(For the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1955)

I. ACQUISITION OF MATERIALS

A. The Division's Role in the East European Procurement Program

The Division's principal responsibility with regard to the development of the Library's East and Southeast European Collections consists in the selection and recommendation for acquisition of contemporary and retrospective printed materials of political, economic, social and cultural significance in all fields of learning except law, music, science and technology. The area of specialization assigned to the Division encompasses the following geographical units and languages:

Areas: USSR, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Rumania, Yugoslavia and Lusatia (East Germany).

Languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian and other languages spoken in the Soviet Union, Latvian, Estonian, Lithuanian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Rumanian, Albanian, Sorbian and the major West European languages.

In the fiscal year under review the procurement program for publications from or about this area continued to be guided by the policy of bringing to the Library a selected body of information needed about these lands and their nationals living both at home and abroad. The aggregate receipts consequently represent a cross section of the domestic publishing in these countries, as well as of the steadily increasing volume of publications about them issued in many languages all over the world. This body of information is invaluable for the understanding of the Slavic civilizations of the past and indispensable for the research and analysis of contemporary happenings behind the Iron Curtain. Of necessity, the publications added to the LC collections are heterogeneous in many respects. As to subject the acquisitions cover a wide range of knowledge in multiple categories to which varying degrees of emphasis have been given, in line with the Library's present and foreseeable needs. To say that a completely well rounded and evenly balanced selection is more in the nature of an ideal situation than a realizable objective would be perhaps to elaborate on the obvious. Such an aim could not be accomplished without the faculty of prescience nor without the prerequisite of a free flow of information on which, as is known, definite limitations are imposed by the countries of the Soviet bloc. Nonetheless, as the vicissitudes encountered in the field are weighed against the services which it proved possible, with the help of these materials, to render to the legislative and executive branches of the Government, to academic and research institutions, and to the interested public at large, it would appear that the procurement program has come rather close to anticipating and meeting actual requirements.

B. Development of Collections

The Library's intake in the field and period under review is the fruition of a great number of recommending operations which can be likened to the piecemeal composition of a mosaic from its single elements. This process of strengthening and augmenting the Library's collections involves daily routine work as well as complex performances, requiring alertness to the specific needs of the collections and insight into the particularities of publishing and publishing developments in the area. Far from being static, the procurement program necessitates steady adjustments to shifting situations of demand and supply, re-examination of current receipts with a view to eliminating deadwood and filling gaps, and, last but not least, the search for new or alternate channels of procurement whenever the existing ones prove elusive or unsatisfactory.

Being at the initiating end of acquisitions activities, the Division has worked steadily in close liaison with the Processing Department and its procurement divisions. It can be registered with satisfaction that this cooperation has at all times been smooth and mutually beneficial and marked by a spirit of fine teamwork.

Key figures for East European recommending and procurement operations in fiscal 1955 are contained in the general statistical table attached to this report. Detailed figures on East European acquisitions in fiscal 1955 and on the selectivity of recommendations are given in two additional attachments.

The figures reveal an over-all increase in the volume of the Division's recommending and the Library's procurement activities in the field, a development which is attributable to a somewhat improved supply situation and to the extension of exchange arrangements.

Turning from the quantitative to the substantive aspects of procurement, the following summary gives the principal categories of sources which have been regularly scrutinized for recommending purposes.

1. Six monthly or semi-monthly national bibliographies from East Europe plus other West European national bibliographies listing materials focused on the area.
2. Dealers' lists, trade catalogs and exchange lists from a diversity of countries and sources.
3. Publications reports received by the Library through State Department and other official channels.
4. Annual catalogs of serials available for subscription from various East and Southeast European countries. The recurrent screening of these materials offered a welcome opportunity of reviewing the adequacy of the current intake and of recommending such modifications as appeared indicated.
5. Specialized journals and bibliographies offering information of value for the preparation of desiderata lists.
6. Acquisitions lists of the British Foreign Office Library, the Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of the USSR (Munich), the Rusland-Instituut of the University of Amsterdam, the Polish Library in London, Neuerscheinungen der Wissenschaftlichen Literatur (East Germany) and other lists from West and East European institutions. This last type of material has not only served as a measure for comparing and testing the effectiveness of the Library's Slavic and East European procurement efforts but has also been a supplemental source of information on current publishing on East Europe.

Besides recommending strategic materials for the area, the Division has focused its special attention on the task of adding to the Library's collections the notable array of significant contributions to the knowledge of East Europe which are the products of many active publications of American and West European research and scholarly organizations. An illustration of this type of procurement activity is provided by the roster of the leading institutions engaged in East European research and publishing in the German Federal Republic and the Western Sectors of Berlin: Institut für Osteuropäische Geschichte und Landeskunde at the University of Tübingen, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Osteuropakunde in Stuttgart, Göttinger Arbeitskreis at Göttingen, Johann Gottfried Herder-Institut in Marburg, Osteuropa-Institut and Südost-Institut at Munich, Osteuropa-Institut of the Free University in Berlin and the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung in Berlin.

