Submitted by
Paul L. Horecky, Acting Chief
July 12, 1971

I. ACQUISITION OF MATERIALS

"The staff of Soviet scholarly libraries know how thoroughly and persistently the acquisitions department of the Library of Congress 'fishes out' information about Soviet publications in limited editions from bibliographic sources and takes steps to add them to its own collections." This assessment comes from the very center of Soviet "Americanology," the journal SShA: ekonomika, politika, ideologiia, which is issued by the Institute for the Study of the USA of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In part at least, it is a compliment for which our Division can claim some credit, reflecting the thorough and persistent preoccupation which we have shown with the development and strengthening of the Library's collections, both on the Soviet Union and on the other countries for which we are responsible.

Statistically speaking, it is not possible to give a precise count of the items received from these countries, but some approximation can be derived from figures for the production of proof cards by the Library. During this past year the Division received about 190,000 such cards, covering works in all languages except Chinese and Japanese. Of these, 60,000 or so, close to one-third, were for publications relating to the countries included in our area of responsibility. Among this total of 60,000 cards, some 22,000 dealt with the Soviet Union, 23,000, the two Germanies, and the remainder, the other countries. Given a very rough total of 150,000 monographs published annually in the area, the Library's book receipts would appear to amount to about 40% of the total production. Surely, such figures substantiate the magnitude of the Library's collecting effort in the field in which this Division plays its active role.

The Library's acquisitions of materials from those countries with which National Program for Acquisitions and Cataloging (NPAC) or Public Law 480 (PL-480) arrangements exist are, according to current, tentative investigations of near-to-comprehensive coverage. Such agreements now are in force with all countries of the area, save Albania, Hungary, Greece, and Poland, for which recommending activity must be carried out according to 'traditional' methods. With the purpose of aiding the Assistant Director for Acquisitions and Overseas Operations, Processing Department, in negotiating NPAC arrangements between the Library and the Romanian State Library, the Assistant Chief visited Bucharest, Romania, in the fiscal year under review. In a series of conferences with Mme. Bradiceni, the Director of the Romanian State Library, and her staff, the specifics of such an agreement were worked out. Particular care was taken to pinpoint categories that should be definitely included in or excluded from shipments to the Library as well as those that were in doubt and required further clarification. To this end a large sampling of titles of the latter type were examined on the spot, item by item, to develop criteria of selection. Judging from the composition of the initial deliveries of Romanian publications which have reached the Library since last February, this procedure has been effective in insuring compliance with the Library's requirements and has helped to avoid difficulties encountered in the early stages of similar agreements with other East European countries. During Mme. Bradiceni's following visit to Washington, the final version of the agreement was signed into effect.

A concomitant objective of the Assistant Chief's trip was to establish direct contact with libraries, research and academic institutions, publishers, and book dealers in Bucharest, and later in Belgrade and Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in order to strengthen the Library's retrospective collections and to explore the possibilities of obtaining microfilms of research materials hitherto unrepresented in American repositories. Detailed lists of desiderata, prepared in advance in the Division, proved invaluable for the pursuit of this mission, and resulted in bringing to the Library a number of badly needed and hard-to-get imprints.

Of course, it is always incumbent upon the Division to be vigilant even with regard to the most smoothly working of acquisitions arrangements. Thus, it is useful that from time to time such programs are reevaluated, as was the case with those for Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in December of 1970 on the occasion of the annual renewal of the agreements. These reviews showed that receipts are generally satisfactory. However, we continue to keep a close watch on the "non-selected" items, which the suppliers did not deem to lie within the selection criteria, to make sure that nothing of value slips through the nets cast down into the vast world reservoir of books.

Periodic reviews of the serial intake at the time of renewal of subscriptions are effective devices for pruning dead wood and searching out unrepresented titles. Thus, a survey of the Library's holdings of major West German journals, both current and retrospective, resulted in the filling of a number of lacunae in existing runs and the placing of orders for several new and important titles.

The Division's scrutiny of suggested changes in Acquisitions Policy Statements on the official publications of cities and provinces in Central and Eastern Europe resulted in the addition of a number of cities and regions from which material will be requested.

