College and Research Libraries


510 I College & Research Libraries • November 1978 

and shrug with scientific precision" (p.64). 
Surely this phrase is exaggeration for effect, 
but just as surely some readers will be 
angered by Katz' forthright opinions. 

New to this edition, and occupying more 
than one-third of the second volume, is a 
lucid discussion of "Reference Service and 
the Computer." This section may be of 
greater value to reference librarians who 
have been working for some time than to 
students, because Katz consciously attempts 
to allay the fears of those who "believe 
automation will destroy the traditional 
library-not to mention eliminating their 
positions in the tradition" (p.123). 

Much that was valuable in the earlier edi-
tions has been shaken out to make room for 
new material. The most fruitful use of this 
first-rate work will be in conjunction with 
the first and second editions.-Thomas 
Gaughan, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign. 

Kemp, Edward C. Manuscript Solicitation 
for Libraries, Special Collections, 
Museums, and Archives. Littleton, Colo.: 
Libraries Unlimited, 1978. 204p. $18.50 
U.S. and Canada; $21 elsewhere. LC 77-
29015. ISBN 0-87287-183-5. 
The title of this book is misleading, for 

what we really have here are suggestions on 
how to solicit special collections materials. 
Little in the literature to date has discussed 
in a systematic way the process of acquiring 
manuscripts for institutional collections. 
What has appeared has tended to be the 
personal accounts of private collectors or the 
amusing tales of Mr. X collecting on behalf 
of Mr. (or Institution) Y. Neither Kenneth 
Duckett's Modern Manuscripts (AASLH, 
1975) nor Robert Clark's Archive-Library 
Relations (Bowker, 1976) provides any ex-
tensive guidelines for solicitation. 

The present work falls somewhere be-
tween the systematic and the anecdotal 
treatment. The author "presents a practical 
approach to a collecting program without 
expenditure for acquisition," yet at the same 
time unashamedly celebrates the active pro-
gram he initiated, and presently fosters, at 
the University of Oregon library. His em-
phasis throughout is on collecting special 
materials (manuscripts, as well as books, 
oral history, photographs, etc.) for libraries, 

particularly university libraries. 
Slightly more than half of the book is 

text, devoted to practical suggestions for 
planning a collecting program, developing 
and maintaining donors, negotiating for ma-
terials, and transporting and receiving col-
lections. The author offers many solid ideas 
on collecting areas and on how to develop 
leads, or sources of donations . 

He _tells us how to initiate donor interest 
through correspondence, how to visit the 
potential donor, how to sort and pack the 
donor's gift, and how to maintain interest in 
the institution once the donation has been 
received. One chapter is devoted to han-
dling gifts of books from donors of manu-
scripts. Another sums up what the author 
feels are the personal and professional qual-
ities essential for a successful solicitor. 

The remainder of the book consists of 
appendixes-with samples of solicitation 
letters, deeds, collection inventories, and 
examples of the internal paperwork neces-
sary to re-create negotiations at a later date 
(field notes, name cards, reminder files, 
etc.)-a brief bibliography, and a subject 
index. 

Two case studies, based on the author's 
experience, serve as examples of the total 
approach to solicitation-from selection of 
the subject to the use of the collection. 

· Both studies, as well as numerous other 
examples, emphasize personal and family 
collections. Little attention is focused upon 
the solicitation of organizational records or 
on the special negotiating techniques essen-
tial in acquiring this type of collection. For-
tunately Virginia Stewart's article "A Primer 
on Manuscript Field Work" (The Midwest-
ern Archivist 1:3-20 (1976) ) thoroughly 
covers this important aspect. 

With the author's emphasis on solicitation 
for university libraries, this work will appeal 
most to that audience. Museum curators 
and archivists with imagination could apply 
some of the author's suggestions to their 
work. However, at the price of this volume, 
they would be wiser to wait for a more 
comprehensive treatise by specialists in 
their own fields.-Susan F. Sudduth, Pur-
due University, West Lafayette, Indiana. 

Library History Seminar, 5th, Philadelphia, 
Pa., 1976. Milestones to the Present: Pa-