Another sector of special emphasis was the acquisition of current Ukrainian and Baltic materials published on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Because of the absence of a Ukrainian specialist on the Division's staff, the Chief recommended to the Reference Department the temporary appointment of Professor Jaroslav B. Rudnyckyj, Head of the Slavic Department, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, for the purpose of surveying LC's Ukrainian collections and strengthening its Ukrainian acquisitions. It would be to the great advantage of the Library's Ukrainian holdings if this appointment were to materialize.

In concluding this section it is fitting to stress the numerous benefits which were derived from the fact that acquisitions, reference and bibliographical responsibilities are concentrated in the hands of one Division. This integration advanced appreciably the efficiency of the performance in each individual sector of work and the coordination among all three of them. By closely following the publishing events and the Library's intake relative to this area, the Division's staff has been able to apply this information profitably to the reference and bibliographic sphere. On the other hand, the handling of reference and bibliographic work often revealed significant gaps in the Library's collections and led to efforts to remedy the situation.

C. Special Acquisition Events

The Division's initiative in bringing rare materials to the Library was highlighted by the purchase of several valuable Slavic rare books from a London dealer with whom the Library established contact at the Division's suggestion. Outstanding among these acquisitions is the 1596 one-volume version of the Czech Brethren's Kralická (Kralitz) Bible, a pre-eminent religious cultural relic which has remained a standard of the Czech language and orthography up to recent times. This work is known to be extant in only eight copies in major libraries outside Czechoslovakia and represents a prominent enrichment of the Library's rare book collection. In view of the very active interest shown in this type of material by European buyers and libraries — who have the advantage of proximity to the source — only a fraction of the Library's orders could, however, be filled. At the Division's initiative, the bookdealer assured the Library of priority consideration with regard to similar offers in the future.

And in fact, as an outgrowth of these negotiations, the Library only a few weeks ago received from the same source another list offering chiefly Bohemica of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Division made a studious selection of a considerable number of works hitherto unavailable in the United States and conspicuous for their extreme rarity and for their unique value to students of the momentous religious and political events of the Reformation Period. Further contact initiated by this Division with a Vienna dealer in rare books yielded additional valuable Slavic seventeenth century materials at very advantageous terms. Thus, through a combination of determined acquisition efforts and windfalls through which unique materials became accessible, the Library succeeded in assembling within a brief time and at what is thought to be an unusually moderate cost, an impressive collection of rare materials on Czech history, thereby gaining a prominent place among American and European repositories in this domain.

Passing from the realm of venerable treasures of the cultural past to the strategic and utilitarian needs of the present, it can be reported that the Division's screening of East German catalogs of Soviet materials established in fiscal 1955 that Knizhnaia letopis', the Soviet national bibliography, regarded as a top secret document and, therefore, withheld from the West since 1947, has become available for subscription in East Germany. This information was imparted to LC authorities who, together with representatives of another Government agency, arranged for the procurement of this publication. As a result the Library recently received microfilms of the first eight issues for 1955 of this bibliography which represents an invaluable source for the analysis of current LC receipts from the USSR, of the total book production in that country, and, in particular, of the state of specialized technical education in the USSR. It is interesting to note that the Soviet national bibliography is being printed in a surprisingly small edition of 3,500 copies. A preliminary survey of its first issue for 1955 indicates that 84 of the 199 Russian monographs listed in that issue in the categories under the Division's purview, are to be found in the LC collections.

Restrictions with regard to the distribution of the Soviet national bibliography do not seem to be an isolated occurrence behind the Iron Curtain. In March of this year word reached the Library from the official Czechoslovak Publications Agency that in the future the Czechoslovak national bibliography would no longer be available for export. The Division offered to the Order and Exchange and Gift Division several proposals for substitute procurement which have since ensured the continued receipt of this important bibliography.

D. Exchange Procurement

The Division has taken an active part in the clarification of existing and the initiation of new exchange arrangements which now account for a respectable portion of the Library's total intake from East Europe. The selection of desiderata from exchange offers and the preparation of want lists has been an almost diurnal preoccupation of the Division, and this task has been considerably enhanced by the services of an Exchange Assistant whom the Division shares on a part-time basis with the Exchange and Gift Division. It can be said that every effort has been made to utilize exchange contacts with such major institutions as promote publications programs or posses East European duplicate collections within the sphere of the Library's interest. These institutional exchanges, too numerous to be mentioned here even by way of example, include scores of Academies of Sciences, learned institutions, bibliographical centers, and libraries in East European countries, as well as library and research centers of Slavic studies in the U.S.A., Germany, France, Great Britain, Finland, Italy, and other countries.

Among major exchange assignments was the preparation of consolidated lists of periodical and newspaper titles which the Library wishes to receive in 1955 from the Bibliographical Institutes in Sofia and Belgrade, respectively. Furthermore, 2,241 items were selected for retention from a consignment from Yugoslavia representing that country's total publication output for the years 1951–1952.

