Submitted by
Sergius Yakobson, Chief
July 7, 1961

INTRODUCTION

It is fitting to lead off this report by commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Division's birth in 1951. When the Division hung out its shingle ten years ago, its staff, according to the first annual report, "consisted of the Chief of the Division, one Slavic Research Analyst, partly paid from funds transferred to the Library by the Rockefeller Foundation . . . and one research assistant who functioned simultaneously as secretary of the Division." As a sendoff for the infant Division, the Joint Committee on Slavic Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council passed a resolution stating that it "welcomes the establishment of the Slavic Division in the Library of Congress, believes that it will be of great importance as a center of development in an area vital to the national interest, and trusts that every effort will be made to support and expand its work."

In the intervening decade the Division has devoted its energies to keeping pace with the mushrooming interest in Central and East European affairs and to proving itself worthy of the trust placed in it. During this period, the Division has become an integral part of the Library's varied operations, growing into a specialized reference and bibliographic center known and respected at home and abroad, with a record of 14 published bibliographies. The Division has steadily expanded its area responsibilities and functions and, largely because of the sustained efforts of its recommending officers, has made a direct contribution to the advancement of the field through the addition of many thousands of books and serials to the Library's shelves which are a mine of information on central and East Europe.

As a new fiscal year's resolution, we reiterate our commitment to brevity and express our belief that the facts speak best for themselves. Thus, our annual report will give only a selective summary of the Division's over-all range of activities.

I. ACQUISITIONS

Exacting requirements must be met to fulfill successfully the Division's recommending responsibilities in one of the world's most critical areas. First, those involved in this process have to be aware of and responsive to swiftly changing situations and to their impact on the needs of those who use the Library's resources. (The Division has an unusually good opportunity of assessing its daily reference work whether its procurement operations adequately meet the customers' demands.) Second, the recommending officer must have the foresight to visualize the requirements that will be placed upon the Library's holdings many years hence. Third — as a distinguished scholar and librarian has said — "a well-selected collection can be more useful than one in which laborious excavation must penetrate mountains of trash in order to reach significant material." Decisions, either negative or positive, which lead to balanced collections must aim at achieving the precarious balance between "too much" and "too little."

In comparison with previous years, book receipts from Central and East European areas give the impression of a somewhat more varied intellectual fare and often show marks of greater refinement in the art of producing and illustrating books. Numerically, the inflow of books has sharply accelerated during the fiscal year, exceeding receipts of the previous year by some 33 percent. The aggregate of books from East and East Central Europe which were added to the collections amounted, at a conservative estimate of more than 25 percent of the area's total production falling within the perimeter of the Library's acquisitions' interest — a ratio which should insure a representative, though necessarily selected, body of relevant information extending over a wide spectrum of knowledge.

A quantitative projection of the USSR book procurement situation alone gives the following picture: of the approximately 49,000 books and pamphlets produced in 1960 in the USSR in the Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian languages, the Library received an estimated 11,500 items, or roughly 23 percent. A more realistic basis of computation — arrived at by deducting from the USSR output such material as it outside the Library's subject scope (clinical medicine and technical agriculture), as well as publications of narrowly local or ephemeral nature, unaltered reeditions, and translations — would raise this percentage sizeably. If publications in the political and social sciences only are taken into account the proportion would be in the nature of some 43 percent.

The Division staff contributed to the Library's Central and East European procurement program in a multiplicity of ways. While the task of recommending materials is shared by several Divisions in the Library, it has fallen to this Division to act as the principal recommending and consolidating unit to assure good coverage in the pertinent fields of knowledge, determining not only what to secure but often advising the acquisitions Divisions as to how and where to obtain needed materials.