In the case of those countries for which there is as yet no NPAC agreement, we must carry out a particularly close screening of selection guides, and the process of physical acquisition of publications tends to be slower and more painful. This is especially the case with regard to Albania, receipts from which continue to be relatively scanty. However in FY 1971 our recommendation that the Library of the Tirana State University in Albania be asked for materials has resulted in the initiation of an exchange — it is true on a rather modest initial scale but yet a marked improvement over the past.

The intake of Modern Greek materials, in the past a neglected sector, has increased markedly. This growth has been made possible through the efforts of the Head of the Slavic Room, who is also a specialist in Greek affairs, and through a substantial increase in funds available for purchases. Current monographs received in FY 1971 totaled over 300, a 50% increase over FY 1970, and a number of important retrospective serials and reference works have been acquired. Among them were such important titles as a six-volume Greek-language history of the Greek Revolution by D. A. Kokkinos, volumes 10-28 and three supplementary volumes of the Nea pankosmios enkyklopaideia. . . and an important Modern Greek-English dictionary, Crighton's Mega Helleno-Anglikon lexikon. Following the Division's initiative, a new blanket order agreement with the Republic of Cyprus is scheduled to go into force as of July 1, 1971.

A number of important Hungarian reference works have been received on the recommendation of the Finno-Ugrian specialist. They include the third and final volume of A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára (Historical-etymological dictionary of the Hungarian Language), (Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1967–1971) and the important guide to Hungarian imprints before 1600, Res litteraria Hungariae vetus librorum typis impressorum, 1473–1600 (Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1970. 860 p.). Finnish works include autobiographies of the former Prime Ministers of Finland Edwin Linkomies and Johannes Virolainen and the speeches and writings of Urho Kekkonen, President of Finland. The Yugoslav Specialist recommended acquisition of the photo-reprint of the important Die Ehres dess Hertzogthums Crain. . . , first published in 1689, which is basic for research into Slovenia's past. Numerous valuable publications of the Serbian Academy of Sciences have arrived as a result of the Assistant Chief's visit to that institution. Receipts under PL-480 continue at a high level with, for example, 1701 serial titles coming from Yugoslavia.

Special attention has been given by the Polish specialist to strengthening the Library's holdings of Polish travel accounts relating to the United States. Particularly noteworthy in view of the approaching bicentennial of the American Revolution, is Pawel Kollacz's Rewolucya teraznieysza Ameryki Pólnocney w dwunastu skonfederowanych osadach (Contemporary revolution in the twelve federated states of North America), which appeared in Poznan in 1778. The important bibliography of Polish Renaissance literature Bibliografia literatury polskiej okresu odrodzenia (Warszawa, 1954), which has long been out of print, was also acquired.

Between 1966 and 1970 the Cyril and Methodius National Library of Bulgaria issued a ten-part guide to its collections, Putevoditel po literaturata v Narodna Biblioteka, a complete set of which has been received by the Library.

A number of important memoirs and biographical studies of leading statesmen who laid the groundwork for independence of Czechoslovakia and who played a major role in the political life of that country between 1918 and 1939 were added to the collections. One of the most colorful acquisitions relating to Czechoslovakia was the facsimile deluxe edition of the Codex Vyšehradensis, an illustrated manuscript of c. 1085, prepared for the coronation in that year of the first Bohemian King, Vratislav I. An unusual addition to the Library's store of knowledge came from Dr. Antonín Novotný, a renowned author of numerous published works on the history of the city of Prague, who has now found asylum in this country. He has presented to the Library some 30 unpublished manuscripts, many of which are of book length, on the subject of his specialty.

Eleven abstracts of Soviet dissertations on American literary and cultural history were obtained on the recommendation of the Soviet Area Specialist. These items, which offer useful bibliographical information as well as concise summaries of Soviet attitudes to American themes, are usually reserved for domestic readers and are rarely to be found outside the Soviet Union.

The German collections of the Library were enriched by the acquisition of rare first editions of three works by the well-known sculptor and writer Ernst Barlach, who was persecuted by the Nazi government. Among earlier publications, the eighteenth-century encyclopedia Johann Hübners. . . Conversations-Lexikon of 1780 was procured.

II. ORGANIZATION OF MATERIALS

Sustained efforts were made to keep the Slavic Room reference collection up-to-date and responsive to the needs of a varied clientele. Judicious selectivity is required because of the mass of reference works being published, the relatively limited space available, and the complexity of this reference collection. A total of 500 volumes were removed from the collection while many newly published reference aids were assigned. The collection now numbers about 9,100 volumes, with 6,500 volumes on the USSR and 2,600 volumes on the East European area.

