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1995
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Begun in 1983, and originally appearing twice a year, DOBI's emphasis was on documenting developments and changes in library science in West Germany and West Berlin. With reunification, an analogous publication from Leipzig called Informationsdienst Bibliothekswesen merged with DOBI, bringing to it an increased awareness of the library world outside Germany. The majority of the items cited still originate in Germany -- about two-thirds of the 2351 cited titles in the first three issues of 1994; foreign material is presented selectively.
All kinds of publications are cited: periodical articles, monographs, collected works, directories, press releases, annual reports, maps, statistics, questionnaires, research reports, etc., but the vast majority of the items are periodical articles (68.8% in 1994). All but about 12% of the citations have full and informative annotations. Lacking are abstracts for many foreign monographs, which presumably could not be examined. There are author and key words indexes, which refer to numbered entries in the main section, which is arranged by subject groupings.
Now appearing four times a year, DOBI is still hard-pressed to remain current, both with regard to timeliness of citation and relevance of subject matter. When compared with LISA and Library Literature, terms such as CD-ROM, Internet, and Multimedia are treated much less frequently in DOBI. Six per cent of the citations in the first three issues of DOBI in 1994 had been published in 1992, and other works cited were found to be six to twelve months old. DOBI needs to come out more frequently and the abstracts prepared more quickly, even if they have to be shorter.
DOBI is essential, despite all its shortcomings. Its editors just need to keep in mind the needs of its potential users and include more information about worldwide trends in library theory and practice. And at some point, the Deutsches Bibliotheksinstitut should consider how it might provide online access to this bibliography. [ts and sh/mrh]
95-2-193
This edition expands the number of entries by ca. 150, to almost 1000 altogether, and includes three languages -- German, English, and Russian. It is expected that subsequent editions will include other European languages as well. There are three alphabetical sections (one in each language), and a thematic index of terms such as book trade, under which relevant words are listed. This work is unlike the Dictionary of Librarianship by Eberhard Sauppe (Munich: Saur, 1988), which has a German-English, English-German dictionary section listing between 7000 and 8000 words, and which is about to appear in a new edition. [sh/mrh]
95-2-195
The second edition of this directory of libraries at technical colleges has been augmented and updated, but the (constructively meant) criticism of first edition expressed in RREO 94-2-214 still applies in part. It is not stated how many libraries are included. The arrangement is geographical. Besides address and interlibrary loan code (if applicable), the only information given is the subject area taught at the college; there is nothing about the library director or the collections. Because the Jahrbuch der deutschen Bibliotheken only lists the more important colleges, this directory will aid communication among libraries at technical schools. [sh/gh]
95-2-196
The laws governing depository copies in Germany are even more complex than German territorial history, and this is an obstacle to efficient interlibrary loan. The sponsoring organizations and compilers of this directory should be thanked for making this difficult material easier for interlibrary loan personnel to survey. The first part lists (by federal state) the libraries which receive or received depository copies. The second part lists places of publication and then up to three libraries which were to get depository copies. A few shortcomings can easily be remedied in a second edition. [sh/gh]
This set of guides to collections in German libraries was reviewed in detail in IFB 93-1/2-036 when only v. 3 (Nordrhein-Westfalen A- I) and v. 5 (Hessen A-L) were available. The new volumes complete the entries for Nordrhein-Westfalen and Hessen and add the collections in Rheinland-Pfalz, Baden-Wurttemberg, and Saarland. A number of private libraries were omitted because their owners did not consent to having them included. The first regional indexes are also in these volumes. All the indexes are being compiled by Karen Kloth, and this will facilitate the compilation of the general index. There are indexes of persons and of topical subjects. The subject index in particular will have to integrate varying terminology. The compiler has chosen subject terms used in the descriptions of collections so that varying entries for the same topic are found. There are not enough cross-references to help users find related collections. The indexes refers to libraries not only by volume and page number of the guide but also by federal state and information identifying the libraries. [sh/gh]
95-2-200