The continued participation of the Division Chief in weekly meetings of the Processing Department gives the Division an effective voice in development of over-all procurement planning. The search for new channels of procurement and for ways and means of improving existing ones has been a constant preoccupation of the Division. For instance, when Mr. Ivan Bratko, president of the Association of Yugoslav Publishers and director of one of Yugoslavia's leading publishing and bookselling enterprises visited the Division, the staff discussed with him various questions related to strengthening the collections. As a result, he offered to supply much-sought-after catalogs of current and retrospective Yugoslav publications. In connection with a proposal from the Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig to institute a limited exchange agreement with the Library, the Division after reviewing the not entirely satisfactory situation with regard to East German publications, suggested consideration of the proposal, which would encompass certain material ordinarily not obtainable through booktrade sources. Even operative exchange agreements and blanket order arrangements call for vigilance and scrutiny, because inertia, oversight, or faulty selection on the part of the blanket dealer or exchange partner may impair the quality of receipts. A case in point is the blanket order arrangement for West German publications, which, though apparently convenient as to administrative handling, proved upon examination by the Area Specialist (Central Europe), Dr. Arnold H. Price, to have definite built-in weaknesses. A search of 2,000 titles representing the most important 1959 imprints failed to reveal the availability in the Library's collection of 700 items; these were subsequently recommended. Similarly, the deficiencies in the automatic receipt of exchange publications from the Helsinki University Library were corrected when the Division recommended a procedure whereby each monthly shipment is now accompanied by an issue of the Finnish national bibliography in which the titles mailed are marked, so that supplementary desiderata can be recommended.

The Division has been alert to the need for probing continually into the adequacy of the collections. One device for attaining a satisfactory level of coverage is a system of major reviews of subscription lists to periodicals (staggered according to a pre-determined schedule) to which the Division has devoted considerable time and thought. The operation involves the addition of new serial titles for subscription, the elimination of those which prove expendable, a shifting from exchange to purchase procurement, or vice versa, as feasible, and re-examination of the numbers of copies need.

The Division has availed itself in past years of the services of various consultants in order to scrutinized and evaluate collections in specific areas. This year, Dr. Stephen Fischer-Galaţi of the History Department of Wayne State University has temporarily joined the staff to survey the Rumanian collections, identify strong points, and diagnose and prescribe cures for weaknesses. Similar surveys of the Baltic, Yugoslav, and Finnish collections were conducted by the staff on a routine basis. The Division now screens materials reported to the East European Accessions Index by cooperating libraries, but not received by the Library. Extensive reports on German and Austrian publishing and research pertaining to East Europe and the Balkans — which had come to the Division's attention in connection with reference activities — provided a yardstick for a thorough check of the Library's pertinent holdings and resulted in recommendation of quite a few important missing items.

Experience has shown that the processing of the Division's recommendations has not always moved with desirable speed because of manpower shortages in the acquisitions divisions. To alleviate this situation an increasing amount of searching has been done by the Division staff, and also a substantial volume of purchase request forms has been prepared for the Order Division by our recommending officers. The use of printed advance publishing plans from Czechoslovakia and Hungary in lieu of national bibliographies, inaugurated last year as a new basis for recommendations, has greatly accelerated procurement from these countries. The Hungarian Reference Librarian, Dr. Elemér Bako, estimate that Hungarian books are now being received several months earlier than normally. A proposal by Dr. Price to use letter coding for the ordering of West German publications is being explored.

Numerous opportunities arose for the Division to initiate, or to participate in, the acquisition of material of considerable significance to the Library's collections. For example, Dr. Price surveyed an important collection focused on the history of the Netherlands and proposed that it be added to the Library's holdings. Increasingly, emphasis has been placed on photocopying of missing items. An important project in this category is the microfilming, under a Ford Foundation grant, of rare items in the Helsinki University Library which were singled out by the Division's recommending officers and which will make available to American research rare pre-Revolutionary Russian serials previously absent from United States libraries. Arrangements with the University of Kentucky are no under way to bring to the Library microfilms of Russian books published from 1564 to 1700, a period which now is only sparsely represented in the collections. Owing to the Division's initiative, the microfilmed card index of the sizable Old Estonica Collection (1828–1917) was recently secured from Helsinki University Library. This is being added to the collection of similar microfilms of catalogs for prominent Slavic collections in major European libraries which has been brought together as part of the Division's effort to establish bibliographic control over unique Slavic library resources located outside the United States.