For some time it had been suspected that LC did not receive through Government exchange a quid pro quo of official publications from various East European countries. At the request of the Processing Department the Division prepared four statistically documented surveys which revealed the inadequacy of exchange receipts from this area. As a result of these findings the Library requested the respective authorities in those countries to remedy the situation and assurances of improved deliveries have since been received.

Advising the Exchange and Gift Division regarding untapped sources of exchange procurement has been another important function of the Division. Thus, personal contacts of staff members with officials of German research institutions such as the Ost-Europa institutes in Berlin and Tübingen, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bad Godesberg, and the Historical Institute of the Yugoslav Academy at Zagreb engendered the initiation of exchange relations between these organizations and the Library. Another case in point was the tracing by the Division of an announcement in the Soviet press according to which the USSR Academy of Sciences was acting as an intermediary for the exchange of specific publications of several local Union Republic Academies of Sciences. As a result of the Division's recommendations important serial publications of these institutions were requested on exchange. On several occasions the Division advised the Exchange and Gift Division with regard to the implementation of the Russian Duplicates Exchange Program with American research and public libraries; it also selected duplicates to be offered on exchange to foreign exchange partners.

E. Microfilming Program

In 1953 the Library began to explore, with the help of a grant obtained from the Ford Foundation, the feasibility of establishing bibliographical control over significant Slavic research materials in Western Europe and Finland. Having surveyed the Slavic collections and catalogs of sixty-two libraries and institutions in England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, the Chief of the Division embodied his findings in a detailed report identifying substantial collections and describing pertinent catalogs, the reproduction of which could be considered in the interest of making the information contained therein accessible to Governmental and private research in this country. This program has since entered its operative phase and the Order Division in consultation with this Division has so far secured Slavic catalogs and lists of the University Library at Helsinki; the Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale contemporaine in Paris; the Société Scientifique Ševčenko at Sarcelles, France, the Royal Library in Stockholm; the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the Glasgow University Library. Negotiations with other libraries, including the Foreign Office Library in London, are in progress. Thus, the nucleus has been formed for a extensive collection of foreign Slavic catalogs which, in conjunction with the Library's Cyrillic Union Catalog, would provide a most useful tool for the location and possible procurement on microfilm of important materials which are inaccessible in this country.

Since retrospective East European materials are nowadays very scarce and expensive on the book market, the medium of microfilming has gained growing importance for the complementing of library collections. As the need arose, the Division submitted numerous recommendations for the securing of microfilms of basic items. Similarly, with the help of desiderata lists prepared by this Division, the Exchange and Gift Division has obtained various microfilm materials, the cost of which was defrayed by LC credits with several American libraries participating in the Russian Duplicates Exchange Project.

F. Review of Acquisitions

Members of the Division's staff prepare annually for the Library of Congress Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions detailed reports devoted to the discussion and evaluation of publishing trends and intellectual developments in the East European domain and to the description of the year's conspicuous receipts. Two such articles appeared in the February 1955 issue of the Journal: Paul L. Horecky contributed a fourteen-page report on Bulgarian, Czechoslovak, Polish and Yugoslav materials, including German-language publications in the field; and Béla T. Kardos reviewed Hungarian materials.

G. Other Acquisition Activities

The Chief of the Division has served as the representative of the Reference Department on the Library's Acquisitions Committee and has cooperated with the Order Division in the administration of the Slavic Studies Procurement Program which is devoted to the cooperative acquisition of Soviet materials for the Library of Congress and six other American university libraries.

In connection with discussions aiming at defining the Library's acquisition policies, the Division elaborated and presented to the Reference Department tentative sets of criteria for the selection of current and retrospective monographic literature in the Slavic and East European sphere.

II. ORGANIZATION OF MATERIALS

Although the Division is not charged with independent processing responsibilities, it contributed in various ways to the organization and cataloging of Slavic and East European materials. Different areas of the Library, including the Manuscripts, Map, Music, Serials, Prints and Photographs, Descriptive and Subject Cataloging Divisions, the Hispanic Foundation, and the Decimal Classification Section recurrently drew on the Division's specialized skills in matters of organizing or recording East European publications.

As a participant in the weekly committee meetings of the Processing Department, the Chief cooperated in formulating procedures for the organization and development of the Cyrillic Union Catalog and offered advice with regard to the preparation and circulation of the Monthly List of Russian Accessions and the East European Accessions List. On behalf of the Selection Officer, members of the Division's staff evaluated periodically special types of East European materials, particularly textbooks and children's literature, for the purpose of determining their retention or discard, cataloging, recording on form cards or transfer to other Government agencies.

On the basis of a regular screening of incoming materials from or about East Europe, members of the staff channeled these materials to the appropriate custodial areas and established cataloging priorities designed to ensure the earliest possible availability of items likely to be in active demand.

In view of the lack of a full-time Hungarian cataloger and the heavy demand for certain categories of Hungarian publications, the Hungarian Consultant submitted to the Processing Department recommendations for the improvement and acceleration of the processing of these materials. Proposals with regard to the simplification of the custody and servicing of Slavic periodical materials, were made and subsequently enacted, and the Division was consulted by the Serial Record Division concerning methods of improving the listing of Soviet periodicals.

