7 0 7 ); 
S n a p e ’s A n a to m y  o f  an  H o r s e  (1683); S tu b b s’ 
A n atom y o f  th e H o rse (1766).

T h e  Sm ith co rs lib rary, as it is re c e iv e d , is 
being specially housed in Manuscripts, Archives, 
and Special Collections, because of the rare and 
often unique character of much of the material.

• A monumental, historic transaction will pre­
serve a national treasure by moving the W estern 
Hemisphere’s largest, privately-owned geograph­
ical research library from its present American 
Geographical Society home in New York City to 
th e  U n i v e r s i t y  o f  W i s c o n s i n - M i l w a u k e e  L i­
brary.

“T he integrity o f a vastly important resource 
has been guaranteed by the transfer of the AGS 
collection to U W M ,” W ern er A. Baum, UWM 
chancellor said. “Its preservation in its present 
locale proved impossible. This transaction assures 
its future.” It is recognized that the collection 
will elevate the UWM Library to major interna­
tional research status in the fields of geography 
and related earth sciences.

Legal clearances for the move have been made 
possible after months of negotiations conducted 
by m em b ers o f the law firm o f W e b s te r and 
Sheffield, legal counsel for the American G eo­
graphical Society. The New York State Supreme 
Court approved the move.

“T h e  resu lt o f th ese negotiations re fle cts a 
m a g n ifice n t co m m itm e n t on th e  p art o f th e

people of the states of New York and Wisconsin 
to save one of our nation’s most significant cul­
tural and educational a ss e ts ,” said C h ancello r 
Baum.

UWM officials were unanimous in their praise 
for the reasoned actions that resulted in a final 
means for both preserving the collections and en ­
suring the society’s future in New York City.

T h e  collection of the American Geographical 
Society, which includes 180,000 books and bound 
volumes of periodicals, 3 3 ,0 0 0  pamphlets, 45,000 
photographs, 3 5 0 ,000 maps, 5 ,5 0 0  atlases, and 67 
rare and special globes, is considered to be one of 
the oldest and finest research collections o f its 
kind in the world.

The move from New York to Milwaukee will 
take about thirty days, following approval by the 
office o f the governor of Wisconsin. As many as 
tw en ty-sev en m oving vans will be ne ed ed  to 
transport the collection, which is estim ated to 
weigh 800,000 pounds.

“This may well prove to be one of the largest 
library moves, involving transfer of title of owner­
ship, in ou r n a tion 's 2 0 0 -y e a r h is to r y ,” said 
W illiam C. R oselle, d irecto r of the UWM L i­
brary.

The AGS offices will remain in New York City 
and its programs will be continued. The entire 
co llection , which includes such treasu res as a 
world map drawn by the Venetian cartographer 
Giovanni Leardo some forty years before Colum­
bus sailed for North America, will becom e the 
property of the University of Wisconsin Board o f 
Regents. O ther items of interest and value in­
clud e th e 1478 ed ition o f P to lem y ’s C o s m o g ­
ra p h ia on vellum, the 1538 world map by M er­
cator, six teen th - and s e v e n te e n th -c e n tu ry  ac­
co u n ts o f E u ro p e a n  ex p lo ra tio n  in th e  New 
World, and books created by such well known 
early printers as Christopher Plantin.

EXHIBITS

• W illiam Budington, executive d irector and 
lib ra r ia n , an n ou n ce d  today th e  plans for a 
three-month-long J o h n  C r e r a r  L i b r a r y  C elebra­
tion of Science. The purpose of the celebration is 
to bring to the public’s attention the services of 
The John Crerar Library as a free public refer­
ence library specializing in the fields of science, 
technology, and medicine. A principal elem ent of 
this celebration is a major exhibit of rare scientific 
books from the C rerar collections. The exhibit, 
which is called “Science Through the Ages,” will 
be on display at the Chicago Public Library Cul­
tural C e n t e r ’s G .A .R . E x h ib itio n  H all from 
Wednesday, November 1, 1978, through Wednes-



333

day, January 31, 1979. The public is invited to 
view the exhibit without charge during regular li­
brary hours. Group tours with lectures provided 
also will be made available by calling (312) 225- 
2526, Extension 58.

GRANTS

• The libraries o f the U n i v e r s i t y  o f  C a l i f o r ­
n ia  a t  B e r k e l e y , the U n i v e r s i t y  o f  C a l i f o r n i a  
a t  L o s A n g e l e s , and S t a n f o r d  U n i v e r s i t y  have 
been awarded a T itle II C Grant (Strengthening 
Research Library Resources) from the U .S. Office 
o f Education. For 1978-79 the sum of $675,000 
was awarded for the first year of a multiyear pro­
posal. These libraries maintain the strongest re­
search collections in California and are regarded 
as national resources for scholarship and research.