Notable rara and rarissisma received included Asserti Vera de Trinitat . . ., a theological disquisition by the Hungarian religious reformer Stephanus Szegedi, printed in Geneva in 1573 by Eustachius Vignon; a fine copy of a Serbian psalter (Psaltir), printed in Church Slavonic by Barto Ginammi in Venice in 1638, and noted in the history of Serbian printing because it is believed to be the first Serbian book to use Arabic numerals for pagination and the last one to originate from the Serbian printing establishment in Venice (which was closed thereafter, leaving the Serbs for more than a century without any printing facilities either at home or abroad); and, finally, a liturgy of the Rumanian Orthodox Eastern church entitled Triodion, printed in Cyrillic red and black type and richly illustrated, which was published in Buda in 1816.

II. ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLECTIONS

It has been said that the elimination of fat from library collections may have as beneficial an effect on their health as diet has on an overweight person. When the Division was assigned the custody of Slavic and Baltic unbound serials, it was found that an accumulation of arrearages over the years had failed to find the way to the Library's collections, to the duplicates, or, as transfers, to other libraries. In the spring of 1960, a concerted attack on this problem was mounted; it was pushed forward with vigor in this fiscal year, with the result that the silver lining can now be discerned, and the ultimate objective of keeping in unbound form only serials for the current and preceding years seems now within reach. A task force of Slavic Room reference Librarians, and other Division specialists working hand in hand regularly on this assignment, made decision which led to the addition of the Library's collections of 1,982 old serial titles, or 23,656 pieces, and to the removal through transfer or discard, often as duplicates, of 2,132 titles, or 21,773 pieces. A total of well over 1,580 manhours was devoted to this worthwhile undertaking. As a byproduct, numerous missing serial issues needed for the completion of files were recommended for procurement.

In connection with the installation of new metal shelving on Deck 8, much of the unbound material was rearranged for more efficient servicing. Serials hitherto kept in a rather haphazard sequence were reshelved in keeping with Serial Record procedures. Also a number of newspaper-type serials came to light which had been left unbound because it had never been determined whether they belonged in the newspaper or periodical category; it was decided that these materials should be bound henceforth by the Slavic Room as periodicals. In addition, since a great number of East European periodicals carry corporate entries it became evident that a shelflist by countries, which could be used both as a filing guide and a locating tool, was needed, and this has now been established. In preparing for binding more than 4,396 volumes of current periodicals, of which 3,639 have already been transferred to the bindery, the Deck 8 personnel has not only proceeded with speed, but has turned out binding records of excellent quality, which were highly complimented by the Binding Division.

The Division's specialists continued to screen regularly all pertinent incoming monographs and new serial titles and to recommend for the latter category retention, transfer, or discard. The Curator of the Slavic Room has also the permanent responsibility for deciding the number of copies of Slavic monographs to be retained by the Library except in the fields of science and technology. The Division specialists, particularly those in the fields of Central Europe and Hungary, have assisted in the processing activities of various Library units where their area knowledge or language qualifications have proved useful. For instance, Dr. Price was called upon to earmark, from a substantial backlog of uncataloged German books, those titles which should be processed first.

III. USE OF MATERIALS

1. Reference Activities

The Division's reference work (in person, over the phone, or by correspondence) dealt with the practical and the remote, the obvious and the unusual, the plain and the sophisticated, with facts and ideas. Services were rendered to agencies of all three branches of the government, to the scholarly community, the media of communication, the business world, the diplomatic corps, and, last but not least, to individuals whether specialists exploring the fine points of research or plain citizens searching for simple facts. The Division's reference file for the year records correspondence with clients in nearly all states of the Union and in twenty countries all over the globe; in a single month inquiries were received from government offices in Rhodesia and Nyasaland, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the Katholieke Economische Hogeschool in Tilburg, Holland, the Osteuropa Institut in Berlin, and the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Prague.