One problem which we encounter in public reference service is that the Slavic Room reference collections do not include the non-Slavic countries of Eastern Europe (Romania, Hungary, Albania); readers often need this material and are at a loss to understand the discrepancy between Slavic Division and Slavic Room area coverage. This deficiency is felt particularly by students of comparative communism and contemporary affairs, which can be investigated only in the context of developments in the entire Eastern European area. The Slavic Room card file of Slavic and Baltic serial publications was frequently consulted by researchers and LC staff. This file was kept current by adding 700 cards during the fiscal year; it now contains over 18,000 entries.

Since the acquisition of the Yudin Collection in 1907, a substantial residual part has remained without full cataloging, although these materials are serviced under a rough bibliographic control. During the year an arrangement was initiated with the Descriptive Cataloging Division whereby the Division's staff members select titles for priority cataloging to insure that the most important books become part of the collections. This arrangement works to the advantage of all concerned and if the number of books that can be absorbed by the Subject Cataloging Division can be increased, the date will not be very far when the arrearages will be considerably reduced.

Binding schedules and assignments on Deck 8 were revised to insure optimal speed in the flow of processing of materials. A backlog of pre-1970 USSR serials was eliminated by March 31, 1971. As a rule, serials are now prepared for binding no later than six months from the date when the last issue of the set was received.

Staff members screen duplicates of USSR and East European publications regularly in Shared Cataloging, Descriptive Cataloging and Subject Cataloging Divisions. Over 9,000 such duplicates were surveyed during the year.

Several occasions arose for the Division to participate in the formulation of Library-wide processing activities. For example, in connection with the definition of cataloging priorities by the Processing Department, various recommendations were offered and, in part considered, in the final statement. Also, in the course of discussions concerning proposed filing arrangements in automated catalogs for the Library we questioned the desirability of omitting diacritical marks and accents and offered suggestions for transliteration of Greek and for the filing of titles beginning with numerals.

Thanks to arrangements made by the Reference Department, it has become possible for Division staff members to screen regularly incoming receipts from the area in the Exchange and Gift Division, thereby increasing the awareness of reference librarians concerning important incoming materials from Eastern and Central Europe and establishing cataloging priorities for materials deserving special attention. Division specialists have also been reviewing incoming first copies in the Order Division and have selected items for priority cataloging in the Descriptive Cataloging Division — particularly in regard to Greek books for which a backlog had accumulated there in the past because of lack of manpower.

III. USE OF MATERIALS

A. Reference

Dr. Johnson's statement that "knowledge is of two kinds; we know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it" is one which distills into a few words the principles by which the members of the Division's staff seek to act in dealing with the multitudes of reference questions which come to us from our public. Although this public reflects, we are inclined to feel, almost the full range of nuances of intellectual curiosity, learned and ephemeral, simple and complicated, we can note that over the past twenty years or so there has been a marked trend toward deeper and more sophisticated interest in the Slavic and East European countries. This development has been largely attributable to the expansion and intensification of academic and governmental involvement and resultant research programs as well as to a gradual proliferation of specialized publishing on the area. Basically, of course, it is the expression of the political and cultural developments in the years since 1945 during which the patterns of world history have been shaped to a considerable extent by the relationship between the United States and the Western European nations on one hand and the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries on the other. Most reference calls in this domain emanated from the executive and legislative branches of the government.

One might say with no great exaggeration that the reference work which we carry on is a microcosmic reflection of this situation. A large volume of the questions which come to us concern the Soviet Union and current developments in its domestic life and foreign relations. Thus, many of the major events in the USSR find their echo in our work. For example, the recent discussions of the position of Jews in that country brought a Congressional request which could be best answered by a staff member's translation — the first in English — of a poem by Vladimir Maiakovskii, a major Soviet Russian poet. The historical roots of the treatment of dissidents in Russia as if they were insane was the subject of another inquiry. A survey of Soviet-American relations regarding persons seeking to fly to avoid persecution was made in the aftermath of the attempt of a Soviet sailor to find refuge on an American ship.