The Chief of the Division currently serves on the Committee on Books for the Blind.

III. USE OF MATERIALS

A. Service to Congress

(See Attached Summary of Special Studies and Bibliographies)

Service to Congress has been an essential and sustained function of the Division. The fact that the Division Chief, acting simultaneously as a part-time Senior Specialist in Russian Affairs of the Legislative Reference Service, has at his disposal in the Division, specialists with the linguistic and topical know-how for East European area research, establishes the Division for all practical purposes, as an extension of the Legislative Reference Service for this area. A flow of Congressional assignments focused on current political, economic, social and cultural affairs of East Europe was received and taken care of by the Division. Foremost among them rank several documented reports, either completed or nearing completion, which have been prepared at the behest of various committees or members of Congress under the aegis of the Legislative Reference Service and with very substantial participation of this Division. Under the direction and supervision of the Chief, a multiplicity of performances in connection with these reports, such as the location of sources, preparation of translations, presentation of the subject and review as to bibliographical and editorial details were in part or in toto attended to by the Division in close liaison with the Legislative Reference Service. The following studies of this type deserve to be mentioned specifically:

1. Tensions Within the Soviet Captive Countries, a series of documented studies requested by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (Document No. 70, Parts 4–7, 83rd Congress, 1st Session). (206 pages)
   • a. Tensions in Albania
   • b. Tensions in Czechoslovakia
   • c. Tensions in Hungary
   • d. Tensions in Poland
2. The Soviet Technical Assistance Program in Non-Communist Asia, a report prepared by the Legislative Reference Service under the direction of the Chief of the Division and with bibliographical aid by the Division's staff. (Subcommittee on Technical Assistance Programs of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Staff Study No. 3, 84th Congress, 1st Session).
3. The Division provided bibliographical assistance for Trends in Economic Growth; A Comparison of the Western Powers and the Soviet Bloc, which was written by the staff of the Legislative Reference Service. (Joint Committee on the Economic Report, Committee Print, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session).
4. World Communism and World Revolution. Recently completed, this study involved the revision and editing by the Division of a rough draft compiled by Senator Wiley's staff.
5. Chronology of World Communism. At the request of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, this compilation is being prepared by the Legislative Reference Service with the Division's bibliographical and other help.
6. Treaty Violations by the USSR. The draft of this study, completed by the staff of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Internal Security, was assigned to the Chief of the Division for review.

As a matter of routine, the Division answered spot inquiries and discharged ad hoc assignments emanating from members of Congress or their staff, reviewed reports written by the staff of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Legislative Reference Service and prepared translations from East European languages, particularly those not covered by the Slavic Room.

B. Reference Service (other than for Congress)

1. Nature and Scope

In the Division's work schedule, reference activities played a conspicuous role. The quantitative picture of this sector is condensed in the general table of statistics; this section will, therefore, be devoted to the qualitative considerations of the nature and scope of reference problems coming to the Division and to a characterization of the clientele from which they originate.

In responding to reference inquiries covering a far-flung range of language, subject and geographical area, the Division was guided by the endeavor to provide the maximum information commensurate with the weight of the inquiry and consistent with the available manpower. Answering spot reference inquiries by telephone reference consultations and conferences in matters of bibliographical detail, information, guidance in the use of special catalogs or reference tools, and in book selection were daily features of the Division's reference service. Equal attention was given to the response to reference letters, either addressed to the Division or referred to it, because of their specialized scope of inquiry, by the General Reference and Bibliography Division. Consultative services rendered in connection with research projects of individuals or Government agencies and with the development of Slavic collections by other research libraries were additional facets of the Division's work. Thus, for instance, the Bureau of the Census was repeatedly advised on bibliographical information for pending bibliographical projects on East European countries, and the Armed Forces Medical Library consulted with the Division concerning arrangement and materials for a bibliography of East European medical bibliographies. The libraries of George Washington University and Michigan University requested and received counsel on questions of developing their Slavic collections.

The agencies of the Government's executive branch which approached the Division with requests for information and documentation were, for example, the White House, the Department of Defense (the Army and Air Force), along with other defense agencies, the Departments of State, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Justice, Health, Education and Welfare, and the USIA. In particular, the transfer to Washington of the Voice of America engendered an increase in calls from that agency.

