College and Research Libraries By C H A R L E S W . D A V I D Report from Europe1 Dr. David is director, University of Pennsylvania Libraries. LAST YEAR under the heading of " R e p o r t on E u r o p e " we had a highly informa- tive discourse2 by a member of the Library of Congress mission. T o d a y we probably have no one among us as qualified as Reuben Peiss was to make such a report, nor w o u l d it seem to be called for since the year has seen strides of progress in the resump- tion of commercial relations with Europe. " T r u e cooperation" in the field of li- brarianship and documentation at the inter- national level, which is considered in this paper, is a very large subject. A n y qualifi- cations that I have to speak on this subject stem f r o m my recent attendance at the t w o conferences of the International Federation of Documentation. It will not be a full statement on Europe, but rather a report on a small part of the international program in which I had some part. For almost fifty years there has been in existence an organization which is n o w known as the International Federation of Documentation ( F . I . D . ) . It has had a somewhat checkered career. D u r i n g the w a r there was difficulty to keep it alive, but it did survive, thanks to the courage and persistence especially of groups in Switzer- land and Holland. Since the war it has risen like a Phoenix f r o m the ashes and sprung into new life. It n o w seems to be marching forward into a new era of useful- ness. 1 Paper presented at the Conference of Eastern Col- lege L i b r a r i a n s , Columbia U n i v e r s i t y , N o v . 29, 1947. 2 College and Research Libraries 8: 113-19, A p r i l 1947. T h e r e is one feature of the postwar epoch which seems to make a particular reason f o r the current revival of F . I . D . T h a t is the birth of U N E S C O , the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, which has been created in the hope of bringing about better international relations by working with the thoughts of men, and their expression and dissemination throughout the w o r l d . M o s t of you are in some degree familiar with the ambitious program which has been developed for U N E S C O , and you k n o w that very con- siderable parts of that program fall in the realm of librarianship and documentation. N o w in general U N E S C O , starting from scratch and with a complex organization to create and personnel to assemble before it can become an effective influence, has no desire to become an operating agency or to set up operating agencies of its o w n so long as it can make use of existing agencies which by reason of their fields of interest, experi- ence, and personnel are in a position to act for it and serve its purposes. In brief, U N E S C O desires most of all to be an over- all planning and coordinating body in the several fields of its interests rather than to undertake operations of its own in those fields, provided it can get its plans carried out by already existing agencies. It is f o r this reason that U N E S C O has been greatly interested in F . I . D . , in I . F . L . A . (International Federation of L i - brary Associations), and in I . S . O . ( I n t e r - national Organization f o r Standardiza- t i o n ) . Hence, there has been a peculiar in- spiration, not to say stimulation, f o r these organizations to spring into active life APRIL, 1948 145 under the favoring influence of U N E S C O . Let me speak more particularly about F . I . D . , in the affairs of which I have had some part. W i t h a spirit and energy truly amazing, it has held two international con- ferences, one in Paris in bleak November 1946, and the other in Bern last August in a week of glorious weather. Both confer- ences were remarkably well attended. A t the last, there was an attendance of more than 200, and representation of 18 coun- tries and also of the United Nations, U N E S C O , the International Organization for Standardization, and the International Federation of Library Associations. C o n - siderable lists of learned papers (since pub- lished) were presented at both meetings. Major Problems But let me speak not of the papers but of the major problems which were before the council of F . I . D . If the revived fed- eration were to play successfully the role for which it appeared to be cast, it was manifestly necessary to strengthen its organization, revise its constitution, and in- crease its resources. M u c h attention has accordingly been given to these matters. A radically revised constitution appears about to be adopted. Its main features call for F . I . D . to be made up primarily of a group of "national committees," one f r o m each member country, to which certain in- ternational members may be a d d e d ; f o r its affairs to be controlled essentially by a coun- cil which is representative of the members, but for a smaller committee of action to act at need on behalf of the council between meetings. T h e r e is a permanent secretariat at T h e Hague. T h e general secretary is F. D o n k e r Duyvis of the D u t c h Patent Office. T h e president is Charles L e - Maistre of L o n d o n , w h o is also the general secretary of I . S . O . T h e financial resources of F . I . D . have in the past been very limited, the contributions of members being surprisingly small, and the organization has been largely supported by the Dutch national member with some private help and perhaps a certain amount of silent help f r o m the D u t c h Patent Office. H o w e v e r , it is n o w clear that F . I . D . can- not continue on such an informal and in- secure financial f o o t i n g ; and, therefore, a revised scale of dues has been