The diversity of the clientele was surpassed only by the variety of reference problems. Some inquiries mirrored the concerns of the moment, such as Mr. Khrushchev's understanding of the concept of coexistence, character training Soviet youth, the Soviet position on Quemoy and Matsu, and the correct pronunciation of the novel term "sputnik." Others were on the lighter side, including requests for information about East European folk stories resembling Alice in Wonderland, and for assistance to a lady who had searched long and fruitlessly for a color illustration of the coast-of-arms of Augustine Hermann, the first Czech national to set foot on the shores of the New World in 1630.

Official cultural exchanges and contacts with Central and East European countries created an active demand for the Division's services in numerous capacities. Biographic information on Soviet writers, scientists, and educators was supplied to United States agencies sponsoring their visits; in turn, biographies of members of Congressional delegations were translated into the languages of the East European countries they planned to visit, and biographic data were prepared in Russian on the delegation of American librarians which visited the Soviet Union. A reading list on the USSR was prepared for a Congressional traveler to the USSR, and American students going to Rumania and Poland for a year of study were briefed. A staff member was specially trained, in cooperation with Stack and Reader Division, to act as cicerone on Library tours for guests from East Europe, and the Division was host to many foreign delegations, including Soviet educators and musicologists, a part of U.S.A accredited diplomatic representatives from East European countries on an official visit to the Library, and a group of Polish newspapermen. The Chief and the staff participated in making professional and social arrangements for the delegation of Soviet librarians during their visit to Washington, attended meetings held with the group, and took them on an extensive tour of the Slavic Room and Deck 8. One of the party, the director of the Reference and Bibliography Division at the Lenin Library, commented favorably on the reference collection in the Slavic Room.

Major Congressional assignments concerned information on Soviet of Communist Party research and development activities and training facilities for political warfare; higher education and recent educational reforms in the USSR; Soviet statements concerning United States ballistics missiles; comparative data on United States-Soviet progress in outer space; and requests for a great many translations.

Major reference projects included: a bibliography of English language materials on German and Austrian history, prepared for the Department of History, Eastern Michigan University, and a bibliography of English language materials on East European affairs, compiled for the Albion College Library in Michigan. The Chief conferred with Mr. Allen Dulles and provided counsel in connection with a speech the latter was preparing, and similarly assisted a representative of the Department of Labor with background data for a speech by the Secretary of Labor. In the wake of a considerable contraction of the Central European Research and Reference units in the Department of State, Dr. Price has been consulted frequently by the Department on affairs pertaining to this area. The Division has handled numerous requests to check records of the Alaska Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church to substantiate citizenship, social security claims, etc. The significance of these church materials is illustrated by passage of a recent bill in the Senate, providing for compilation of an index to facilitate their use.

Various divisions of the Reference Department have come to rely on the specialized skills of our staff. For example, the Science and Technology Division was assisted in selected Hungarian and Finnish serial titles for the publication, Aeronautical and space serial publications: a world list. At the request of the Africana Section, General Reference and Bibliography Division, bibliographic information on current publications issued in the USSR on Africa is being supplied regularly, while a similar arrangement has also been in effect with the Hispanic Foundation for East European materials of interest to them. The Prints and Photographs Division was assisted in identifying Polish posters, and a bibliography of East German official publications, prepared by the Serial Division, was reviewed by Dr. Price, who also aided in reading it for reproduction. The effectiveness of reference work was considerably enhanced by a continued development of the Division's informational files, including an area card index to which more than 5,000 entries were added.

While good service is its own reward, it is nevertheless gratifying to receive written expressions of appreciation. Some excerpts follow: "Thank you very much for permitting me the run of the Slavic and Central European Division so to speak . . . no stranger within whatever gates could have fared better." "Complete and invaluable cooperation and assistance, rendered by the Staff of the Slavic Division . . . saved many hours of time in the pursuit of this survey." Unexpected kudos came from a Russian poet, Stepan Shchipachev, who, having visited the Library, stated on return to his homeland, "I cannot omit mentioning the Slavic Department of the Library of Congress. It is an exemplary institution where any book may be found."

