Submitted by
David H. Kraus, Acting Chief
October 17, 1988

PREFACE

Fiscal Year 1988 saw a greater involvement of division staff in the activities of the Librarian's Office than at any other time in the Division's history. This involvement included frequent contact of division staff with important foreign and domestic visitors, its inclusion in meetings and symposia, and in preparation for the Moscow Summit. Visitors to the Division increased by more than 30%, including a record number of Soviet scholars. Materials for a major Library exhibit were selected by a Division specialist, who was named curator, and planning and preparations for an international symposium were carried out by another specialist. Division staff were very active in professional and cultural associations and events outside the library and within it. Division publications were at an all-time high, with automation playing an increasing role in their production.

On the negative side, budgetary constraints left several key positions unfilled, and other positions remained unfilled for want of satisfactory candidates. Budgetary constraints, rising costs, and a devalued dollar increased the time required by an already hard-pressed West European specialist staff for collection development.

On balance, however, the fiscal year has been a good one for the European Division, as the report that follows will indicate.

I. MAJOR DEVELOPMENT

At the invitation of foreign governments, two of the Division's specialists engaged in activities that may have long-range benefits to the Library's acquisitions program.

Specialist Armbruster was invited by the French government to attend the French book fair in Paris (April 13-20). While there, she attended the Council of Europe program on reading, writing, translating, and publishing in Europe now and after the integration of Western Europe in 1992. She also had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French publishing industry concerning current and anticipated trends in French publishing. Further, the General Director of the National Library of France invited her to attend a meeting with the director of the British Library at which the future of these two major libraries was discussed. The insights and information gained by Dr. Armbruster will be of obvious value to our Library in planning acquisitions from France and from Western Europe in general.

Specialist Leich was part of a team of specialists invited by the Soviet government and the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR to advise that library on means of recovering from the devastating fire of February 14-15 that destroyed or damaged a fourth of its holdings. The Academy Library asked the Library of Congress to coordinate international offers of technical aid and replacement of lost buildings. Specialist Leich determined that the Academy Library was willing to reimburse foreign aid by microfilming materials needed abroad, as microfilming equipment became available. If this offer materializes, Western holdings of Russian/Soviet publications will be improved substantially.

II. ACQUISITION OF MATERIALS

A weak dollar, rising prices, and modest allotments for purchase of West European materials continued to complicate the task of maintaining the collections for this area. Specialist Armbruster and Krewson explored means of keeping the collections at a high level through encouragement of gifts, and, in the case of the Francophone and Italian-speaking areas, by drastic reduction of new subscriptions and recommendation of sample copies instead. Substantial gifts of current West European books, provided by the Inter Nationes foundation, have helped keep receipts from West Germany up to previous levels. Book prices in Eastern Europe have not risen sufficiently to present a problem and publishing there has remained quite stable, except for Poland, where it suffered after imposition of military rule in 1981. Late this year however, publishing in Poland began to return to normal.

Potential means of improving the collections through priced exchange were discussed with representatives of major East German libraries (Dresden and Leipzig) and through microfilming with Italian blanket-order dealer Casalini, who is exploring arrangements with the National Library in Florence to film materials wanted by U.S. libraries. To improve receipts from Greece, the chiefs of the European Division and the Photoduplication Service reviewed microfilm samples from the Greek firm Athens Microfilm Service and requested quotations for current Greek newspapers.

In the "accomplished column," the Division can cite the acquisition of papers of Jan Papenek, former Czechoslovak diplomat and refugee activist. This gift was acquired for the Manuscript Division, largely through the efforts of Specialist Kovtun. A gift of de Italia, an encyclopedia of Italian civilization on videodisc together with the hardware and software to access it, was acquired from the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation. Specialist Armbruster participated in the presentation ceremony at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Two gifts of periodical runs were obtained: Egyenlőség (Budapest, 1882-1928), the most important Hungarian-language Jewish newspaper of Hungary, in microfilm, from a private donor, and an 8-year run of Solidarność Bulletin d'Information (Paris), from the publisher. On the Chief's recommendation, the Prints and Photographs Division accepted a gift of photographs of present-day Jewish life in Romania. The Soviet Biographic Archive, 1954-1985, in microfiche, was received by the Library. This item had been recommended by the Chief, with allotment of Babine funds to cover part of the cost. On the recommendation of Specialist Krewson, the Library purchased the microfiche set Foreign Nationalities Branch Files, 1942-1945, containing materials relating to the activities of European ethnic groups in the United States during World War II.

