Encyclopedia of Library History

Library Journal

This encyclopedia joins Bohdan S. Wynan's Dictionary of American Library Biography (Professional Reading, LJ 9/1/78) and Donald G. Davis Jr.'s American Library History: A Comprehensive Guide to the Literature (Professional Reading, LJ 3/ 1/90) as essential reference tools for the study of library history. It is, however, much broader in scope, both geographically and chronologically. Edited by two prominent U.S. library historians, the volume contains articles by more than 200 contributors from three dozen countries. The work is organized in a standard one-volume encyclopedia format with alphabetically arranged articles, cross references, brief bibliographies, and a detailed index. The essays are basically of two types: geographical and subject. The geographical articles survey libraries in particular countries or regions. They also profile more than 50 major libraries worldwide. A small sample of the great variety of entries includes: Hans H. Wellisch's ``Alexandrian Library''; Mary Niles Maack's ``Gender Issues in Librarianship''; and Ellis Mount's ``Scientific and Technical Libraries.'' While editors must have been tempted at times to limit the work to U.S. library history, the broad coverage makes the encyclopedia a rich source of information on the historical role of the library in society in diverse times and places. While this volume will appeal primarily to the librarian or library school student, there is a fair amount of material here to interest the general reader. Recommended for library science collections and large general reference collections.-Thomas F. O'Connor, Manhattan Coll. Libs., Bronx, N.Y.

Booknews

A comprehensive global and historical reference in 263 alphabetically arranged articles ranging in length from a paragraph to a mini-essay, most followed by a brief bibliography. It offers coverage of prominent libraries, historical periods in library development, library concerns, library organizations, types of libraries, development of library administration and organizational practices, prominent librarians in history, library education, library literature, and other topics. The coverage also traces the historical development of information that libraries have managed, from oral tradition through the invention of the written and printed word, how and why this information was preserved, and how it was used by patrons. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sandy Whiteley

International in scope and covering library history from Babylonian clay tablets to MEDLINE, the articles here range from 200 to 6,000 words. The emphasis is on the historical, but there is much information on libraries in the present day. There is a wonderful article on the history of the concept of alphabetical order, along with interesting entries on the Anglo-American Cataloging Code, subject headings, OCLC, gays and lesbians, gender and racial issues in library history, and USIA libraries. The longer entries tend to be on types of libraries ("Medical Libraries", "Theological Libraries"), library functions ("Reference Services", "Collection Development"), or historical periods ("Medieval Libraries"). There are entries for 60 important libraries around the world, some of which, such as the American Antiquarian Society and the Boston Public Library, are not in the new third edition of the "World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services" ["RBB" Ja 1 94]. All articles are signed by their authors, who represent many different countries, and all conclude with bibliographies. Finding aids in the "Encyclopedia of Library History" include a classified list of articles at the beginning of the book and an index at the end How else does this work differ from the "World Encyclopedia"? Its more than 80 articles on countries of the world are briefer and lack the useful statistics found in the "World Encyclopedia", and it lacks the biographies and photographs found in that volume. While it doesn't entirely take the place of the larger "World Encyclopedia", it does provide some of the same information. It also has some unique entries, such as "Library Literature", "Library Philanthropy", "Library Staffing Patterns", "Library Statistics", and "Library Surveys".