Several new measures put into effect in the Slavic Room should benefit the reading public considerably: (a) a thorough review (to occur regularly) of the Slavic Room reference collections to eliminate books which, though of value in the past, are no longer needed, and to add essential material hitherto missing; (b) the establishing of author and title catalogs to reference collections, as well as card files of Slavic and Baltic newspapers in the custody of the Slavic Room; (c) the improvement of the physical plant of the Slavic Room through new reading lamps and through the expansion of the alcove and entrance area, adding new shelf space and one more desk for the convenience of readers.

2. Bibliographies, Related Studies, and Exhibits

The Division had a productive year in its bibliographic program. Hungarian Abbreviations. A Selective List, complied by Elemér Bako, and Bulgarian Abbreviations. A Selective List, prepared by Kenneth Furness of the East European Accessions Index under the Division's administrative and editorial direction, were released as Library publications. These lists conclude a bibliographic series of 5 volumes designed to "decode" and "translate" the "initialese" which is used so frequently today all over the world (who, for instance, knows what the American abbreviation CARE stands for?) and which is particularly rampant in East European countries. So far, these lists of acronyms have been in heavy demand by researchers and readers.

As the year drew to a close, the final draft of 18th Century Russian Publications in the Library of Congress. A Catalog, was submitted for publication. This catalog will establish bibliographic control over a unique collection of rare Russian imprints in the Library of Congress, estimated to exceed one-sixth of the total book production in Russia from 1708 to 1800, and comparing favorably with the world's largest collections of that type, both inside and outside the USSR. Prepared by Mrs. Tatiana Fessenko of the Descriptive Cataloging Division, again under the Division's administrative supervision and editorship, this catalog makes an original bibliographic contribution in that it traces the authorship of a number of books which have hitherto been anonymous.

Another bibliographic project well under way and schedule for publication in the coming fiscal year is Soviet Newspapers in the Library of Congress: 1954–1960 which, updates and expands a similar list previously published by the Division for the period 1917–1953.

Latin America in Soviet Writings, 1945–1958, published in 1959, jointly by the Division and the Hispanic Foundation, proved to be so popular that a reprint became necessary in the late summer of 1960. This publication was included in Constance M. Winchell's "Selected Reference Books of 1959-60" in College and Research Libraries and has drawn favorable comments in professional journals.

The Division continued to contribute prolifically to the Information Bulletin.

Two surveys under the German consultant program, which is financed by the Oberlaender Trust Fund in Philadelphia and directed by the Division, have made good headway. West German Library Developments since 1945 with Special Emphasis on the Rebuilding of Research Libraries, originally written in German by Dr. Gisela von Busse of the Deutsche Forshungsgemeinschaft in Bad Godesberg, Germany, subsequently translated into English, and edited to make it conform more closely to the needs of the American reader, is now ready for printing. Another study in this series, The Rehabilitation of East European Studies in the German Federal Republic, 1946–1959, suffered some delay because of the illness of its author Professor Peter Scheibert, Director of the Seminar on East European History, Marburg University, but there is now promise that it may come to fruition soon.

The following evaluative reports on publishing developments in East Europe and on the highlights of the Library's intake from that area were contributed to the forthcoming issue of the Quarterly Journal of Current Acquisitions: "Southeast Europe: Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Rumania, and Albania" (61 typed pages); "USSR" (30 typed pages); and "Hungarica" (15 typed pages).

Two exhibits were sponsored and arranged by the Division: One was in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Leo Tolstoy, in which first editions of his major works, photographs of scenes typical of various stages in his life, and reproductions of illustrations from his books were displayed; the other honored the centenary of the death of Taras Shevchenko, the Ukrainian poet and artist.

IV. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The multi-faceted nature of the Division's participation in external relations is reflected in numerous references interlaced throughout this report. Indeed, the Division has been very attentive to the desirability of establishing and cultivating contacts with individuals and institutions engaged in the same fields of activity, first, because such communications often enhance the Library's interest and, second, because of the obvious advantage to the staff members, who are thus kept au courant of "what's going on" outside the Library.