adopted which, if all members will pay and if the membership can be successfully extended, will result in a very considerable annual income which in turn will make a more effective secretariat possible. T h e r e is also ground to hope that in the near future moderate financial assistance may be ob- tained f r o m U N E S C O — i n d e e d w o r d has come within the last f e w days f r o m M e x i c o City which w o u l d seem to indicate that a U N E S C O grant-in-aid for this year is all but assured. It is also of the utmost importance that the membership be extended. A t the mo- ment there are only eleven or twelve na- tional members; and, until this summer, though a considerable number of individual Americans were members, there had never been an American organization holding a national membership. Naturally with an ambitious postwar program in the course of development, there has been a strong desire to have full American participation and to enjoy the strong financial support which it was conceived an American national mem- ber would bring. T h i s has been the prob- lem with which I and my f e l l o w delegates, w h o , in one way or another have repre- sented the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Library Associa- tion and its International Relations Board, the Special Libraries Association, and the American Documentation Institute, have been concerned. T h e r e has been much dis- cussion as to just what ought to be done, but in the end I was authorized to apply for American membership on behalf of the 146 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES A m e r i c a n D o c u m e n t a t i o n Institute, the functions of such A m e r i c a n representation to be exercised through an international relations committee of the institute, of w h i c h f o r the time being I am the chair- man. In due course I made the applica- tion, and I am glad to be able to report that it was received with much enthusiasm and unanimously agreed to. Expansion of Interests Needed W h a t this venture implies is that there must be a considerable expansion of the interests and activity of A . D . I , and perhaps also a considerable reorganization. C e r - tainly there must be f o u n d f r o m somewhere considerable added financial resources in order that A . D . I , may support adequately even this single contemplated n e w activity in the international sphere, and there are many w h o believe that there are other im- portant n e w activities which A . D . I , must undertake. T h e s e problems are n o w under consideration. In the international field w h a t is w a n t e d , once w e get an effective organization and adequate financial support f o r F . I . D . , is a precise and definite and approved p r o g r a m w h i c h can be carried on effectively by inter- national action. It must be confessed that such a program has not yet been f u l l y f o r - mulated. F . I . D . has not yet given sufficient attention to the planning of such a program, and a number of features of it w i l l depend in considerable measure upon discussions w h i c h are still continuing with U N E S C O . Nevertheless, it is possible to illustrate w h a t such a p r o g r a m is likely to be by listing possible parts of it w h i c h are n o w under consideration, or indeed in some cases have actually been launched. 1. Compilation of an international direc- tory, or guide, to documentation and informa- tion services. 2. Compilation of an international guide to document reproduction services. 3. Compilation of a series of small, special- ized subject lists of periodicals. 4. Publication of an international quar- terly, now known as The Review of Docu- mentation. 5. A new edition of the Index Biblio- graphicus, formerly issued by the Interna- tional Institute of Intellectual Cooperation. 6. Study and coordination of abstracting services. 7. Study and standardization of the meth- ods and apparatus of document reproduction. 8. Study and standardization of biblio- graphical methods. 9. Study and standardization of filing sys- tems. 10. Standardization of nomenclature and publication of a multilingual vocabulary of librarianship. 11. Study of classification, including an ex- tension of U . D . C . and the establishment of a concordance between it and the Dewey Deci- mal Classification. It is already fairly clear, I think, that if action is to be effective there w i l l have to be courageous pruning of the p r o g r a m in order to prevent a dissipation of energies. T h e problems of A m e r i c a n participation and the program of F . I . D . have diverted me f o r the m o m e n t f r o m the point with which I was concerned, namely the im- portance of expanding the membership of F . I . D . W h i l e great importance was at- tached to having the U n i t e d States come in, there was also a strong desire to extend the membership to a number of other countries; and it is k n o w n that in some other c o u n - tries, notably in South A f r i c a and Ireland, efforts are n o w under w a y to bring this about. T h e r e was a special resolution emphasizing the desirability of bringing in a number of South A m e r i c a n countries. It is greatly to be hoped that the national membership w i l l be considerably increased. I have already referred to t w o other in- ternational organizations w i t h functions somewhat parallel w i t h those of F . I . D . , namely I . S . O . (International O r g a n i z a t i o n of Standardization) and I . F . L . A . ( I n t e r - APRIL, 1948 147 national Federation of Library Associa- tions). A s I have already noted, the current president of F . I . D . is also the general secre- tary of I . S . O . T h i s has made it easy