Germany and Great Britain have current, regularly updated directories of libraries; other European countries, even those with highly developed library systems, do not. The situation in France is especially bad -- there has been no general directory since the Répertoire des bibliothèques et organismes de documentation (4th ed., 1973). On that basis alone, these two directories look promising. However, the 776 institutions listed in Papyrus are all in or near Paris, and Le fil d'Ariadne is a selective directory of 363 libraries in or quite near Paris. Papyrus lists practical information and main areas of collection and has indexes to collection emphases, foreign-language collections, databases available, and an alphabetical listing. Le fil d'Ariane, with the intent of identifying libraries best suited to patrons' needs, first lists 25 important libraries (besides the Bibliothèque nationale), then has a section arranged by approximately 140 topics. Indexes list all the libraries by name, then by subject. Papyrus is to be preferred except perhaps by libraries with an English-speaking clientele. [sh]
95-2-201
95-2-202
These two volumes continue the publication of the standard directory of Italian libraries (see RREO 94-3/4-406-407). The region of Valle d'Aosta has only 58 libraries, of which only three church-affiliated libraries have significant collections. The region of Marche has 315 libraries across its four provinces. Here the city libraries are more noteworthy for older collections than the academic libararies. A significant number of libraries in the Marche declined to answer the questionnaire. [sh/gh]
95-2-203
95-2-204
Lombardy may be the richest region of Italy in terms of libraries. These two volumes are based on an official database which is updated by annual questionnaires. The first lists 882 special libraries (libraries at academic institutes and others with scholarly collections). The second lists 1,118 public libraries in 864 cities and towns. In all they have about 960,000 books printed before 1900. There is some overlap between the two directories, and foreign libraries will probably only need the first until Catalogo della biblioteche d'Italia. Lombardia is available. [sh/gh]
95-2-205
The 1st edition of INFODOC appeared in 1989, long after the last such Austrian library directories were obsolete, and the appearance of this edition, five years later, is long overdue. INFODOC is extracted from one of the databases of the Austrian Bundesministerium fur Wissenschaft und Forschung and contains information, current as of Dec. 31, 1993, about 1414 libraries (1396 were listed in the previous edition). The directory is arranged by province and subarranged alphabetically by place and name, and the usual information is given: address, director, contact person (without explanation of the person's exact function), business hours and services provided, fields of interest, special collections, holdings, storage and retrieval systems, activities, external databases, cooperative agreements, and publications. The directory is indexed by place, institution and subject. Because the subject entries are for the most part taken from the libraries' chosen terms, the order and selection is sometimes problematic. An index of directors and contact persons should be planned for the next edition, which will hopefully appear in less than five years. [sh/rm]
Like the Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Deutschland (HHBD, reviewed in IFB 93-1/2-36), the Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Österreich (HHBO) consists of several volumes, the first two of which deal with the rich Viennese library landscape. Volumes for libraries in other provinces will follow. In contrast to the HHBD's model of a central editorial staff in Münster with regional editors for the regional volumes, the HHBO's editorship is completely centralized at the Austrian National Library (ÖNB), which maintains contact with the central German staff, who edit the indexes. The organization of the HHBO's articles for each library follows the HHBD model.
After a general section containing information that can be found in other library directories are the following sections: history of the collection, chronological and systematic overview of the collection, catalogs, sources and accounts of the library's history, and publications of the collection. Vol. 1, which introduces the libraries of Vienna through detailed description, deals with the ÖNB, the Vienna Stadt- und Landesbibliothek, the Niederösterreichische Landesbibliothek, the University of Vienna library (including the main library and 22 branches) as well as four more university libraries (the Technische Universität, the Universität für Bodenkultur, the Veterinärmedizinischen Universit¨at and the Wirtschaftsuniversität). Given the importance of the ÖNB, it is not surprising that about half of the volume is required for its description. Along with the section for its printing collection are sections for the following collections: manuscripts and incunabula, maps and globes, music, papyri, portraits and the library of the Austrian Theater Museum. Vol. 2, which appeared in May 1995, deals with 85 more libraries, bringing the two-volume total to 121, if one takes into account the ÖNB's 22 branches. The large number of libraries of religious orders contained in vol. 2 is notable and important private libraries are also included insofar as the owners agreed to inclusion in the handbook. The editor of the index at the end of vol. 2 follows the criteria established by the HHBD (cf. IFB 95-2-197) with the exception of excluding obituaries. [sh/rm]
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