Faculty members and students of numerous universities and colleges including the Russian Institute of Columbia University, the Russian Research Center at Harvard University, Stanford University, the University of Notre Dame, etc. received through correspondence and personal contact bibliographical and reference aid. Another segment of the Division's clientele was represented by area research agencies, professional, civic and international organizations, diplomatic representatives and business and industrial establishments, such as: the National Committee for a Free Europe, Current Digest of the Soviet Press, Rand Corporation, Council on Foreign Relations, Council for Economic and Industry Research, Commonwealth Fund, UNESCO, the British and Australian Embassies, the National Republican Committee, United Mineworkers, Standard Oil Company, Film Producers Association, Readex Microprint Corporation, and the National Committee for Resettlement of Foreign Physicians. Finally, newspapers and news services, columnists, and commentators availed themselves of the Division's services particularly at times when surprise developments behind the Iron Curtain provided news of heightened timeliness. The orbit of the Division's reference assistance to individuals and institutions embraced numerous foreign countries, such as Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

In scope, these inquiries encompassed a wide spectrum of knowledge and addressed themselves to a variety of objectives. A good deal of the reference problems were concerned with locating information meaningful for the analysis and evaluation of the political, economic and cultural scene in critical areas of the contemporary world. Other inquiries were the corollary of scholarly pursuits or served the individual reader's quest for knowledge or his intellectual curiosity. Not absent altogether were sporadic attempts to enlist the Division's help in the interest of producing short cuts to term papers or dissertations. In clearly identifiable instances, such designs were thwarted by form letters.

A few examples will illustrate the different aspects of the Division's reference work: for the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association, the Division revised and supplemented a reading list on Communism; Its Theory and Practice. The Commanding Officer of the 5004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron requested and received information "pertaining to books in print on the subject of idiomatic expressions in the Russian language." A letter from the Department of Political Science of the University of Detroit solicited the Division's assistance in a study on the electoral process in Poland between 1918 and 1939, pointing out that source materials in other major libraries had been exhausted. A two-page detailed bibliography was supplied in answer to this query. The Slavic Peoples' Project, conducted under the auspices of the University of Chicago, was advised on up-to-date informational sources for the preparation of handbooks on Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Belorussia, and the Ukraine. A research associate of the School of Slavonic Studies in the University of London, studying the influence of Dickens on nineteenth-century Russian novelists, asked for and was given bibliographical data which he was unable to locate in the British Museum owing to the war-time destruction of Russian materials. In another case a student of the civilization and history of the Wends — a small ethnic group living in the Lausitz (Lusatia), which belongs partly to Saxony and partly to Silesia — was furnished an extensive bibliography of the significant literature in that field. A detailed list of references was prepared in answer to a request of the Society for the Defense of Freedom in Asia (Calcutta, India) for information on international Communist front organizations. Among recent visitors to the Division was Mr. George Kennan, former U. S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union and presently Research Professor at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, who requested bibliographical information for a survey he is preparing on post-1917 American-Russian relations.

In concluding this chapter, it may be appropriate to give voice to some of those who used the Division's services. A letter from the Strategic Intelligence School, Department of the Army, commending the services of the Division's Polish Bibliographer, reads in part as follows:

". . .I wish to express appreciation for your kind assistance in the revision of our lists of background reading materials designed to acquaint the military attaches-designate with the countries to which they have been appointed. . .Access to your special knowledge in connection with this revision was extremely advantageous to us and it has been greatly appreciated. . ."

In a similar vein, Professor Stephen D. Kertesz, Chairman of the Committee on International Relations in the University of Notre Dame, acknowledged the Division's aid in these terms:

"I would like to thank you very much for the bibliography on American-Soviet Diplomacy. . .Your list is a very valuable addition to our material. We mimeographed your list, with a few additions, and I am sending you two copies. . ."

2. Special Studies

During his temporary assignment to the Division in 1954, Mr. Boris I. Gorokhoff assembled at the request of the Division Chief a substantial amount of information toward the preparation of a manual on the Library's Slavic and East European collections. If brought to a conclusion, this manual would offer to the reader a concise description of the Library's resources in the Slavic and East European field and would guide him as to where and how these materials could be located. Because of the lack of manpower, this worthwhile project had to remain inactive in fiscal year 1955.

At the request of higher Library authorities the Division carried out various surveys focused on specific aspects of the collections. This type of activity is epitomized by an evaluative report submitted to the Chief Assistant Librarian with regard to the coverage in the Library of Congress and other United States libraries of retrospective materials on the agrarian question in Central and Eastern Europe.

As an active contributor to the Library of Congress Information Bulletin, the Division prepared twenty-nine articles and notes dealing with bibliographies and new acquisitions.

C. Development of Reference Aids

To facilitate its reference service, the Division maintains reference files of fugitive materials (reprints, unpublished reports, photostats and the like) and subject card indexes for thirteen East and Southeast European countries, covering at present over 11,000 entries. Containing primarily materials which are not recorded in the regular Library of Congress catalogs, such as relevant articles in American, British and other journals and serials, these reference tools have notably contributed to speed, effectiveness and manpower economy in the Division's reference work. They have been consulted with profit by Government and private investigators specializing in the Slavic and East European field.

D. Bibliographies 

1. Completed

• a. Polish Abbreviations: A Selective List. Publications issued in Poland since 1945 frequently contain abbreviations which, having only recently come into usage,(See Attached Summary of Special Studies and Bibliographies) are often difficult to decipher. The purpose of this publication is to provide Government and private research as well as library staff with a reference aid for the identification of Polish postwar abbreviations. This 120-page list contains over 1,900 abbreviations – mainly of Government agencies, societies, companies and institutions — along with the corresponding Polish expansions and English translations. It is based on data located in a variety of Polish postwar monographs, periodicals and newspapers. Compiled by Janina Wojcicka, the Division's Polish Bibliographer, with the editorial assistance of Boris I. Gorokhoff of the Descriptive Cataloging Division and of members of this Division, and with some technical help of the Air Information Division, this list was released by the Library in April in an edition of 500 copies. The active demand which this list has met so far is an indication of its serviceability and its usefulness as a reference guide.
• b. Geography of Yugoslavia; A Selected Bibliography. In the absence of a bibliography on the above subject, it appeared desirable to facilitate bibliographical control over the pertinent LC holdings and to provide a guide to the literature on Yugoslav geography for students of the area. In the latter part of 1952, Dr. Borivoje Z. Milojević, Professor of Geography at the University of Belgrade, served as a consultant in the Map Division and was also detailed to this Division for a brief period of time to survey the Library's collections of Yugoslav geography. As a by-product of his assignment, he prepared a rough draft of this bibliography which was later forwarded to him for amplification. As subject specialist, Dr. Arch C. Gerlach, Chief of the Map Division, reviewed and somewhat modified the methodological arrangement. Subsequently, the bibliography was subjected to a thorough overhauling in the Division. The entries were brought in line with LC's bibliographical style and requirements and the original titles were translated into English. With the help of a Yugoslav assistant on detail from the Processing Department, the entries were searched and provided with LC call numbers. In the process it became necessary to clarify numerous points through a rather lengthy correspondence with Dr. Milojević. The bibliography has recently been completed and is to be released by the Library in 500 multilithed copies as recommended by the Committee on Bibliography and Publications and approved by the Librarian. Its approximately 850 entries of monographs and articles in serial publications covering the period from the second part of the last century to the present are mostly in the languages of Yugoslavia, except for a small number in English, French, German and Italian.

2. Pending, Inactive or Projected

• a. Work is under way on a survey study of Slavic Studies and research facilities in Germany, together with a Who's Who of German scholars specializing in East and Southeast European studies and a comprehensive bibliography of German-language periodicals on East and Southeast Europe from the middle of the nineteenth century up in the present.
• b. Some preliminary work was done on a list of Czech and Slovak postwar abbreviations which, when completed, will resemble as to arrangement and purpose the List of Polish Abbreviations mentioned above.
• c. The continuation of a selective bibliography of books on Lithuania in West European languages, which had been elaborated by the Division's former Lithuanian Consultant, had to be deferred because of lack of manpower. Should an improved manpower situation make it possible to bring this project to a conclusion, it would be desirable to consider also the preparation of similar bibliographies for Estonia and Latvia. A few linguistically-qualified persons who could be used for such a project are available on the LC staff and have expressed interest in cooperating with the Division toward this end.

3. Participation in LC Bibliographical Projects

In several instances the Division's staff reviewed and offered within its field of specialization recommendations as to content and presentation for bibliographies prepared in other divisions of the Reference Department as well as for East European sections of general bibliographies compiled in the Library. Examples: Aeronautical Sciences and Aviation in the Soviet Union (Air Information Division), Bibliography of National Bibliographies, and the new edition of Introduction to Europe, the latter two prepared by the General Reference and Bibliography Division.

IV. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

A. Domestic Liaison and Related Activities

At the invitation of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies, the Chief of the Division has continued to serve as a member of their Joint Committee on Slavic Studies. In this capacity, he has acted for the past years as the Library's spokesman and liaison officer with this leading exponent of Slavic studies and learning in America. The Committee's sustained keen interest in the Library's East European activities was reflected in the following resolutions which were passed at the Committee's annual meeting held in New York in December 1954 under the chairmanship of Cyril E. Black, Professor of History at Princeton University:

1. The Chairman of the Committee was authorized to reapply for a grant for the LC Procurement Officer in Moscow.
2. The Chairman was authorized to secure funds for the three-year employment of personnel necessary for the distribution to non-Governmental research libraries of Russian materials acquired in Moscow.
3. The Chairman was given the authority to find means for the implementation of the Russian Duplicates Exchange Project on the basis of a three-year budget.
4. The Committee approved the proposal to reproduce the Cyrillic Union Catalog on microprint cards and directed the Chairman to explore the possibility of finding funds necessary to complete the Catalog, to prepare cross-references and to mount the cards.
5. The Chairman was commissioned to investigate the possibility of obtaining funds for the implementation of various LC Slavic microfilming programs.
6. The Committee resolved to extend an invitation to Mr. Clapp to become a member of its Subcommittee on Procurement of Soviet Materials. Other members-designate of the Committee are Messrs. Harry C. Bauer, University of Washington; H. R. Fisher, Stanford University; Robert J. Kerner, University of California; Keyes D. Metcalf, Harvard University; Geroid T. Robinson, Columbia University and Rene Wellek, Yale University.

The foregoing summary demonstrates that the representation of the Library in this body of Slavic scholars has produced notable practical results, both in the fields of coordinated procurement efforts and the promotion of various programs which have been conducted in the Library under the sponsorship and with the aid of funds raised by the Joint Committee.