to bring about an understanding between the t w o organizations f o r a delimitation of their fields of interest and action. A n agreement was formally accepted by F . I . D . at Bern which assigns to F . I . D . sole authority in matters relating to the Universal Decimal Classification but canalizes most matters relating to standardization at the inter- national level through I.S.O., with the pro- vision, however, that F . I . D . and I . F . L . A . shall be represented at such discussions and kept fully informed of decisions. F.I.D. and I.F.L.A. Steps have also been taken to maintain harmonious and cooperative relations be- tween F . I . D . and I . F . L . A . T h e latter, as most of you doubtless are aware, has been quite as active since the close of the w a r as has F . I . D . T h e r e was a preliminary meet- ing in Geneva last year. T h i s year in M a y a much more ambitious congress of the International Committee of I . F . L . A . was held in O s l o . It has been announced that another meeting will be held in this country in 1948, probably in September, though I have learned recently that current economic and exchange difficulties have forced a post- ponement of that plan. I was not present at the Oslo congress, but I have looked over the proof sheets of its published Actes, and I gain an impression of some fairly close parallels with F . I . D . (and to a lesser de- gree with I . S . O . ) . Both organizations are interested in a number of the same things, some joint committees have been set up be- tween them, and many of the same indi- viduals participate in both. Both organi- zations are cooperating closely with U N E S C O . I am sure that many of you have found it difficult to distinguish to your own satisfaction between documentation and librarianship, and therefore the thought will have occurred to you that there may be a certain redundancy in these t w o inter- national organizations operating in such closely related fields, indeed that a merger between them might be desirable. T h i s thought has certainly occurred to me, as it has to others w h o have given attention to this matter and whose judgment I respect; and I believe that there is also a feeling among some of the leaders in U N E S C O that such a consolidation would be desir- able. H o w e v e r , I also sense a certain spirit of rivalry between some librarians and some documentalists which leads me to believe that a merger between these t w o organiza- tions, desirable though it might be, could hardly be accomplished quickly. N o w I think I have really said my say, but there are some other examples of co- operation at the international level which are of current interest and about which I shall venture to say a f e w words. O n e is the clean-cut piece of w o r k which is n o w all but accomplished of the American Book Center f o r W a r Devastated Libraries, Inc. ( A . B . C . ) , an organization which stems originally, I believe, f r o m the Council of National Library Associations, and has car- ried on its operations in the Library of Congress. Since its inception, I understand that A . B . C . has gathered in this country and distributed to war-devastated libraries abroad something like 4,000,000 pieces, which are calculated to have amounted in all to about 1,100,000 volumes. Shipments have gone all told to 33 different countries, although the major portion of them has gone to 13 countries. T h e project was first designed to run for something like a year, then it was extended to t w o years, ending in December 1947. Naturally its funds are n o w running l o w , and the in-flow of ma- terials for distribution abroad has begun to dry up. Nevertheless, it has not been pos- 148 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES sible to bring the project to an end as promptly as was planned, and its board of directors formally voted to dissolve it as of M a r . 31, 1948, " o r as soon thereafter as the affairs of the corporation can be liqui- dated." H o w e v e r , there is strong pressure from various quarters not to let the enter- prise end so abruptly. For one thing, there has been created by the fine achievement of A . B . C . a goodwill which it seems a pity to let be dissipated; f o r another, books con- tinue to flow into the center (and the flow could certainly be stimulated), and the need abroad continues and various organizations like U N E S C O , the Commission on Inter- national Educational Reconstruction, and the State Department's Office of Voluntary Foreign A i d , are desirous of having the w o r k continued. T h e r e is a possibility that additional funds to support the enterprise may be forthcoming early in 1948, perhaps f r o m the organization known as American Overseas A i d . A n d finally, even though the w o r k of A . B . C . in its present f o r m should come to an end in the relatively near future, there is the possibility that it might be converted f r o m a one-way to a two-way enterprise and continued as an agency for international exchanges. Successor Agency to A.B.C. T h e decision to dissolve the center on M a r . 