Librarian Harris was approved as alternate recommending officer for Specialists Leich and Armbruster.

III. ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF MATERIALS

A cause for rejoicing was the decision by the cataloging divisions to give full cataloging to the 3,500-volume remnant of the Yudin Collection in the European Division's custody. Thus far, Specialist Leich has selected 750 volumes and forwarded them to the Shared Cataloging Division, with indication of condition. More than 200 volumes have received full cataloging. It will take about three years to complete the project. Thus after more than 70 years, the Yudin Collection will be fully integrated into the Library's collections. Another cause for rejoicing was the completion of the mylar encasement of the 1917 issues of Pravda and Izvestiia by the Conservation Office. This is undoubtedly the world's best preserved record of the first year of issue of these important newspapers.

Librarian Harris' plan for the reallocation of shelf space in the European Reading Room (ERR) was implemented, resulting in equitable space for West and East European collections. In the process, the individual collections were reviewed and updated. Several large and heavily used sets were moved into the Northwest Pavilion (adjacent to the ERR) for reader convenience and to gain space. The Soviet journals on display in the ERR were reviewed and several airmail subscriptions were placed to meet reader demands generated by glasnost.

For about two months following the closing of the Main Reading Room for remodeling, the European Reading Room was opened on Saturdays to accommodate an anticipated flood of displaced readers. The flood did not materialize and Saturday service in the ERR was discontinued. The remodeling of the Jefferson Building made the division's current serials deck much less accessible to the ERR and increased delivery time. However, the excellent Processing Assistant team (see Section VIII) not only coped well with the situation, but processed an impressive 63,092 pieces (26,157 for binding; 36,935 for microfilming).

Four displays were mounted in the European Reading Room: "Von Steuben and the German Contribution to the American Revolution " (through January); "Recent Books from Romania" (February through April); "Masaryk and America" (September and October). The Romanian display was an experiment in which the content of the display was changed weekly to treat a different subject.

IV. REFERENCE SERVICES

The greatest change in the reference activities of the Division this year was the large increase in Russian/Soviet activities following the appointment of Librarian Billington. The closing of the Main Reading Room, with the relocation and dislocation of its West European reference sources, focused greater attention on the collections in the European Reading Room. The Soviet and West European areas were very much in the news this year, with provocative articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other popular publications which brought a rush of reference questions to the Division. Topics of great interest were the fire at the Soviet Academy of Sciences Library, the French Revolution and preparations for the celebration of its bicentennial (1989) here and abroad, the Washington and Moscow summits, the INF treaty, and US/USSR joint ventures. Questions of a scholarly nature treated every geographic and subject area within the Division's area of responsibility. To list just one example for each ethnic area would exceed the space limits of this report, but attention should be called to the considerable increase of interest shown in Italian affairs.

Requests from the Librarian's office included bibliographic and biographic information, translations, meetings with visiting scholars or political figures, tours, and discussions of exhibit possibilities. Most of the requests were directed to the Russian /Soviet and French/Italian specialists, but included the Chief and the librarians in the European Reading Room. These interesting assignments included background information for the Librarian's visit to the National Library of France, and analysis of questions posed by that library's staff, as well as preparations for the Moscow Summit that included suggestions for Library gifts which the First Lady might present to her hosts, an appropriate Russian proverb for the President to use in his talks with Gorbachev, and a reading list on Russia/USSR for Mrs. Reagan.

Visitors included cabinet ministers – Jack Lang, Minister of Culture of France, Patrick Dewael, Belgian Minister of Culture, and Klaus Litz, member of the West German cabinet; ambassadors – French Ambassador Emmanuel de Margerie, Romanian Ambassador Ion Stoichici, Italian Ambassador Rindaldo Petrignani, and German Ambassador Juergen Ruhfus; national librarians – Panayotis Nicolopoulos of Greece, and Emmanual Le Roy Ladurie of France; as well as Peter Pilz, member of the Austrian parliament, Fedor Burlatski, advisor to the Kremlin in foreign affairs, Nikolai Skatov, director of the Pushkin House (Leningrad), and columnist William Safire. Other visitors were Georgi Blizniakov, Vice President of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Chrysostomos Sofianos , director of the GPO of Cyprus, as well as delegations of Finnish librarians and teachers of English, Soviet editors and journalists, wives of high-ranking Italian and American military officers, and numerous representatives of U.S. and foreign universities, publishing houses, and embassies. The Division also hosted three visitors who read from their creative works for the Library's Archive of World Literature on Tape. They were all "firsts" for their country or language – Arshi Pipa, who read from the Albanian classics and his original works; Wolf Neuber, Austrian author and literary critic, and Monique Laederer, Swiss author and winter of three literary prizes. In service to other units of the Library, Specialist Kovtun reviewed chapters of the Federal Research Division's Handbook on Czechoslovakia. Division specialists made 82 translations for Congress.

Automation liaison Harris abetted the reference and publication activities of the Division by planning the worksites for the new automation equipment (see Section VI), trained staff in its use, and arranged for the conversion of records from the old system to the new.

V. BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

The seven publications produced by the Division this year evidence variety. Masaryk and America. Testimony of a Relationship, by George Kovtun, cites passages from Thomas Masaryk's writings that specify his relationship to the United States, and includes commentary by Mr. Kovtun. The Millennium of the Baptism of Rus', by Harold M. Leich, is the guide to the major exhibit (see Section VI) by that name, and was issued by the Exhibits Office. The German Collections of the Library of Congress: Chronological Development, and its German version, Die Deutsche Sammlung der Kongressbibliothek: Aufbau und Entwicklung seit 1815, are surveys. The second, enlarged edition of Czech and Slovak Literature in English, by George J. Kovtun, and Polish Genealogy and Heraldry, by Janina W. Hoskins are comprehensive bibliographies. The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies for 1986, compiled by Roberta Goldblatt and Barbara Dash with the aid of European Division staff, is a large, mostly unannotated annual bibliography.

Robert V. Allen's Imperial Russia Looks at America: The View to 1917 will appear in late 1988 or early 1989. This major work, based on the Library's holdings and touching on topics little treated in the literature, reflects the author's thirty years of study of the subject and profound knowledge of the Library's collections. Such knowledge of subject and the Library's collections are also evident in Janina W. Hoskins' annotated Library of Congress Resources on the Visual Arts in Poland, and Elemer Bako's annotated Finland and the Finns, the manuscripts of which are completed and await final typing for publication. Contemporary Authors of the German-Speaking Countries of Europe, presenting the Library of Congress holdings for selected authors, is expected momentarily from the printer. Other works in the making are listed in Appendix B.

A different type of work, the unpublished handout, has proved increasingly popular among our readers, as a time-saver for research. It has also been a time-saver for the reference librarian and area specialist, in that it answers frequently asked questions. Some examples are French Biography, Francophone Europe and Canada and Italian Biography, by Specialist Armbruster, and Key Reference Works in the European Reading Room by European Reading Room Staff (Harris, Souders, Holt). Staff members contributed 17 articles to the Library of Congress Information Bulletin.

The American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES) experienced major changes this year. Roberta Goldblatt resigned as editor and was replaced by Barbara Dash, who has extensive bibliographic experience in the field, including that of assistant editor of the American Bibliography in 1983-84. She inherited many automation problems but managed to solve them sufficiently to complete the 1986 volume of the bibliography, with the assistance of Zbigniew Kantorosinski, Robert Palian, and Anne Hope. Subsequently, assistance with automation was sought from ASO, which assigned Marie Hughes to help analyze the bibliography from an automation standpoint. Meanwhile, the bibliography's sponsor, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS) formed the ABSEES Advisory Committee, consisting of scholars, librarians, and bibliographers, to examine the product and the means of production. The European Division's hope is that this committee will not only advise the editor but AAASS and Library management as well. Meanwhile, ASO has kindly supplied a COMPAQ microcomputer, a printer, and some software to the project to help it meet production schedules.

