College and Research Libraries CAROL W A L L Foreign Press and Academic Libraries In an effort to determine the extent to which American college students may gauge current trends in foreign thought, a questionnaire was sent to 350 academic libraries requesting them to check their holdings of foreign news serials. The results indicate that academic libraries appear to give greatest news serial coverage to world powers and pro-western nations in their serial acquisitions, and that it is doubtless difficult for most college students to find a balance in the coverage of international events. T H K L A S T H A L F C E N T U R Y has seen the United States forced, politically and economically, to abandon its isolationism in world affairs. A large share of the problems of rebuilding Europe, of for- mulating a China policy, of preserving Korea and Vietnam, as well as of pre- venting nuclear disaster and total war has been thrust upon a people who had spent the greatest part of their history believing the best foreign policy was one of nonentangling alliances. W i t h William McKinley went an era in which the American minded his own business. A democracy which deals effectively in world affairs needs a mature popula- tion which can understand foreign af- fairs with tolerance and understanding. Whether it b e in Saigon, Berlin, or T e l Aviv, our foreign policy can rise only as high as the American peope will let it rise. Sociologists have concluded that it is best to understand the actions of a group in the light of their own culture and tra- ditions. T h e best way to judge the ac- tions of foreign nations is likewise in terms of their predominant cultural thought and activities. Is it possible for Miss Wall is reference and circulation librarian in Shippensburg State College, Pennsylvania. the American citizen to locate sources which reveal the current trends in foreign thought and the reaction of foreigners to the day-to-day events of our time? Is it the responsibility of college and uni- versity libraries to provide this informa- tion? A foreigner visiting the United States wishing to b e c o m e acquainted with the most recent trends in American public opinion could find it reflected in the country's daily press and "slick" maga- zines. But can American students find similar information on foreign countries in their college and university libraries? T h e present study seeks to answer this question. A questionnaire was mailed to three hundred and fifty college and university libraries which were selected from the American Library Directory. T h e sample comprised every third library in the United States with a total budget of over $25,000. T h e questionnaire con- tained a list of foreign news serials which librarians were asked to check against their holdings. T h e list of serials was selected from those cited in Atlas, a monthly news and literary magazine which translates edi- torials, short features, and news articles from foreign serials. In formulating the list, seventeen issues of Atlas were ex- amined, or every third issue from 1961 / 213 214 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 t o 1 9 6 5 . A l l s e r i a l t i t l e s m e n t i o n e d t w o J e u n e Afrique ( T u n i s ) . . . . 5 or m o r e t i m e s in s e p a r a t e a r t i c l e s w e r e Journal D o Brasil ( B r a z i l ) . 2 p l a c e d on t h e list. Kurier ( A u s t r i a ) 2 13 O f t h e t h r e e h u n d r e d a n d fifty q u e s - L i n k ( I n d i a ) 2 13 t i o n n a i r e s s e n t , t w o h u n d r e d a n d fifty- e i g h t , or 7 3 . 7 1 p e r c e n t , w e r e filled o u t Literaturnaya Gazete (Russia) London Observer ( E n g l a n d ) . London T i m e s ( E n g l a n d ) . 3 1 3 4 7 6 a n d r e t u r n e d . T a b l e 1 s h o w s t h e t o t a l L u d a s Matyi ( H u n g a r y ) Mainichi Shimbum ( J a p a n ) 0 list o f t i t l e s a n d t h e n u m b e r o f l i b r a r i e s L u d a s Matyi ( H u n g a r y ) Mainichi Shimbum ( J a p a n ) 4 w h i c h h o l d e a c h t i t l e . Manchester Guardian Weekly ( E n g l a n d ) 187 T A B L E 1 M a n c h e t e ( B r a z i l ) 2 L e Monde ( F r a n c e ) . . . . L e M o n d e Diplomatique ( F r a n c e ) 8 4 No. of L e Monde ( F r a n c e ) . . . . L e M o n d e Diplomatique ( F r a n c e ) 4 Libraries 11 Mondo ( I t a l y ) 5 N a m e of Tournal Receiving L a Nacion ( B r a z i l ) . . . 10 Nepszabadsag ( H u n g a r y ) . 0 Nepszabadsag ( H u n g a r y ) . 0 A1 Ahram ( E g y p t ) 4 N e u e Ziircher Zeitung A1 Akhbar ( L e b a n o n ) 1 ( S w i t z e r l a n d ) 10 A1 Gomhouria ( E g y p t ) 0 Neues Deutschland Anhembi ( B r a z i l ) 2 ( E a s t G e r m a n y ) 2 Arts ( F r a n c e ) 2 1 Les Nouvelles Litteraires T h e Asia Magazine ( H o n g K o n g ) 6 ( F r a n c e ) 6 0 Carrefour ( F r a n c e ) . . . 1 New Commonwealth ( E n g l a n d ) 8 Christ and W e l t Novy Mir ( R u s s i a ) . . . . 4 0 ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) 4 L'Osservatore Politico Letterario Corriere Delia Serra ( I t a l y ) 6 ( I t a l y ) 1 Dagens Nyheter ( S w e d e n ) 1 New Statesman ( E n g l a n d ) 147 Daily Express ( E n g l a n d ) 0 Palante ( C u b a ) 0 Daily Mail ( E n g l a n d ) . 4 Paris M a t c h ( F r a n c e ) . . . . 162 Daily Mirror (Australia) 0 Peking R e v i e w ( C h i n a ) 8 5 Daily Telegraph ( E n g l a n d ) 0 Philippines F r e e Press . . . 5 Deutsche Zeitung ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) 4 Pictures of G r e e c e ( G r e e c e ) . 0 Diaro D e Noticias ( B r a z i l ) 0 Polish Perspective ( P o l a n d ) 100 D r u m ( G h a n a ) 1 Polityka (Czechoslovakia) . 1 Eastern World ( E n g l a n d ) . 2 3 Pravda ( R u s s i a ) 6 4 T h e Economist ( E n g l a n d ) 1 8 0 Preuves ( F r a n c e ) 2 0 Eleutheria ( G r e e c e ) . . . . 1 Quadrant (Australia) 7 E p o c a ( I t a l y ) 2 0 T h e Queen ( E n g l a n d ) . . . . 1 Estado D e Sao Paulo ( B r a z i l ) 2 Quest ( I n d i a ) 15 L ' E x p r e s s ( F r a n c e ) . . . 4 3 Renmin R i b a o ( C h i n a ) 7 L'Expresso ( I t a l y ) 4 T h e Reporter ( K e n y a ) . . . 3 0 F a r Eastern E c o n o m i c Review Review of International Affairs ( H o n g K o n g ) 4 6 (Yugoslavia) 2 4 L e Figaro ( F r a n c e ) 4 2 Spectator ( E n g l a n d ) . . . . 105 L e Figaro Litteraire ( F r a n c e ) . 6 7 D e r Spiegel ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) . 92 Forum ( R e p u b l i c of South A f r i c a ) 4 L a Stampa ( I t a l y ) 4 Forum Service ( E n g l a n d ) . 0 Statesman; W e e k - E n d Review F r a n c e Observateur ( F r a n c e ) . 3 ( I n d i a ) 2 3 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Statist ( E n g l a n d ) 11 ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) . . . . 3 4 Stern ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) 2 0 Hindu W e e k l y Review ( I n d i a ) 3 3 Suddeutsche Zeitung International Affairs ( R u s s i a ) 4 7 ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) . . . . 8 Izvestia ( R u s s i a ) 4 2 Sunday T e l e g r a p h ( E n g l a n d ) . 0 T h e Jerusalem Post ( I s r a e l ) 16 T h e Sunday T i m e s ( E n g l a n d ) 18 Foreign Press and Academic Libraries / 215 Survey ( E n g l a n d ) 4 1 Swiss Review of W o r l d Affairs (Switzerland) 4 6 T h e T a b l e t ( E n g l a n d ) . . 3 1 V . D. I. Nachrichten ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) . . . 2 T h e W e e k l y News ( N e w Zealand) 1 D i e Welt ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) 3 8 D i e W e l t w o e h e ( S w i t z e r l a n d ) 7 W e s t African ( E n g l a n d ) 4 W e s t African Pilot ( N i g e r i a ) 5 D i e Zeit ( W e s t G e r m a n y ) 7 3 Zeri I Popullit ( A l b a n i a ) 1 As would be expected, the libraries with smaller budgets have fewer of these publications. Table 2 indicates the num- ber of titles held for five different sizes of libraries. T h e average holding per library was 8.4 titles. F o r the libraries with budgets under $100,000, foreign news coverage is very limited and in some cases non- T A B L E 2 A v e r a g e N u m b e r o f B u d g e t r a n g e n u m b e r o f l i b r a r i e s ( i n d o l l a r s ) t i t l e s h e l d 34 . . 0-49,999 3.2 78 . . 50,000-99,999 5.2 78 . . 100,000-499,999 8.6 14 . . 500,000-999,999 19.3 15 . . 1,000,000- 30.0 existant. Eleven libraries hold none of the titles listed. Representation by areas and countries show that libraries tend to represent major world powers, and generally pro- Western powers, at the expense of neu- trals and lesser Communist nations. T h e holding of one hundred copies of Polish Perspective is an obvious exception to this generalization. T a b l e 3 is a numerical comparison of the countries' representation on the orig- inal list with their appearance in Ameri- T A B L E 3 C o u n t r y T i t l e s L i s t e d p e r C o u n t r y P e r c e n t a g e o f L i s t p e r C o u n t r y T i t l e s H e l d p e r C o u n t r y P e r c e n t a g e o f e n t i r e h o l d i n g s 1 1.07 1 .04 2 2.15 7 .28 1 1.07 2 .08 6 6.45 18 .73 2 2.15 92 3.72 1 1.07 0 .00 1 1.07 1 .04 2 2.15 4 .16 19 20.43 870 35.65 11 11.82 507 20.77 1 1.07 2 .08 9 9.67 275 11.27 1 1.07 1 .04 2 2.15 1 .04 2 2.15 52 2.15 2 2.15 0 .00 4 4.30 84 3.44 1 1.07 16 .65 6 6.45 40 1.63 1 1.07 4 .16 1 1.07 30 1.22 1 1.07 1 .04 1 1.07 5 .20 1 1.07 1 .04 1 1.07 5 .20 1 1.07 100 4.09 5 5.37 224 9.18 1 1.07 1 .04 3 3.22 63 2.59 1 1.07 5 .20 1 1.07 4 .16 1 1.07 24 .98 Albania Australia Austria . Brazil China Cuba Czechoslovakia Egypt England France . Germany, East Germany, West Ghana . Greece . Hong Kong Hungaria India Israel Italy Japan Kenya Lebanon Nigeria New Zealand Philippines Poland Russia Sweden Switzerland Tunis Union of South Africa Yugoslavia . . . 216 / College b- Research Libraries • March 1968 TABLE 4 N u m b e r o f N u m b e r o f L a n g u a g e T i t l e s L i s t e d T i t l e s H e l d English 41 1381 German 13 296 French 12 512 Italian 6 40 Portugese 6 18 Russian 4 177 Arabic 3 5 Hungarian 2 0 Albanian . 1 1 Chinese 1 7 Czechosolovakian 1 1 Greek 1 1 Spanish 1 0 Swedish 1 1 can academic library current serial hold- ings. T h e English and F r e n c h titles alone make up almost two-thirds of the titles listed. Significantly, the number of times these titles are held makes up over 5 5 per cent of the total foreign serial hold- ings. T h e "language b a r r i e r " is sometimes given as the reason for low holding in foreign news serials. T h e languages rep- resented on the original list are shown as T a b l e 4. ( T i t l e s are counted as E n g - lish when there is an available English edition.) Yet t h e colleges and universities repre- sented in this study teach foreign lan- guages as shown in T a b l e 5. Thus, although it m a y b e a b i t ideal- istic to r e j e c t t h e "language barrier" argument too readily, it should, at least in theory, not account fully for the lack of foreign serial holdings. Any conclusions drawn from a survey TABLE 5 Number of Colleges or Language Universities Arabic 8 Chinese 18 Czechosolovakian 2 French . . . . . . . 2 4 7 German 239 Greek 129 Hungarian 1 Italian 70 Japanese 10 Portuguese 22 Russian 142 Spanish 235 Swedish 6 of this type are, of course, limited by the f a c t that an arbitrary list of serials was used. I t would be difficult, however, to discredit its findings entirely on that basis. One m i g h t conclude from this brief study that t h e American student finds it difficult t o locate b a l a n c e d daily for- eign news coverage. I t seems further that students are m o r e likely to get foreign news coverage from countries such as Germany, F r a n c e , England, and Russia, w h i c h are thought of as world powers. African countries, smaller Com- munist nations, as well as neutral coun- tries receive little coverage. Since this does not a p p e a r to b e due entirely to a language barrier, it is tempting to sus- p e c t that it might b e attributed to a bias toward nations with power and pres- tige. • •