But it is not the Soviet Union alone which serves as the basis for questions, for the growth of American knowledge of and interest in the region sharpens the concern with which our clients turn to us for information. The recent disturbances in Gdánsk and Szczecin in Poland, which were followed by the resignation of W. Gomulka, First Secretary of the Polish Workers Party, brought a rise in the number and complexity of questions about that country, which the reports of a treaty between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany on Poland's Western boundary brought inquiries about the factors involved in such an agreement. It was only by providing a sort of outline of Czechoslovak events since 1948 that a proper response could be made to one inquiry, and a staff member answered a question about Greek-Albanian relations by a summary of the long-standing problem of the so-called Northern Epirus, or Southern Albania, boundary region between the two countries.

Interest in topics which might be termed of a historic or retrospective nature also remains high. The Soviet commemoration in 1970 of the centennial of the birth of V. I. Lenin brought a number of questions about the man and his writings. Another centennial which was marked in early 1971, that of the foundation of the German Empire, occasioned a request for information about sources of newspaper reports on this event. Indeed, the Division has had to deal with such forms of commemoration even before they occur, as a question from a Boston college for portraits of Kazimierz Pulaski seemed to forecast a rise in interest in the American Revolution and its Polish participants in advance of the bicentennial year 1976. Other queries, not specifically tied to any date, involved such topics as Hungarian saints, Croatia during the Second World War, and negative judgments by historians of the Austrian statesman Metternich.

The development of American historical studies of the various nationalities which have helped to form the country contributed to a rise in the number of questions about Americans with ethnic ties to the Slavic and Central European countries. A new national organization of descendants of those Germans who migrated to Russia and later to the United States both gave information to and requested help from the Division's staff, and the U.S. Information Agency was helped to locate sources on the history of Panna Maria, Texas, the oldest Polish settlement in the country, in order to provide background for an article in Ameryka, the Agency's magazine for distribution in Poland.

Naturally there are also questions which seem, at least on the surface, to belong only in the category of "curiosa," for one cannot easily discover how this seemingly minute bit of information can ever fit into any broader pattern. However, in responding to an inquiry based on a press report of a forthcoming Soviet book containing "40,000 facts about bread," the fact that the question appeared under the letterhead of a baking company did indicate that a purpose lay behind this interest. And, perhaps the request for suitable names for a Siberian Husky showed that one dog owner, at least, felt a need for something better than the hackneyed "Spot" or "Fido." Even the Division's assistance in coining, on the basis of Greek roots, the term "geneaphobia" to denote the fear of one generation by another may help to bring some semantic precision to current press and broadcasting discussions. And, to show that hardly any field of human interest is omitted from our inquiries, there was the request from a major research foundation for help in locating information about erotic literature in pre-1917 Russia.

Another segment of our work involves providing other Divisions of the Library with some of the subject or language knowledge which is possessed by our staff members. During this year, for example, the Children's Book Section of General Reference and Bibliography Division was given translations and transliterations of bibliographic data and annotations about outstanding Soviet children's books. For the Music Division we undertook to decipher and translate a number of autograph letters by the late Sergei Prokofiev. We have also helped the Congressional Research Service by preparing many translations from languages not available to the staff of that organization.

A number of our users have expressed their appreciation for our work, writing in such terms as, "I am glad some civil servants earn their pay" or, in the case of a bibliography on Swiss-American relations which was supplied to the Swiss Embassy, "It will be very useful. . . to our consulates." The Director of the Tadzhik State Library in Dushanbe, USSR, wrote in appreciation of the guidance given her to American writing about her republic in the Soviet Union.

In our reference work we can rely on the sources of up-to-date information offered by the area reference file which we maintain. As the result of screening almost 100 Western language journals dealing with Eastern Europe and the USSR and of selecting relevant titles from Library proof cards, some 8,000 cards were added to our files this year. Many of these entries refer to publications not covered by the usual guides to periodical literature or not yet listed in customary bibliographical sources.

Although by far the bulk of our reference work is done in answer to specific questions, there is one facet of our activity which is designed to appeal to and inform a broad public, who may never have given thought to the topic until we bring it to their attention. Such a role the Division plays by organizing exhibits on topics drawn from the historical and cultural life of the area for which we are responsible. The most recent example was the Division's exhibit of material on the folk art and culture of Poland, which was displayed during January and February. Books, prints, photographs, and pieces of music were selected to give a broad overview of the heritage of the Polish people as they have sought to express in art, music, and the dance something of the elements which have made them a nation.