T he libraries have joined together in this proj­
ect to expand th e ir existing m achin e-read able 
files by co nv erting  all th e o th er cu rren tly  r e ­
ceived and retrospective serial titles in their col­
le ctio n s and to upgrade to C O N S E R  ed itin g  
standards the bibliographic data for serial records 
already in m a ch in e -rea d a b le form . P re se n tly , 
th ere are 3 4 3 ,0 0 0  M A RC-structured serial rec­
ords in the common processing system: Berkeley,
2 2 0 .0 0 0  records; Los Angeles, 5 5 ,0 0 0  records; 
and Stanford 6 8 ,0 0 0  records. It is estimated that 
by converting the remaining titles, 2 8 5 ,000 rec­
ords would b e  added to th e  d ata b a s e . T h e 
num ber o f records in the com bined data base 
w ould th e n  tota l 6 5 0 , 0 0 0 — w ith 4 0 0 ,0 0 0  to
4 5 0 .000 distinct titles.

It is proposed that at a later tim e and in addi­
tion to continuing data base efforts, the partici­
pants will develop and im plem ent methods for 
linking their serial files in order to produce serial 
finding tools in various form ats. L a te r in the 
p r o je c t d e ta ile d  ho ldin gs s ta te m e n ts  w ill be 
added to the records.

The libraries welcome the opportunity to work 
with one another on this noteworthy project. In 
the years ahead the academ ic com m unities at 
these and other institutions should benefit con­
siderably from the improved access to serial hold­
ings that together constitute one of the world’s 
outstanding resources.

•  J o h n s  H o p k i n s  U n i v e r s i t y ’s  S c h o o l  o f  A d ­
v a n c e d  I n t e r n a t i o n a l  S t u d i e s  has received an 
$ 8 ,0 0 0  grant from the Japan World Exposition 
C o m m em o rativ e F u n d , accord in g to P e te r  J. 
Promen, librarian. To be used during the fiscal 
year 1978-79, the grant will be used to purchase 
microfilm, books, and periodicals to strengthen 
the SAIS Library’s holdings and to support in­
stru ctio n and research  in the field o f Jap an—  
United States relations.

MISCELLANY

• A special U n i v e r s i t y  o f  W i s c o n s i n  S y s t e m

com m ittee has been created for the purpose of 
developing recommendations for the maintenance 
and improvement o f library services in the UW 
System.

T he UW  Library Planning Study C om m ittee 
(LP SC ) was formed in January by UW  System 
P re sid e n t Edw in Young. T h e p lanning study, 
funded by the University of W isconsin System 
Administration, is being pursued with the desire 
to preserve the exce llen ce o f the libraries and 
their capacity to perform their functions in sup­
port of teaching, research, and public service. In 
particular, the L PSC  charge calls for recom men­
dations regarding cooperative programming, li­
brary support for off-campus credit instruction, 
applications o f technology, and physical facilities.

T he U niversity o f W isconsin System  enrolls 
1 4 6 ,5 0 0  students p er year at th irteen  d egree- 
g ra n tin g  c a m p u ses and fo u r te e n  fre s h m a n ­
sophomore centers. In addition, the University of 
W isc o n sin -E x te n s io n  re a c h e s m ore than o n e ­
million people in the state. T he UW  System li­
braries are seeking an appropriate response to the 
increasing numbers of publications and materials 
for purchase and the reduced financial flexibility 
induced by inflation and budgetary constraints.

The L PSC  m embership was selected to repre­
sent the broad spectrum of UW System interests 
as they apply to libraries. The comm ittee is com­
posed of the following library directors, faculty, 
and administrative staff: W arren Exo, assistant 
v ic e -p r e s id e n t, U W  Sy s te m  A d m in istra tio n ; 
R obert F etv edt, d irector of libraries, UW -Eau 
Claire; Laurine Fitzgerald, dean of the Graduate 
School, UW-Oshkosh; Em ogene Nelson, profes­
sor of physical education and assistant to vice­
c h a n c e llo r , U W -R iv e r F a lls; Lorm an R atn er, 
v ice-chancellor, UW -Parkside; William Roselle, 
d ir e c to r o f lib ra rie s , U W -M ilw aιιkee; Richard 
S c h w a rtz , p ro fe sso r, E n g lis h , U W -M a d is o n ; 
Roger Schwenn, director o f libraries, U W -C enter 
System; Don Tolliver, executive director of learn­
ing r e s o u rc e s , U W -W h ite w a te r; and Howard 
Wakefield, professor o f education, UW-Madison.

T he L PSC  has established seven subcommit­
tees, each focusing on a particular aspect o f the 
main endeavor o f the com m ittee. T he subcom­
mittees will produce data and recommendations 
regarding historical background and legal bases of 
the UW  System; collection development; biblio­
graphic access and processing of materials; deliv­
ery and use o f materials; information and instruc­
tional serv ices; facilities; and cost and budget 
analysis.

The study is directed by Dr. Don L. Tolliver, 
chairperson of the LPSC . Tolliver believes that 
the study not only will improve services, but also 
will lead to reduced costs. He estimates that the 
study will provide planning and direction for the 
System libraries for up to fifteen years.