31, 1948, therefore, was so worded as to clear the way for the formation of a more permanent successor agency which w o u l d take over its assets and goodwill, carry on its unfinished work, and develop new activities, such as those of an exchange center, which would gradually change its character but perpetuate its usefulness. T h e first steps toward the formation of such a successor agency have already been taken, and it may confidently be expected that as A . B . C . in its present f o r m dissolves the new organization will be in readiness to take over. Another subject about which I ought to speak briefly is the Cooperative Acquisition of Recent Foreign Publications Project of the Library of Congress which has saved f r o m destruction and brought to our collec- tions many hundreds of thousands of vol- umes. O n the side of procurement in Europe you had the full report on this project by M r . Peiss a year ago. Before that and since, many of us w h o have re- sponsibility f o r research libraries have had abundant experience on the receiving end. T h e experience has not always been to our entire satisfaction because, to speak very candidly among friends, w e have inevitably received a good many items which w e did not want, and w e tend to give our attention to these while we remain unconscious of the great number of very valuable items which have been received at small cost and which, in a good many cases, w e should have been hardly able to attain through our individual efforts. W h e n the enterprise is viewed as a whole, in spite of these imper- fections, it stands forth as an admirable example of cooperation and library states- manship. A c c o r d i n g to the latest w o r d , it is n o w anticipated that the project will be completed by June 30 next year, and pos- sibly even by April 30. Another enterprise which I should men- tion is the Princeton Conference on Inter- national Exchanges which was held in N o - vember 1946. T h e conference ended with the drafting of t w o dozen far-reaching resolutions, many of them involving co- operation at the international level. A s usually happens with resolutions, it has not been easy to implement them in such a way as to make them effective; and their implica^ tions are so broad that a precise report on them is difficult. But I may note that the proposal which I have discussed to convert A . B . C . into an international exchange cen- ter grows directly out of them. So also does a recent achievement of the Associa- APR1Lt 1948 149 tion of Research Libraries in gaining im- portant relief for importing libraries f r o m customs barriers and costs. Several of the Princeton resolutions are n o w under study by appropriate committees, notably com- mittees of the A . R . L . Perhaps the most conspicuous example of cooperation at the international level is the Farmington Plan, which is the principal enterprise n o w before the Association of Research Libraries and is intended when fully developed to bring into this country and centrally record, at least one copy of every foreign publication of probable re- search value. T h o u g h the Farmington Plan is older than the Princeton resolutions, it figures prominently among them. T h e Association of Research Libraries is cur- rently at grips with it. Matters have been in something of a crisis since the meeting in San Francisco last summer; but we got back on the track at a meeting here on the Columbia campus, N o v . 28, 1947. So the decision still stands to put the plan into effect experimentally for 1948 imprints, to be ob- tained f r o m three foreign countries, namely Sweden, Switzerland, and France. Overlapping in Abstracting Field Finally, let me say something about a significant effort on the part of U N E S C O in the field of abstracting (this also gets mentioned in one of the Princeton resolu- tions). T h e r e has been much concern be- cause of overlapping and competition be- tween four abstracting services which are n o w operating in the biological and medical fields, namely, Biological Abstracts, British Abstracts, World Abstracts of Medical Sciences, and Excerpta Medica. A c c o r d - ingly, on the initiative of the Natural Sciences Section of U N E S C O , a confer- ence was called in Paris early last October of representatives of these four services, of the American M e d i c a l Association, of the W o r l d Health Organization, and of F . I . D . with a view to bringing about orderly coverage of the fields in question, with close cooperation substituted for competition, with the elimination of unnecessary duplica- tion, and with a reduction of expense to subscribers. Naturally the conferees were not in a position to make binding agree- ments on the spot; but it can, I think, be said that very real progress was made. For one thing it became clear that such coopera- tive agreements are only practicable among nonprofit organizations, and I understand that Excerpta Medica is n o w in process of being transformed into such an organiza- tion. For another thing it appeared clear that important cooperative agreements of the kind that have been suggested are prac- tical and probably will be concluded in due course. T h e conference achieved a suf- ficient preliminary success to encourage U N E S C O to consider the calling, possibly late next year, of a much larger conference to deal with the abstracting problem on a broader scale; and in the meantime it was decided to set up an interim committee of the interests which were represented at the Paris conference to w o r k for a realization of the proposed agreements on cooperation among the four services and to prepare the way f o r the larger conference. I have n o w run through the list of co- operative efforts in the field of librarianship and documentation at the international level about which I have some knowledge. M y general conclusion is that while progress will probably appear to you to be slow, that a discouraging amount of time and effort are being consumed in prelimi- naries, still on the whole the prospect is an encouraging one. T h e r e have already been some concrete accomplishments, and there is fair hope of much greater achievements in the not too distant future. W e must build on what has already been done. 150 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES