Grundzüge der Bibliotheksgeschichte by Joris VorstiusReview by: Lawrence S. ThompsonThe Library Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Jul., 1955), pp. 265-266Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4304447 .

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REVIEWS 265

The Development of Medical Bibliography. By ESTELLE BRODMAN. Washington, D.C.: Medical Library Association, 1954. Pp. ix+226. $5.00. (Order from: Archives Cu- rator, Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of State of Maryland, Baltimore 1.)

The author of this fundamental treatise is assistant librarian for reference services of the Armed Forces Medical Library. The method of developing the work, which was her doc- toral dissertation at Columbia University, was essentially an analytical one involving the task of searching for medical bibliographies, examining those that were available to her, and drawing conclusions about the contribu- tions of the various bibliographies she has studied. But, more than this, it is the first full-length presentation to give a complete picture of the history of medical bibliography in all its manifold aspects-a truly herculean task and one for which all librarians can be grateful. The historical approach to any sub- ject is certainly basic to a full understanding of its present-day problems, and this is par- ticularly true of medical bibliography, whose chief problem, the indexing of the world's medical literature, is being handled so unsuc- cessfully today.

Dr. Brodman concludes from her study that no successful means has been invented for the solution of the chief problems of medical bibliography, whose task is "to cover the entire medical literature, in whatever form, wherever published, and in whatever language, and to cover it accurately, promptly, and in easily usable form."

The lack of a proper solution to a means of indexing the enormous medical literature of the world, while of necessity a serious prob- lem to physicians, medical scientists, and medical educators, is also of great concern to the medical librarian, whose primary func- tion is to make the literature of medicine available to the reader. The librarian, because of his general knowledge and familiarity with the literature of medicine, should probably take the initiative in the solution of this im- portant problem. Dr. Brodman has made an exacting diagnosis; now let us have a concerted effort on the part of medical librarians every- where to provide the initial therapeutic meas-

ures necessary for the survival of our patient, an overdistended plethoric medical literature.

THOMAS E. KEYs Mayo Clinic

Rochester, Minnesota

Grundziige der Bibliotheksgeschichte. 5th rev. ed. By JORIS VORSTIUS. Leipzig: Otto Harras- sowitz, 1954. Pp. vii+138. DM. 5.

Through four previous editions Joris Vor- stius' outline of library history has enjoyed a substantial reputation as the best short treat- ment of the subject. Its primary usefulness is as a textbook for library-science students and as a ready reference book.

The problems of selection and organization of material are perhaps greater in this type of book than in a more comprehensive treatise, and constant revision of the succeeding editions has improved Vorstius' book considerably. Com- parison with the fourth edition (1948) reveals substantial changes and many instances of re- vision for the sake of greater clarity and preci- sion of expression. The new material in the fifth edition increases the over-all size of the volume by about 20 per cent. The Index has been doubled in size by the addition of subjects to names and places. The last chapter in the fourth edition, dealing with the development of popular libraries, has been eliminated, and the subject matter has been scattered to appropriate places in the preceding text.

Four revisions of the original text have in- sured a high degree of accuracy. Nevertheless, a few errors are bound to creep in. Eyebrows would surely be raised if the statement on page 123 locating "the Shakespeare Collection of Henry Clay Folger in the Library of Congress" were called to the attention of the Amherst Col- lege trustees.

The selection of material for inclusion and the proportional space given to each aspect of library history reflect the author's interest and competence in virtually all fields of librarian- ship. Since the book is primarily a textbook for German librarians, there is more space devoted to German library history than this subject would occupy in a French or English text. This circumstance does not impair the utility of the book as a whole, but it should serve as a warning to any would-be translator who is attracted by the ready-reference possibilities of Vorstius' book. However, an original work along the same

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266 THE LIBRARY QUARTERLY

lines as the Grundzi4ge, with appropriate empha- sis on the Anglo-American tradition, would be a valuable addition to the bibliography of li- brary literature in English.

Individual readers with their personal inter- ests might have wished for more or less exten- sive treatment of certain types of libraries and periods of library history. From our perspective somewhat more material on Latin American and modern Islamic libraries might have been de- sirable. In general, however, Vorstius' book is thoroughly satisfactory for its purposes and may be read with profit by librarians of any nationality.

LAWRENCE S. THOMPSON

University of Kentucky Libraries Lexington, Kentucky

Simple Library Cataloging. By SUSAN GREY

AKERS. 4th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1954. Pp. 250. $5.00.

Miss Akers defines the purpose of her book as serving three functions: (1) to give instruc- tion to the librarian who lacks professional edu- cation; (2) to serve as a textbook for short ele- mentary courses in cataloging; and (3) to serve as collateral reading in the earlier parts of basic cataloging courses.

It seems that the book fulfils the first two purposes somewhat better than the third. Most manuals which give directions for the cataloging and classification of a small library by a librari- an who lacks professional training attempt to be so brief and uncomplicated that they provide for no understanding of the subject at all. Miss Akers has never erred in this way. Her general explanations of the principles of cataloging and dassification for the beginner are excellent and sufficiently full so that the untrained librarian working from this manual does get some idea of the purposes and principles on which procedures are based. This characteristic also gives the book some value for the second purpose for which it is intended. However, how far it can be used advantageously for the third purpose is very questionable.

When the earlier editions of this work ap- peared, there was far greater need for simplified rules for descriptive cataloging than now. In the interim the Rules for Descriptive Cataloging in the Library of Congress, 1949, have been ac-

cepted as standard. This code has so greatly simplified cataloging practices that Miss Akers' simplifications must now be viewed in a rather different light from formerly.

Descriptive cataloging as now practiced by the Library of Congress is a simple process, and the Wilson printed cards are in places even more simplified. Therefore, it would seem to be far more practical and less confusing for the student if the author had followed one or the other of these already established systems rather than adopting some practices from one, some from the other, and even inserting a few original sug- gestions, especially since nothing seems to have been gained thereby. This is one of the charac- teristics of the book which prevent its fulfiling the third of its proposed purposes.

Another one is the tendency which the author has, when giving a series of quotes from the Library of Congress rules, of breaking into these quotes with a rule which departs from LC practice without pointing out the departure (e.g., p. 80). If the student is not actually look- ing for quotation marks, he might well fail to be aware of their temporary lapse and quite under- standably take the whole section as a statement of Library of Congress rules.

Perhaps the most confusing thing in the book is the statement of a rule which is not car- ried out in the examples; for example, in relation to the publisher statement, the LC rule is quot- ed, ". . . names known to be forenames are rep- resented by initials," yet, following this, Wil- liam Morrow & Co., Inc. is given in a sample imprint as Morrow. To cite a second example of this tendency, in listing the phrases which are to be omitted from the publisher statement, all quoted from the LC rules, the author mentions the omission of the phrases "and company" and "and sons," but not "company" and "sons" which, of course, in LC practice are not omitted. Yet, in the examples which directly follow, to illustrate the rules just stated, one finds The Naylor Company recorded on the sample card simply as Naylor.

In the discussion of notes there is no mention of the most used of all, the bibliography note, except in that more unusual instance when it might form a part of the contents note. Some of the sample cards show instances of bibliography notes, but this will not take the place of an ex- planation for either the beginner or the lay librarian.

When giving the rules for the entry of per sonal and corporate names, it would have been

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