On the domestic scene, the Chief has continued his membership both on the Joint Committee on Slavic Studies and on the Committee for the Coordination of Slavic and East European Library Resources. These associations have provided an important channel for the interchange of ideas and information between the Library and the scholarly community, as well as for the implementation of needed undertakings. When the delegation of American librarians convened in the Library in preparation for this official visit to the USSR, the Chief and the Assistant chief addressed them in orientation talks. On other occasions, too, the Division contributed to the know-how of its staff to briefing sessions: Dr. Robert V. Allen, the Area Specialist (USSR), presented a paper on the budgetary aspects of Soviet education at a meeting of specialist at the U.S. Office of Education; Dr. Krader, the Bibliographer and Librarian (USSR and Soviet Bloc), lectured at the Foreign Service Institute of the Department of State on the cultural background of East Europe.

At the request of the West German TV network, Dr. Price prepared and delivered in German a summary of Senator Mansfield's proposals for electoral reform in the United States as part of a telecast for German viewers covering the Presidential inauguration. Dr. Bako assisted in organizing an exhibit and ceremonies held at the Post Office Department in connection with the issuance of one of the "Champions of Liberty" stamps honoring Baron Mannerheim of Finland.

Finally, we would like to list a few of the many foreign visitors who came to the Division mostly as officially sponsored guests, and with whom useful talks on professional and Library affairs were held. Among them were representatives of the Foreign Office, the press and the academic world in Great Britain; the librarian of the Swedish foreign office in Stockholm; prominent scholars from West Germany, France, and Canada; and an almost endless procession of professors from colleges and universities in this country. Indicative of the extensive cultural exchanges between this country and Yugoslavia was a large array of visitors, including the librarian of the University of Belgrade, the director of the Nolit publishing house in Belgrade, the director of the Yugoslav Institute of Journalism, the director general of radio and TV of Yugoslavia, and Dr. Blaze Koneski, head of the South Slavic Languages Department of the University of Skopje. The latter, when presented with 17 cards describing his works in the Library's collections, commented that some of them were not even available in Yugoslavia. Other visitors from Southeast Europe included the Minister of Education and Culture of Rumania and two members of the Rumanian Academy of Sciences.

V. ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONNEL

As this time in Fiscal Year 1960, the Division reported that of a staff of 20, eight employees performing essential Library functions were serving under indefinite appointments. On July 25, 1960, the position of the Polish and Slavic Research Librarian was converted to a permanent one, and requests were included in the Fiscal Year 1962 budget for conversion of two GS-5 positions, those of Circulation and Reference Assistant in the Slavic Room and of Searcher and Reference Assistant. The gradual reduction in the number of indefinite positions in the Division's table of organization greatly relieves a difficult situation which has been troublesome for a number of years. It is gratifying that for the second consecutive year the Division has found it possible to abstain from requesting new positions, mainly as a result of purposeful utilization of the available manpower resources and of flexibility in shifting staff members, as the need occurs, to newly developing programs or to those which deserve stronger emphasis. For the same reason, the Division has succeeded in handling the tangible workload with practically no requests for overtime.

Beginning with the retirement of John T. Dorosh, Curator of the Slavic Room, late in Fiscal Year 1960, the Division has lost a number of key personnel. This development has been largely attributable to a very active demand for professionals and sub-professionals with skills and experience in the Division's area assignment; staff members often have been able to receive more attractive remuneration and fringe benefits elsewhere. Dr. Fritz T. Epstein, Area Specialist (Central Europe), retired from the Library to take charge in Bonn, Germany of the publication of the diplomatic correspondence of the Weimar Republic; Boris I. Gorokhoff, Area Specialist (USSR), transferred to a project sponsored by Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Myroslava Tomorug, Slavic Reference Librarian, resigned to accept a post a Columbia University Library. These staff members were replaced as follows: Alfred C. String, Jr., formerly of Air Information Division, was named a new Curator, Slavic Room; Dr. Arnold H. Price, took over as Area Specialist (Central Europe), coming to the Library from the Department of State; Dr. Robert V. Allen, of the Air Research Division, replaced Mr. Gorokhoff; and Mr. Robert G. Carlton, a graduate of the Soviet area studies program at Columbia, succeeded Miss Tomorug. Similarly a heavy turnover occurred in the positions at the GS-5 level. Because of the language requirements and other qualification needed for these jobs, it has proved difficult to fill these vacancies; however, three new employees, Messrs. Driscoll, Zynjuk, and Jackunas, have recently been appointed.