B. Bibliography

During FY 1971 the Slavic and Central European Division marked its twentieth anniversary, a period deserving a short backward look at its bibliographic activities. In these years nineteen publications have been issued, compiled by members of the Division's staff or by subject specialists from other institutions working under the Division's sponsorship. An indication of the public's response to these works is shown by the fact that ten of the titles are now out of print and are obtainable only in photoreproduction from the Library or, in the case of several of them, in commercially issued reprints.

These works fall into three basic categories. The first is the guide to the Library's holdings by type of publication or by geographic or temporal bounds. One title of this group, Eighteenth Century Russian Publications in the Library of Congress, has won significant international recognition, being cited as a reference source used in the compilation of the five-volume Soviet catalog of such imprints which was prepared by a group of major Soviet research libraries. Second among the general types of bibliographic works compiled or sponsored by the Division are the area guides, which provide an overview of the works which are considered most informative about a specific country in the region for which the Division is responsible. At the end of FY 1971 final editorial review was being given by the Publications Office, in cooperation with the Division's staff, to Yugoslavia; A Bibliographic Guide, which was compiled by Dr. Michael Petrovich of the University of Wisconsin. With more than 2,500 entries, this compilation is intended to offer a source of information both to the novice in the field and to the specialist who seeks help with topics not in his precise area of competence. The volume is shortly to go to press.

The year under review also saw the completion by the Central European Specialist of the manuscript of The Federal Republic of Germany: A Selected Bibliography of English-Language Publications with Special Emphasis on the Social Sciences, dealing with the situation since 1949. A grant from the National Carl Schurz Foundation made the preparation of this bibliography possible.

The third of the major categories of the Division's publications of a bibliographic nature are miscellaneous reference guides. Thus, proposals have been made this year to the Bibliography and Publications Committee for the publication of a second revised and enlarged edition of Hungarian Abbreviations: A Selective List and for Polish Books in English, 1945–1970, a guide to publications appearing both in Poland and in other countries. Substantial manuscript material has been assembled for these publications. Action on these proposals was still pending at the end of the fiscal year.

We also provide ad hoc bibliographies to meet specific needs arising from reference correspondence and readers' requests. Among these bibliographies there might be cited, by way of illustration, the references on certain aspects of the Polish economy which were supplied to a professor in Knoxville, Tennessee, the bibliography of bibliographies of Soviet publications on Asia prepared for a German scholar, and a list of materials on the real and mythical background to the Dracula legend.

The Division has received a number of favorable comments upon its activities in this field. The Österreichische Osthefte, in reviewing (somewhat belatedly) Czechoslovakia; A Bibliographic Guide, called it "an excellent guide" which "documents the profusion of available information." However, probably the most heartening, and succinct, verdict was that from the editor of Foreign Acquisitions Newsletter of the University of Wisconsin Library which called the Division's bibliographic contributions "awe-inspiring."

IV. PERSONNEL

A. Personnel Administration

Dr. Sergius Yakobson, Chief of the Slavic and Central European Division, Reference Department, and Senior Specialist in Russian Affairs, Congressional Research Service, retired on May 28, 1971 after 30 years of distinguished service in the Library of Congress. Several months earlier, he was feted by the Librarian and other senior Library officials on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of his government service.

Two other anniversaries were observed during the year. The Slavic and Central European Division celebrated its 20th anniversary in January and the Central Europe Area Specialist, Dr. Arnold H. Price, was awarded a 30-year service pin in recognition of the 30th anniversary of his work for the government.

Maintenance Review of Positions was carried out for members of the Division staff, updating and amending position descriptions in the light of changing responsibilities and work patterns.

Mr. Robert G. Carlton, who has served the Division capably since September of 1960 in a variety of functions, retired on disability, effective June 16, 1971.

The Division's veteran Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Roberta W. Dorsey, was promoted and transferred to the Orientalia Division, and the vacancy thus created was filled by Mrs. Helen E. Saunders, a former member of the Library staff.