T h e purpose o f the study, according to T ol­
liver, is to “help us b etter utilize the millions of



334

volumes we have in the UW System.”
The study will be completed in mid-1979.
• The continuation of the C O N S E R  P r o j e c t , a 

program to develop an automated serials data 
base, has been announced by the Council on Li­
brary Resources, Inc. (CLR), the Library of Con­
g ress, the N ational L ib rary  o f Canada, and 
O CLC, Inc.

As initially planned and implemented, CON­
SE R  was a cooperative, two-year program to de­
velop the data base using the resources of four­
teen North American libraries and the on-line 
computer facilities of the Ohio College Library 
Center (now O CLC, Inc.). With the support and 
under the management of CLR, the participating 
institutions contributed to building a file now in 
excess of 180,000 titles.

In acknowledgement of the benefits of CON­
SE R  to the library and information communities, 
the Library of Congress agreed to assume respon­
sibility for supporting the system at the end of 
the two-year period. Since fiscal and resource 
constraints prevented the library from sufficiently 
expanding its automation activities related to 
CO N SER, however, the project will remain at 
OCLC for the foreseeable future.

The CON SER Project will continue to develop 
at O CLC, with OCLC assuming the management 
role previously performed by CLR. Centers of 
Responsibility (the Library of Congress and the 
National Library of Canada) will continue to be 
responsible for the bibliographic quality of the 
data base. A d h eren ce to ex istin g  working 
c o n v e n tio n s— the C O N S E R  M a n u a l and the 
M ARC S e r i a l s  E d itin g  G u id e : C O N S E R  
E d ition —will remain a requirement for all CON­
SER  participants. These conventions will be de­
veloped and changed as before—that is, through 
the two national libraries as Centers of Responsi­
bility, working with CO N SER participants and 
OCLC.

OCLC will continue to make CON SER records 
on magnetic tape available to the Library of Con­
gress and the National Library of Canada for sub­
sequent distribution. In recognition of the impor­
tance of the project, the Library of Congress will 
maintain its current level of staffing and biblio­
graphic support for CONSER.

NOTICES

• The University of Illinois Graduate School of 
Library Science has recently released two new 
numbers in its series of O ccasional P apers.

Number 132, by Jeanne H. Shedd, reference 
librarian at Northport (New York) Public Library, 
is en titled  S er ia ls in S e le c te d  E u r o p e a n  L a n ­
guages: The Lan gu age P roblem . This paper is de­
signed to serve as a practical aid to the librarian

receiving periodicals in foreign languages. Twelve 
tables, covering seventeen different European 
languages, provide “T itle Page Tips” including 
numbers one to thirty-one, the days of the week, 
as well as words for the months, seasons, and 
other common title page terms. Also provided are 
lists of cognates for English, Romance, and G er­
manic languages, a glossary of serial definitions, 
and a German vocabulary pertaining to serials.

S elected  M edieval an d  R enaissance M anuscript 
C o lle c tio n s in M ic r o fo rm , Number 133, is by 
Peter P. Olevnik, head of reference at the State 
University of New York College at Brockport. 
Several university libraries and research centers 
are developing their own manuscript collections 
in microform. This paper describes the largest of 
these collections and updates listings of those col­
lections already treated in the literature. Its pur­
pose is to serve as a guide to the scholar by pro­
viding information on indexes and catalogs, copy­
ing and borrowing policies, facilities provided for 
the researcher, bibliographic sources, and general 
collection content.

Numbers in the Occasional Papers series are 
available by subscription or single copy. The two 
papers cited above are the first in the 1978 sub­
scriptio n year: Annual su bscrip tio ns may be 
placed for $7; single papers are $2 each (prepaid) 
or $1 for orders of ten or more of one number. 
Orders should be addressed to: University of Illi­
nois, Graduate School of Library Science, Publi­
cations O ffice, 2 4 9  A rm ory, Cham paign, IL  
61820.

• Kanta Bhatia, South Asia bibliographer at 
the University of Pennsylvania, has compiled a 
bibliography entitled R efer e n c e Sources on South 
A s ia , p u blished  by the South Asia R egional 
Studies Department of the university in Septem­
ber. Although it is primarily a guide to the Uni­
versity of Pennsylvania library collections, South 
Asianists elsewhere will find it useful as a biblio­
graphic tool. It lists 671 titles by type of refer­
ence work, with geographic and subject subdivi­
sions. Selection is restricted to publications in 
English, but a few works in other European lan­
guages are included. Call numbers, annotations, 
and an author-title-subject index are provided.

This seventy-seven-page guide may be ordered 
from the University of Pennsylvania Bookstore, 
Philadelphia, PA 19104, at $4 per copy.

• T h e C e n te r for the Study o f Am erican 
C atholicism  re c e n tly  p ublished in a working 
paper format C atholic A m erican a, A S elected  B ib ­
liog ra p h y  o f  T heses a n d  D issertations C o m p leted  
a t th e U niversity o f  N otre D am e 1921-1977 by 
James G. Neal and Anna Rose Kearney. This bib­
liography can be obtained by mailing $1 to: Cen­
ter for the Study of American Catholicism, 1109 
Memorial Library, University of Notre Dame, 
Notre Dame, IN 46556. Information on other 
working papers published by the center is also 
available. ■■