Other organizations with whom the Division maintained close and continuous liaison were Government agencies, libraries, academic institutions, foundations and representative émigré and research groups (for example, the Free Europe Committee and the Committee for the Liberation from Bolshevism). Some of them have been mentioned previously in other contexts. As the occasion arose, the Division participated in the Library's information program by introducing, for instance, students of the Strategic Intelligence School and Georgetown University to the Library's East European collections. In connection with the centenary in 1955 of the death of Adam Mickiewicz, Poland's greatest poet, the Division suggested to the Library Administration the possibility of commemorating this event by an exhibit and submitted to this end a list of potential display items.

B. Contact with Foreign Cultural Institutions

The Division has laid great stress on entertaining intensive contacts with foreign cultural establishments such as libraries and departments of universities in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, France and Germany; the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London; the Central Asian Research Center, London; the Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of the USSR, Munich; the Société Scientifique Ševčenko, Sarcelles, France; the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute in Leiden; the Library of the West German Parliament in Bonn; and many others. Frequently, foreign librarians and scholars visiting this country come to the Division to discuss with members of the staff questions of mutual interest and to seek information on the Library's facilities and Slavic resources. This lively interchange, prompted on the one hand by the reference needs of the visitors and inquirers, and on the other by the Division's endeavor to keep abreast of library and publishing developments abroad, not only promoted good will but yielded professionally rewarding results.

V. ADMINISTRATION, PERSONNEL AND FINANCE

The staff of the Division consists of only four permanent members: the Chief, serving at the same time as a Senior Specialist in Russian Affairs of the Legislative Reference Service; the USSR and East European Area Specialist; the Slavic Research Analyst; and the Secretary of the Division.

Without the availability of additional personnel who supplement the permanent staff, albeit often on the basis of tentative arrangements and details, the Division would have found it impossible to carry the increased workload in fiscal 1955. Thus, the four remaining positions of Hungarian Specialist, Polish Bibliographer, Exchange Assistant, and Clerk-Stenographer — except for the latter, all part-time positions — are financed from Administrative Working Funds or Gift Funds and are consequently indefinite or temporary. The appended table on Personnel Statistics brings out the significant fact that forty-five per cent of the Division's routine operations in fiscal 1955 would have remained unattended to if this non-permanent assistance had not been available. This situation, which makes the discharge of essential functions of the Division contingent on funds from other Government agencies or private organizations, confronted the Division with acute problems. The uncertainty as to whether or not continued financial support from these sources would be forthcoming could not help interfering with systematical and long-range planning which is so desirable from the point of view of the development and use of the collections. Moreover, this state of affairs produces administrative inconvenience such as frequent turnover of personnel — who seek more stable employment — and the resultant difficulty of filling vacancies with candidates who are both qualified and prepared to accept responsible positions on tenuous and provisional terms. While the Library authorities have shown a sympathetic awareness of these vicissitudes and have made every possible effort to ease them, a stabilization of the manpower situation would greatly further the future operations of the Division.

Dr. Sergius Yakobson, Chief of the Division, who formerly spent one-fourth of his time as Senior Specialist in Russian Affairs of the Legislative Reference Service, was directed to devote one-half of his time to that position beginning January 1955. Dr. Fritz T. Epstein, USSR and East European Area Specialist, returned from his four-month leave on August 26, 1954, having been a visiting Professor under a Fulbright grant at the University of Bonn and other German universities. In his absence, Mr. Gorokhoff of the Descriptive Cataloging Division, ably substituted and did substantial work toward the completion of a manual of LC Slavic collections. Dr. Paul L. Horecky was recommended for an outstanding performance rating for displaying high standards of professional efficiency.

Dr. Béla T. Kardos, who served as the Division's Hungarian Specialist since 1952, resigned in February 1955 to accept a position with the Voice of America. He was succeeded by Mr. Elemér Bako, who has an impressive academic and library background in the Hungarian field. Mr. John L. Harris resigned in March 1955 from his position as Clerk-Stenographer to join Representative Cooley's staff. Miss P. Elizabeth Downs, formerly of the Technical Information Division, was appointed to this position in which she works under the supervision of Miss Patricia Sullivan, the Division's Secretary and Research Assistant.

Other staff members, all non-permanent and part-time, are: Dr. Janina Wojcicka, Bibliographer on Polish Materials, sponsored by the Free Europe Committee, Inc.; Mrs. Yolanda Horan, whose services are shared with the Exchange and Gift Division and paid by the Air Information Division; and Dr. Kemal Vokopola, who, though an employee of the Foreign Law Section of the Law Library, continued to function as the Division's Consultant on Albanian Materials (without compensation). Dr. Branimir Popovitch, who through the courtesy of the Processing Department was detailed for four weeks to the Division, assisted in the preparation of the Geography of Yugoslavia; A Selected Bibliography.

Upon completion of his study on Soviet-Chinese relations, conducted under the Division's administrative supervision at the behest and with a grant of the State Department, Mr. Di-Tsin Tsing, former official of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow, terminated his work in the Library on June 30, 1955.