The retirement of the Chief and the prolonged absence on sick leave with subsequent retirement on disability of Mr. Robert G. Carlton have depleted the already thin ranks of the Division, reducing its professional staff by nearly 20%. It is gratifying to report that notwithstanding this serious handicap, the Division has continued to steer an even course. Looking forward to having a full complement in the foreseeable future, the Division has sought in the interim, through a combination of spirited teamwork, organized pinch-hitting, and improvisation, to meet in good time the various administrative and reporting target dates in the busy months of June and July and to attend to its numerous substantive responsibilities with but minimal delays, if any.

The only promotion in the Division during the current year went to Mr. Justyn Iwasechko, who was elevated to Senior Processing and Reference Assistant (GS-7).

In FY 1971 one indefinite position (Processing and Reference Assistant GS-7) was converted to permanent status. This allocation was a promising beginning in the right direction. However, as pointed out in our request for positions in FY 1973 a precarious staffing situation continues to obtain because almost 16% of the Division's total manpower, i.e., the positions of Finno-Ugrian Area Specialist (GS-12), Senior Processing and Reference Assistant (GS-7), and Processing and Reference Assistant (GS-6), are still of indefinite status. Since these positions form an integral part of vital and regular responsibilities of the Division, their conversion into permanent ones was recommended.

Between 1961 and 1970 the volume of reference correspondence has risen by 59.6% and that of items searched by 45.8%. Much of this growth has been due to new acquisitions programs and to the gradual expansion of the Division's specialized procurement and reference activities to areas such as Romania, Greece, and Albania. Yet since 1962 we have had only one position of searcher for the entire recommending and reference work, and no new positions were added to our Table of Organization from 1963 to 1970. To forestall the otherwise inevitable deleterious effects on quality and speed in the Division's activities, the allocation of a new position of Searcher and Bibliographical Assistant (GS-5-7) was requested.

The decade between 1961 and 1970 has also witnessed a 122.2% upswing in the number of bibliographies prepared but, at the same time, important bibliographic projects had to be deferred because of lack of manpower. To remedy this unsatisfactory situation, we requested a new position of a bibliographer (GS-11-12).

B. Training

Division staff members participated in the Library's training programs both on the giving and the receiving ends. The Chief spoke on Division operations to LC employees attending the Professional Orientation Course. The Assistant Chief and the Head of the Slavic Room briefed from time to time groups of new Library recruits and LC staff members. On the other hand, several staff members availed themselves of the opportunity of in-house training programs. Mr. Graham attended the Professional Orientation Course. Mrs. Saunders took secretarial, travel documents, and time and attendance courses. Several nominations were made of Division personnel to attend computing systems and basic cataloging courses.

V. EXTERNAL RELATIONS

The Division's specialized area and subject expertise applied actively to its routine intramural functions is also placed in the service of promoting the Library's interests on a national and international scale. In seeking this goal our specialists strive through person-to-person exchange of information and experience, to keep the scholarly community informed about the Library, and at the same time to remain in touch with developments in our various subject fields. Efforts in this direction often bring about concrete results in increased efficiency in conducting the Library's business when our staff members undertake acquisitions survey trips abroad.

Members of our staff frequently attend meetings of organizations professionally concerned with the areas and subjects assigned to us, and such attendance has been an important link with the academic community. Thus, Drs. Yakobson and Allen attended the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies which drew several hundred people to New Orleans and at which Dr. Allen read a paper on the place of the Russian language as a research tool. Three members of the staff, Drs. Horecky, Hoskins, and Yakobson, attended the Fourth National Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) in Denver. Dr. Horecky was on a panel devoted to "American Books in Eastern Europe," and took part in a meeting of the AAASS Library and Bibliography Committee, of which he is a member. Dr. Hoskins participated in the deliberations of the Slavic and East European Subsection (ACRL), which also met in Denver.

We feel that the hours which our staff members have devoted to the give and take of committee work have been clearly of advantage both to the Library and to the professional organizations concerned. Dr. Yakobson continued during the year here reviewed to act as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Slavic and Documentation Center in Washington, D.C. After being invited to serve his third term on the Subcommittee on East Central and Southeast European Studies (SECSES) appointed by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and the Social Science Research Council, Dr. Horecky attended three of its meetings which dealt with its grant evaluating and awarding function and with new projects for the future development of area studies. He also continued to serve as Chairman of the SECSES Research and Library Resources Advisory Committee in East Central and Southeast European Studies, a body appointed by the ACLS. A contribution in a hitherto somewhat underdeveloped field was made by Mr. Perry, the Head of the Slavic Room, who during the year became a member of the Subcommittee on Bibliography of the Modern Greek Studies Association and attended its meeting held at Harvard University to discuss projects of benefit to American scholars. Dr. Horecky and Mr. Carlton continued to form part of a broad international group of scholars contributing to the work of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in its annual publication Bibliographie d'études balkaniques.