It is the Division's intention to prepare the texts of all or most of its publications in the "desktop mode," that is, to produce camera-ready copy in the Division. This will have the advantage of maintaining control of difficult foreign-language texts until publication. To this end, and for office purposes, the Division has received two COMPAQ Deskpro 286 microcomputers that were assigned to the secretaries, who are learning to use them for Division publications.

VI. SPECIAL EVENTS

The Division's foremost special event this year was the exhibit "The Millennium of the Baptism of Rus'," installed on May 15, 1988, in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building to commemorate the adoption of Christianity by the Eastern Slavs in 988. Specialist Leich was appointed curator. His selections from the Library's collections demonstrate the richness of the Library's holdings and the depth of his knowledge on the subject. The exhibit was in place for the Library's related "Conference on Christianity and the Cultural History of the Eastern Slavs," held May 26-27.

Preparations have advanced significantly for the symposium "Publishing and Readership in Revolutionary France and America" to be held at the Library on May 2-3, 1989. Specialist Armbruster, working in conjunction with the Center for the Book, has planned the program and has been instrumental in securing support for it as well as the agreement of many of the speakers to participate in the program.

Specialist Armbruster is also a member of the Columbus 500 committee that is planning the Library's 1992 celebration.

VII. ACTIVITIES IN PROFESSIONAL AND OFFICIAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Division's professional staff was particularly active this year in Library and outside events. The Chief continued to serve on the BIRD (Bibliographic, Information Retrieval, and Documentation) Subcommittee on the Joint Committee on the Soviet Union of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Sciences Research Council. This year's activities were concentrated on aid to the library of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and negotiations for filming holdings of major Soviet libraries. He also serves on the Bibliographic and Documentation Committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic and East European Studies. Specialist Leich chaired the Subcommittee on Bibliographic Control of the AAASS Committee on Bibliography and Documentation. Specialists Hoskins and Leich attended the annual convention of the AAASS in Boston in November; Specialist Kovtun presented papers at the 1987 Convention of the Southern Conference on Slavic Studies at Chapel Hill in October and at the 14th World Congress of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in September; and Specialist Leich presented a paper at the Midwest Slavic Conference in Bloomington, Indiana, in March.

Specialist Armbruster is active in the West European Specialists Section (WESS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and Specialist Leich in the Slavic and East European Section of that organization within the American Library Association (ALA). They both attended the annual convention of ALA in New Orleans, where they presented papers, Armbruster's on West European migration studies at the Library of Congress and Leich's on online sources for reference works in Russian/Soviet area studies. Specialist Armbruster represented the Library at the International ACRL/WESS Conference in April, where she presented a paper "English-language Access to Western Europe." In June, at the invitation of the Carl Schurz Society in Bremen, Germany, Specialist Krewson presented a paper on the history of the Library's German collections.

The staff also participated in other professional conferences: Specialist Hoskins attended the annual convention of the American Historical Association in Washington in December; in November Specialist Armbruster attended the Sixth International Conference of Europeanists in Washington and the conference "Culture et Revolution: Cultural Ramifications of the French Revolution" at the University of Maryland, the Chief and Specialist Leich attended the USSR/US Librarians Conference at the Library in July, and the Chief Attended the US/USSR Conference "Crossroads of Continents," held at the Smithsonian Institution in September, 1988.

The professional staff also attended many lectures or special events at embassies (Austrian, Canadian, Finnish, French, Italian, Netherlands, Swiss, Soviet), the Brookings Institute, Georgetown University, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Johns Hopkins University, the German Historical Institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, the Kennan Institute, and the Wilson Center, among others.

Several staff members were honored by foreign governments. Specialist Krewson received the Verdienstkreuz 1. Klasse der Bundes-republik Deutschland from the President of the Republic "for special service to the Federal Republic of Germany" by her publications and promotion of German studies through the Library. (See Section 1 for recognition accorded Specialists Armbruster and Leich).

In service to outside institutions in Washington, D.C., Specialist Leich briefed the Jewish Genealogical Society on pertinent East European resources. He spoke at the Washington Cathedral on the Millennium of Christianity in Eastern Europe to the USSR/USA Subcommittee of the Peace Committee, Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., and on Soviet publishing at the opening of the Soviet book exhibit at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Public Library in Washington, D.C. Specialist Kovtun served as a reader of papers submitted for the Stanley Pech Prize in History presented by the Czechoslovak Historical Conference.

In Library activities, Specialist Armbruster served on the Task Force for Preservation Selection (see Section VI), Specialist Leich is a member of the Acquisitions Committee and of the Magterials Selection Committee of the Secondary Storage Facility Committee. Librarians Graham and Harris represented the Division at the Reference Roundtable, and Harris, as the Division Automation Liaison, attended sessions of the Automation Liaison Group. Assistant Secretary Saunders served as the Division's keyworker for the Combined Federal Campaign and the Savings Bond program.

The Chief, Specialist Krewson, and Librarian Graham served on Library selection panels. The Chief and Specialist Leich were panelists at the Librarian's "Reflections on the Summit," and Leich spoke to the Special Interest Group on Russian/Soviet-area studies librarianship. In pursuit of an MLS, Librarian Harris completed the Collection Development course at Catholic University.

VIII. ADMINISTRATION, STAFF, AND FISCAL MATTERS

This fiscal year once again witnessed considerable changes in division personnel. On April 1, Albert Graham, Head of the European Reading Room and a Navy reservist, reported for one year's active military duty with the On-Site Inspection Agency (INF Treaty). His position was posted NTE April 1, 1989. The successful candidate was Reference Librarian Grant G. Harris, whose appointment began July 4, 1988. Mr. Harris' position was filled, NTE 120 days pending posting, by Ms. Laura Souders, who reported July 18, 1988. Ms. Kim Moran was appointed to the vacant full-time processing position on November 2, 1988. The team of Stephen Adams and Kim Moran has brought a long-sought stability and efficiency to the current serials deck. The part-time processing assistant position remains a problem. We have not been able to keep an incumbent for long. The position was vacant in October and November; Thomas Hammock filled it in December and January; it was vacant February through April, Ms. Deanna Holt occupied it from May through September. A temporary replacement for Ms. Holt had been recommended pending posting, but had not yet been appointed.

The Acting Chief was appointed Chief, NTE one year, on June 8, 1988. The absence of a permanent chief continues to present an administrative and leadership problem for the Division. The Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian specialist positions that remain vacant for want of funding also present problems, chiefly in the collection development area. Earlier, the Scandinavian position was posted, for a second time, with advertising, but no satisfactory candidate was found. The Automated Bibliographic Resources Librarian position was expanded into a ladder (GS-9/11/12) and sent for posting in an attempt to attract a satisfactory candidate. The previous posting of this position at the GS-9 level has been unsuccessful. At the close of this fiscal year, the posting has not yet appeared.

On the positive side, Librarian Harris received a temporary promotion to GS-13 in July, and Processing Assistant Adams was promoted to GS-7 in November. Senior Searcher Nadraga received his 25 year service pin on November 19, 1987, and Assistant Secretary Saunders received her 35-year service medal at the Awards Ceremonies on May 11, 1988. Secretary Ricks was commended and received a cash award for assistance to staff in the FERS program. Library of Congress intern Myron Chace spent his optional period in the Division, during which he advised the Division staff on the physical status of the Yudin custodial materials destined for full cataloging.

This year we had only one student volunteer, Mr. Ulf Barschun, an exchange student from the Federal Republic of Germany, who worked under the direction of Specialist Krewson on the second edition of the Netherlands bibliography. Work study student, Monique Triggs, came aboard on June 27, 1988.