To offset the deleterious effects of rapid turnover, which in all likelihood will persist in the future, the Division has devoted considerable thought and effort to instituting and implementing systematic orientation and training programs aimed at achieving optimal productivity of newcomers within a minimum of time. These programs have proved very beneficial to the staff members concerned. Arrangements were made for the two new area specialists to become acquainted with the operations of the Division, to meet their counterparts in other areas of the Library, and to study the activities of other Divisions as they affect our own responsibilities. Other employees who were new to the Library were given a carefully planned and supervised course, under the direction of the Polish and Slavic Research Librarian, Dr. Janina W. Hoskins, which included indoctrination in the Library's organizational structure, catalogs, and reference tools, as well as in-service training. Two staff members were selected to attend the 1960–61 lecture series held as part of the training program for Library recruits and other employees; two other employees were given the opportunity of attending the Plain Letters Workshop sponsored by the National Archives and Records Service; and several staff members have viewed the training film on handling telephone calls.

The completion of the classification review, which has been in progress for several years (except for one position in which action was deferred) brought the Division's position descriptions in line with actual duties. Miss Inna W. Gardner, on the Library's recruits, served for one week, at her own request, as a reference librarian in the Slavic Room and was oriented in the major functions handled by that unit. Since mid-April the Chief has served as Acting Chief of the Foreign Affairs Division, Legislative Reference Service, pending the appointment of a new Chief, which will become effective as of July 1. During this period the Assistant Chief was Acting Chief of the Division.

VI. PROFESSIONAL BUT NON-OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES

The professional staff delved with vigor and verve into a broad range of pursuits in their fields of interest and specialty. Staff members attended or participated actively in professional meetings, including those of the American Historical Association, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, the American Political Science Association, the International Conference on Dialectology in Louvain and Brussels, and the National Folk Festival; they also contributed a wealth of reviews and articles to professional journals. Because of the inverse ratio between the proliferation of their activities and the limitations of length placed on this report, a few examples will have to take the place of a full chronicle.

Dr. Allen served as treasurer of the Washington Chapter of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (of which Dr. Yakoboson is Chairman). Hungarian dialectology was the subject of lectures delivered at Rutgers University by Dr. Bako, who also gave a course on Hungarian studies at Columbia University. Dr. Balys, in addition to being the complier of a bibliography on Lithuania and Lithuanians, to be published shortly, and the author of five articles in Lithuanian Encyclopedia, has lectured on folklore topics. An article on Józef Piłsudski, erstwhile chief of the Polish state, which will appear in Collier's Encyclopedia, was written by Dr. Hoskins. Dr. Horecky was appointed general editor of a Basic List of Russian Books for Colleges and Universities, a publication sponsored by the Committee for Coordination of Slavic and East European Library Resources in conjunction with the American Council of Learned Societies. He is also a contributing editor of the Newsletter of the American Society for the Advancement of Slavic Studies and prepared and reviewed sections for the forthcoming multilingual booktrade dictionary sponsored by the American Library Association. Dr. Krader, aside from lecturing at American University, has been a record review editor for the journal Ethnomusicology. Dr. Price gave a course at American University on economic developments. Reviving a research interest of long standing in the subject of Russian influence in Africa, Dr. Yakobson delivered a series of lectures on this topic at Notre Dame University, and at the School of International Service, American University. He submitted a paper on the same subject for the conference held at Yale University on "A Century of Russian Foreign Policy — Studies in Historical Perspective," and he also prepared a paper, comparing education in the USSR and Communist China, for the third international conference of Sovietologists and Sinologists held in Japan in the fall of 1960. Both papers will appear in print.

Sergius Yakobson, Chief
Slavic and Central European Division