Another phase of our involvement in external relations includes a variety of day-to-day contacts with domestic and foreign scholars, officials, correspondents, and visitors from all walks of life who seek to become acquainted with the work of the Division and with the Library's Slavic collections. The cultural attachés of Finland, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia have visited us. Mr. Perry has consulted with the Ambassador of Greece on the problems connected with the suggested initiation of a current Greek national bibliography. Dr. Milan Bulajic, Counselor to the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sought information on Yugoslav-American diplomatic relations. Similar assistance with regard to Hungary was given to Dr. Elek Karsai, Senior Associate of the Hungarian National Archives in Budapest. Consultations between the prominent British student of Soviet affairs, Victor Zorza, and our specialists helped him in preparing a series of articles on the memoirs of N. S. Khrushchev for the English newspaper The Guardian. Mr. Peko Dapčević, Vice-President of the Yugoslav Federal Assembly and two other members of the Yugoslav Parliament were welcomed to the Division and made aware of the vast representation of their country's publication effort in the Library. The Director of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, Lt.-Gen. P. A. Zhilin, and Col. P. A. Derevianko, a Soviet writer on military subjects, visited the Division as part of an investigation of sources of historical information they were making in the course of a trip to the United States. Similarly, six ranking Romanian educational, cultural, and theatrical officials visited the Division and were briefed on the Library's activities in regard to Romania.

However, to sharpen the tools of our trade and to get the feel of developments in our fields it is an invaluable experience for our professional staff to pursue fact-finding acquisitions, and library survey assignments on the spot in the countries in which they specialize. Thus, for example, Dr. Price in late May and early June visited the Federal Republic of Germany at the invitation of that government to observe German library operations and to obtain new insights into developments in German academic research. Dr. Horecky's visits to Yugoslavia and Romania, which also were a facet of external relations, have been described in more detail in Section I above.

VI. PROFESSIONAL BUT UNOFFICIAL ACTIVITIES

It now remains to register, by way of example, personal contributions to scholarship and learning which staff members continued to make assiduously in the fields of their area and subject expertise.

1. Lectures

Dr. Robert V. Allen spoke to a symposium of the Faculty of Historical Studies, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, on Soviet studies in American history and culture, and to the annual meeting of the Slavic and East European Friends of that university, on the Slavic collections of the Library of Congress.

Addressing the Viking Club in Washington, D.C., Dr. Elemer Bako chose as his topic "Finns in the World."

As a guest lecturer at the Summer Institute for Training in Slavic and East European Librarianship at the University of Illinois, Dr. Paul L. Horecky gave a series of talks on "Problems of Area Bibliography and Librarianship" and on the status of area collections. He also addressed staff members of the Sterling Memorial Library together with faculty and students of the Council on Russian and East European Studies at Yale University on "The Development of Libraries and Research Resources for Slavic and East European Studies."

2. Professional Writings

Soviet Image of Contemporary Latin America, for which Mr. Robert G. Carlton acted as editor, and which was published by the University of Texas Press and the Conference on Latin American Studies, has gained favorable critical acclaim.

Dr. Horecky's guides to East Central Europe and Southeastern Europe, published by the University of Chicago Press, found mention in the list of 714 "Outstanding Academic Books" for 1970, selected by a jury of specialists for the review magazine Choice of the Association of College and Research Libraries.

The Fall issue of the Maryland Historian featured an article by Dr. Arnold H. Price on "The Belgian-German Frontier During World War II."

Dr. Sergius Yakobson contributed an essay on "Kropotkin's Russian Literature: An Unknown Letter" to Gorski Vijenac, a Festschrift offered to Professor Elizabeth M. Hill (Cambridge, England, Modern Humanities Research Association).

Drs. Allen and Price continued to supply lists of articles for publication in the bibliographic section of the American Historical Review.