VI. PROFESSIONAL BUT NON-OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES

The staff displayed commendable initiative and industry in taking part in non-official professional activities within their respective fields of specialization. While this work was done entirely on their own time, the resultant advantages were beneficial both as regards the Library's public relations and the proficiency in the performance of official duties.

Three of the staff members had the honor of being invited by the Encyclopedia Americana to contribute to its 1955 printing of a series of articles on modern libraries in diverse European countries. As a result of this invitation, Dr. Horecky wrote articles on libraries in the USSR and Yugoslavia, co-authored with Dr. Epstein ten articles on libraries in other European countries, and prepared jointly with Dr. Wojcicka a similar report on libraries in Poland. A reprint of the entire section on modern foreign libraries has been released by the Americana for use in library schools.

Besides the professional activities of the Chief of the Division as described in various portions of this report, he continued to be in charge of the Russian bibliography section in the American Historical Review. He was asked by the American Historical Association to deliver at its forthcoming annual convention an analysis of Toynbee's writings on Russia's place in history. Pressure of work and prolonged absence on sick leave compelled him to decline this invitation.

Dr. Epstein taught at the American University a course on Russia since 1917 and lectured on a related subject in the Pentagon After-hours' Training Program for military and civilian personnel. He wrote an article, "Argentinien und das deutsche Heer" for the Otto Becker-Festschrift Geschichtliche Kräfte und Entscheidungen (Wiesbaden 1954) and he is the author of a study on "Friedrich Meinecke in seinem Verhältnis zum europäischen Osten" which appeared in the Jahrbuch für die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutshlands (v.III). To the American Archivist he contributed a survey of "Washington Research Opportunities on the Period of World War II" and he wrote book reviews for American and German professional organs. He has accepted an invitation to read a paper at the session, "Germany and Central Europe," at the forthcoming annual convention of the American Historical Association.

Dr. Horecky contributed review articles to the Western Political Quarterly, the Journal of Politics and other professional publications.

Dr. Wojcicka reviewed the chapters on education in six handbooks on East European countries, which are being readied for publication by the Free Europe Committee.

Dr. Bako is the publisher and contributing editor of Új Magyar Út (New Hungarian Ways), an emigré journal on Hungarian cultural affairs, published in Washington, D. C.

Table I. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

A. REFERENCE ACTIVITIES

B. ACQUISITIONS AND PROCESSING ACTIVITIES:

Attachment II.

EAST EUROPEAN MATERIALS ADDED TO LC COLLECTIONS

(Exclusive of Pre-World War II Materials and Materials Given Form Card Treatment)

Statistics of Titles

Attachment III.

SELECTIVITY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Attachment IV.

SUMMARY OF SPECIAL STUDIES AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES

• I. Special Studies and Bibliographies Prepared (or Initiated) in the Division:
  • A. Tension Within the Soviet Captive Countries:
    1. Tension in Albania (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Document No. 70, Part 6, 83rd Congress, 1st Session)
    2. Tension in Hungary (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Document No. 70, Part 7, 83rd Congress, 1st Session)
  • B. Polish Abbreviations; A Selective List (Published)
  • C. Geography of Yugoslavia; A Selected Bibliography (Ready for publication)
  • D. Survey of Slavic Studies in Germany (Nearing completion)
  • E. Czech and Slovak Abbreviations; A Selective List (In progress)
  • F. Selected Bibliography of Books on Lithuania in West European Languages (Inactive)
  • G. Manual of the Slavic and East European Collections of the Library of Congress (Inactive)
• II. Special Studies, Portions of Which Were Prepared in the Division:
  • A. Tensions in Czechoslovakia (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Document No. 70, Part 4, 83rd Congress, 1st Session)
  • B. The Soviet Technical Assistance Program in Non-Communist Asia (Subcommittee on Technical Assistance Programs of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Staff Study No. 4, 84th Congress, 1st Session)
  • C. World Communism and World Revolution (Completed for Senator Wiley)
• III. Contributions to Bibliographies and Special Studies (Review, Revision or Bibliographical Sources)
  • A. Tensions in Poland (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Document No. 70, Part 5, 83rd Congress, 1st Session)
  • B. Trends in Economic Growth: A Comparison of the Western Powers and the Soviet Bloc. (Joint Committee on the Economic Report, Committee Print, 83rd Congress, 2nd Session)
  • C. Chronology of World Communism (Senate Committee on Foreign Relations) (Pending)
  • D. Treaty Violations by the USSR (Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Internal Security) (Pending)
  • E. Aeronautical Sciences and Aviation in the Soviet Union (Prepared by the Air Information Division and released by the Library)
  • F. Bibliography of National Bibliographies (Completed by the General Reference and Bibliography Division)
  • G. Introduction to Europe (Being completed by the General Reference and Bibliography Division)

Attachment V. PERSONNEL STATISTICS

Share of appropriated and non-appropriated positions in the total workload of the Division, by man-years and activities: